Page 64 of Beautiful Storm

I spent too many years allowing that to happen, and nothing is going to affect me today.

Grabbing my phone, I hit call on Hayley’s name and laugh when she immediately answers.

“Bitch, you have been killing me. I expected a call on your way home.”

“Yeah well, that’s hard to do on the bus.”

“Bus? What happened to your car?”

I cringe. Due to everything that happened yesterday, I forgot about my lack of a car. I’ve had my Honda since I was sixteen and it was my grandmother's before that. I’ve been expecting something to happen for years, but of course, it chose the morning of my ultrasound appointment to stop working when I was already in a rush. That will teach me for trying to get in a few extra hours at work.

I called to arrange an emergency appointment to get it checked out, but when they told me the additional cost for urgency, I said I’d call back. And I never did.

“She died yesterday,” I joke yet it’s anything but funny.

“Did the mechanic say they can fix it?”

“I kind of haven’t taken it in yet.”

“What? Why? You shouldn’t be catching the bus on your own, especially in the dark.”

“That’s not an issue, but it does add a lot of time to my trip. Time I don’t have.”

“So?”

“So, I can’t afford it at the moment.”

Hayley sighs. “I wish I could pay for you but I’m barely surviving. I’ve eaten Ramen noodles for dinner three nights in a row.”

“You and me both.”

“I hope you mean the money issue,notthe noodles. You need more than that when you’re feeding two people.”

Two people? I can’t help but laugh.What is my life now?“That’s my problem. I’m spending all my money on good food and putting the rest into a baby fund. There’s nothing left over for car issues.”

“What about your rich baby daddy?”

“Hmmm,” I stall as I sit up, trying to figure out how to tell her what went down yesterday. She’s either going to laugh or yell at me for being so stupid, and neither is great for me.

“Don’t play dumb,” Hayley huffs, and I can picture her rolling her eyes. “You should ask him for money toward the baby stuff. You know, since you have to pay extra money for good food.”

“Yeah, about that.”

“Oh my God, you already did? You asked for money? You are my queen. We—”

“No, he offered it,” I cut her off and she gasps.

“He what now?”

“I guess you could say, we’re kind of engaged.”

“What?” There’s a loud bang before Hayley mutters “bloody hell” and a ruffling sound hurts my ear. “Sorry, I dropped the phone,” she says as she comes back on the line. “Please explain how you’rekind ofengaged?”

“Luke wasn’t happy about my lousy health insurance, and when I wouldn’t let him pay for everything, he proposed marriage so I could use his insurance. And… I reluctantly agreed.” I say the last part slowly and wait for her reaction.

Hayley goes silent but I know her well enough to guess what that means. “I can hear you smiling.”

“I’m not smiling.” She giggles softly before bursting out with the most obnoxious laughter. “Okay, I was smiling…and laughing. But my God, that man just gets better and better, doesn’t he? You should ask him to fix your car too.”

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