Page 62 of The Complication with the Best Man

“Harp,” Dad says.

The next second, Finn says behind me, “Are these the ones you need?”

And this is the problem with small towns. Only one grocery store and my parents decide to go shopping the exact same time Finn and I do, meaning their first meeting is in the bread aisle. Great.

Giving my parents a smile, I motion to Finn beside me. “Mom. Dad. This is Finn. The baby daddy.” I hold out my arm to him as if I’m a game show host showing the prize they won. Hello, this is Finn, and he’s going to be a part of your life forever because he’s the father of your first grandchild. I hope you like him.

Finn makes a choking sound and whips his head in my direction then looks back at my parents.

My mom rolls her eyes and shakes her head while my dad looks him up and down, appraising him as if he’s the new RV he just won.

My mom is the first one to recover from the shock. She wheels her cart to meet mine and holds her hand out to Finn. “Forgive my daughter’s bluntness. I’m Holly Bailey. It’s good to finally meet you, Finn.”

He shakes her hand, his face as red as the tomatoes we picked while asking how we know if they’re ripe. “Likewise. Good to meet you too, sir.” Finn moves his hand in front of my dad.

“Austin.” The four of us stand in awkward silence before my dad breaks it. “Any luck finding a place?”

“No, sir. Nothing has come up in Lake Starlight. I’d considered moving to Anchorage for the time being, even if it wasn’t ideal, but that feels too far from Harper and the baby. Plus, I’m working at the fire station here in town now, so?—”

“Yes, congratulations,” my mom interrupts, and I give her a look of gratefulness that she’s stopped the conversation of us living together. “Stella told me you got your foot in the door there. That’s wonderful. You were a firefighter back in Vermont, I take it?”

Finn goes on to explain how long he’d been in firefighting in Vermont and how he got into it in the first place. I listen with rapt attention as he details a fire at one of his friend’s houses when he was there for a sleepover growing up and how as soon as he saw the firefighters fighting the blaze, he knew that’s what he wanted to do.

He’s still holding the prenatal vitamins, and I reach for them while he’s talking. He passes them over while chatting with my parents, and I realize these aren’t the ones I want.

“I’m just going to go grab the right ones,” I say.

“Shit. Sorry, I thought those are the ones you have on the counter.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

I turn to leave, but my mom calls, “I’ll come with you.” She steps up beside me.

“Holly,” Dad says.

“You boys can find something to talk about until we get back.” She hooks her arm through mine. When we’re walking down the aisle that houses the vitamins and supplements, she leans in and says, “You two look… comfortable with each other.”

We stop in front of the vitamins, and I jut out my hip and cross my arms. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She raises her hands in front of her. “Nothing at all. Just that living together must be going well.”

I roll my eyes. “There’s nothing going on between us.”

She nods slowly. “Hmm.”

“I’m serious.”

She raises her hands. “It’s not any of my business.”

My head tilts. “True. But just so you know, there is nothing going on.”

“All right, all right. I’ll just say that, as your mother, if youwereconsidering pursuing something, be very sure you think it has legs. Getting into something casual with the father of your child could make for problems down the road.”

I huff out a sigh. “I know, Mom.”

“I just worry about you, sweetie. And this little one.” She pats the small bump on my stomach, eyes alite with joy. “You’ve popped.”

“Yes.”

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