Page 129 of Keep My Heart
‘No, she wasn’t feeling well. She stayed home with Jen,Bryce’s girlfriend.’
‘Did she go to a doctor?’
‘Yeah. A couple weeks ago.’
‘She’s been sick for two weeks?’
He glances at me. ‘If I tell you this, you need to keep it a secret. We haven’t told anyone yet.’
‘Yeah, go ahead.’
‘Callie’s pregnant,’ he says, a huge smile filling his face.
‘Nash, that’s great! Congratulations!’
‘Thanks. It wasn’t planned. She was on the pill, but I guess it’s not a hundred percent because she’s definitely pregnant. The doctor confirmed it.’
‘How’s Callie feeling about it?’
‘She freaked out a little when she found out, but now she’s excited about the baby. We both are.’ He laughs a little. ‘I can’t believe I’m gonna be a dad. I’m still in shock that she’s pregnant. I didn’t expect this to happen for another few years.’
‘But you seem really happy about it.’
‘I’m more than happy,’ he says, still smiling. ‘I can’t fucking wait to hold that baby in my arms.’
I’m a little envious he’s got his life all planned out at 27, and I’m 33 and still figuring out where my life is going.
‘So does this change your wedding plans?’
‘Yeah, Callie wants to get married this fall, but I don’t know if we can pull it together that fast. All the event spaces in Chicago fill up a year in advance.’
‘What about having it outside?’
‘We’d be open to that. What are you thinking?’
‘The orchard. You could get married outside and have the reception in the barn where we had my mom’s party. The place is beautiful in the fall, overlooking the countryside with the changing leaves.’
‘That’s actually a really good idea. I’ll talk to Callie about it.’
‘When are you going to tell the family about the baby?’
‘We were going to tell them tonight at family dinner, but then we heard about your dad.’
‘You’re still doing those Sunday dinners?’
‘Every week. My dad insists, and you know my dad. He doesn’t take no for an answer. We’ll see how things go with Uncle Carl. If he’s doing okay, we’ll tell everyone next week.’
‘Maybe you should just tell them now. We could use some good news.’
‘I would, but Callie wants to be there when we tell everyone.’
‘Yeah, that makes sense.’ I go to take my phone from my pocket, then realize I don’t have it.
‘You want to try her again?’ Nash asks, handing me his phone.
‘Yeah, I just realized she might not have answered because she doesn’t recognize the number.’ I call her again and get her voicemail. I leave another message. ‘Hey, it’s me again. I forgot to tell you I lost my phone. I’m using Nash’s. I really need to talk to you. It’s important. Call me back at this number when you get this.’ I give Nash his phone. ‘I don’t know why she’s not answering. It’s really starting to worry me.’
‘Maybe she left her phone somewhere. I’m sure she’ll call when she’s able to.’
