In Case You Didn’t Know

by Samantha Chase

  With a sad smile, he said, “No. Not really. And it doesn’t really matter anymore.”

  Tommy gave him a sympathetic look. “That’s too bad. I’m sorry.”

  “It happens, right?” He was going for a light tone, but emotion had him by the throat. It took him a minute before he could talk again. “Sorry.”

  “So this is…uh…new, huh?”

  Ugh. Did he really want to talk relationships right now? And with Scarlett’s grandfather who had no idea it was his granddaughter they were talking about?

  “Yes,” he replied and then quickly changed the subject. “Look, I can’t guarantee anything right now. If you were interested in keeping the bar and doing the updates and renovations, I do know someone with knowledge of the restaurant business. And as for the conversation you overheard, it was the first one I had on the subject. But as soon as I know something, Mr. Flynn, I’d be more than happy to sit down and talk with you about it.”

  Standing, Tommy smiled down at him. “Your great-grandfather would be very proud, Mason. He loved this town more than anyone else and I know he’d be thrilled to see what you’re trying to do.”

  Mason came to his feet. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

  “I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other. I’d like it if you could maybe come down to the bar for lunch one day next week so we can talk some more about where we realistically see things going.”

  “I’d like that very much, sir.”

  They shook hands. “And call me Tommy. That’s what all my friends do.” And with a nod, he turned and walked out of the office.

  “You look like hammered shit.”

  Groaning, Scarlett curled back up on her sofa and ignored her best friend’s poor excuse of a greeting. “It’s good to see you too.”

  Sitting on the coffee table, Courtney studied her. “Scar, this can’t still be from nerves. You yelled at your grandfather. So what? The sky didn’t fall and Tommy wouldn’t hold a grudge–especially not against you.”

  “There’s a stomach bug going around. Hunter told me.”

  Pulling back slightly, Courtney looked around nervously. “Maybe I should go…”

  “Too late,” Scarlett murmured. “You’ve already breathed the air. Deal with it.”

  “But I don’t want to be sick!” she whined as she fought a smile. “Can you eat anything? Want me to make you some soup or something?”

  “No, it’s okay. My brother brought some over earlier.”

  Courtney straightened and immediately began fidgeting with her hair. “Oh…um…really? Which, uh…which brother?”

  Frowning at how weird her friend was acting, Scarlett said, “Dean. Why?”

  Looking a little wide-eyed, Courtney replied, “No reason. Just curious.” She jumped to her feet. “But um…you should probably rest.”

  “Just knock it off, will you?” Scarlett said wearily.

  Sitting back down on the coffee table, Courtney studied her. “Okay, I’m totally not trying to be a drama queen or to freak you out, but…have you thought about this…you know…not being a stomach virus?”

  Scarlett wasn’t going to pretend that she didn’t know what she was talking about. “I have.”

  “And?”

  “And…I’m trying not to think about it. It would…oh, God…it would be so incredibly awkward! How would I even tell Mason?”

  They were both quiet for a moment. “Well, for starters, we’d order an everything pizza to eat while we discuss how you’ll do it. Then, we’d have to eat at least a gallon of cookies and cream ice cream while I convince you that you can say and do all the things we discussed.”

  “You do realize that just the thought of food right now makes me want to vomit, right?”

  Waving her off, Courtney continued. “We’d sit on the couch with our hands on our bellies because we ate too much–even though we’d secretly be thinking how we should have made brownies to go with the ice cream.”

  “In other words, our usual.”

  Laughing, Courtney agreed. “Sure. Our usual, just on steroids. We could totally do that.” She went quiet for a moment before letting out a long breath. “You know you need to get a legit answer to that, right?”

  Unfortunately, she did.

  “I know.”

  Another long sigh. “Okay, how about I run to the drug store and get a test? I’ll be right here with you and…you know…at least you’ll know, right?”

  A wave of nausea washed over her at the thought of that, but if anything, Scarlett was a realist. Squeezing her eyes shut, she said, “Just go and do it before I chicken out!”

  Courtney was up and running out the door and promising to be back in a jiffy. It didn’t matter how fast she returned. Scarlett knew she wasn’t mentally prepared for any of it. The night the condom broke she and Mason had talked about all the what ifs until she thought she’d lose her mind. But the reality of it? Um…yeah. It was nothing like she imagined. They had talked about it like they would be calm and practical, but there was nothing calm or practical about the way she was feeling right now. And what was worse, she had no idea if Mason would either.

  Probably not.

  Not after the way she lashed out at him when she last saw him.

  Damn her and her big mouth.

  With her eyes still closed, she willed herself to try to relax until Courtney got back. She was almost asleep when she heard the front door open and her friend coming toward her. Forcing herself to sit up, she sighed.

  Without a word, Courtney held out the bag and Scarlett took and walked to her bathroom like someone would walk to their execution.

  And ten minutes later, she repeated the walk–but this time Courtney was right there beside her holding her hand.

  “I don’t want to look,” Scarlett whined and hated how she sounded. “Can’t we just say it’s the stomach bug and move on?”

