Page 114 of Sweet Little Thing

“I’ll look for them,” I called back before she came running around the staircase upstairs looking for Mona.

While she went around upstairs looking for things from her past, I headed back to the kitchen and worked on breakfast. Hopefully, she’d come back to me soon, and I could feed her. The one thing about Geraldine being completely out of it since I arrived was that it had gotten my mind off my problems.

Touching my stomach, I looked out the window and thought again about my doctor’s appointment the day after tomorrow. I’d initially made the appointment to get a prescription for birth control. Now? Now, I would be taking a pregnancy test. I would find out if I was already carrying Stone’s child. Our child. A child that I would love and adore, but one that I knew he couldn’t focus on right now. One I feared he may not want.

The child inside me wouldn’t ever face life with the manStone hated the most. This child would have me always. He or she wouldn’t need love because they would have it from me unconditionally.

Wills needed Stone, and I wouldn’t pull Stone in two directions. I wasn’t sure what the right thing to do was. Not telling him was wrong, and he deserved to know.

Telling him right now when he needed to focus his attention on fighting his father was unfair, too. I stood there silently, lost in my thoughts. Torn by the what ifs.

“I don’t even want to know why I was wearing that God-awful gown. It smelled of mothballs, and I think I have a rash under my pits from the scratchy fabric,” Geraldine said as she sauntered past me into the kitchen. I jumped at the sound of her voice. I hadn’t heard her come back down the stairs.

She frowned at me. “Lord, girl. Are you okay?”

I smiled. “I didn’t hear you come downstairs.”

“I bet you smelled me, though.” She scrunched up her nose. “I must have been in the attic at some point this morning. That dress hasn’t seen daylight in decades.”

“It has held up well. I imagined the dress had been the height of fashion once.”

She shrugged with her left shoulder only. “Perhaps, but now it is the height of ancient.” She chuckled. “I’m a sight. You never know what you’re going to walk into around here.”

This time, the smile that tugged on my lips was real—not forced. Geraldine’s spirit was always cheerful. Being near her made life seem easier. I was glad she was back from her spell. I needed her peaceful presence today.

“What’s for breakfast?” She rubbed her hands together as she walked over to the coffee pot. I’d made it earlier, hoping to coax her out of her memories.

I repeated the proposed menu.

“Oh, yum. I love that. It’s my favorite. And my tomatoes areexceptional this year. I think it’s the beer I used on them. I saw a video about it on TikTok. Do you ever go on TikTokt? It’ll suck you in with its brilliant ideas.”

I’d heard of TikTok but I had never downloaded the app. I wanted to laugh at the fact Geraldine had, but I held it back. “No, but I know it’s popular.”

“It’s bloody brilliant,” she repeated with enthusiasm. “I bet you could find great ideas for cleaning, recipes, and the like. We should put it on your phone today. I’ll show you how it works.”

“Okay.” I was grateful for something else to occupy my mind. I was desperate for anything. As long as it was free.

“My friend, Beatrice, brought me some peppermint tea that I love. It can only be bought in England. I’ve tried a million different kinds here, but nothing compares. I even ordered some offline but it’s not the same. This tea”—she held up a mesh bag of tea leaves—“is perfection. Something about the motherland, I guess. The British know their tea. We just know our Starbucks.” She sounded a bit disappointed. I knew she missed England. I thought it was because of her fond memories of her British friends who were gone from this world and of England that her mind always wandered back to that period.

“Do you want me to make you some tea to go with your breakfast?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Oh no. This is for teatime. It’s British, darling. We need to have it at three.”

She was teasing me, but then she was also serious. I poured her a cup of coffee instead. She had French coffee. As she swore by British tea, she also swore that the French were the coffee experts. I had to agree the coffee she had was amazing. There was nothing like it anywhere else.

“Where is my boy today? Haven’t seen him in a week.” She changed the subject ever-so-subtly.

“He’s dealing with work issues.” I didn’t know how much sheknew about Wills. I didn’t want to be the one to tell her the story. It was Stone’s to tell.

Geraldine took the cup of coffee I handed her, and her lips pursed slightly. “He’s going to fight him, isn’t he?”

I wasn’t sure what to say here. I remained silent.

She let out a breath and tapped her fingertip on the counter. “I guess it’s time. That child can’t last the way Stone did. He’s not as tough.”

She walked toward the doors leading to the patio and said nothing more. I wondered what she knew, if he had told her about Wills or if she had just figured it out herself.

Again, I glanced down at my stomach, worried she might discover my secret. What would I do if she did?

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