Page 37 of The Complication with the Best Man

I don’t really care what people will think or say about me when they find out our engagement is off. But I’m going to have to bring my parents up to speed before I return to Alaska so that they’re not blindsided at the one-eighty my life just took.

“I hope someday you find someone to marry for the right reasons.”

She huffs and rolls her eyes, so I see myself out.

I can handle disappointing Tamra. And my parents. But I don’t think I could live with feeling as though I disappointed my child, which is why I know I’m making the right decision.

fifteen

HARPER

The other shoe drops a couple days later when Maven and I sit down to watch the latest installment of a Netflix reality show. She’s on the couch scrolling through her phone while I put the finishing touches on the flavored popcorn. Tonight, we’re trying a brown-butter lemon recipe I found.

I drizzle the mixture over the popcorn then use my clean hands to mix it all up. When it’s properly coated, I wash my hands again.

I’m bringing the bowl into the living room when Maven gasps. When I turn the corner, I see that she’s looking at her phone, mouth wide open in shock.

“What’s going on?” I set the bowl on the coffee table.

She looks at me, her eyes falling to my stomach, and wordlessly holds out her phone. I frown, already knowing just by the shift in her eyes what I’m going to read, but I take it, turning it around so I see what’s on her screen.

No surprise when I see the Buzz Wheel app.

DID OUR WILD CHILD BAILEY GET MORE THAN SHE EXPECTED?

Seems our very own Harper Bailey may have gotten a little more than expected, in that she’s expecting! Pictured below is Harper with who is believed to be the father. Reports are that the two of them looked pretty cozy at Hudson and Palmer’s recent nuptials, and it seems that the magic in the bedroom may have resulted in a little magic bean!

Harper was spotted in neighboring Sunrise Bay buying prenatal vitamins, baby daddy in tow. Maybe it’s finally time for our forever bachelorette to settle down.

Congratulations to the expectant parents!

I scroll a little further down, and there’s a picture of Finn and myself in the store, and I’m holding the prenatal vitamins. As I hand back the phone, my eyes close, and I breathe in slowly. Fucking Buzz Wheel. I can’t believe it outed me before I’ve even told my parents.

My parents.

“I’ll explain later,” I call out as I rush to the front door, grab my purse and my keys, and bolt out of the house.

I fire up my car as soon as I get inside it, and my tires squeal as I back out of the driveway, heading toward my parents’. I’ve been trying to drive more responsibly since I found out I’m pregnant, but I throw all those intentions to the wind as I speed over to my parents’ house, praying I get to them before they catch wind of this from someone else. Or from looking at that damn app. It’s like a Lake Starlight ritual—finish your dinner, settle in for the night, pull up the app, and get the scuttlebutt of what’s going on in town.

I squeeze the steering wheel as I turn onto their street, heart racing.

I’d planned to tell them tomorrow, I really did. And I wasn’t looking forward to it. But them finding out like this makes it even worse.

As soon as I stop in their driveway, I throw the car in park and kill the engine. I pull the keys from the car, but leave my purse on the passenger seat, not wanting to waste the extra few seconds it would take for me to grab it.

I run up to the front door and don’t bother knocking. I just whip open the door and go inside, slamming it behind me, praying I don’t find them in the kitchen again. “Mom? Dad?”

No one answers, so I look through the house. They’re not in the dining room, not in the kitchen, but I stop short when I find them both in the living room.

“Is it true?” my mom asks with tears in her eyes.

My stomach sinks, water pooling in the corners of my own eyes. “Yes.”

I dissolve into tears and stand on shaky legs that might give way until my dad’s arms wrap around me. I hug him back, squeezing him tightly and not wanting to let him go. His scent reminds me of my childhood and the way he would always comfort me whenever I was upset or hurt. He always made me feel safe. He still does.

So I stay in his embrace until I have no more tears to shed. He gives one last rub down my back then pulls away, looking at me with concern. He squeezes my shoulder and leads me over to the couch to sit.

I force myself to look at my mother, bracing myself for the disappointment I’m sure I’ll see there. But it’s not disappointment, it’s sadness.

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