  Hugging her close, Courtney rested her head on Scarlett’s shoulder. “We could, but I have a feeling we’d just be doing this again next week.”

  “Dammit.” She paused. “Can you look?”

  “Dude, you peed on that stick. I’m not touching it.”

  Rolling her eyes, Scarlett straightened and knew what she had to do. “It’s like ripping off a Band-Aid, right?”

  “Yup.”

  Looking over her shoulder, she saw her BFF looking just as nervous as she did, and for some reason, it made her feel better. Letting out a long breath, she took a step toward her vanity and looked down.

  Pregnant.

  Without conscious thought, her hand went to her stomach as she stared down at the words on the stick until they blurred. Courtney came to stand beside her and they stayed like that for several minutes. Tears stung Scarlett’s eyes and she finally looked away. “Okay…now what?”

  Wrapping one arm around her shoulders, Courtney led them from the bathroom. “First, we leave the bathroom. Then…we maybe go up to the urgent care and see if they can give you something for the nausea until you can get in to see your doctor.”

  Scarlett nodded. “Okay.”

  “Then…we figure out how to get you to eat without vomiting so we can stay up all night and talk about how you’re going to tell Mason he’s going to be a daddy.”

  And just like that, she knew she was going to be sick again. Pushing away from Courtney, she made the short run back to the bathroom.

  Once she was done, she did her best to freshen up. On the other side of the door, she could hear Courtney cleaning the place up. She was a bit of a neat freak and as much as she would normally be teasing her for it, right now she appreciated it. For almost a week she had been too tired and too sick to do just about anything. Her laundry was piled high and so was the kitchen sink with dirty dishes. It was starting to make her crazy but any time she got up to try to do anything, she would start to feel dizzy and queasy and needed to lie down.

  Opting to skip looking in the mirror for fear of scaring herself, Scarlett ran a brush through her hair
and walked back out into the living room where she found Courtney wiping down the coffee table. In the short time she’d been in her bedroom, Courtney wiped down everything, picked up the trash and sprayed the place with disinfectant.

  And the smell was nauseating.

  “Uh-oh…you’re looking a little green again,” she said, gently grasping her shoulders. “Do you need to run to the bathroom or is it safe to get you into the car?”

  It took a few minutes before she could answer with any certainty. “The car. Let’s get this over with. I need some of that anti-nausea stuff so I can function like a normal person.”

  Together they walked out to the car and fifteen minutes later they were sitting in the waiting room of the local urgent care.

  It took an hour, but after a test to confirm her pregnancy and an IV to help her dehydration, they were in Courtney’s car and on their way back to Scarlett’s.

  “I’ll drop you off at your place and then go pick up the prescription for you.”

  “Thanks,” she replied distractedly.

  “Want me to pick up something for dinner on the way back?”

  She shrugged. “Only if you’re hungry. I still feel too iffy.”

  Courtney sighed. “I get it, Scar, but you are going to have to try to eat. That’s really important.”

  Now wasn’t the time to point out how much she’d love to eat, and how her body was rejecting it all. “I could go for some egg drop soup,” she said wearily. “If you don’t mind Chinese takeout.”

  As if sensing she wasn’t really in the mood to talk, the rest of the drive was made in silence. Back at the house, Scarlett went in alone and struggled with whether or not she should call Mason right now and just get it over with, or if she needed some time to come to grips with everything herself.

  “Come to grips first,” she murmured, sitting down on the sofa. “Look at what happened the last time you spoke to him without thinking things through first.”

  Yeah. That was going to be a big hurdle for her to overcome.

  With her head thrown back against the cushions, she closed her eyes and wondered–not for the first time–what she was going to do.

  In a perfect world, she and Mason would still be together. He would have been the one walking into the bathroom with her, holding her hand and telling her everything was going to be okay.

  Not that Courtney didn’t do a stellar job, but…still.

  They would be the ones sitting down to eat Chinese food and talking about how it was all going to be all right–how they were unconventional and how it wasn’t weird since they’d known each other since grade school. Then he’d pull her in close, kiss her on the top of her head, and talk about what awesome parents they were going to be right before he told her he loved her.

  Tears stung her eyes and her heart ached at how much she wanted that scenario to be a reality.

  Who says it won’t?

  Sadly, Scarlett was a realist and there wasn’t anything that had ever happened in her life to make her believe she could have something so amazing happen to her. Things like that…they just didn’t. She was the girl who lost her mother too soon. The girl who became a tomboy because she was raised by a group of men. The girl who was a closet girly-girl because she was too scared to show another side of herself.

  And the girl who let the boy get away…

  With a groan, she forced herself to get up off the couch and get drinks and plates and silverware for dinner. It was mindless work, but it was a distraction from her sad thoughts.

  Once she was done, she wandered around the house, starting up her laundry and continuing the cleanup Courtney began earlier. The sound of her phone ringing startled her and she was surprised to see her brother Dean’s name on the screen. She’d already talked to him today–and every day since she got sick. What could he possibly want now?

  “Hey,” she said, a little breathless. “What’s up?”

  “Have you seen Courtney?”

  That was…not what she was expecting. “Yeah, why?”

