Forbidden Miles

by Claire Kingsley

  I hoped he was all right. He’d left the shop so abruptly yesterday. It had been obvious something was wrong. He’d texted later to say goodnight—it was late and he was going to sleep at his place, since he had to leave for work early in the morning. That wasn’t a big deal, but I wondered what was going on.

  A woman with long blond hair came in and sat at the other end of the bar while I was putting things away. She was dressed in a form fitting shirt that showed the swell of her very pregnant belly. Normally when someone sat at the bar, I assumed they were here for a tasting. But she was obviously pregnant. She couldn’t be here to drink wine, could she?

  “Are you Brynn Miles?” she asked.

  That was odd. I didn’t recognize her. How did she know my name? “Yes. Can I help you?”

  “Possibly,” she said. “You’re with Chase Reilly?”

  Every alarm in my brain and body went off at the way his name rolled off her tongue. There was a hint of poorly disguised venom in her voice and in an instant, I knew. She’d been with Chase. This was one of his exes. Whether she’d been a fling, or one of the few girls he’d actually dated before me, I didn’t know. But she looked at me as if to say I had him first.

  I stopped and rested my arms on the bar so my hands—and my ring—were visible. “Yes.”

  “I’m Shelly. There’s something you need to know.”

  My heart hammered behind my ribs and nausea rolled through my tummy. I was already doing the math—counting the months backward. Chase and I got together in October. Seven months ago. That meant…

  Shelly brushed her hair behind her shoulder. “The thing is, I’m having his baby.”

  It took every ounce of self-control I possessed to keep the storm of emotions that washed over me from showing. I kept my face as still as possible as I let her words sink in.

  Having his baby. This woman. Pregnant with Chase’s child.

  Oh god.

  I wasn’t such an idiot as to take her word at face value. Chase hadn’t said a thing to me about her, and he’d certainly never mentioned the possibility that he’d gotten someone pregnant.

  “That’s… interesting,” I said. “I’m not sure why you think I’m supposed to believe you, though.”

  She shrugged, like she didn’t care whether I believed her or not. “He’s been trying to blow me off for months. Now I think he blocked my number. I just thought you should know what you’re getting into.”

  Blocked number? Was this the girl who had been texting him? She was pregnant? Was this why he left last night?

  Somehow I managed to keep my voice from shaking. “How do you know it’s his?”

  “Because it is,” she said. “He had his fun with me and moved on, but he left me a permanent reminder. I’ve been trying to get through to him, but like I said, he won’t respond. I didn’t want it to come to this, but I had to come to you. Someone has to convince him that he needs to do the right thing.”

  She rested her hand on her belly. Tears of shock and rage threatened to fill my eyes, but I swallowed them back. I wasn’t going to let her see me cry. But I had no idea what to think. What to do. How to react. Had Chase really gotten some girl pregnant and not told me?

  “What do you want from me?” My voice was shaking now, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

  “Like I said, I thought you should know, since he’s apparently banging you now.” She stood, and I couldn’t help but stare at her belly. “And tell Chase to call me.”

  I swallowed hard as I watched her walk away. My hands shook so badly I didn’t trust myself to put the rest of the wine glasses away. I’d probably break every single one.

  What the hell had just happened?

  Chase was having a baby? Had he really blown her off? That didn’t seem like Chase. But I knew he’d blocked someone’s number after he’d said she kept texting him. Only… had she been texting him because she was pregnant with his fucking baby?

  I was so confused. This couldn’t be happening. I was supposed to marry Chase in a few weeks. What had he planned to do, wait until we were married to drop this bomb on me? Did he think he needed to lock me down first? Or worse, was he trying to hide it from me entirely?

  If my dad hadn’t done exactly that more than twenty years ago when his then-mistress was pregnant with Grace, I never would have believed someone could hide a child from his spouse. But my dad had hidden two. Was Chase capable of such a thing?

  I wanted to believe he wasn’t, but she’d been right here in the tasting room, huge belly and all. What was I supposed to do with that?

