Desperate Times (Boys of Silver Ridge 2)

If she thinks the distance will make me fall out of love with her, she’s wrong. How long did we go without seeing each other? How many miles away was she from me? It didn’t change anything. I’ve been in love with Chloe Fisher since we were kids, and I will love her for the rest of my life.

It’s early, and I should be sleeping since I hardly slept last night. I don’t have to be at work until seven tonight, and it’s going to be a long fucking night if I start it tired. Setting my phone down, I roll over. I haven’t changed the sheets since Chloe left, and there’s a long strand of her red hair on the pillow.

I don’t want to lose her.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I close my eyes. It takes a while, but I end up falling asleep. A while later, my phone rings and I jerk awake, hoping it’s Chloe. It’s not, and I want to send Stacey’s call to voicemail but answer instead. I can’t put this off, and now that the truth is out there, I need to move forward with everything—and get that DNA test done.

“Hello?”

“Hey, did I wake you up? You sound sleepy.”

“I’m up.”

“Oh good. Are you busy? We keep talking about going out to lunch and it hasn’t happened yet.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “We do, and no, I’m not busy. Can you meet up later today?”

“Yeah, that would be perfect! My mom is here, and I told her about the baby. She’s dying to meet you now and she’s so excited to have another grandbaby!”

Obviously if we share a child, our families will intertwine. The lump is back in my throat. “Okay. Where do you want to meet?”

“I’m really craving cheesecake, so The Cheesecake Factory?”

“That’s fine.”

“We can go soon and beat the lunch rush.”

“That’ll work,” I say. “How much time do you need to get ready?”

“Like five minutes,” she laughs. “We’re at the Water Tower Place doing some shopping.”

“Oh, okay.” I get out of bed. “I’ll head over that way now and will let you know once I find a parking spot. I’ll see you in a while.”

“Let me know when you’re almost here and I’ll get us a table.”

“Okay,” I repeat. “See you soon.” I end the call, toss my phone on my bed, and get dressed. Traffic isn’t too bad today, and I make it to the Cheesecake Factory and find a parking spot in under an hour.

I step in and look around for Stacey.

“Sam, hi!” Stacey waves, standing from her chair. I hold up my hand, letting her know I see her, and come over.

“Hi,” I say, and she steps right in for a hug. She presses her breasts up against me, and I can tell she’s not wearing a bra.

“Mom,” Stacey says, sitting back down. “This is Sam. He’s a doctor. Sam, this is my mom.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I tell her and take a seat across from Stacey.

“You too. I’m Michelle.” Stacey’s mom smiles. “I think you’re right, honey, the baby will have blue eyes.”

The waitress brings Stacey and her mom the drinks they ordered, and gives me a menu. I quickly glance it over while Stacey and Michelle order and pick something more or less at random. I’m not hungry, even though I know I should eat.

“I bought the cutest little baby outfits today,” Stacey tells me, reaching down to get something out of a shopping bag. “Gender neutral for now, since we don’t know what we’re having yet.”

“You should be able to,” I say, and it dawns on me that I didn’t even ask her about it when she said she had an ultrasound. I was too shocked to really think about it. Stacey’s mom gives me a funny look and shakes her head, smiling.

Stacey shows me all the things she and her mom bought for the baby, and I feel like I’m being pulled down under dark, murky water. I feel like a jackass for not being excited. I don’t want to take anything away from Stacey, and it makes me relieved to see her mother gushing over her soon-to-be-born grandchild.

The baby did nothing wrong. Stacey did nothing wrong. I can blame myself all day, but we were casually hooking up on and off for years. There was nothing wrong about it. I should have been more careful, should have pulled out as well as using a condom. There’s no going back now.

“Excuse me,” Stacey says, pushing her chair back. “I have to pee.” She stands and rests her hand on her stomach. She’s wearing a sweater, making it hard to see if she’s showing yet.

“This was quite the surprise, wasn’t it?” Michelle laughs.

“You could say that again.”

Michelle laughs. “Stacey’s brother wasn’t planned, but things have a way of working out. I was young then, only nineteen, but two years later Stacey’s father and I got married and here we are, years later!”