“I’ll tell you when you come home.” I could hear the smile in her voice.
I wasn’t sure I could wait another week for Thanksgiving break.
“I’m going to go before I ruin the surprise.” I could hear the smile in her voice.
“You know if I were there, I would tickle it out of you.”
“Ha. You could try,” she teased. “I love you to the stars and back.”
“Quinn, dream about me.”
“Always. Talk to you tomorrow.” Then she hung up.
Man, I was the luckiest guy on earth to have Quinn as my girl. Grinning like the lovestruck dude that I was, I called Noah.
“Hey, man,” Noah said. “Something wrong?”
“I need your help. Tell me all about Trevor, Sloane’s stepbrother.”
“Jeez, nothing to tell really. He’s a good ballplayer. Girls drool over him.”
“Does Quinn?” I held my breath.
One beat passed, then two, and still no response.
My body was turning numb. I swore that if he so much as said yes, I was hitching a ride to Ashford tonight. “Noah, man, you still there?”
He cleared his throat. “Do you want it straight?”
I belted out a laugh, albeit not a happy one. “No, lie to me. Of course, man.”
“He talks about her quite a bit. He definitely has a thing for her. But dude, I did too when I first met her.”
I growled. “Fuck.”
“Chill,” he said calmly. “Quinn is not interested in him, or any guy for that matter. I know. She pushed me away. Hard too.”
“She’s not tutoring you, though.”
“Do you need me to keep an eye out?” he asked.
“Would you?” I hated to spy on her, but if Sloane was worried and felt the need to have Marcus talk to me, then I had to at least heed the warning.
“Consider it done. Hey, on another note, my mom gave me the thumbs-up if I wanted to attend the academy. I thought a lot about it and decided I’m staying at Kensington. I’m just getting to know my cousin Dustin, and I really like playing for Coach Dean, although I think he might be stepping down next year, and your cousin Kade might be taking his spot.”
Coach had been noodling on retiring when I played for him, and Kade had stepped in when Coach’s wife had gone through some medical issues. I was kind of surprised Coach hadn’t retired after last year.
“You’ll like Kade.”
“I already do. Cool-as-shit guy.”
“Agreed. I gotta run. Curfew and all. I’ll see you when I come home for Thanksgiving. Call me if Trevor tries anything with Quinn.” I ended the call, feeling like a schmuck for spying on my girl.
I bit a nail as I sat on an exam table in the gynecologist’s office. I couldn’t believe I’d almost spilled the surprise to Maiken on the phone the night before. I’d been dying to tell him I was planning on talking to Momma about going on the pill. I’d finally drummed up the courage to have that conversation with her last week.
She’d been surprised I’d waited so long to talk to her. She had expected me to ask her before school let out my junior year. Nevertheless, she’d made the appointment the very next day.
Mom sat idle on the only chair in the room, deep in thought.
My phone pinged with a text.
Celia: Well, did you get the pill yet?
Me: I’m waiting on the doctor.
Celia: Cool. I talked to my mom too. She’s going to make an appointment for me.
Me: Yay. I better go. We’ll talk later.
Celia: Trevor is looking for you. He told me to tell you he has to cancel his session with you. He’s got to take care of something. He didn’t say what, though.
Me: Okay.
Whatever he had to do was none of my business. I did wonder, though, as I set the phone in my lap. He’d been worried about his upcoming exam next week in algebra. If he passed, then that would give him the credits he needed to advance to Geometry and become an official junior.
Mom smoothed a hand over her chestnut hair. “Everything okay?”
“Trevor canceled his session with me.”
“You look worried,” she said.
“Nah. He has an important test coming up. I just want to see him do well.” If he did, then I would feel validated that my time and effort had been worth it. Plus, I really enjoyed tutoring. “Momma, I think I want to change my major from doctor to teacher.”
“Why the change?”
I shrugged. “I like teaching.” Trevor had been very astute in learning. He’d done his homework. He’d passed the short quizzes I’d given him. He’d even passed his test in his algebra class. I enjoyed explaining things and then seeing how the light bulb came on with my student.
“You’ve always liked school. I can see you as a great teacher. You would also make a great doctor.”
“It might be easier for me to get into a teaching program rather than premed.”
She rose elegantly, brushing her hands down her pant legs. “By easier, do you mean cheaper?”
“I would be up to my ears in student loans if I didn’t get a scholarship. And even if I did get a scholarship, that wouldn’t last. Premed, then medical school, then an internship.” I blew out a breath. “I don’t know.”
“Well, you don’t have to decide right this minute. And you’re not filling out applications until after the holidays. Right?”
That was the plan. But if I wanted to switch to teaching, then I had to rethink my options for colleges. I resumed biting a nail.
Momma wrapped her delicate fingers around my wrist. “You won’t have any nails left.”
I didn’t anyway. Farm work didn’t allow me to have those gel nails that most of the girls in school had on a frequent basis. I would break one in a hot minute for sure.
I placed my hands in my lap. “You didn’t tell Daddy what we were doing today, did you?” College options could wait for the time being.
Her brown eyes went wide as she resumed her seat. “It’s not a good time to tell him that his baby girl is about to lose her virginity.”
I swallowed a clump of mud and cringed at the thought of how Daddy would react. He would probably have a heart attack. “Please don’t tell him until I leave for college… or never.”
“I don’t plan on sharing this with him anytime soon.” She tucked my hair behind my ear. “You’re such a beautiful girl.” The sadness washing over her matched the tone in her voice.
A stabbing pain gripped my heart at the notion of Momma alone in the house without her kids. She was having a hard time with Liam and Carter being in college. I’d overheard her and Daddy talking the other night about their plans for the farm when I left. Daddy didn’t have an answer for what he would do or if he would start to downsize and not have as many animals. Momma had suggested he hire two or three ranch hands in preparation for when I went off to school.
Daddy wasn’t hearing it, though. He’d promised Momma he would find someone at least for the holidays to work the farm and help sell Christmas trees.
She wiped a tear from my face. “Honey, where did you go?”
I blinked, and another tear fell. “It’s been a rough year. Is Daddy going to hire someone?”