  Without paying attention to where I was going, I rushed through the kitchen and out the side door, dialing Chase’s number as I went.

  “Hey, baby,” he answered. “I’m on my way back, but my reception is spotty out here. What’s up?”

  “I just talked to Shelly.”

  “What?”

  “Shelly came to the winery.”

  “Ah, fuck. You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  My heart beat faster. “Chase, why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Tell you what?” he asked. “That I have a crazy ex-girlfriend? God, Brynn, she was barely my girlfriend. I went out with her for a little while, but it didn’t even last that long.”

  “Crazy? This isn’t about her being crazy.”

  “Then what are you talking about?” he asked. “She was trying to text me, but I blocked her number. You saw me do it. I don’t know what she said to you, but I haven’t seen her in months.”

  My breath came in gasps and I felt dizzy, tears obscuring my vision. “But you’ve been in touch with her?”

  The note of panic in his voice was not reassuring. “Kind of. But I haven’t seen her in… god, I don’t even know how long.”

  I was shaking so badly, I could barely hold my phone. “Chase, I don’t even know what to say to you right now. You should have told me what was going on.”

  “What? Baby, whatever she’s doing, it doesn’t have anything to do with us.”

  “How can you say that?”

  “Because it’s true. Where are you? Are you still at work?”

  “She’s having your baby, Chase, and you didn’t think that was important information?”

  “Baby, are you there? Brynn?”

  “Yes, I’m here. Why didn’t you tell me she was pregnant?”

  “Brynn, I can’t hear you. I’m—”

  His call dropped.

  I took a shuddering breath and slipped back into the kitchen, feeling panic start to overtake me. I didn’t know if I wanted to scream, or cry, or crumple to the ground and disappear.

  “Uh-oh,” Zoe said from the doorway. “What’s wrong?”

  “Oh my god, Zoe.”

  I burst into tears and a second later, Zoe’s arms were around me. I sobbed into her shirt while she hugged me. The feel of her belly pressing against me only made me cry harder.

  “Brynn, honey, what happened?” She gently rubbed slow circles across my back. “What’s going on?”

  I couldn’t calm down enough to speak. Every word I tried to get out came out as sobbing and blubbering.

  “Okay, shh,” she said. “Let’s go. Come on, sweetie.”

  I let her lead me back outside, her arm around me. People might have been watching, but I had no room to care. Everything had just fallen apart, my entire life crumbling to pieces. I had no idea what this meant—for me, for Chase, for us. I’d defended him to my family, insisted he wasn’t Dad. Had I been wrong?

  Maybe this was just the way men were. You trusted them at your own peril. Look at everything my dad had done. My mom was an intelligent, capable woman. She was beautiful and smart, and she’d been with someone who’d spent most of their marriage cheating on her. If she could be taken in by a dishonest piece of shit, was I any different?

  Somehow, I made it over to my mom’s house. Zoe took me to the living room, wrapped me in a blanket, and set me on the couch. Seconds later, a glass of ice water and a shot
of something alcoholic were being shoved in my hands. I downed the shot without even wincing, then chased it with water. I heard other voices. My mom’s. Maybe Roland’s, or Leo’s. I wasn’t sure. Zoe quietly shooed everyone away, saying I needed space to calm down. My phone rang, and she asked me if I wanted to answer.

  “It’s Chase, but… is that the problem?” Zoe asked.

  I nodded.

  “Okay,” she said, her voice soothing. She sank onto the couch next to me. “You take your time, sweetie. When you’re ready, you can tell me what’s going on.”

  I settled back into the couch and shut my eyes. I just needed a minute—time to process what was happening. It felt too sudden, too chaotic. I couldn’t stop thinking about Shelly, about that baby she was carrying. Chase’s baby. A baby he’d been hiding from me.

  Thirty

  Chase

  I banged on the door at Brynn’s mom’s house, but no one was answering. She had to be here. Lindsey had seen Zoe leading a sobbing Brynn to her mom’s not long ago. Had they gone somewhere? Where had Zoe taken her?

