Second Look (A New Beginning Book 3) (23 page)

She was most excited for the food.

The hour-long ride from Zimmerman to St. Paul went quickly since they sang along to songs on the oldies station. After a long walk from where they parked, they finally walked in the front gates to the fair.

As she breathed in, the familiar scents of the fair hit her. Ice cream, corn dogs, fries and freshly made cookies mixed with farm animals.

It gave Jennifer an immediate sense of déjà vu.

The memories poured through her as she looked around at the crowd of people. There had to be thousands just in the entrance alone.

She spent so many nights there with Adam and their friends when they were growing up; rides, concerts and lots of games where he would always try to win her the biggest stuffed animal.

She was lost in memories, so it made her jump when Adam spoke.

“What booth should we hit first?”

Jennifer looked up at Adam and saw him smiling down at Amber. She glanced at her daughter and laughed. Her eyes were wide open, her mouth was formed in a cute, toothless smile and she was clapping her hands together while jumping up and down.

“How about first we get some pronto pups, fries and chocolate covered bacon? Then we could hit the games and you can win Amber a big prize?” Jennifer glanced back up to Adam who was grinning.

He looked back up into her eyes, giving her a sexy wink. “That’s an interesting combination.”

“What’s a pronto pup?”

Amber’s sweet little voice interrupted their staring session, and it made Jennifer blush. He positively sizzled in his tight green t-shirt and khaki cargo shorts. The shirt highlighted his summer tan and his incredible body.

“It’s a corn dog, sweetie.”

“Oh, I like corn dogs,” she replied, rubbing her tummy.

“Let’s go, I’m starving,” Jennifer said, first grabbing Amber’s hand and then Adam’s, moving the three of them towards the food.

According to the map of the fair, the pronto pup and French fry booths were close together, and then they’d have to search for the chocolate covered bacon.

After filling up on foot-long pronto pups, they went in search of the chocolate-covered bacon. Jennifer was on a mission and nothing could stop her from getting that dessert.

*****

“Ummmm…” Amber carefully debated, tapping her cheek with her finger, “I think I’ll take the giant purple monkey, please.”

Adam spent over $50 to win a giant stuffed gorilla. Jennifer tried to convince him to give up, but he just wouldn’t leave without one. He apparently lost his touch.

“You got it, kiddo.”

Jennifer watched as the guy took down the giant purple monkey, which held a banana, and handed it over to Amber. She grabbed the monkey from him and gave it a huge hug. It was funny to watch her hug a stuffed animal that was just as big as she was.

“Oh, thank you, Adam! I love him!”

Adam looked up at Jennifer, eyes shining bright. “That was so worth the fifty bucks.”

“You’re spoiling her. You know that, right?”

Adam nodded and then shrugged his shoulders, looking entirely too pleased with himself, even as she scolded him.

“Okay, what’s next? Are you ready to head back home now or do you want to go on a few rides first?”

“Rides, rides, rides!” Amber squealed, clapping her hands together around the big monkey.

“Alright, just a little while longer, sweetie. It’s getting late and by the time we get home, it will be way past your bedtime,” she warned Amber, and then said, “Why don’t you give the monkey…”

Amber interrupted. “Mr. Jangles.”

Where did she come up with this stuff?

“Okay, give Mr. Jangles to Adam, and he can carry him for you while you go on rides. That way you won’t get him all dirty, either.”

Amber looked a little disappointed, but handed him over. “Okay.”

They started walking over to the rides and Jennifer bought tickets. Adam tried to argue with her, but she wouldn’t listen. He paid for the tickets to get in, the food and now $50 for a giant stuffed animal. She wasn’t about to let him pay for rides, too.

By the time Amber laughed her way through several spinning rides, some of which Jennifer went on too, it was already 7:00, and Amber was wiped out.

She carried Mr. Jangles and Adam gave Amber a piggyback all the way to where he parked his truck.

By the time they left the parking spot at 8:00, Amber was nodding off.

Adam looked at Jennifer and said, “You know I love you both, right?”

She gave him a small smile. “We love you, too.”

The day was a perfect way to end the summer, just a couple days before Amber would start Kindergarten.

Jennifer didn’t think anything could ruin what was the perfect day.

