Page 97 of Single Mom's Christmas Wish

“Yeah, me, too,” Maisie replies. “Can we get waffles with maple syrup on top?”

“Absolutely.”

38

Archer

“If Dakota finds out we met, she will kill me. Or worse, she’ll give me one of those ‘You’re supposed to be my best friend’ lectures,” Chelsea mutters as she takes a seat across the table from me.

I drove all the way up from San Francisco to talk to her. It took Chelsea a while to respond to my text messages. I’ve been trying for days. At least she has her priorities straight as Dakota’s closest friend.

“Thank you for doing this,” I reply.

The waitress comes over and fills our mugs with freshly brewed coffee, then leaves a plate of chocolate chip cookies.

“Where’s the bed & breakfast?” I ask.

“A couple of miles north of here.”

“How are they?”

Chelsea shrugs softly. “As well as they can be under these circumstances. I think Dakota is finally coming around. The shock from the events on your wedding day is starting to wearoff.” She leans forward. “We shouldn’t be meeting like this…”

“Yet you’re here,” I shoot back with a smile. “Dakota won’t talk to any of us. She shut us out completely.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” she sighs. “It’s how she copes. It was so awful and humiliating seeing herself on video. My God, the pastor saw her on video. Your mom saw her on video like that. Come on, Archer, I’m sure you understand.”

I nod slowly. “I do. It was horrifying.”

“So why are you here?” she asks, scanning me with her inquisitive eyes.

“Christmas is tomorrow,” I reply. “I know she was hopeful for that inheritance. I’m worried about her.” I narrow my eyes at her. “Why areyouhere, Chelsea?”

She gets fidgety as she chomps on a cookie. “She might kill me for this, but under the circumstances, I’m not sure I can trust her to make the best choices at the moment.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s pregnant, Archer.”

The words hit me like a ton of bricks. My stomach tightens, and I find myself staring at Chelsea, my eyes widening with every passing second. My blood cools to a near-freezing temperature, but then my heart rate spikes up until fire shoots through my veins. I’m experiencing a full emotional spectrum as I try to process the news and its implications.

“She is terrified with everything that’s been happening. Her first instinct is to keep it to herself, to power through on her own, even if it sounds counterproductive,” Chelsea continues. “It’s theonly thing she knows. She’s been let down before, and I know you guys weren’t at fault, but what happened with Reed, Callie, and Keith was a sobering reminder of sorts.”

“Nothing happened between Reed and Callie.”

“I know,” Chelsea groans with frustration. “Dakota’s way to function is to try and do it all herself, and I know the pregnancy hormones are probably doing her an even bigger disservice right now. I worry that she will self-sabotage unless you guys jump in like right now.”

She’s pregnant. She’s about to lose her home, her inheritance, and any chance to get Maisie enrolled in Prescott Academy. She’s worried about the camera footage on top of that. And now a custody war and her name and face being plastered across the tabloids if word gets out about us.

She has no idea that we stopped that train in its tracks.

We’ve been patient and respectful of her wishes thus far, but something needs to change.

And I think I know what I have to do, what my brothers and I have to do. One last push. We almost got it the first time around.

“You were insanely brave to tell me about it,” I say to Chelsea. “Thank you. It might not feel like it, but you are the friend she needs right now.”

“Yeah, maybe not the friend she wants—”

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