  I was fucking panicking. Brynn had said she’d talked to Shelly. I didn’t know what Shelly had said to her but judging by the fact that Brynn wasn’t taking my calls—and neither was Zoe, because I’d tried her too—it couldn’t have been good.

  I’d have time to be pissed at Shelly later. For now, I needed to get to Brynn so I could find out what the fuck was going on. It felt like my life had just exploded.

  The door opened, and I tried to muscle my way in, but Roland blocked the door.

  “Hang on there, buddy,” Roland said, putting a hand on my chest. “Not yet.”

  “What the fuck is going on?”

  “Outside,” he said, his voice calm.

  I stepped backward so he could come out onto the porch, and he closed the door behind him.

  “Where’s Brynn?”

  “She’s with Zoe,” Roland said. “And I think you need to back off right now.”

  “What?” I was so close to losing it on Roland, but Leo came up the steps behind me, the two of them boxing me in. I was going out of my mind with worry, but not so much that I’d start shit with these two. “I seriously don’t know what the fuck is happening right now.”

  “Everything okay?” Leo asked, eying me with suspicion.

  “I don’t know what’s going on, but Brynn’s pretty upset about something,” Roland said.

  “What the fuck did you do?” Leo asked, his voice low.

  “I don’t know. Brynn called me, freaking out because my ex was here.”

  Roland and Leo both looked like they were about two seconds from kicking my ass.

  I put my hands up in a gesture of surrender. “I swear to you, I haven’t even seen my ex since before Brynn. She was texting me for a while, but the girl’s fucking crazy. I blocked her number. Brynn knew about that. I don’t know what Shelly told her, but you guys, I would never.”

  Did Brynn think I’d cheated on her? Could she possibly believe that? What the fuck had Shelly told her?

  Roland’s expression softened. “Look, she’s just upset right now. Zoe will calm her down, but I think you need to give her a little space.”

  “No, I need to talk to her.” I went for the door again.

  Roland put his arm across the door. “Trust me. She’s not ready to talk to you yet. Just let her calm down.”

  I stepped back, feeling like my chest was going to cave in. Like I couldn’t breathe. Whatever was happening, it had spiraled out of control so fast. Why had I been on the fucking road? Why had the stupid call dropped?

  “I need to see her,” I said, well aware that my voice sounded desperate. I didn’t give a shit.

  “I know, I get it,” Roland said. “Just… give her an hour, man. We’ll take care of her.”

  “Do you get it, though? She’s so upset she won’t talk to me. I don’t know what’s happening right now. This is my life, Roland. She’s my life. I can’t…”

  Leo put his hand on my shoulder. “She’ll calm down.”

  I staggered down the porch stairs, running my hands through my hair. I felt like I was going out of my mind. There was nothing but a door between me and Brynn, and I couldn’t get to her. Not unless I wanted to make this exponentially worse by getting into shit with her brothers. Part of me wanted to say fuck it and go through them. But I was sane enough to know that letting it go to blows with Roland and Leo was a bad idea.

  “Fuck.” I stumbled backward a few more steps. I couldn’t lose her. That wasn’t an option. I had to fix this. I had to find a way.

  In order to fix it, I needed to find out what had set her off in the first place.

  “I’ll be back. Don’t let her go anywhere.”

  “Okay,” Roland said. “We won’t.”

  I went back to my truck and got in. If Brynn wouldn’t talk to me, there was another way to find out what Shelly had said to her. I’d go talk to Shelly.

  I didn’t bother with texts or calls. I went straight to Shelly’s apartment. Or what I hoped was still Shelly’s apartment. She’d lived here last I’d seen her, but it had been a while. Luckily, she answered, saving me the trouble of wasting more time tracking her down.

  “Hey, Chase,” she said with a friendly smile. “It’s so good to see you. Come in.”

