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Good Twin Gone Country

Page 14

by Jessica Lemmon


  Hallie stood abruptly, drawing everyone’s attention. “Okay, now I have to take one, because I can’t think of anything but my sister or me being pregnant.”

  “Super unlikely.” Hannah stood, as well, giving Hallie a reassuring nod.

  Cassandra, suffering no turmoil, clapped. “Let’s do this!”

  “I’ll grab the tests.” Pres returned a minute later with a pair of oblong, foil-wrapped pregnancy tests. “I brought one for each of you. They’re very reliable. Three of my female coworkers back when I lived in Tallahassee swear by this brand. That’s how I knew to tell Cash which brand to buy.”

  “As a journalist, you did your homework.” Hallie gave her friend a wan smile as she accepted one of the tests for herself.

  Pres pulled her into a quick hug and whispered, “You are going to be fine. Now go.” She handed off the other test to Hannah. “You, too. Cassandra and I will be out here sipping wine and awaiting the results.”

  Hallie shut herself in the small half bathroom off the foyer while Hannah made her way to the main bathroom on the first floor. Thirty seconds later, Hallie had taken the test and set the pregnancy stick on the nearest flat surface—the edge of the sink. She took a few deep breaths while she waited for the results, which the package claimed took two minutes.

  She might wait five, though. That’s how much she didn’t want to lay eyes on the results. She had a feeling, and it wasn’t a good one, that Mags’s warning had been more like an omen.

  “Don’t be silly,” she addressed her reflection. “You’re fine.”

  The chances of her getting pregnant were astronomical. She and Gavin hadn’t used a condom, but they’d had sex only a few times. Well, okay, way more than a few times. Less than a dozen... Then Hallie did a quick count on her fingers and sent a worried look to her reflection again. Less than two dozen...

  But.

  She had been on birth control for years. She was regimented and routine about taking her pills. And even though her periods were random and untimely, surely there would be some other sign if she were pregnant.

  A small voice in the back of her head whispered, Even if you are only three weeks pregnant?

  Hallie couldn’t listen to that voice right now. She had to listen to the voice of reason. And so, she thought of what Eleanor Banks might say. Would she tell her to keep her chin up? Would she advise her not to jump to conclusions? Would she be excited if Hallie was pregnant, or disappointed?

  And how did Hallie feel? That was the most important question, wasn’t it? Well, aside from how Gavin would feel. Oh, Lord, she couldn’t think about that, either.

  She opened her eyes when she heard chatter coming from the living room. Hannah’s voice was the most prevalent, though Hallie couldn’t hear what her sister was saying. Without looking at the results, she wrapped her hand around the pregnancy test and bolted from the bathroom. Hannah, wineglass in hand, clearly had her answer.

  “Well?” Hallie asked anyway.

  “Negative. I live to drink wine another day!” Hannah tapped her wineglass against Cassandra’s. “What about you?”

  “I’m too scared to look.” Hallie held up the test. “Who wants to look for me?”

  “I’ll do it.” Hannah relinquished her wineglass to the coffee table and walked over.

  Hannah was Hallie’s best friend. A person she would trust with her life. The person she could trust to read the pregnancy test and lay it out for her—whatever it read. Hallie handed over the test and watched Hannah’s face as she read the results. When her sister’s eyes tracked from the test back to Hallie, she didn’t have to say a word for Hallie to know exactly what the test said.

  “Oh, shit,” Presley murmured, picking up on the silence between them.

  “It could be wrong,” Hannah said. “You can go to a doctor and double-check.”

  “Oh my God,” Cassandra muttered.

  Hallie snatched the test. Two bold pink lines might as well have been a pair of middle fingers flipping off her future plans. “It’s not wrong.”

  Somehow she knew. Not only because the red wine wasn’t appetizing, or because Mags’s warning of “consequences” was timely, but because if Fate was real and Karma was the bitch everyone said she was, then of course Hallie would be pregnant.

  Maybe her gut had been warning her away from Gavin all along. All those years of avoiding talking to him or approaching him.

