The One (Coming Home To The Grove 3)

All of us stop. Carrie’s back is to the door, so she has no idea, but you can tell she feels a shift in the room.

He puts his hands on her shoulders. “How you doing, ladies?” he asks us, but none of us answer. It’s obvious to everyone why he’s here.

Carrie turns a little in her seat and looks up at him. “Sheriff.” She smiles at him.

He leans down and kisses her. The whole bakery is silent, and everyone is watching.

When he finally pulls back, he tells her, “I missed you and have to go but wanted to see you. I’ll see you tonight.” Then he kisses her again, and with a nod to the rest of us, he walks out the door he just came in.

We all start laughing. “Yeah, it looks like it went really well!”

Carrie tries to change the subject. With her face flaming red, she asks me, “So how about you? How have you been?”

I normally would say I’m good and leave it at that. But not today. I start with, “My graphic design business is really taking off, and it’s great because I can do it remotely from anywhere.” I’m trying to smile, but the emotions are rolling through me, and half the time I don’t know if I’m going to laugh uncontrollably or if I’m going to cry. I guess today I’m going to cry.

I reach for a napkin in the middle of the table. “Well, let’s see. I’m also pregnant.”

Instantly, the three of them squeal and are all excited, but when I start sobbing into my hand, they stop. “Rose, what is it? You’ve always wanted kids,” Chrissy says.

I shrug my shoulders. “I know. And I still do. I’m excited about this baby, but things aren’t so great with Brody and me.”

Lacy leans across the table. “Brody loves you, Rose. It doesn’t matter what the news says. You know how they are, they’re just looking for a story. Y’all are going to work this out.”

Well, that answers my question if anyone else has seen the newscast about my husband cheating on me.

I nod, trying to let her words soothe me, but I’ve left my husband, I’m living with my parents, and I’m pregnant.

As the conversation goes on around me, I know there’s no better place to fall apart and then pick up the pieces. Forest Grove is my home, and it looks as if I’m here to stay.

After my lunch with my friends, I feel remarkably better. I know I need to get my life together.

I have to move on.

I found a cute house for rent with the help of my friends, and because of Olivia’s amazing negotiating skills I was able to get the place without having to pay first and last month’s rent.

By the time rent comes due I’ll have a job or at least have a way to make money. I have no doubt about that. As soon as my dad mentioned the idea of me creating websites, I’ve sort of just gone with it.

Already, Patty from Patty Cakes has hired me to revamp her website with weekly menu updates too. And Olivia is going to talk to the other veterinarians about me creating a new website for them. And then I’ve already created a few small sites for the local hair salon and the dog groomers.

Thanks to my parents wanting to free up a room filled with furniture they weren’t using, I’ve managed to furnish the house and only had to buy a few pieces on my own. I’m on my own but I am capable.

I just wished it didn’t hurt so deeply, so much that when I think about Brody I hurt down to my bones. I still can’t believe he betrayed me the way he did. He saw Tracy after Kaden cheated on her. He was literally sick about it. I never dreamed he would be on the delivering end of something like this.

Rubbing my stomach though I’m not yet showing, I promise my unborn baby that we’ll be fine. Just fine.BrodyI go to Forest Grove. I’m not going to let another day go by with her not talking to me.

I arrive and go to her parents’ house. Her father’s sharp tone on the phone is still present and matches the look on his face when he answers the door. “What do you want?”

“Uh, hi, Mr. Victors. Is Rose here?”

“No, and if you were any kind of husband you would know she isn’t. She moved out,” he tells me.

She moved into her own place? What is that supposed to mean? Why would she need her own place?

“Where did she move to?” I ask him, my fists clenching at my sides. What in the world is going on here?

“If she wanted you to know where she was, she’d tell you herself,” he says and starts to slam the door.