Chasing Carly (Holiday Cove 3)

Alesha was speaking with a customer and the sound of her cheery voice reminded me that there was something that needed to be tended to first. “Well, as soon as I close up here, Alesha and I have a phone call we need to take care of…but after that?”

“Works for me,” he said, not letting on that he knew about the reason behind the phone call.

“All right. Let me get your coffee and send you packing before you completely sidetrack me,” I said before pushing off the counter and heading to the espresso machine.

Minutes later, Nick left the shop, coffee and muffin in hand. I followed him with my eyes as long as I could, jolting back to life when he was out of sight, and joined my sister at the counter to continue helping the line of regulars waiting for their orders.

“I can’t do this.”

“Alesha, you can,” I insisted, sitting on the couch beside her. My laptop was propped open on the coffee table in front of us, just waiting on one of us to hit the call button and bring up a video chat with our dad. “Come on, let’s get this over with. It’s already the middle of the night for Dad. I’m pretty sure he’s not going to be any more receptive to the news if we make him wait up any longer.”

Through a series of emails earlier in the day, I’d arranged a time to do a video call with Dad, even though thanks to the shop’s hours and the time difference, it wasn’t exactly the most convenient for him. Still, I wanted to get the call over with before Alesha made herself sick with worrying about it.

She drew in a shaky breath. “Okay,” she said, releasing it just as slowly. “Call.”

I clicked the buttons before she could change her mind and within seconds, Dad’s face was on the screen. “Hi, girls,” he greeted. He was smiling but there was a hint of apprehension etched in his expression. “How is everything?”

I glanced at Alesha, waiting for her to dive in but she looked paralyzed on the couch. “Things are good, Dad. Alesha and I do have something we wanted to talk to you about, though.”

“Well, I figured that much,” he said, his brows raised. “Go ahead.”

I nudged Alesha with my elbow. “Go on…”

“Okay, okay!” She jerked her arm away from me and took another deep breath. “A couple of days ago, I got really sick and had to go to the ER—” she started. Dad’s eyebrows went even higher, wrinkling his forehead. “I’m okay,” she rushed to add. “I passed out but the doctors ran a bunch of tests and it was because I hadn’t been eating or drinking enough.”

Dad nodded to indicate he was following along but was obviously aware there was a “but” coming soon.

She licked her lips and glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. “Umm…but…they did find something.”

“Alesha?” a quiver of panic took over Dad’s tone. He leaned in closer, his face growing larger on the screen as he moved into the camera as if to get a closer look at her.

“Daddy, I’m going to have a baby. I’m pregnant.”

I watched as Dad’s face froze, long enough that I wondered if the camera was glitching out. When he finally reacted, he blew out a long puff of air and sagged back in his chair like a deflated balloon.

Alesha started crying and I wrapped an arm around her, silently pleading for our dad to say something. Anything. His silence was unnerving.

“I’m sorry, Daddy! I know you probably hate me…but I didn’t mean for this to happen. It was a mistake.”

“A mistake?” he repeated, his tone sharp. “A mistake?”

I held my breath.

“Who’s the father?” he demanded.

“My boy—ex-boyfriend, Brian. He’s the only one, you know that I’ve been with.”

My dad cringed. TMI, Leash.

“And does he know?”

Alesha nodded and I sat up straighter. She hadn’t told me that part yet. “I called him today and told him. He—he doesn’t want anything to do with me—or the baby—”

“Oh, well that’s too damn bad, isn’t it? That little fucker’s gonna pay!”

“Daddy!” Alesha yelped at the same time I cried out, “Dad!”

“He’s going to pay child support if nothing else,” he growled.

I rolled my eyes. “Of course, because this is about money right now! Dad, Alesha has a lot of things to think about. I don’t think money should be one of them. Not when we all clearly have enough to help her get settled and make sure her baby has everything he or she needs.”

My dad turned his eyes on mine and held me in his sights just long enough to make me squirm. Normally we had a very adult relationship. We talked business, politics, and big, life stuff, but he could still make me feel like a little kid. “I’m not saying the logistics aren’t important; they are, obviously. But right now, this is more of an emotional adjustment.”