“I think she may have swallowed a little.”
“No.” She’s wrong.
“I’m gonna be an Auntie again.”
I take a deep breath. Followed by another, trying desperately not to pass out while my friend cheers at my demise. This can’t be happening. Not again.
“Are you okay?” she asks, finally noticing I’m damn near catatonic. She waves a hand in front of my face. “Seriously, Whit? What the hell? It’s a baby…not a cancer diagnosis.”
“I can’t,” I say, shaking my head.
“You love him.”
I nod.
“He is crazy in love with you.”
Again, I bob my head. “Seems to be.”
“I don’t see the problem.” She lifts her child into her lap for effect. “A baby is a blessing. Wyatt’s not like Jeremy. He’d never leave you high and dry. That man’s going to be an amazing father, if you’re pregnant.” She shrugs her shoulders unconvincingly. “I mean, it might still be stress, right?”
“He’s going to think I tried to trap him!” My heart is pounding, my fist itching to do the same when Kate bursts into hysterical laughter. Sometimes I really want to punch her.
“I’m sorry.” She beats a hand on her chest, dramatically trying to wind down. “But did you just insinuate that man’s gonna think you have some condom-snatching talent of some sort?” She snorts, pointing a bossy finger at me. “That pun was totally intended, by the way. I want full credit in all future retellings.”
“I’m the one who put it on,” I hiss at her.
She shrugs. “And his dumb ass is the one who fell asleep and forgot to remove the damn thing before going soft.”
“It wasn’t his fault.”
“It was no one’s fault, Whit. That’s my point. It was an accident. Those do happen.”
“What am I going to do?”
Kate picks up my phone from the charging dock and holds it out to me across the desk. “You are going to call him, right now while you have me here for moral support, and you’re going to tell him.”
Moral support, my ass. She just wants to witness the train wreck.
I shake my head while accepting the device. “Maybe you could just go get a test from the drug store? Then we would know for sure… No need to worry him unnecessarily.”
“Call him,” she urges. “He would want to be the one there with you when you find out. Don’t take that from him. And don’t push him away when you need him most.”
I hate it when she’s right. “Okay,” I sigh, touching my finger to his contact before I can chicken out. “Here goes…”
She gives me a thumbs up when he answers after the first ring.
“What’s up, beautiful? Miss me already?”
“Always,” I say with a lump forming in my throat. “Wyatt, I have to tell you something.”
“Sounds serious.” The fear in his tone cuts right to my heart. “Are we okay? Did I do something wrong?”
“Nothing like that,” I insist cutting him off. “Wyatt…I think—”
Kate urges me on with the roll of a hand.
“I’m late,” I blurt.
“For what?” Poor clueless Wyatt.
“M—my period is late. I’ve been sick, and you know my boobs are a little swollen and tender, and I don’t know why I didn’t think to check before, but Kate—she’s here, and she brought up the possibility, and I checked, and I missed my period in January.”
“Breathe.” His one-word response has me full-on sobbing with relief.
“You’re not mad?”
“Mad? Why on earth would I be mad? Whitney, I love you.”
Kate reaches to my desk, grabbing a tissue to dab at her eyes.
“I love you too.” I sag into my seat. “I was so scared.”
“Don’t be. God, Whit, I don’t ever want to hear those words pertaining to me ever again. The last thing I want is for you to ever fear me.”
I nod as if he can see. “I’m sorry.”
“Can you meet me at my house in…two hours?”
“Sure… Yeah, I’ll be there.”
“Told you,” Kate says, smirking, when I end the call. “That man is your happily ever after, best friend. And I’d just like to point out, you have me to thank for that.”
When I pull up to his house, Wyatt is waiting on the front porch, pacing back and forth, looking nervous as heck. Maybe now that he’s had time to think about it, he’s had a change of heart.
Oh, my God. What will I do if I lose him? This can’t be it. This can’t be how we end.
Paralyzed with fear, I exit the car and make my way to the house with lead in my shoes and a boulder sitting in my chest.
The moment I step onto the deck, Wyatt erases a load of my worries when he takes hold of my face and proceeds to kiss me senseless.
“We’re still okay?” I ask when I’m free to speak.
“Told ya we were when we talked earlier.” His smile is a soothing balm. “Nothing’s changed.”
“Okay…you just worried me with the pacing.”
“That’s got nothing to do with the maybe pregnancy.” He waves off my concern. “And everything to do with this.” He removes a small box from his coat pocket and offers it to me in a shaky hand.
“What is it?”
He shrugs his shoulders, blowing warm air into his fists to ward off a chill. “Open it and find out.”
I pull the ribbon and open the box, identical to the one he gave me at Christmas. “It’s a key.” I lift the little charm, holding it out between us.
“It is.”
“For my bracelet?”
He nods, taking it from my hand and lifting my sleeve to hook it on himself. “To mark what I really hope will be another milestone in our relationship.”
“What milestone might that be?”
“Move in with me.” He takes hold of both of my hands, rubbing his thumbs nervously over my knuckles.
My eyes widen. “Wyatt, you don’t have to do this.”
“I want to. I’ve had that charm since Christmas. It was part of your gift, but then I worried it was too soon and didn’t want to spook you.”
My mind is reeling. “What about Prissy?”
“What about her?” He jerks back, seeming offended by the question. “She loves me…maybe even more than you do.”
“I mean what if you hurt her, Wyatt?”
“Then I’ll apologize, beg her forgiveness, and buy her a glass eyeball to add to her collection.”
This man. I huff a laugh. “I don’t know…”
“Not good enough,” he says suddenly very serious. “I want this settled before we go in there. Before we know for sure.” His eyes drop to my tummy. “I want there to be no question in that mind of yours that I want you and Prissy, whether there’s a baby in the equation or not.” His face crumples with raw vulnerability. “And I need to know, Whit. I need to know that you want me too. Either way.”
Well, damn. There’s something in seeing this big strong man on the verge of tears that hits me with a jolt of clarity.