My Perfect Fix (The Fix Book 4)

by Carey Heywood

  “Other than your parents and grandpa, does anyone else know?”

  Rissa is fishing and we both know it. What she should have asked was, does Gideon know?

  My gaze remains on my reflection and I watch my hand smooth over my now slightly rounded middle. “No one else knows.”

  “Lu.”

  “What? It’s not like I’m that close with anyone here yet. What did you expect?”

  There’s an exhale, one I can tell from previous experience is an aggravated one. “Has Gideon been around?”

  Turning away from the mirror, I climb onto my bed. “He’s been in and out.”

  “Well, why haven’t you told him?”

  Finally, she’s being more direct. “Well, when he’s in, I make a point to be out.”

  “What is wrong with you?”

  What’s wrong with me?

  There’re only a million possible answers to that question. If I could narrow the list down I might be able to fix the train wreck that is my life.

  Falling onto my back, I stare up at the ceiling. “Babe, I’m in shoveling shit mode. All I’m focused on is working my ass off. For every book I can squeeze into my schedule, I can pad my bank account a little bit more.”

  “I get that you’re shoveling shit. I just don’t think you have to be doing it alone when it seems like Gideon could be there for you. Why won’t you admit you like him?”

  Gideon is...

  Kind

  Sweet

  Hot

  Funny

  Amazing

  Perfect

  Gideon, no matter how much as the people in my life want to push me toward him, does not need a pregnant headcase.

  “Why are you acting like you need to panic? You’re months and months away from your delivery.”

  She so doesn’t get it. “Months are not years. Come on, you know how expensive healthcare is. If I have any complications I’m going to be out of pocket on those and then, even if everything goes perfectly, my rate will go up a ton once the baby is here.”

  It’s wrong to compare but, all she’s worried about at the moment is last minute Christmas presents.

  I have to plan for different things right now so I can be prepared for the future.

  “You need someone local to be able to share your load.”

  Share my load?

  Bolting uptight, my blood pressure rising, I ask, “Are you joking? There’s no way I could do that. I support myself.”

  If she were here, and not thousands of miles away, I’d throw something at her.

  “Don’t assume I was talking about money. Geez, you are so sensitive right now. I meant emotional support. Someone you can vent to in person.”

  My anger evaporates. “I don’t need that.”

  “Everyone needs that,” she counters.

  “Fine, in that case I have my grandpa.”

  “Stop lying just to try and win an argument. You’re not going to dump your mental crap on him because you won’t want to bother him with any of it.”

  She’s right. “That’s not true.”

  Her laughter comes through the phone before she says, “Prove it. Have you told him you’ve sped up your narrating schedule to increase your income?”

  I hate the way she can see right through the white lies I even tell myself. “I haven’t.”

  “You need a person.”

  “I thought you were my person.”

  She sighs. “You need an extra person.”

  At least she didn’t dispute what I said. “Okay, I’ll make a local girlfriend.”

  “Who?”

  As I rack my brain to see if I know any women not connected with Gideon, I get up to get some water. My body is adjusting to the extra hours behind my microphone. I’m drinking more water, and hot tea with honey, than ever.

  “I’ll find someone.”

  “Why not Abby, Finley, or Paige?”

  Grrr. “Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to. Getting close to his family would only further complicate things.”

  “You’re no fun.”

  “You still love me.”

  Before she can say anything else, I decide now is the perfect opportunity for a subject change. “How goes the Japanese boyfriend search?”

  She laughs, the happy sound of it making me smile.

  “Apart from creating a visual board of my favorite actors and models, nowhere.”

  “You made a vision board to find a new boyfriend?”

  Why am I not surprised?

  “I did. Hey, maybe you should make a vision board.”

  I finish my glass and refill it. “I don’t think I need one.”

  “Come on, they’re an awesome way to tell the universe what you want. Like right now, what’s the one thing you want most in the world?”

  I don’t hesitate. “Money.”

  I can sense her eye roll. “Fine, money, but what’s important is you need to picture in your mind what you’d do with the money.”

  “All I want is to save it, not spend any of it.”

  “That’s so uninspired. Just imagine all the things you could do with a big wad of cash. You could vision board out how you’ll decorate the baby’s room, and some play gyms for the backyard. Hell, go big and dream build an entire house.”

  Now, planning out the baby’s room and some fun toys isn’t a bad idea. An entire house on the other hand, is.

  “I’d build this house.”

  She scoffs. “All the money in the world and you’d stay right where you are?”

  “Yep.”

  The doorbell rings, making me jump. “Hey Rissa, I have to go, someone’s at the door.”

  “All right. I’ll text you a pic of my board. Let me know what you think.”

  Phone still to my ear, I move toward the entrance. “I will. Love you.”

  “Love you too. Bye.”

  Slipping my phone into the front pouch of my hoodie, I lean to look through the peephole and am surprised to see Abby on the other side.

  What on earth could she want?

  Pulling open the front door, I push the screen door out in invitation. “Hey.”

  She steps in, holding her arms out wide for a hug. “Sorry to drop by unexpectedly.”

  Awkwardly, I step into her embrace. “It’s good to see you.”

