I nodded. “I’m feeling as tired as I apparently look.” I shook my head at the thought that I wasted time on my hair and makeup when I looked so clearly old and haggard. “Worry about Roman and the party, this is just pregnancy. Apparently.” It was the first time I admitted it out loud, and the record didn’t scratch, the world didn’t stop spinning. Everything just carried on as usual.
“Roman doesn’t need me to worry about him,” Carlotta laughed and motioned to where he stood in the middle of a large crowd, talking wildly with his hands. “He’s enjoying being the belle of the ball.”
“Happy clients are music to my ears.”
“The studio is loving this low-key setting and all the photos of Roman with childhood friends in a local bar. They are positively thrilled, so don’t worry about anything Margot, except maybe getting some food in your belly.”
Just as the words left Carlotta’s mouth, Pippa showed up at the table with two plates of food. “Margot you look like you’re getting to be run down. I brought bread and spreads, veggies and dip and mini sandwiches. Eat it all. Please.” She motioned for me to slide over, which I did, and dropped down beside me with the plates. “Eat. Now.”
I laughed. “Since when did getting pregnant mean everyone gets to boss you around.”
Pippa laughed. “Since forever, especially when you live in Carson Creek. Everyone told me what to eat, brought it to me, and sometimes they even watched me eat it. It was annoying and well-intentioned.”
“Just like Carson Creek,” we all said in unison and laughed.
“Thank you for the food,” I told her with a sigh. “It seems my morning sickness has shifted to the all-day variety.”
Pippa smiled in commiseration. “You’re going to hate this suggestion, but I carried crackers with me in my purse and I kept a six pack of ginger ale in the trunk of my car just in case.”
“I have them in my purse,” I admitted sheepishly. “But my purse is in the car so it doesn’t help me at the moment.”
Ryan chose that moment to approach the table, probably to get some time with his wife. “Ginger ale and toasted bread, lightly buttered. From Grady,” he said to me with a knowing smile.
“Well now, isn’t that interesting,” Pippa mused out loud.
“No. It’s not even a little bit interesting,” I said and grabbed a piece of bread and shoved it in my mouth with a smile. “Just Carson Creek helping each other out,” I said around an obscenely large mouthful of food.
Things with Grady were confusing enough that I didn’t want to add town speculation to the list of things I needed to worry about.
Chapter 18
Grady
~ August
“Are you ready for this?” It was strange that it was me asking Margot that question instead of the other way around, but after two days of bargaining she’d finally relented and let me pick her up for the doctor’s appointment. Now we sat inside my car in the parking lot of the medical center in absolute silence.
Margot nodded, and then she shook her head. “I’m ready, but I’m terrified because now it’s real.”
I laughed and put a hand to her belly. “I hate to tell you this honey, but it’s already real.”
She smacked at my hand and laughed. “I know that, but this is different. You’re here and there’s no going back, not that I want to go back, but you know what I mean.”
I nodded. “When I walk in there with you for this appointment, it becomes official. I am your baby’s daddy, and the whole town will know by end of business today.”
She huffed out a bitter laugh. “They’ll probably know before we make it back to the car, but yes. Exactly that.” She sighed and shook her head. “It’s just, I thought I was done with the gossip, but this will just start it up all over again.”
“I don’t think anything is going to stop the gossip Margot. This is the most interesting thing that’s happened since that country singer was in town to record with Derek.”
“You’re not helping.”
“Okay,” I said and drew the word out into about four syllables before I jumped from the car and jogged around to the passenger side. “Let’s go.”
She blinked and her brows dipped in confusion. “You’re kicking me out?”
“Yes. Out of the car and into that building, so we can find out how our little one is doing. No one is ever ready to be thrust into the spotlight, but this has to be done Margot. For the baby.”
Those words seemed to be the magic trick to get her out of the vehicle, because she accepted my hand and I helped her from the car. I kept my hand on her lower back to guide her towards the door, inside the elevator and up to the seventh floor of the building where a full waiting room greeted us.