*****

Several more weeks passed and it was already mid-October.

Jennifer and Adam spent every possible minute together and they continued to get closer. On a gorgeous day in October, they went to the apple orchard near her parent’s house, right by Lake Sylvia. They enjoyed a hay ride through the apple trees where they got to stop and pick their favorite apples to bring home. They picked several Minnesota apple varieties and picked out some fresh-squeezed cider to bring home.

After they got back to Jennifer’s house late that evening, Amber asked if Adam could put her to bed. His mouth dropped open and then transformed into a gorgeous, swoon-worthy smile.

“Sure he can, sweetie. Come give me a kiss goodnight.”

“Okay, mommy.”

Amber ran over and gave Jennifer a hug and a kiss.

“Remember to brush your teeth.”

Amber’s shoulders fell. “Aw, do I have to?”

Jennifer clicked her tongue. “No, of course not. I can just call the dentist in the morning and ask them to pull them all.”

Amber’s eyes widened. “No! I’ll go brush them. Goodnight!”

Jennifer tried not to laugh. “Good night, sweetie.”

Adam gave her a giant smile and said, “Be back in a bit.”

Jennifer nodded. As Adam took Amber to her bedroom, she went back outside, heading out to the mailbox. It was a long walk out to the end of her driveway, and she kept thinking of the hayride through the apple trees at the apple orchard. Tears formed in her eyes, just thinking about how much fun they had together.

She grabbed the contents of the mailbox and shuffled through the letters. She stopped short as soon as she saw an envelope from HomeDNA.

Oh. My. Gosh.

Overwhelming fear tore through her, making her shake, and her stomach was turning. All of her fears came crashing back, enough to practically bowl her over as she walked back up to her house.

Adam hadn’t asked about the test results since they did the swabs, but she figured it was on his mind because it was certainly on hers. She didn’t even have the courage to send them in for several weeks.

But now the results were here.

She heard Adam coming down the hall and panicked. She was guilty of stalling and she knew it.

Oh no! What should I do?

Just before Adam rounded the corner, Jennifer quickly shoved the envelope far back into the junk drawer, behind the batteries, extra phone chargers and super glue.

Jennifer wasn’t ready to risk the relationship she and Amber had developed with Adam. She just couldn’t do it. What if they still said Adam wasn’t the father? She was sure the last time, but now? Doubt crept in. She didn’t think Mike was Amber’s father, but what if it really was him?

Why am I so worried about this? He tells me every chance he gets that he loves me. I know he does. But what happens if Amber isn’t really his?

Right or wrong, she’d deal with it later.

*****

Jennifer was going crazy worrying about the damn test hidden in her kitchen junk drawer since Saturday night.

She continued to make excuses as to why not to open the results or tell Adam she had them. She didn’t want to open them Sunday, because Adam left on Monday for a work trip and wouldn’t be home until Friday night and she didn’t want to do it right before he left. She was just too insecure.

She knew she needed to do it, and soon. She just needed to find the courage.

She pulled out every gray hair she found on her head and chewed her nails until they were stubs before it finally hit her; what she really needed were her friends.

It was perfect timing for a girl’s night out.

I have to figure this out before Adam gets home!

She covered her face with her hands. The right thing to do was obvious, but she was just too damn scared to do it. Maybe she just needed a little liquid courage and some support from her friends.

It was MEA weekend where students were off Thursday and Friday, so Maddie was luckily able to babysit.

Thursday night was Ladies night at the local bar in Zimmerman. Jennifer called Mandi and Cassandra and they were picking her up before heading over to the bar.

Another friend, Kimberly, was joining them because her boyfriend, Peter, was the bar’s magician. Yes, the bar had a magician on Ladies night. He was actually pretty damn good, so good it scared her at times. It would be fun to see some tricks to take her mind off the issue at hand.

The Whistling Pickle was
the
place to be on a Thursday night in her little town of Zimmerman. Cheap drinks, karaoke, dancing and an “adult toy” representative could always be counted on for a funny time.

It would be a great distraction to get the latest on the girls and their relationships.

Jennifer also thought it was high time to push Mandi into either dating a real guy, like flesh and blood versus just an online guy who could be a girl or a 13-year-old boy. And she didn’t even want to get started on the crazy relationship Cassandra had with her best friend, Noah. Seriously, they should just hook up and call it good.

