I wondered if Blake would look like his father when he was older. There was a striking resemblance. The same piercing gray-blue eyes, a strong jaw, and wide shoulders. The only difference was Mr. Wyatt’s son towered over him by a good four or five inches.
“He ran to the store for me.?
??
“Ok.” I felt the pit in my stomach. I wanted to tell Blake. I needed to tell him. “I can wait.”
“I don’t think so. We have a lot of work to get finished.”
He was always trying to get rid of me. It was one of the things I was looking forward to in college. The Wyatt parents couldn’t hover over us anymore. College seemed like a dream—complete freedom.
“What if I just sit in my Jeep?” I offered.
“Fine. But he can’t go off with you. He’s got a long list of stuff to get done before he heads out for school.”
“I understand, Mr. Wyatt.”
But as I reached in my pocket to retrieve my keys I lost my grip on the bag and it dropped to the grass.
“No!” I screeched as I hurried to reach for it, but I was too late.
Blake’s dad scooped down to pick it up as the pregnancy test rolled into the tall blades of grass. He clasped it between his gnarled knuckles as I stared in horror.
“What the hell is this?”
I couldn’t find any words to answer him.
“Are you pregnant, Sierra?”
I wanted to vomit. Again, not sure if it was from the baby or the terrible situation.
“Please don’t tell Blake. Please, I just need to talk to him.”
His eyes flared. “You’re pregnant?”
“I thought we had been careful,” I eked out a stupid defense. Now wasn’t the time to talk about how many time we had skipped the condoms in the heat of the moment. I never even thought it was possible for this to happen. We had been mostly responsible, but not enough.
He shook his head. “Unbelievable. Trapping my son with a baby.”
“What? No. It’s not a trap.” I reached for the test, but he held it out of distance from my fingertips.
He closed his eyes for a brief second. “Here’s what is going to happen, young lady. You’re going to go pack your things. Tell your aunt you were enrolled in an early program. You start driving.”
I shook my head. He was insane. “What are you talking about? No. I’m not doing that.”
He grabbed me by the arm, shoving me into the front of my vehicle. “You are.”
“I’m going to Saints College with Blake.”
“You’re going to any school but that one. I’ll pay for the transfer. I’ll pay for whatever I have to.”
The tears welled in my eyes before I could form words. “No. He has a right to know about his baby. I’m not going anywhere.”
He looked me in the eye. “What he has a right to is a future. A life of opportunity. You think I’m going to let my only son. The only person in this family with a real shot of leaving this village, squander it away because he knocked up some girl? I’m not.”
“I’m not some girl,” I fired back.
“He’ll forget about you in two weeks. That’s all he needs. Two weeks to get unbrainwashed. Football and college and you’ll be a memory, Sierra.”