Page 136 of Driven Daddy

I nodded. “Okay. That sounds good. I kinda need to hide out from Penn for a little bit to get myself together.”

“But you’re not going to run, right?”

I looked at the floor. “Right. Sure.”

“Rita.” Her voice was a warning.

“Maybe it’s better I just go.”

“You’ll regret it. Ask me how I know?”

I shut my eyes. I was such an insensitive idiot. “Bridget, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to?—”

“This isn’t about me, but I know what you’re feeling. Well, some of it. You want to run before he does, right? If you leave first, then you don’t have to be left again?”

My stomach bottomed out, and I couldn’t get out the words.

“Yeah. I understand.” She sighed and took my hand. “And I also understand that you don’t want to do anything without talking to Penn. He deserves that, at least.” She squeezed my hand. “But let’s get the tests taken first.”

“Right. You’re right.”

“Of course I am,” she said with a smile.

We checked out and I followed her back to Travis’s house. Well, I supposed it was becoming her house now too. When I passed the cottage, I couldn’t tell if Penn was back or not since hopefully, he had been dropped off by Colette.

I gripped my bag tightly as I met Bridget by the steps of the lake house.

She rushed up the stairs and opened the door. “It’s gonna be okay.”

I blew out a slow breath. “That’s what Penn said.”

“He’s smart, most of the time.”

“Yeah, most of the time is definitely the caveat.” I climbed the steps behind her then followed her inside and up to the second floor.

“You can go in there. I’ll go in the primary bathroom, and we’ll meet back to wait out the results together, okay?”

I nodded, nerves twisting in my stomach. Was I going to puke again?Ugh. “Okay,” I whispered to myself as I opened the door.

Peeing on a stick should have been easy, but I was pretty sure I’d activated my nerves to the point I wasn’t even able to go to the bathroom when I was usually the exact opposite.

Finally finished, I met Bridget in the hallway with all my tests wrapped up separately. I wasn’t sure if cross-contamination was a thing when it came to pregnancy tests, but I wasn’t looking to find out today.

She looked down at my handful of tests with a laugh and waved me back to her bedroom and into the joining bath.

I set my pile on the other end of the counter in her massively gorgeous bathroom, then sat beside her on the edge of the tub. “Longest five minutes ever.”

“Depends on if you want it to be positive or not.”

“I really don’t know.”

“Your whole world will change if it is. But it can be a good change if you want it to be. I love Carrington with every breath in my body. From the minute I saw her, the love was so freaking big, I couldn’t even breathe around it.”

I nodded. “That’s what I’m afraid of. I’m no role model. Both my parents were gone before I could remember them clearly.”

“I get that. My mother was a mess, dealing with mental health stuff I was terrified I’d inherit. But I wanted Care Bear.I just didn’t know how much until I made decisions that caused me to lose her and Travis.”

“Youdidn’tlose them, though. Just took a little while to find your way back.”

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