Page 55 of This Memory
They visibly relaxed.
“Don’t scare us like that, Bry!” Cadie said with a shake of her head.
Drawing in a deep breath, I slowly let it out. “I think…I think I might be falling for Gavin.”
When they just gave me blank expressions, I frowned.
“Did you hear me?”
Harper spoke first. “Oh, that was it? There isn’t more?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Brystol, that’s not news. You’vealwaysliked Gavin.”
“I know, Aurora, but it was asafelike.”
Harper raised her brows. “A safe like?”
I nodded. “Yeah, the kind where you can like a guy in private, and he doesn’t know, and you don’t risk getting your heart broken by him.”
All three of them exchanged looks before their eyes were back on me.
“You’re afraid Gavin will hurt you?” Cadie asked. “Why?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Because he has before.”
Aurora got up and sat next to me on the sofa. “But not on purpose, Bry. And that was high school. He’s a grown man.”
I dropped my head onto her shoulder. “I know. I know!”
“Did you know he came into the store the other day and asked if we had a copy ofWhat toExpect When You’re Expecting?”
Lifting my head, I whipped it around to gape at her. “He did?”
She smiled as she nodded. “He also picked up some children’s books while he was in there. Two of them he asked me to give to Winnie. I suggested he read them to her instead, the next time I brought her to the store, if he was free.”
Snorting, I asked, “Did he say hell no?”
Her smile faded a bit, and she gave me a look that I would swear said she felt sorry for me. “No, he said he’d come in and volunteer for story time, and I told him thatwould be amazing, especially if he were dressed in his uniform, because the kids would love that. And he agreed.”
My heart tripped over itself. “Well, ifthatdoesn’t turn a girl on…”
They all chuckled.
“I don’t know why I’m always trying to see the worst in him,” I said, reaching for my tea again.
Aurora stood and got hers before sitting back down next to me. I rested my head back on her shoulder.
“I’m scared, you guys,” I whispered. “I’m so scared because I can see myself falling head over heels in love with Gavin.” Lifting my head, I shook it slowly. “He asked me if he could talk to Evelyn and Denny on my behalf, about the pressure they’ve been putting on me to tell everyone about the baby.”
“You don’t want to?” Cadie asked.
“I do, but I thought we should wait until after the first trimester. I thought with Evelyn’s history she’d want to wait, but I think in her mind I’m carrying the baby and nothing can go wrong now. My mother lost her first baby at eleven weeks and her second baby at ten weeks. I just don’t want to tell everyone, and then if something happens…”
I let my words fade away with the steam from my tea.
“Do you think I shouldn’t have a say in it? Since it’s not my baby?” I asked.
