Page 29 of Can We Try?

At first, I thought it was just a good night of great sex; it’s why I couldn’t stop thinking about her, but I was wrong. It’s Maggie. She makes everything better.

We make it to Dough Daddies and go straight to the takeout counter and ask for a menu. Sure enough, there is a bright pink piece of paper that lists the flavors of Pastry Heaven ice cream available.

“What kind are you going to get?” Maggie asks me, while I stare down at the list.

“They only have four flavors, and we’re getting them all.”

“What? We don’t need four cartons of ice cream.”

“Oh yes, we do. This will be our emergency supply.” The server stops, and I order a half-gallon carton of butter pecan, cookies and cream, chocolate, and vanilla to go.

“The butter pecan stays with me,” she says, reaching for her purse.

“You are not paying for your ice cream. And I already planned to leave them all with you. That way, if you get a craving for it, you’ll have some on hand.”

“I can’t eat that much on my own. I’d be sick.”

“Good thing your baby daddy will be there often to help. It’ll be our thing. We can listen to peanut and eat ice cream, then maybe watch a movie or something.”

“You don’t have better things do to than watch movies and eat ice cream with me?”

“Nothing. There is nothing I can think of that I’d rather be doing than that.” Okay, that might be a tiny lie, but I can’t tell her that being inside her again sounds like a damn good time.

We’re not there yet.

But we will be.

Chapter

Seven

Maggie

* * *

As we drive to my grandmother’s house, warmth surrounds me. Her house was home to me for so many years. Grandma Doris was our saving grace, and then she was just mine.

The only family I have left.

I place my hands on my barely there bump and whisper a silent apology. This baby and Grandma Doris are the only family I have left.

“Maggie?” Lachlan’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts. “You doing okay?” He reaches over and laces his fingers with mine.

“My mother died when I was thirteen.”

“I’m sorry,” he says, and I can hear the sincerity in his voice.

“Cancer of the liver. It was hell to watch her go through that. My dad was lost, and didn’t know what to do without her, so we sold the house, and moved in with his mom, Grandma Doris. My mother's parents had already passed.”

“That had to be hard.”

“Losing her is a pain I still feel every day. So, we moved in with Grandma Doris, and we tried to find our new normal. And we did for a few years. We missed her every single day, but we were adjusting. Then, during my junior year, there was an accident. My dad was driving to work, and a semi didn’t stop at the stoplight. He was pronounced dead on the scene.”

“Mags.” His voice cracks, and I squeeze his hand.

There is nothing that he could say that would make it better. “It was just me and Grandma Doris after that. She was my rock, and I was hers. We made it through losing them and until this baby, she was my only family.”

I point to the road on the right, and without needing to say anything, he slows down to make the turn.

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