  “I should have called first. Is now a good time?”

  There’s no reason to avoid her. “Now is great.”

  She gives me a squeeze before taking a step away. “Awesome, Gideon is on the way with food.”

  My eyes bug. “What?”

  She slips her arm through mine and leads me into my living room. “We thought it’d be fun to surprise you.”

  Is this Gideon’s way of getting around my whole avoiding him strategy?

  It’d not only be rude but obvious if I tried to bail on them now. “You guys didn’t have to do that.”

  Releasing my arm, she gracefully lowers herself onto my couch and gestures for me to join her. “Gideon mentioned you’ve been busy. This is our way of forcing you to take it easy for a bit.”

  Kind with a touch of overbearing, and exactly what my mom would be doing if she still lived in New Hampshire. “Did my mom or grandpa put you up to this?”

  Even though it’s a joke, I wouldn’t be shocked if she says yes.

  She shakes her head with a laugh. “Nope, it was all Gideon’s idea.”

  I see.

  The doorbell rings. Speak of the devil.

  Abby jumps up. “I’ll get it.”

  Willing to take the extra minute or two before I’ll have to interact with her brother, I let her.

  “Hey Gid,” She says as she lets him in.

  He’s carrying a couple takeout bags, and whatever is in them smells amazing. Maybe I’ll forgive their little ploy since there’s food involved.

  Abby takes the bags from him and heads to the kitchen with them. I should help her but around this time every day my energy level plummets.


  Gideon stands in front of me. “I figured you’d be busy. It’s lucky we caught you at a good time.”

  So annoying.

  “Lucky,” I manage.

  He grins at me. Bastard knows he beat me at my own game.

  “Gideon, come give me a hand,” Abby calls.

  He winks at me — freaking winks at me — before walking out of the room.

  If I had enough energy to get off of the couch, I’d consider killing him.

  I feel bad for not helping them but console myself with the fact they showed up unannounced. Sure, two wrongs don’t make a right but it does ease my guilt.

  Abby returns and sets a plate of buffalo wings in front of me. “I hope you’re hungry.”

  Gideon’s ability to pinpoint my food cravings is somewhat unnerving.

  Gideon is a couple steps behind her, carrying two more plates.

  It’s his eyes I find. “I am. Thank you.”

  Once all of the food is laid out on my coffee table, Abby surprises me by walking away. “I want to check out the spare bathroom remodel before I forget.”

  Gideon stares after her. “The bathroom isn’t going anywhere.”

  He looks back at me. “What would you like to drink?”

  I start to stand. “I can get it.”

  He makes to stop me but I avoid him and move as fast as my exhausted body can take me.

  I’m winded by the time I reach the fridge and use the door handle to help hold myself upright. God, why am I so stubborn.

  Pulling the door open, I force my voice to sound cheerful as I ask, “Want a beer?”

  The heat of his chest warms my back as he reaches around to grab two beers.

  Is one of those for me? “I was going to have water.”

  He sets both cans on the counter and again reaches into the fridge, this time to pull out my water pitcher. I close the door and lean against it as he pours me a glass.

  With concerned eyes, he hands the glass to me and motions for me to return to the living room. My body wars between wanting to eat everything they brought to falling asleep.

  I’m saved from deciding on either when Abby reappears. “You did a great job in there.”

  Gideon offers her a beer. “I thought it turned out good.”

  She passes me a heavy duty paper plate. “Do you have any more projects planned?”

  Gideon claims the seat next to me on the couch while Abby pulls an armchair closer to the coffee table. “Let’s get Lucy fed before we go down that rabbit hole.”

  He takes my plate from me and begins serving me a bit of everything they unpacked.

  “You don’t have to do that,” I argue, reaching for my plate.

  “Already done,” He says, pushing the wings aside and setting my now full plate in front of me.

  I blink down at it. “Thank you.”

  He offers me a plastic fork. “Dig in.”

  It’s not until I take my first bite that he answers Abby’s earlier question. “I need to change out the fiberglass insulation with spray foam insulation before we get too far into winter. I also have some firewood being delivered next week. I need to load that into the back shed.”

  Abby smacks her leg before pulling her cell from her back pocket. “Who did you use? I keep forgetting to order some and figured places were done delivering this winter.”

  Gideon sets down his fork and tugs his cell phone free from his back pocket. I can’t help but notice they both use the same side pocket.

  “I’ll text you the contact info. I’d call right now and leave a message.”

  Abby nods, and as he instructs, leaves the firewood vendor a message right away.

  Once she’s done leaving the message, she sets her phone face down on the coffee table. “Sorry about that. I don’t know why I can’t seem to remember to order firewood.”

  Morning sickness.

  So far, it hasn’t plagued me as much as I assumed it would from the pregnancies I’ve seen in movies and on TV. I mainly get it in the evening, when I’m settling down for bed. While I do get nauseous, I haven’t actually thrown up. It only lasts about thirty minutes or so, and now that I keep some bland crackers by my bed, it hasn’t been that big of a deal.

