Small Town Curves: A Pregnancy Romance

“I’ve always loved this house. It’s a lot of house for two people.”

“It is,” I told her and unlocked the door. “But when I was in California trying to sort out my head, I thought of this house. It is the perfect cozy home to raise a kid. There are so many hiding places and the history of the rooms is so interesting. And now that I’m having a boy, he’ll have plenty of ways to cause mischief.”

“You’ll spend most of your life cleaning this place.”

“That’s what housekeepers are for, Mara. What do you think? It’s in good condition, most of the repairs are cosmetic. That’s why I decided to move in right away, rather than waiting until I was bigger and more tired.”

“Is Miles going to live here with you?”

I knew we would eventually get around to him and I gave Mara credit for waiting as long as she did to ask. “No. He was all pissy because I wasn’t upset that he hadn’t called me for a few days and I blurted out that I was in love with him. Afterwards he was angry about it.” I couldn’t that look out of my mind, that he was genuinely upset, like he didn’t want my love. “I guess it was another miscalculation on my part.”

“He’s an idiot.” Mara shook her head. “Men have a bad habit of acting like idiots where emotions are concerned. Does he know about the house?”

I shook my head. “We didn’t get that far.” He would find out eventually, I knew that. “He won’t care. If he’s serious about wanting to be involved, he wont’ have a choice but to be happy that I’m staying in Pilgrim.”

Mara shrugged. “If you say so. Did you ask me o meet you here to help you unpack or talk about work?”

“Work. We have a few things to talk about. More responsibility, if you’re interested.”

“I am,” she said quickly and followed me to the kitchen, where we sat down and formed a partnership that would work for both of us.

My life in Pilgrim was coming together nicely.

Miles

It was early in the morning and I was already at Bread Box, waiting for Liam and Grant to show up for a status meeting. Waiting and staring at Shannon while she flitted around the place as if nothing was wrong. As if she didn’t tell me she loved me and then walked away with a sad smile. What in the hell was I supposed to make of that?

“How long before he notices we’re here?” Grant’s deep whisper penetrated the fog of my mind and I shook my head and turned to find him and Liam clutching hot coffee cups. “Ah, there he is! Hey man. Good morning.”

“Dick,” I muttered and reached for my now lukewarm coffee.

“Just go talk to her.” Liam’s grouchy words reminded me that it was early in the morning and my business partner was not a morning person.

“Nope.” I shook my head, knowing the time wasn’t right. “I can’t, not yet. I’m not ready.”

Grant snorted and shook his head. “Sounds to me like you’re a coward, man. If you won’t talk to her, turn off that stalker stare and let’s get down to business.”

Liam snorted a laugh as he sipped his coffee. “Or you could just tell her you love her back and put us all out of our misery, because newsflash, we already know that you do.”

I looked at him with a scowl, shocked that Shannon had told Mara what happened between us. “Maybe I do, but I’m not sure.”

Liam and Grant both laughed. “Not sure?” Grant’s tone was incredulous. “You are so full of shit, man. It’s okay to admit you’re too scared to say it back.”

“I’m not scared,” I insisted angrily. “I’m being cautious.”

“Scared,” Liam murmured under his breath, trying hard to get a rise out of me.

“Cautious,” I said again, feeling my anger rise. “The last time I loved a woman, the last time I told a woman I loved her, she got knocked up by my brother and left me.” It was humiliating to share but these were my friends, my partner. Hell, Liam and I had saved each other’s lives at least a dozen times, this was nothing compared to that.

Silence fell around the table, both men shocked as hell at the information. “Holy shit. You never said a thing,” Liam said, his tone filled with accusation.

I shrugged. “What would be the point? Wallowing in it wouldn’t change anything, including her choices or how I felt about them.” I hadn’t said a word to Carly or Shawn since she sat me down to explain why she screwed my brother behind my back, and my brother, well I ignored his nonstop calls. Still did.

“You’re an idiot,” Grant grumbled and took an angry bite of the chocolate filled croissant. “It would have helped you grieve and process that screwed up situation, so you wouldn’t screw things up when the right woman came along. Idiot.”