  “No thanks.” I kept my feet firmly planted a few feet from her door. I wasn’t going anywhere near the inside of her apartment. Fuck that. “Did you go see Brynn Miles at Salishan a little while ago?”

  She rested her hand on her pregnant belly. “Um, yeah, I talked to her.”

  “What the fuck did you say to her?”

  She smoothed down a strand of hair. “Come in so we can sit down and talk.”

  “Not a chance.”

  “My feet hurt.”

  “Goddammit, Shelly, what the fuck did you do? She called me in tears and now she won’t talk to me.”

  “This is your fault,” she said, her smile quickly fading. “You’re the one who won’t answer my texts. Did you block my number?”

  “Yes, I fucking blocked your number. We’re not together, so there’s no reason for you text me. I’m with Brynn, now. I’m getting married.”

  The color drained from her face and her mouth hung open. “Married?”

  “Yes, I’m getting married. Or I was. Now I’m not so sure. You need to tell me what you said to her that has her so upset.”

  “Oh shit.”

  “Shelly,” I said, feeling so exasperated I wanted to scream, “what did you say to Brynn?”

  She rubbed her belly and took a deep breath. “I told her the baby is yours.”

  I stared at her, so shocked it took me a minute to reply. “You said what?”

  “I told her I’m having your baby.”

  “Why the fuck would you tell her that?”

  She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, then closed it again, glancing away. “It could be yours.”

  “No, it couldn’t,” I said through gritted teeth. “We both know it’s not possible.”

  “But—”

  “Shelly, for fuck’s sake, I can do math. It’s not physically possible.”

  Her shoulders slumped, and she let out a long breath. I stepped aside while she walked past me and sat on the top step. “It should be yours.”

  “Oh my god.” I shook my head and lowered down onto the step next to her. “Who’s the father? Please tell me you know.”

  “His name is Dalton,” she said.

  “And where is he now?”

  She shrugged. “He’s in the military, so I don’t really know.”

  “Was he just passing through or something?”

  “Kind of,” she said. “He was on leave for a few months to recover from surgery, so he was staying with family here in town.”

  “Does he know?”

  She shook her head.

  I let out a long breath. Jesus. “So, what, you thought you’d pass the baby off as mine?”
/>   “I don’t know. I guess I thought if I could get rid of your latest flavor-of-the-month, maybe we could…”

  “Seriously?”

  She sighed. “I got scared. None of this seemed real until about a month ago when this belly popped out. I was barely showing for the longest time. I didn’t feel much of anything, so it almost didn’t seem like it was happening. And then the baby got so big and started moving and keeping me up at night. Dalton is off somewhere, and I never told him, and you’re here, and you’re a good guy.”

  “You really fucked things up for me,” I said. “You lied to my fiancée and now she won’t talk to me.”

  She sniffed. “I didn’t realize. I thought she was just your latest hook-up. I didn’t know you were engaged.”

  “The ring on her finger didn’t tip you off?”

  “I saw it, but I don’t know, girls wear rings. I didn’t bother to figure out which hand it was on.”

  I rested my forearms on my knees and shook my head.

  “I’m sorry, Chase.”

  “Call the father, Shelly. He deserves to know. That’s his child. You can’t keep that from him.”

  She nodded slowly.

  “What are you afraid of? Is he an asshole?”

  “No, he’s actually a really nice guy,” she said. “Nice family. He’s close to his parents. He has a good future ahead of him. I didn’t want to mess that up.”

  “So you tried to mess up mine?”

  “I…” She paused. “I um, I guess I wasn’t thinking about it that way.”

  “I wish you would have. I’m sorry you’re having a baby on your own but trying to rope some other guy into it isn’t the solution. Especially when I know the baby isn’t mine.”

  She didn’t answer me, but I didn’t really expect her to. There wasn’t anything she could say to justify what she’d done, and I was glad she seemed to realize she’d been wrong. That wasn’t the norm for her. At least, it hadn’t been with me.

  I stood and helped her up. “Call him. Do the right thing this time, okay? Promise me.”