Page 58 of Thick & Thin

“Okay. Okay. Well, it seems she’s gone and gotten herself pregnant.”

Relief filled me.

Jenny was okay.

Mom was obviously talking about someone else.

“Who?” I asked, feeling better about our conversation.

“Jenny.” She sighed. “Are you even listening to me?”

My heart paused, and I felt so dizzy I had to take a seat on my couch.

“Excuse me?” The question shredded my throat.

“I would have called you sooner, but I figured you guys were talking again.”

“We’re not.”

And whose fault was that?

Mine, that’s whose.

“Yeah, well, the entire town’s talking about it. Apparently, she went to Texas and got herself pregnant. Can you believe it?”

I couldn’t.

I didn’t want to.

Suddenly, I remembered the last time I saw her. The baggy sweats and T-shirt. The fullness of her face and the way she was glowing and smiling at the guy next to her. She looked happy.

No.

She had looked pregnant, and I hadn’t even noticed.

I had pushed her away.

I wanted her to stay away for her safety, but it had only been a month.

How could she move on so quickly?

Did she ever love me?

“Is she back in South Carolina?” I asked, the question coming out broken and raspy.

“Yeah. She’s staying at her daddy’s place. I think she quit school, too. She was so smart. I can’t believe she’s ruined her future this way.”

I covered my mouth to keep the cry of anguish from sounding in the phone. Jenny had moved on. She was having a baby. She was starting a family. The one thing I wouldn’t be able to give her, and she had gone and collected it without a second thought about me. Sure, she was young, and I was sure it was throwing a wrench in her plans, but at least it was possible for her.

“I’m sorry, honey. I know she was your best friend. She practically lived here. She was such a sweet girl. I really do hate seeing her go downhill like this.”

I could no longer keep the tears and hurt at bay. I didn’t want my mother to hear me break.

“Hey, Mom, can I call you back in a bit?”

“Oh. Yeah, hon, that’s fine. Just call me back. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Mom,” I said, before hanging up and setting my cell on the table beside me.

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