Dori slaps her grandson in the stomach. “Please, you don’t scare a fly.”
“I take offense to that.” Kingston turns, following her with his gaze as she walks past me and occupies the chair he just got up from.
He shakes his head and turns to leave again, but another senior citizen comes in holding a six-pack of cans. She thrusts them into Kingston’s stomach.
“From my grandsons’ brewery,” she says.
Kingston shuffles to grab a hold of them before they fall to the floor. He picks them up and inspects them. “Your grandsons own Truth or Dare Brewery?”
Why does that name sound so familiar?
She nods. “Yep, in Sunrise Bay.”
Bingo. I passed a restaurant with the logo that’s on the beer can.
“How did I not know this, Ethel?” Kingston takes one can, beelines to his grandma, and sets the rest down between them. Then he sits on the bed and cracks it open.
“I have no idea. Maybe because you just recently started hanging around Lake Starlight again?”
Kingston gulps down a sip. “Damn, Ethel, this is awesome.”
“She’s like their pimp. They asked her to share it with people in Lake Starlight to try to increase their business.” Dori eyes me. “Enough of that now. I need to talk to Jamison.”
She exchanges a look with Kingston, and he stands, takes the rest of the beer from the table, and eyes me. “Come on, Ethel, let’s go pimp your grandson to Wyatt. Maybe he’ll put their beer in the restaurant.” He swings his arm around the old lady who has hair that’s more silver than gray.
They leave, and Dori pats the table. “Come sit, Jamison. We need to have a conversation about how this is gonna go.”
“How what’s gonna go?” I stand and sit across from her.
“You returning to Lake Starlight. Your relationship with Sedona and my great-granddaughter.”
I open my mouth, but she raises her hand. For a moment, I contemplate whether the Bailey men learned their intimidation tactics from Dori.
“I’ll do the talking and you do the listening.”
I nod.
“I’m all for you returning, and I hope you’ve got your life squared away. Unlike others in my family, I’m glad you’re here. Sedona and Palmer need you in their lives.”
I scrunch my eyebrows, not understanding why Sedona would need me. She’s always been pretty independent. But I know better than to interrupt Dori, so I keep quiet.
“Palmer needs a dad. Hell, she’s already tried to call Kingston daddy.”
There’s that sword slicing my heart as if it’s made of paper again.
“Then Griffin earlier today. What is she supposed to think? Maverick has a dad. Easton has a dad. Lance and Brinley have dads. They all have dads and she wants to know where her dad is.” Her voice grows more agitated.
“I—”
“Nope. If you can’t be quiet, how can I assume you’ll listen to my next set of instructions?” She raises one gray eyebrow, and I sink down in my chair. “Now, you’re her daddy, but Sedona isn’t going to tell her that right away. She’d be a fool to put that much trust in you at this point. Then again, you weaken Sedona. Always have.” She shakes her head.
My shoulders sag. I never want to weaken her. Ever.
“She holds a soft spot for you no matter what. So ears open.” She waits until I straighten in my seat. “This is going to take a lot of groveling and time to prove that you’ve changed. I hope you’re ready. I’m on your side in regard to Palmer, but don’t do anything stupid to make me change my mind. I’ve talked with Wyatt and Brooklyn and you’re allowed to stay here as long as you’d like. They aren’t going to kick you out.”
“How did you—”
“I know everything that happens in this town. You’ve been away too long if you forgot that.” She taps her temple then stands. “I better go save Ethel before she drinks too much again.” Straightening her purse on her arm, she stares at me. “I always liked you, Jamison, until I hated you. I’m trusting you to stand up and do the right thing here. I hope we don’t ever have to have another conversation like this, but that’s solely up to you.” She walks to the door and I stand. “Use those dimples and that charm, my boy. Palmer’s easy—she wants you in her life. Sedona will be the real challenge.”
“But I thought Sedona is with someone?” I call right before she opens the door.
She holds steady and doesn’t turn around. “Did she tell you she’s with someone?”
“Not exactly, but I mean, she’s pregnant with someone’s baby.”
Her bluish-gray head nods. “Well, you’ll find out soon enough.”
“What does—”
The door shuts with a click. What the hell is going on?
Five
Sedona
Being pregnant for the second time is so much easier than the first. Then again, I don’t have the heavy heart I had when I was pregnant with Palmer. Being asked about the father doesn’t bring me that feeling of shame. If anything, this time around, people in town beam at the father and look at me as if I’m an angel.
One thing that hasn’t changed is my nerves whenever I’m at the doctor’s office for an appointment. But overall, I’m more relaxed and at peace this time around. I see how my mom was able to have so many kids.
The exam room is the same as always—the table situated by the window, two visitor chairs by the desk with the computer on it, and a doctor’s stool on wheels tucked underneath the desk. The posters depicting the inside of a pregnant woman at various stages of her pregnancy make me look at my swollen belly with amazement every visit.
Still, there’s a buzzing inside me. A feeling of being off-kilter that I can’t shake. Jamison being back in my life at the same point as I was pregnant with Palmer when I left him has warped me back to that time in my life. The hurt and confusion, that feeling that I wasn’t enough, have replanted and sprouted up inside me. But I refuse to allow my fear to be my demise.
A short knock and Dr. Estes pokes her head in. “Ready for me?”
I nod and she opens the door fully, leaving it slightly ajar.
“I just saw Daddy rush into the waiting room.” She smiles and sits on her stool.
I stiffen at the news that he’s here, and a new form of tension wraps around me. He’s going to see right through me, and he’s going to ask about Jamison. And I’m already about a minute from breakdown just from thinking about him.
“How are you feeling?” she asks.
But my attention is on the door. He must’ve rushed over on his lunch. Last we discussed, he couldn’t make today’s visit. “I’m good.”
She types a few things on the computer. “Any contractions?”
“Nope.”
“Since your first delivery went smoothly, I don’t anticipate anything different with this one.”
A soft knock lands on the door even though it’s ajar.
Dr. Estes smiles at me like get a load of this guy. “You can come in.”
Easton walks in first with a Dum Dum sucker in his mouth. I see now what took them so long to get from the reception area to the exam room. My nephew likes to stop and check out everything, and he always has a million questions. Austin peers in as though he’s afraid I’m in the stirrups already.