As far as Kimberly went, she was looking forward to getting to know her a little better. She was a friend of Cassandra’s from work, so they weren’t friends for that long, but she was already easily fitting into their group and just crazy enough to get them all up to sing karaoke.

Sitting at the table in the middle of the bar, right by the pull-tabs, they got their first round of drinks.

“Well, ladies, who’s up for some karaoke?” Kimberly asked them, looking around the table with a smirk.

“Count me out! I’m pretty sure I’d crack the windows in this place,” Jennifer replied, shuddering as she sipped on her beer.

“No, thank you,” said Cassandra, shaking her head.

Kimberly grumbled. “Oh, come on! You aren’t any fun.”

Mandi’s face lit up. “I have an idea. How about a little friendly competition?”

Kimberly perked up at this suggestion, saying, “What do you have in mind?”

“How about whoever gets a free drink first gets to bow out of singing and the rest of us have to get up and sing a song. The winner gets to chose a song for you.”

Mandi’s brow was raised and she was tapping her freshly painted fingernails on her bottle of Bud.

Jennifer and Cassandra groaned at the same time.

“Uh, nope. I’m out,” Cassandra told them, again. “I can’t sing at all.”

“No way,” Jennifer informed them, looking between Mandi and Kimberly.

“Ladies, really? We’re all in. It’ll be fun,” Kimberly insisted.

Jennifer narrowed her eyes. “Fine. But it has to be someone we don’t know. It can’t be someone like your boyfriend, Kimberly.”

Kimberly rolled her eyes. “Well, of course not.”

“Okay, so since that’s settled,” Jennifer said, “I needed this girl’s night. I need moral support.”

All three of the other girls snapped to attention.

“What’s going on, babe?” Mandi asked, concern in her voice.

“So, I probably should have told you all sooner…,” Jennifer began, and then paused.

Mandi’s eyes narrowed. “Uh, continue please. What’s going on?”

“Okay, fine.” Jennifer sighed. She needed her friends and she shouldn’t have kept this from them anyway. Here goes nothing. “As you know, I still don’t know who Amber’s father is.”

Mandi and Cassandra nodded, and Kimberly’s eyes grew wide.

Jennifer looked at Kimberly and said, “I’ll explain another time, Kim, but long story short the only two men who could be Amber’s father both had their tests come back as negative.”

Kimberly said under her breath, “Holy shit.”

“Right.” Jennifer agreed. “Anyway, you know that the only two men I was with were Adam and Mike. There is absolutely no one else who could be her father. I finally got the courage up and asked Adam to retake the paternity test.”

Mandi gasped, a hurt look crossing her face. “You did?”

Jennifer nodded, and put an apologetic look on her face. “And he took them a while back.”

Mandi was gaping at her. “Oh my gosh. Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I didn’t want the looks of pity and the concern.”

“Are you nuts?” Cassandra was shaking her head. “We are your best friends, you know. Did you not learn this the last time?”

Jennifer’s eyes filled with tears. “Apparently not?”

Cassandra patted her on the shoulder and said. “You know we love you so you need to learn to trust us with this stuff. She shook her head and asked, “So? Did you get them yet?”

“Last week.”

Mandi’s eyes widened. “And? What did they say?”

Jennifer hung her head and put her face in her hands so her response was a little garbled. “Um…I don’t know?”

Cassandra shouted, causing others around them to glance over. “Say what?”

That got the attention of a group of men sitting at the next table over. One of them grinned Cassandra’s way, but she didn’t even notice him.

“I…well…I’m scared! Things are going so well with Adam and I just don’t want to ruin them.”

Even to her own ears it sounded stupid.

“Oh, honey. You and Adam are doing great! You have to learn to trust him.”

“Yeah, Mandi’s right, sweetie.” Cassandra nodded her head. “You and Adam are inseparable. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. I think you’re worrying for nothing. He’s totally in love with you.”

“I have a question,” Kimberly said hesitantly, taking a sip of her dirty martini and raising her hand. All three girls looked over at Kimberly before she continued. “He’s already been told he’s not Amber’s father, right?”