Man of the Month (Willowdale Romance Novel) (19 page)

“You think that’s bad? He tells me I’m special, and he doesn’t want to rush things. Never heard that before, so I figure it must be true.” She shrugged.

That would explain it.
He likes her so much he doesn’t want to ruin things.

Lily had just finished her fruit when Brad walked into the kitchen. “My two favorite girls.” But he came to Jeanne first. “You okay today with your
 . . .
stomach thing?”

“Lily knows. There’s really no hiding it anymore.” Jeanne stood up and spread her arms wide. “I’m officially in maternity clothes.”

“That’s another reason I’ll never have kids,” Lily said. “My sense of fashion would die a fast death.”

Jeanne leveled Brad with a knowing look. “Guess you finally found your perfect woman.”

Lily giggled, sidling over to Brad so she could loop her arm around his waist and squeeze hard. “We are perfect, aren’t we?”

He kissed her head, and Jeanne left the room. There was no way in hell she could tell him now. He’d found the perfect girl and loved her enough that he was waiting to do the deed. And Jeanne loved him enough not to let him know.

AS THE WEEKS passed, Jeanne and Brad got very good at finding reasons not to be in the same room together. Even as they were prepping twenty-five Thanksgiving dinners, they spent little time together in the kitchen. Since Rita always closed the Jelly Jar on Thanksgiving, lots of folks without family had nowhere to go. So Brad and Jeanne opened up their banquet room to serve turkey and all the trimmings.

Brad was in a hurry to finish.

“Where are you off to at ten o’clock on Thanksgiving night?”

“I’m taking Lily out. It’s one of the biggest party nights of the year. We’re going in to Whitesville. We’re all set here, mind if I take off?”

“No problem. I’m going to stuff myself like a turkey with some of these leftovers and sleep until Saturday.”

“Good plan.” He took off his apron and made a beeline for the door.

Everyone she knew was visiting with family and friends. It was too late to drop in at nearly ten o’clock. She rubbed her belly. “It’s just us, kiddo.”

Since they’d baked too many sweet potato pies, Jeanne thought she’d surprise a few folks with a treat. She knew her sister would love one, and Lily’s grandma was always pestering them for some sweets. She scooped up two to drop off on the way home.

She called Becca, so she wouldn’t have to ring the doorbell and wake the baby.

The girl was waiting at the door with wiggly fingers. “Thank you! I swear I must be having sympathy pregnancy cravings on your behalf. I’m hungry all the time. You doing okay?”

“Yep.”

“I’m saving all my baby clothes for you, crossing my fingers it’s gonna be a girl.”

When she’d had her first ultrasound, Jeanne decided she didn’t want to know the gender of the baby. It would be a nice surprise.

She hugged Becca, grateful for the friends and family she did have, who would form some sort of ragtag extended family for her and her child.

She drove to Nancy’s and left a note on the pie, slipping it into her breezeway. But she knocked over a flowerpot, and the outside light flicked on.

“Shit,” she mumbled.

Lily came out, tying a robe around her nightgown. “Jeanne? What are you doing?”

“Dropping off an extra pie for your grandma. Wait—I thought Brad was taking you out?”

Lily blinked, her dark hair glowing in the moonlight, her eyes big and bright. The dang girl looked gorgeous no matter what time of day.

“No. He told me he’d be too tired after the Thanksgiving banquet.”

“But he left an hour ago to get you.” They stared at each other. “Guess he changed his mind,” Jeanne said quickly. “I gotta get home.”

Lily nodded slowly, undoubtedly working it out in her mind, and Jeanne went home to stare at the ceiling and wonder where Brad had really disappeared to.

BRAD WALKED into the Blue Moon Bar and frowned at the crowd of people. He could be here all night passing around her picture. There was probably no chance Jeanne’s guy was here on a holiday, but hopefully someone would remember her. He scooped up an empty seat at the bar and ordered a coke.

“Designated driver?” the bartender asked.

“Just trying to stay sane tonight.”

The bartender nodded, and Brad pulled Jeanne’s picture from his wallet. “I’m wondering if you saw this woman in your bar on April Fool’s Day.?”

The bartender looked at him funny, then picked up the picture. His eyes lit up. “Yeah, she was here. I remember joking with her about all the fools hitting on her that day.”

Brad struggled to swallow and took a deep breath. “Do you remember who she left with?”