  He’d made her feel bulletproof, and she’d forgotten the reasons to be careful. She’d ignored that speeding, even on a back country road, could lead to an accident. She’d ignored that diving into ice-cold water could cause hypothermia. And she’d certainly ignored that birth control pills were not 100 percent effective. Especially, apparently, in her and her sister’s cases.

  “I’m an idiot,” she said, her voice thin.

  “No. You’re not.” Hannah touched Hallie’s shoulder.

  “Yeah. I am.” A rogue wave of dizziness crested and Hallie reached for the sofa. When she lowered onto a cushion, she was immediately surrounded by her sister and her friends. She should’ve been grateful, but she was going through the blame phase of grief.

  “This is your fault.” She pointed at Presley. “You were the one encouraging me to approach Gavin. I’m not ready to have a baby.” She had been trying to break out of her shell and learn more about herself, not create another human being she’d be responsible for over the next eighteen years.

  And Gavin—what the hell was she supposed to tell him? He had no interest in settling down. Which was fine when they were just dating and just having sex. A baby would drastically change those temporary plans.

  “Life is beautiful and happens in the order it should,” Presley consoled her. “Cash and I stumbled our way to happily-ever-after, you know. We didn’t plan to have a years-long break in between falling in love with each other again.”

  “Gavin is not Cash,” Hallie reminded Presley.

  Presley gave her a tight-lipped smile. If Hallie was expecting reassurance, it didn’t come. Cash and Presley had been college sweethearts. Cash had loved her even when he’d broken up with her and left Florida. Presley had fallen back in love with him when she returned to Beaumont Bay—if she’d ever fallen out.

  There were few similarities to Hallie and Gavin’s story. She’d made a deal with the devilishly sexy Sutherland brother, agreeing to follow him wherever he led, no strings attached. And now she was pregnant with his baby.

  “There are options,” Cassandra reminded her gently. “Do what’s right for you.”

  Hannah exchanged glances with Hallie. Hannah knew Hallie’s heart. And so did Hallie. As much of a surprise as this pregnancy was, there was no way she wouldn’t welcome a baby into her world.

  “Is anyone else tired of wine?” Cassandra asked, clearly in support. “I saw Sprite in your fridge, didn’t I, Pres?”

  “Great idea.” Presley stood. “Hallie? Hannah?”

  “We’ll drink Sprite. Won’t we?” Hannah rubbed her sister’s back.

  Hallie nodded. Her friends bustled around refilling plates with extra slices of pizza and pouring clear soda into tumblers before garnishing them with wedges of lime. They weren’t willing to let Hallie dwell on the life-altering news she’d just learned. But there was something she’d have to do, and soon.

  “I have to tell Gavin,” Hallie announced as she accepted a glass of soda from Cassandra. About the pregnancy, as well as another reality she didn’t want to think about. Her and Gavin’s affair had reached its end. They couldn’t continue having fun with a baby on the way. A baby was serious. And “serious” wasn’t what he was looking for. He’d said so himself.

  “You can tell him when you’re ready.” Hannah held up her glass. “I promise I won’t say anything to anyone until you do. I won’t even tell Will.”

  “What Cash doesn’t know won’t hurt him,�
�� Presley agreed as she held up her glass.

  “And Luke is fine in the dark. I think he prefers it.” Cassandra’s glass joined the other two as they all looked to Hallie expectantly.

  Hallie tapped her glass with the others. “Thanks. All of you. I appreciate your support.”

  “Whatever you choose to do,” Pres said, “about the pregnancy or Gavin, we have your back.”

  Cassandra and Hannah agreed, and then they all drank on it.

  Twenty-One

  Gavin missed not seeing Hallie last night. He’d considered deterring her from going out, but he was not the clingy sort. He didn’t used to be, anyway. At least he hadn’t had to sit at home alone.

