Page 50 of Match My Fall
“Canwe?”Paigeturned to her mother.
Cassandrabit her lower lip before replying. “Perhaps.”
Whatwas with her hesitation?WasItaking this dinner too far by suggesting a ski trip?Conversationflowed.Butthen there were moments of silence whenCassandra’ssmile faded, and she appeared troubled.
Thefood arrived, and we dug in, but the tension lingered, andIcouldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.Paigefinished her meal and went to the bathroom, leavingCassandraand me alone.
Itook her hand, tracing circles on her palm with my thumb. “Iseverything okay?”
Shemet my gaze, her eyes clouded with worry. “I’mjust...nervous.”
“Abouttonight?”Iknew it might be somewhat awkward to meetPaigeconsideringCassandrasaid she didn’t often date, butIthought it went well so far. “IthinkPaigeis great.Andshe doesn’t seem to hate me,”Iadded with a grin.
“No, it’s not that, it’s…”Cassandrapursed her lips. “Nevermind.Nowisn’t the right time.”
Somethingwas bothering her, butIdidn’t want to push and ruin the evening.Paigereturned, eager to have her ice cream cup for dessert.
“What’syour favorite kind of ice cream?”Iasked her.
“Cookiedough,” she declared without hesitation. “Herethey give us cups with chocolate and vanilla.It’spretty good.”Shetipped her head and asked, “Areyou getting dessert?”
“Sure.”Inodded. “Letme see what they have.”Ipicked up a menu that the server had left for us.Nokiddie ice cream cups, but they had apple pie with vanilla ice cream, which sounded good to me.IaskedCassandraif she wanted to share.
Atfirst, she declined but then said, “Sure, why not?”
Thethree of us enjoyed our desserts.Whenit was time to leave, they both thanked me.AfterPaigewas in the car,Cassandraasked, “Canyou stop by in a couple of hours, afterPaigegoes to bed?”
Asense of unease washed over me.Judgingby the worry on her face, it wasn’t because she wanted me to sleep over. “Ofcourse.”
Sheforced a smile and said, “Thanksagain.”Thenshe climbed into her car and drove out of the lot.
Nowwhat?Ihad a couple of hours to kill.Ididn’t want to return to my hotel.Whatwas onCassandra’smind?HadIsaid something stupid or inappropriate at dinner?Ididn’t remember doing so, but what didIknow about being a good parent or role model?Nothing.
Itwas a good time to check out one of the locations thatSebastianhad told me about.Idrove to a forest he’d mentioned that wasn’t far fromSalem.Afterheading deep into the woods,Iremoved my clothes and stashed them in an empty space at the base of a tree trunk.ThenIshifted to wolf form and let him explore the scents of this new location.
Afteran hour or so,Ishifted back to human form, dressed, and drove toCassandra’shouse.
Shewelcomed me into the living room and sat on the sofa. “Paigeis in bed.”
“Okay.”Isat beside her.
Sheadjusted her position a few times. “Idon’t know how to tell you this—soIguessIshould blurt it out.”Shetook a deep breath and exhaled with a low whoosh. “Valen,I’m—”Shegrabbed a lock of hair and twisted it. “I’mpregnant.”
CHAPTER14
VALEN
Mybrain slowed to sludge asItried to process the words. “Pregnant?”
Shenodded, glancing down at the sofa cushion. “Yes.”
WhenIblinked, even that moved in slow motion. “Howdo you know?”
Sheraised her gaze to meet mine. “Itook a pregnancy test at lunch today, and it was positive.”
“But…”Isputtered. “Butwe used protection.”
Sheshrugged. “Iknow.”Shemotioned to me. “Likeyou said, they’re not one-hundred percent effective.”