“Yeah. She left with me.”

Brad knew his eyeballs must have been bulging, because the bartender stepped back and held up his hands. “Dude, we didn’t hook up. I left with her and got her a hotel room because she was planning on sleeping in her car in the parking lot, she was so drunk.”

“But who did she hook up with?” He willed himself to calm down and considered ordering a drink after all. “I’m not upset. She’s not my girlfriend. I just need to find the guy she was with.”

“There was no guy. In fact, she apologized for not hooking up with me.” He shrugged. “She said she was in love with her best friend, and that she’d never be able to settle for anyone else. Something like that.”

He was stunned for a moment and said nothing. “Are you sure someone didn’t meet her at the hotel later?”

“No way. She was passed out on the bed before I left. I swear I didn’t touch her.”

“Don’t worry. I believe you.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Thanks for taking care of her that night.”

“She’s a great gal. I hope her friend knows it.”

Brad sat in the parking lot for half an hour, trying to resolve this new information. Jeanne hadn’t hooked up with anyone. But she’d had sex with him. Brad drove to her house, the anger and hurt churning and growing in him like a thundercloud. She’d lied to him. Had she been planning on keeping this news from him forever?

He pulled into her driveway, determined to bust in and yell at her. Then his heart crumbled. He couldn’t yell at Jeanne. He was hurt and scared as hell, but he couldn’t imagine how she was feeling. But one thing was for certain—he didn’t have to worry about them being a couple anymore. He could never forgive her. He could never love a woman who’d lied to him like this.

JEANNE GOT TO work a little after nine the next morning and saw Brad’s car in the parking lot. Where had he been the night before? Had he been cheating on Lily? The Brad she knew would never do that. She may have been screaming-green jealous of Lily, but Lily didn’t deserve to be two-timed. She marched inside and plopped her purse on the counter, the jumble of lipsticks, loose change, and rolls of antacids making an impressive thud. “We need to talk.”

He crossed his arms and looked at her without a hint of a smile. “Yeah, we do.”

She pointed a finger at him, knowing this was going to come off like a scorned wife routine. “Where did you go last night? Because I dropped off a pie for Nancy, and Lily was home. You didn’t take her out. And I let it slip I thought you two had plans, so now she’s wondering, too.”

He didn’t seem concerned. “I was at the Blue Moon Bar. In Whitesville.”

“The Blue Moon?” Her stomach tumbled, and she sank onto a stool. “By yourself? Why?”

He walked toward her, his mouth tight, the veins in his neck popping out. “To find out who did this to you. To find the guy you hooked up with that night. I’ve been hitting all the bars in Whitesville for months, only to find out you didn’t hook up with anybody that night.” The words came out through clenched teeth. “The only person you’ve been with is me. You weren’t going to tell me that’s my baby?”

She looked at her feet, her shoulders curling in. “I tried. I wanted to. But you wouldn’t hear what I was trying to say. You couldn’t even consider the possibility.”

“Of course I couldn’t—we used protection!”

“It doesn’t always work.”

His eyes looked desperate and wild. “It didn’t break or anything.”

She had to look away. “Yeah, well, when you laid on top of me afterwards
 . . .
things shrink, and there’s room for ambitious swimmers to get out.” She forced a cough. “I Googled it.” Biting her lip she looked up for his reaction.

He blinked at her, his face pale. “Shit. Shit!” He started pacing the room. “But still, you should’ve told me.”

She was on her feet, fists clenched. “See? That’s all you can say—
shit
. Or, that it’s a mistake, or that I’m in trouble. I know you don’t want a baby, and I didn’t want this to ruin things with you and Lily. She’s your perfect girl. She’s beautiful, in love with you, and doesn’t want kids. So don’t worry about me and the baby.” She jerked her thumb against her chest, jabbing a breast by mistake. She kept forgetting how big they’d gotten. They were always in the way.

He ran his hand through his hair. “I’m not in love with Lily. Any man would call me a fool for that. She gorgeous and sweet, but she’s just not for me. I hate to say it, but she’s just been a good distraction from you.”

The words fell between them like a final handful of confetti tossed at a party that would soon have to be swept up.

“You’re the one I’ve always wanted, Jeanne.” He looked up at her, and the pain in his eyes made her sick. “But not now. Not after keeping this from me.”