  Since Cash had been booted out of his house that night, too, he’d called Will and Luke and Gavin. The four of them had met at the studio to talk shop and down a few cold beers. Luckily for Gav, his brothers had mostly talked about work and sports rather than busting his balls over Hallie. Ironically, they would have been right to. He’d been out with the boys, having a good time, and yet she’d consumed most of his thoughts.

  He’d arrived home to empty sheets. Going to bed alone hadn’t been a big deal for him before he’d met Hallie, but he’d had trouble sleeping without her. So. That had been mildly alarming.

  This morning he’d woken, made coffee and rubbed the achy, empty feeling in the center of his chest. He’d blamed it on heartburn at first but after he’d texted her and invited her over, the mysterious ache vanished. She’d put him off until afternoon, but he didn’t care when she came as long as she did. He couldn’t wait to hold her close, to kiss her plush mouth, to strip her naked and be inside her.

  He shoved his needy feelings aside and prepared lunch, slapping a couple of turkey sandwiches together with pickles, lettuce, mayonnaise and mustard. By the time he was opening a fresh bag of potato chips, a knock came.

  His girl was here.

  He raced to open the front door. “It’s not locked. Why are you knocking?”

  Hallie’s smile was pained, her shoulders stiff. Fear skittered up his spine. He dismissed it. He’d read too much into how he’d been feeling about her already and refused to indulge in further idiocy.

  “Come on in and take off all your clothes,” he invited with a grin. “Then you can knock me over with one of those kisses of yours.”

  Hallie bit her lip, her throat moving as she swallowed.

  Not good, his mind warned.

  Shut up, he told it plainly.

  He was familiar with this version of Hallie. The serious version who had a hard time talking to him—who could scarcely look at him.

  “What’s wrong?” he couldn’t help asking. If she laid it out for him, then he could work with what he knew.

  “The reason I came here today,” she started, her tone formal. His stomach sank. He’d had a bad feeling all damn morning and with an opener like that, how could it possibly get better?

  “Will you come in first? It’s freezing out there.”

  She indulged him and stepped inside, but she didn’t remove her coat. Another sign something was terribly wrong.

  “It’s time we wrap things up,” she stated, her tone robotic. “We avoided being entangled over Thanksgiving, but Christmas is a harder holiday to dodge.”

  He blinked. What was she talking about?

  “We knew this was temporary, so there’s no sense in drawing more attention and speculation from everyone.” Her mouth flinched into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I had fun, though.”

  “Hals—”

  She offered her hand. He glared at her outstretched palm and then at her placid face. “Are you offering to shake my hand right now?”

  “That’s how this started. Wouldn’t it make sense we end it the same way?”

  “Why are we ending at all? Did something happen last night?” He didn’t think Hannah, Cassandra and Presley were against him, but he could be wrong. They would have had to have said something for Hallie to have done a one-eighty.

  “Gavin.” She lowered her arm. “I can be professional about this if you can. And I know you can since you are incredibly professional. We’ve had our fun, but we’re going to have to see each other in the workplace again. We have shared clients. I would like to keep sharing clients. I like you.”

  Why did her proclamation hurt so much? He liked her, too—a whole hell of a lot—way too much to let her dump him in his foyer.

  “You like me,” he repeated numbly, “but you don’t want to have sex with me anymore.”

  His mind raced. What had he done wrong? He knew she’d been off-kilter at Mags Dumond’s party, but they’d ironed everything out after. Hallie had spent the night in his arms.

  “If Mags got into your head—” he started.

  “It’s not that,” she interrupted.

  How could she show up at his house and so casually break up with him? Had what they’d done together meant nothing to her? He’d missed her last night terribly, and while he’d lain in bed alone wishing she was next to him, she’d been...what? Plotting how to let him down easy? Planning on telling him she never wanted to sleep with him again?

  “I’m going to try to explain this with as few swear words as possible.” Anger was the wrong emotion for this situation, but he couldn’t help himself. At least his warning elicited a reaction from her. Her hazel eyes grew wide and wary. “I’m not remotely done with you. I’m not letting you walk away like there’s nothing happening between us.” He’d been questioning everything he thought he knew about relationships since he and Hallie started hanging out. He’d obliterated his own boundary lines in the process of helping her walk over her own. He wouldn’t let her go easily, if ever.

