Page 146 of Darling Obsession

“Are you okay?” I ask Quinn.

“I’m fine.” To her mom, she says, “The baby is doing great. There’s a heartbeat, and everything is on track. You’re going to be a grandma in July.”

Lorraine gives her a big, tight hug that says more than words could. Quinn’s eyes sparkle as she clings to her mom, and when our eyes meet, she buries her face in Lorraine’s neck.

When I see the tears in Quinn’s eyes that she’s trying to hide, it hits me all at once—that this wall between us is my fault. Because this is exactly what I did to Chelsea, right? The only other woman I ever had a serious relationship with—I pushed her away, just like I’m doing to Quinn now, without meaning to.

Chelsea left me, started a family with another man.

But Quinn can’t do that. This baby is mine.

She’smine.

She has to see that, doesn’t she?

That we’re meant to be together.

When she and Lorraine pull apart, she hands me a piece of paper. “I asked the doctor about paternity testing,” she tells me. “We can do this thing called NIPT, as early as next week. It’s a Non-Invasive Prenatal Test. They just take a blood sample from you and me, and they can tell if the baby is yours. That’s some information about it, for you.”

I look into her eyes. “I know the baby is mine. You heard what the technician said, about the date of conception.”

“I know.” She shifts uncomfortably. “I just want you to know for sure. That I wasn’t with anyone else.”

I consider that, and that she seems so concerned about it. “I trust you, Quinn.”

“I’d like us to do the test, though. So you never have to question. Okay?”

“Okay. If that’s what you want.”

She nods. I try to put my arm around her, but she’s so stiff.

“Come on,” I tell them. “I’ll drive you home.”

Quinn gives me an uncertain look, but seems too tired to argue. “Okay. Thank you.”

“And since we’re all together… I think it would be a good time to show your mom the new place, above the bakery. We can swing by on the way.”

Quinn glances at her mom. Lorraine remains conspicuously silent. “It’s not exactly on the way, Harlan,” Quinn says.

“It won’t take long.”

“Harlan.” Her voice is gently firm in a way that scares me. “I know you may not like this. But I’ve made my decision. And we’re not moving into that place.”

Chapter 25

Quinn

“We’re doing limo karaoke,” drunk Dani informs me. “Every time we pick someone up, we play a song for them.”

“We’re not singing, though,” drunk Nicole clarifies.

“So,notkaraoke, then,” I say.

The girls just laugh, because they’re drunk.

I’ve just climbed into the back of a limo, joining Dani, Nicole, and Dani’s twin sister, Danica. Dani welcomes me with a cup of sparkling apple juice.

“We need something from the eighties for Quinn,” Nicole announces, scrolling through her phone, which is tethered to a panel inside the limo.

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