“What does he do to make you feel this way?”
“I don’t know. It’s just the way he looks at me, I guess. Oh, and he came by the bakery a couple of days ago. And he was so sweet. He insisted on paying even though I wanted to give him and his daughter a treat for free. Then, when my oven broke while he was there, he fixed it free of charge.”
“On the spot?” she asked.
“Yeah. And Charlie came in while he was there.”
“Of course, he did.”
“Things got tense, and it felt like Andrew was, I don’t know, coming to my aid or something.”
“Oh, protective. I like that in a man.”
“And watching him with his daughter is so cute. I can tell she’s a little shy, but she’s really opening up. She asked me over dinner if I was staying after the baby came.”
“Wait, his daughter knows?” Nikki said.
“She knows I’ll be having the baby, but I don’t think she knows what that means. He took my hand, Nikki, and it felt so good and so right. He looked into my eyes, and he was so close, I could feel his breath on my cheek.”
“Oh, girl. He likes you.”
“You think?” I asked.
“Yes, I do, and you like him too. But the two of you are using this contract bullshit or whatever to shy away from the topic. You should talk with him. Tell him how you feel. Who knows where it could go?”
“It would go down the drain.”
“You don’t know that. It might be a relief to him that you took the initiative,” she said.
I sighed as I took another sip of my drink.
“Andrew seems like a great guy. What could go wrong if he says no? You keep to the contract anyway, you get your money, you keep trucking as normal. You stick to your plan.”
“I don’t know if I could stick to the plan after feeling this way.”
“Then don’t. Pull the plug. You have the capacity to still do that, right?” she asked.
“I do up until we successfully get pregnant, yes.”
“Then, you pull the plug.”
“And that money’s gone,” I said.
“Then, you’ll wait until another match crops up. Look, Heather. If the right man for you has come along, who the fuck cares about some contract? Stop tiptoeing around it. Grow a pair. Be the Heather I know you to be. Talk about how you’re feeling. Communicate with the man.”
“How the hell did this all get so complicated?”
“How did you think it wouldn’t? It doesn't matter. You feel this way. And if you can’t continue with this deal because of how you feel, then he needs to know that. But setting all of the what-ifs aside, there’s only one way to find out anything.”
“And that’s talking with him,” I said.
“Exactly.”
I snickered and shook my head before I finished my soda. Then, I excused myself to the bathroom and slipped my phone out of my pocket. I needed to do something before I lost my nerve. I knew I could be heading for a train wreck. In one fell swoop, I could lose a great guy, his interaction, his touch, and my bakery.
But the way I felt around him at his house? It couldn't be denied. He had to know, and I had to know if his interactions were genuine too.
“Heather, is everything ok?” Andrew asked.