  “We have to stop sometime.”

  Her glib response pissed him off more, which made him say exactly the wrong thing. “I upended my life for you.”

  “Well, I’m so sorry for the inconvenience,” she said with a mirthless laugh.

  “That came out wrong.” He put his hand to his forehead, trying to sort his thoughts and explain. “What I meant to say was that I stopped dating for you.” Shit. That sounded worse.

  Her mouth dropped open, confirming he was digging a deeper hole the more he talked. “Good news, Gav. You are now free to date as many people as you’d like.” She turned for the door.

  “Hallie, wait. That didn’t come out right, either.” God, why was it so hard to tell her what he knew? That she belonged with him—in his bed, in his life. That whatever had scared her off was something they could tackle together. “What I meant to say was—” he swallowed thickly, struggling to find the words “—you weren’t the only one breaking rules.”

  She faced him, her gaze softening.

  “We’re having fun,” he said, hoping like hell she’d agree. “Right?”

  “We had fun.” Her voice was hollow. “But fun has a way of turning serious. How serious do you want to be with me?”

  He took a literal step away from her, a fresh wave of fear oozing through him. “What do you mean?”

  She gestured at the space between them. “Your single status is in grave danger if we keep doing what we’re doing.”

  Ice slipped into his belly. In his mind, relationships had always been the enemy of freedom. Right now he could do what he wanted, when he wanted. And, he thought until two minutes ago that Hallie was on the same page as him. Willing to be in his bed and on his arm, but with no real commitment making them prisoners to each other.

  Then he thought about where she’d spent the evening last night—with three very happily engaged or married women. It wasn’t hard to figure out what had happened. Hannah cooing over her trip to Paris. Presley and Cassandra chattering about wedding plans.

  “You want more,” he said.

  She pulled her shoulders back. Looked him in the eyes. When she spoke, her voice was ca
lm and cool. “And you don’t.”

  There was no elegant way to admit to that, so instead he said, “I like what we have, Hals. I thought we agreed not to label it.”

  “I was wrong.” Her smile was sad instead of upset this time. “I want to go back to being friends with you. Or, well, start being friends with you. I don’t think I could bear it if we argued every time we saw each other. We are friends, right?”

  “Of course,” he agreed as a sinking feeling hollowed out his gut. Friends wasn’t enough for him. “I take it this means you aren’t coming to my family’s house on Christmas Eve.”

  “It would make things harder.” Warmth leaked into her gaze, briefly reminding him of every sensual hour he’d spent with her. He was going to miss that look. “We need space to make the transition work. Just for a while. I’m sure we’ll be back to normal soon enough.”

  Before she walked out of his house, and apparently out of his life, he reached for her hand. “Hals.”

  She turned.

  “Are you sure?” He waited, his heart thrashing in his chest. Hope bubbled up inside him when she smiled but it died a quick death when she nodded her head. There wasn’t hope in her eyes, but resolution.

  He glided his thumb over her hand, missing her already. “I want more than friendship with you, but if that’s my only option...”

  He hazarded a glance at her, hoping she’d change her mind, run into his arms and tell him she was wrong. Instead, she said, “Thank you, Gavin.”

  “Sure,” he said around a lump in his throat. Then she pulled her hand from his and left. He watched her car back out of his driveway, wanting more than anything to chase her, beg her if he had to, but he only stood and watched her go.

  She wanted more. And more was the one thing not in his plans. More scared the crap out of him. There was no proof in his past suggesting he’d make a good boyfriend, let alone a good husband. He couldn’t ask Hallie to risk her own future when he might well fail at what his three brothers had been handling with alarming grace.

  He took a look around at the high ceilings and expansive kitchen. His gargantuan new house mocked him. He’d built a veritable mansion with multiple rooms for himself. Hallie had just reminded him he was going to remain in it alone for a good long while.

 

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