  Because of this, I wasn’t ready for a wave of nausea to hit me when I attempted to eat some potato salad. Dropping my fork on my paper plate, I cover my mouth with both hands and gag. Two pairs of wide eyes blink in surprise at me. I don’t have time to worry about what they might be thinking. No, I need to get to the bathroom because this nausea is ten times worse than any of the other bouts I’ve experienced.

  Footsteps sound behind me but I don’t look back. My body folds in half with each violent gag. As soon as I reach the bathroom, I drop to my knees in front of the toilet, lift the lid, and retch into it.

  Hands smooth back my hair as I grip cool porcelain and empty the contents of my stomach.

  A large hand gently rubs my back. “Get it all out.”

  This is mortifying and I know I’ll be embarrassed once my body stops throwing a tantrum.

  “Do you think she has the flu, or maybe a stomach bug?” Abby asks.

  “She was okay a minute ago. Do me a favor and wet a washcloth with cold water.”

  My eyes start leaking, not because I’m sad, since my nose joins the fun and starts running at the same time. It’s like my body decided to forcibly expel all fluids from my head.

  At this point, I have no idea how much time has passed. It could have been three minutes, it could have been three hours.

  Gideon, who I’m now sure is the one holding my hair, presses a cold cloth to the back of my neck. The cool is both heavenly and borderline painful.

  Slowly, I lift my head to look at Abby since Gideon is still behind me. “Sorry about that.”

  Abby’s lips part. “Don’t apologize. Are you okay?”

  I nod and start to stand. Before I get far, another wave crashes over me. My body contorts as it tries to force out something that is no longer there.

  Gideon’s big hand is like an anchor, keeping me from toppling backward. “Jesus. Should we take her to the hospital?”

  Abby’s voice is hushed and full of concern. “Maybe.”

  “No, I’m fine.” I manage to squeak out, drool dripping from my mouth.

  “Bullshit.” Gideon’s tone is clipped.

  Pushing away from the toilet, I swivel and sit. From here, I can see both of their faces.

  I pull the damp towel from my neck and wipe my mouth. “I promise. I’m okay.”

  Gideon frowns. “Not buying it. We’re taking you to the hospital.”

  I give him a sad smile. “No really, I already know what’s wrong with me.”

  He folds arms across his chest. “I can carry you.”

  Shaking my head, I scoot farther away from him.

  His face softens. “Give me one good reason not to make you go.”

  “I’m pregnant.”

  13

  Gideon

  December 25th

  With presents tucked under my arm, I knock on her door. Getting a present for a pregnant friend you like more than a friend is normal. What I’m doing is no big deal. Telling myself that over and over while I sneak away from my family’s Christmas party isn’t really working. Still, when I saw the little teddy bear with its red ribbon bow I knew I had to get it for her baby, and the orange and yellow dish reminded me of the peach ring outfit she was wearing the first time I saw her.

  One of the curtains in the living room moves, and a minute later the front door opens. “Gideon. What are you doing here?”

  Shifting the presents into her arms, I say. “Merry Christmas.”

  She gapes at me before she manages. “Do you want to come in?”

  I shake my head, not wanting it to get awkward. “I have to get back before anyone notices I’m missing.”

  Her eyes move down to the wrapped boxes in her arms. “You didn’t have to get me anything.”

  “I know.”
r />   She gulps and looks away. “I didn’t get you anything.”

  Taking a step back, I take in her panda bear footie pajamas. “Good look.”

  She blushes a pretty bright pink.

  I turn and wave. “See you later.”

  December 31st

  “Gideon?”

  She’s adorable, swimming in a hooded sweatshirt meant for someone three times her size, with her hair piled in a bun on top of her head. She doesn’t have any makeup on and is still easily the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.

  Her friend Rissa flew back home yesterday and I figured she could use some company. “Doing anything for New Year’s?”

  She blinks at me. “No.”

  I step forward into her house and she steps backward in surprise. “Mind if I hang out with you?”

  Looking from right to left before focusing on me, she asks, “You don’t have plans?”

  I shake my head. “Nope and I figured there was no reason we both should be alone tonight.”

  Her brows come together. “You honestly want to spend it with me?”

  Lifting my hand, I say, “Yep, and I brought food so let’s eat while it’s still hot.”

  She hesitates before nodding and I close the door behind me before following her into her living room.

  She has It’s a Wonderful Life on and it serves as a backdrop to our meal. Once we’ve eaten everything, and the movie is done, she switches the channel to a New Year’s show.

  I clean up the mess from the takeout containers and claim the spot next to her on the sofa when I come back in.

  She tilts her face up and meets my eyes. “That was delicious. Thank you. I had planned on microwaving leftovers.”

  “It was nothing. Thanks for letting me crash your New Year’s.”

  With a shake of her head, she laughs. “It’s not like I was doing anything.”

  Deciding against telling her it wouldn’t matter what she was doing as long as I could spend time with her, I focus on the show.

  Not long into it, I notice her eyelids begin to droop. Then, her head starts to gently sway before it lands softly on my shoulder. I freeze as she relaxes further against me. Not wanting to wake her, I hold as still as possible until I’m certain she’s fully asleep.

  Then, once the countdown is over, I lean my cheek against the top of her head and whisper, “Happy New Year Lucy.”