A strangled feeling gripped her throat, but she managed to say, “You just don’t want me because I’m having a baby.”

“That’s not true. I can’t ever trust you again.”

They stared at each other, and then a third voice piped up.

“A distraction?” Frozen in a horrible, heartbreaking pose, Lily looked like a statue. The kind of look you could never shake from your brain. Jeanne could imagine how Lily felt. She wasn’t the only one losing Brad today.

He rushed over to Lily. “Lily, I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant.”

“Yes, it is.” Her voice raised an octave or two.

Got a lot louder, too. The word
hysterical
came to Jeanne’s mind.

“What else could you possibly mean by it? There’s no backing out of those words.” Lily eyes were wide and hurt. “We’re done. But from the sounds of it, we didn’t have anything to begin with, did we?” She gave him a dismissive wave and stormed out of the kitchen, but Brad didn’t chase her.

“I’m sorry,” Jeanne said. “I never wanted her to get hurt. I made a point of not telling you because of her.”

“Lies always end up hurting someone, Jeanne. And I’m guilty of it, too.” He closed his eyes and dropped his head back. “I’m going to have to go after her. I didn’t want her to hear that, but she’s right.” Then he looked at Jeanne. “What I had with Lily wasn’t real, so don’t worry about ruining anything. And don’t worry about the baby. I’ll support you financially, but that’s all I can do. I have nothing to give a child. Nothing good, anyway. I can’t be part of this. I can’t be with you. I’m not even sure I can be friends with you.”

With trembling hands and a galloping heart, she nodded. Might have been easier if he’d been screaming at her. The hurt in his voice crumpled her heart like an empty soda can. “I tried telling you. I did. I just didn’t know how.”

He hung his head and looked at the floor.

Jeanne wrung her hands. “What about the business?”

“I don’t know. Maybe we can sell it. We have to fulfill our obligations for the New Year’s bash.” He looked over his shoulder. “I gotta go find Lily. We’ll talk this over later.”

“Guess we can call off Man of the Month now, since I’m sure none of them want a baby either,” Jeanne called after him.

She stood up to leave but had to sit back down, letting the tears flow for a good half hour. When she felt as sad and pathetic as a limp dishrag, she flicked off the lights, locked up, and went home to cry some more—for herself, for Brad, and for the baby. The baby was the most important person in this whole thing. What was going to happen to the poor child? She pulled out her cell and texted Kate and Tonya—
emergency meeting at my place right now
.

“HE SHOULD man up,” Tonya said, passing Jeanne a tissue, the three of them lying in her bed.

Jeanne sat up. “No! I don’t want him doing anything out of a sense of obligation. I want him to want the baby. But he doesn’t. And he doesn’t want me.”

Kate smoothed Jeanne’s hair. “Damn Larsen boys.”

“You can handle this yourself,” Tonya said, her New York accent coming back to life. “My nonna did a fine job raising me and my cousin Inez when both our mothers split. Well, she did a fine job with me at least. And you can, too.”

Jeanne hugged her pillow. “Is that fair to the baby? How would I explain why the child’s own father didn’t want to be part of our lives? Maybe the baby would be better off with someone else.” It hurt her heart to say it, but she wondered if it was true.

Kate jerked back. “Jeanne! You’ve wanted a family of your own forever.”

Jeanne linked her fingers around her knees, unconsciously rubbing the spot where a wedding ring would be if this whole thing was unfolding like she’d dreamed so many times. The skin was bare and cold.

“Yes, a family like I never had—with a mother and a father. Not just one parent struggling to make things right.”

“Lots of single parents do it,” Kate offered.

Jeanne swiped her hand under her nose. “I just don’t know.”

Tonya sat up, bouncing the bed. “Well, you’ve got two aunties right here. Plus your sister. We’ll help you however we can. And trust me, that child will have the best looking hair in town. I’ll see to that.”

“And everyone in town will probably whisper when my child walks by. Just like they always did behind my back. ‘Poor Jeanne Clark.’ I don’t want my baby to be poor anything.”

Kate and Tonya both wrapped their arms around Jeanne. “It’ll be okay,” they told her, stroking her hair and wiping her tears.

She nodded, even though she knew they were wrong.

BRAD DROPPED by the police station, and Dolly sat up and tugged her cardigan closed. “You got some samples? You know I’m a sucker for your appetizers.”