  “I just ran into her at the drug store and she was acting weird.”

  “O-kay…”

  “And I know I heard them call your name at the pharmacy counter, not hers, and when I asked her about it, she told me I was crazy and then practically sprinted out the door! What’s going on, Scarlett?”

  Well…crap. “She was just picking up some anti-nausea stuff for me, that’s all. No big deal. No need to freak out. I mean, you don’t ever pay any attention to Courtney and how she acts or reacts or…anything! Seriously, why the third degree?”

  “Why are you rambling?” he asked, with a slightly annoyed tone.

  “I’m not rambling. You’re rambling!” she countered and wanted to kick herself. “And I don’t appreciate you grilling my friends. For crying out loud, why would you freak out Courtney like that?”

  “Who said she was freaked out?” he demanded and yeah, now he sounded totally annoyed. “What is going on with you, Scarlett?”

  “I already told you. Nothing! Geez, relax, bro!”

  “That’s it. I’m coming over…”

  “No!” she cried. “You…you can’t!”

  “Why?”

  She groaned. “Look, we’re having a girls’ night, okay? I’m tired of throwing up. I’m starting to feel better and she’s helping me out by picking up the prescription I got from my doctor so just…don’t come over, okay?”

  His sigh was audible. “I worry about you, squirt. When I stopped by earlier you didn’t mention going to the doctor.”

  “Yeah, well…Court talked me into it.”

  “When I tried telling you to do that, you yelled at me.”

  “Yeah, well…Courtney told me to stop being a baby.”

  He chuckled softly. “Well…good for her then and…tell her I’m sorry for freaking her out.”

  “I’m sure she’ll get over it.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her eyes go quite so wide,” he said, still laughing slightly. “Maybe I should apologize in person…”

  “Stop trying to find excuses to come over,” she whined, totally onto him. “I’ll tell her you’re sorry. I’m fine, we’re all fine, and you just go back to doing…whatever it is that you do, okay?”

  “Fine. Whatever.” He tried to sound grumpy, but it totally wasn’t his thing. If anything, Dean was serious, responsible, and levelheaded. He never got angry or in a bad mood. It was adorable when he tried.

  “I’m sure I’ll talk to you tomorrow so…have a good night,” she said.

  “Night, squirt.”

  Ten

  For the better part of a week, Mason put in long hours trying to implement his plans for the cleanup down on the north end of town. His sisters managed to get a team of about fifty volunteers. Then Sam donated two days’ worth of equipment use and crews followed by Jake Summerford doing the same with his equipment and crews. And as if that wasn’t enough, the local businesses who were located in the north part of town arranged for their own team of people to help out. If his calculations were correct, there would be over a hundred people donating their time and energy to paving the way to a revitalization in that part of town. It felt good to know things were coming together.

  His parents offered their help and as much as Mason wanted to scoff at the offer, he knew they could be beneficial in raising money for the cause. When his mother had questioned his need to put work into “that part of town,” he simply said that Magnolia Sound was home and it included all of it, not just the already-pretty parts.

  It was shocking how she didn’t argue.

  What wasn’t surprising was how she immediately segued into asking if he was still hanging around “that Jones girl.” He’d done his best to change the subject and after several minutes of snipping back and forth, he did something he was discovering to be most effective–he firmly told her it was none of her business.

  Then he’d hung up, so…

  The sound of his office phone ringing snap
ped him out of his musings. “Mason Bishop.”

  “Mason, it’s Tommy! How’s it goin’?”

  It was still a little mind-boggling that Tommy Flynn now considered him a friend when he had initially done his best to intimidate him, but…Mason really liked the old guy. Not only did he know a lot of the town’s history, but he single-handedly opened the dialogue between Mason and all the businesses in the north end. And while one of those businesses included Scarlett’s father and brother’s shop, he’d done his best to keep everything on a professional level and not ask how she was doing.

  And it was still slowly killing him.

  Three weeks.

  It had been three weeks since he’d seen or talked to her and he couldn’t seem to move on. He’d lost count of how many times he picked up the phone to call her and then stopped himself.

  You’re awful. I wish I had just walked away from you the night of the concert. This entire relationship was a mistake.

  Yeah, those words came to mind every damn time and it didn’t matter that it was just in his head. He felt the sting of them as if she were standing right there in front of him and saying them to his face all over again.

  So he’d reached out to her in a more professional manner and contacted her through her website to see if she’d be interested in helping with the campaign to clean up the north end. And other than a generic auto-generated response thanking him for his inquiry, he hadn’t heard from her.

  He wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

  “Mason? You there?”

  Oh, right. Tommy. “Yeah, um…sorry. I’m a little distracted at the moment.”

  “So this is a bad time, huh?”

  “What? Oh, no. Really. It’s okay. What’s going on?”

  “I was wondering if you could come down to the bar for lunch. I swear we’ll make you something good,” he said with a hint of humor. “I found some of the original plans my wife had made for this place all those years ago and…I thought maybe…you know…you might want to see them and see if they’re something we can use.”

  “Yeah, sure,” he agreed. “I’d like that. How does twelve-thirty sound?”