Due Date

She let out a quiet groan that only Ry and I were close enough to hear.

Ry drove, and I sat with Gray in the back of the car. I put my arm around her, and she snuggled up against me, which honestly felt warm and lovely and like she was meant to be there. There was no doubt in my mind that she should be in my arms—always.

“Don’t judge me too harshly on that poor attempt to vomit in the street.” She looked up at me with a weak smile.

“I’m sure you can hurl as good as the best of them with the right stuff inside you. But what made you sick today? Is it something you’ve eaten or a bug?”

“I don’t know. It can’t be anything I’ve eaten. I’ve hardly eaten much for the last week or so because I feel nauseous all the time.”

“For a week, huh?”

“Maybe longer, I don’t know. I haven’t been myself for a few weeks.”

“You were all right the last time we saw you, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess since then I’ve been tired, had headaches, and then there’s this sickness.”

Ry drove back to Grace’s house.

She was her mom’s only child, so although their home was small, it was plenty big enough for the two of them. Still, when it came to homework or hanging out, we were used to gathering at the Baker residence and not Gray’s pad.

Gray wasn’t exactly welcoming when we got back. She didn’t leave us on the doorstep, but she did say, “Guys, I’ve really just gotta go lie down. Thanks. You can come in, but I can’t be playing hostess.”

“Sure, we’ll come in and stay to make sure you are okay,” Ry said.

I nodded in agreement before adding, “At least until your mom gets back.”

There was no way I’d just leave my baby like this.

Why did I call her baby—even in my own mind?

“Do you need me to come up and tuck you in?”

“Urgh, no thanks. Maybe some other time,” she said in a chirpy voice. “You know where everything is. See to yourselves. Turn the TV on if you like.”

I did. I went straight over to the TV because I needed to talk to Ry, and I didn’t necessarily want Grace hearing as I shared my suspicions with my brother. And we might want to get Noah on the phone too.

The timing concerned me.

She might not have a clue what ailed her, but I had a suspicion.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

RYAN BAKER

Sam is itching to say there is room in his bed for Grace, but he keeps his mouth shut for once.

Things moved at speed-of-light fast after the proposal, and within days the two-person Miller household was moving into our much larger Baker family home. We had a spare bedroom. Or we did have one until it was allocated to Gracey.

“I got a sneaking suspicion that this was all arranged before Dad proposed the other night.”

“Ya think?” Sam said. We hung around the entrance to the house in case anyone needed directions to one room or another. “I don’t believe there’s any way they’d have booked the moving company so soon. Man, I feel like there’s been a lot going on around here over the last three weeks that we don’t know about.”

“Right, Sam. I don’t know when the wedding is going to take place, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if we find out it’s next week.”

The movers carried stuff around us, and we stopped speaking every time they were close.

“I’m not sure which thing will be the strangest, knowing Dad’s got a woman in his bedroom, or the fact that Gray is sleeping under our roof. So near and yet out of reach.”

“You’d think she’d be here now.” I was definitely worried about her. We hadn’t seen her for a few days, and that last time was the same night she’d disappeared into her room with the sickness.

“She avoiding us, man. I hope it’s not for the reason that I think it might be.”

I leaned closer to Sam, and in a low voice, I whispered, “We used condoms. It can’t be what you think it is.”

He shook his head and sighed as if he were dealing with a fool. “Ry, they aren’t one hundred percent safe. And if it wasn’t from that night, then it might be the same problem, but with a different dude.”

“Look, I know you said Noah, but I really don’t see that happening. He’s saving himself for his fucking wedding night, for God’s sake. Even if he wasn’t, he’s way to careful and calculating to slip up. He’s not in the picture.” I wandered into the sitting room and lay back on the couch. Sam was welcome to follow and talk if he had anything sensible to say. And we’d see Grace soon enough. It wasn’t as if she could avoid us for long when we lived in the same house.