“Yeah, Billy, now. You need all the support you can get with this.”
“Can we stay here a little bit longer?”
“Okay, but…”
Billy tried to kiss her, but she moved away from him.
“Renie?”
“Give me a minute, okay, Billy?”
“A minute?”
“I can’t do this.” She wriggled out of his arms, grabbed her clothes, and walked out of the bedroom.
He felt as though his body was imploding. He wanted to race after her, turn her around, and kiss every bit of air out of her. He went upstairs and got in the shower instead.
In two weeks, his whole life changed. He realized that Renie Fairchild was the love of his life. And somehow he knew Roxanne had been telling the truth, Willow was his baby. The love of his life and a baby. And it couldn’t have happened in a more fucked-up way.
When he came out of the bedroom, Renie was sitting at the kitchen counter.
“Ready?”
“You’ll go with me?”
“Of course I will.”
“Still my best friend, but not my lover?”
“Let’s take this one step at a time. First, you need to find out if the baby is yours.”
“And if she is? Then what?”
“Don’t push me, Billy.”
He wanted to hold his hands up in surrender, but he knew she’d take it the wrong way if he did. Instead, he did the other thing he knew she wouldn’t want him to do. He pulled her into a hug, and he held her as tightly as he could.
He put his head next to hers, his face in her hair. “I need you, Renie.”
He felt a little more of his soul leave his body when she didn’t answer.
“Well.” Dottie looked at Billy, then at her husband before she looked at Renie. She wasn’t sure what to say. The baby, if it were Billy’s, was something they’d welcome with open arms, and handle as a family. That part she wasn’t worried about.
Dottie was worried most about what she knew her son was worried most about. Renie. It would’ve been different if Billy had gotten this news even six months from now. They would’ve had some time together under their belts.
She doubted Renie thought anyone noticed, but she was sitting on her hands. Dottie had known Renie since she was a baby. She’d watched her grow up. She told Renie she knew when she was worried about something because she bit her nails. That was when Renie started sitting on her hands instead.
Billy reached over and pulled her arm, then took her hand in his. He knew too, thought Dottie.
“The best thing would be for me to go to Texas,” Billy said, looking between his mom and dad. “If they expedite it, they can have the results back from the lab in twenty-
four hours. I’ll stay until they do.”
“And then what?” Bill asked his son.
Billy looked at Dottie.
“I’ll go with you honey,” she said matter-of-factly. “We’ll figure it out as we go.”