No Strings

Since he took off for an early football practice, I ran to the coffee shop and snagged Savannah’s favorites in hope of catching her at home before she left. I should probably wait until after work to talk, but I can’t go another minute without apologizing for the way I treated her.

Savannah eyes the goods, then sighs, snatching them from me and letting me in. “Only because I’m craving coffee and sweets.”

She sits on the couch, still in her pajamas, and takes a sip. “Mmm…so good. I read if I’m pregnant, I can only drink like one cup a day. This is going to be a long nine months.”

“If you’re pregnant?”

“I haven’t confirmed it yet.”

“Why not?”

“Because I was mad you knew before me.” She shrugs a single shoulder. “And…kind of scared that if I was, I’d be doing it on my own.” She takes another sip of her coffee to keep herself busy, but I take it from her, wanting to see her face, needing her to look at me.

“You’re not going through anything alone.” I take her hand in mine. “I was shocked by what you told me, and I reacted wrong, but I love you, and that hasn’t changed. And neither has me wanting to marry you and have a family with you.”

“Did you find anything out about your dad?”

“No, not yet. But I know you wouldn’t lie to me. I don’t know why he was stealing from me, and I’m afraid to find out. He’s gone, and even though our family went through a lot, we came out okay, and we were close. What if what I find out makes me see him in a different light?”

“True, but like you told Brody. You’re family, and I don’t believe he could’ve done anything to make you love him any less.”

I want to believe she’s right, but it’s hard when you don’t know what you’re dealing with.

“Will you come with me?”

“Where?”

“To my dad’s. His attorney needs to meet me there to handle his estate and assets. I’ve been putting it off. If I’m going to find any answers, it would be there.”

“Of course,” she says with a soft smile. “Why don’t you see if he can meet us after work?”

“All right, but before we go to work, there’s something we need to do.”

Her brows dip in confusion.

“Sav, you’ve been wanting a baby for years. How is it not killing you not knowing if you’re pregnant?” It’s been in the back of my mind every other damn second since I put the pieces together.

“I told you why. Plus, I think I wanted you to be there. I really thought I was broken. It feels like it’s almost too good to be true.”

“Or…” I bring her hand up to my lips and kiss each of her knuckles. “It was meant to be.”

“If you’re not pregnant, it’s no big deal,” I tell her as I watch her nervously pace the bathroom. It turns out Brianne had already bought tests, so finding out was as easy as her peeing on a stick. Once she did, she began pacing. Back and forth. Back and forth. And when I saw how nervous she was, it hit me. What if I’m wrong and she’s not pregnant—and I just put it into her head that she is. She’s going to be devastated, and it’s all my fault.

Shit.

“Sav, did you hear me?”

“Oh my God!” She grabs the stick and waves it in the air. “I’m pregnant!” She thrusts the test toward me so I can see the word PREGNANT, then throws herself into my arms. “Thank you. Thank you. I can’t believe it.” She steps back, tears flying down her cheeks. “I’ve wanted this for so long, and now I have it, and it’s all thanks to you.”

Jesus, this woman. She’s actually thanking me for mistakenly knocking her up when I should be the one thanking her.

“Sav, you’ve got it all wrong,” I tell her, palming her face and wiping away the liquid from her cheek with my thumb. “When I met you, I was broken and hanging on by a thread…” I finger her necklace—the one with the love knot. “I was going through life, but not actually living. Until I met you. It’s me who should be thanking you.”

“No.” She shakes her head and kisses me softly on the lips. “It’s like you said when you gave me the love knot. We were both broken, hanging on by a thread. But together, those strings formed a strong knot that will withstand the test of time.”

She presses her lips to mine again, this time deepening the kiss, and I thank whoever was responsible for that annoying fucking treadmill. Had it not driven me nuts, I might never have given this Southern-accented, coffee-loving, weird T-shirt-wearing woman, who holds my heart in the palm of her hand, a second glance.