Southern Seduction (144 page)

She backed away from me, nearly stumbling over her feet as she made a hasty retreat from the bathroom.

After I’d composed myself and rinsed out my mouth, I emerged from the bathroom to find June and Dottie huddled together, softly crying. I crawled into bed beside his cold body and put my arm around him.

“Daddy, I’m so sorry. I love you.” I cried hysterically as I clutched him. My heart ached so fucking bad. Locating my phone in my pocket, I called my mom.

“Momma,” I wailed when she answered.

“Oh God, Bobby, no,” she whispered into the phone. “I’ll catch the next flight. Honey, hang in there. I’ll be there soon.”

Hanging up, I dialed Chaz.

“Hey, asshole,” he joked when he answered.

I couldn’t say anything as my lip trembled fiercely.

“Ah, shit, man. I’m so fucking sorry,” he declared, his tone way more serious.

I sniffed loudly, trying to choke down my sob so that I could talk to him but failed miserably. A small hand took the phone from my hand, and I buried my face into my dad, losing it again.

June was whispering to Chaz on the phone, probably updating him on the situation. When she hung up, I heard her mom tell her that she’d see her in the morning. After a few minutes, I felt June rub me softly along my back.

“Babe, I think we need to get you home to rest. You’ve had a long day,” she whispered as her voice shook.

Long day. No, worst fucking day. My blood boiled, and I shot out of the bed, glaring down at her.

“Long fucking day? Really, June? My dad just fucking died and you want me to go rest like a goddammed sissy! Fuck that and fuck you,” I spat.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she reached for me. “Bobby, you’re just upset and saying things you don’t mean.”

Grabbing her wrist tightly, I brought my nose close to hers. “I fucking mean them all. Fuck you.”

She pressed her lips to mine, and for a moment, I wanted to forget everything. It would have been so easy to just mold myself to her and lose myself in the moment. I actually wanted nothing more than to do just that, but reality crashed over me like a ton of bricks.

“I think it’s time for you to leave,” I told her coolly, still gripping her wrist.

“Please, Bobby, don’t do this. I love you and you need support right now. You can’t just push me out right now.”

“I can and I will. Now, GO THE FUCK AWAY!” I screamed right in her face, dropping her wrist.

She looked devastated, and then her eyes rolled in the back of her head. Before I could register what had happened, she collapsed to the ground, slamming her head on the floor.

“Shit! June Bug!” I shouted, kneeling beside her and pulling her into my arms. Reaching behind me, I pushed the nurse button on the bed. “Come on, baby. Wake up. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it. Wake up, beautiful girl.”

“Sir, what happened?” the shocked nurse asked when she came into the room. Hurrying over, she knelt beside June and checked her pulse. “We need to get her into a room.”

I just nodded and fell back onto my ass, trying to figure out what the fuck had just happened. I had just lost my dad—the last thing I needed was for something to happen to June.

June

When I blinked open my eyes, I was confused at my surroundings. Why was I in a hospital bed? Glancing around the room, I discovered Bobby curled up in a ball on the sofa in the room, completely passed out. Poor guy was exhausted. He was taking his dad’s death extremely hard. My heart squeezed as I thought about the pain he was dealing with.

Someone walked in the room and I discovered it was a doctor. He smiled at me and walked over to my bed.

“Hi there. I’m Dr. Mattson,” he greeted happily. Dr. Mattson was a nice-looking man who appeared to be in his early forties.

“Hi,” I croaked, my voice dry for some reason.

“Well, we figured out why you passed out. It would appear your blood pressure spiked to uncontrollable levels and your body shut down momentarily. We ran some tests, and I’ll be the first to congratulate you. You’re pregnant.”

Pregnant. There was no way. Absolutely no way.

“No, you’re mistaken. I can’t get pregnant. My ex-husband and I tried for years. I was tested! They said I couldn’t conceive. I don’t understand how this could have happened!” My voice was getting higher and higher with each breath.

“Listen, sweetie. You are very much pregnant. You are approximately six weeks along. I am not sure where you got your information, but clearly they were mistaken.”

I stared at him, dumbfounded. Then it hit me. Markwayne had lied about the test results. I remembered the day so clearly. He’d opened the mail and read me the results that it had been me who couldn’t conceive. Obviously he had been lying. That rat bastard!

This just complicated things, and we didn’t need that right now. Bobby was too damn fragile to dump anything else on him.

“Dr. Mattson? Do you think we could keep this a secret for now? My boyfriend just lost his dad and I don’t want to add any unnecessary stress on him.” My gaze darted over to him still sleeping on the couch. The fact that he was here with me meant that he hadn’t meant those hateful things he’d said last night.

“You’re going to be okay, but I am going to advise you to try to remove yourself from stressful situations. I know you don’t want to tell your boyfriend right now, but he will need to know soon. It isn’t right to keep it from him. Who knows? Maybe it will help him with the loss of his dad. Regardless, you’ll need to follow up with your primary care physician and start with prenatal care. I’ll send you home with some vitamins I want you to start taking right away.”

Once he left, my mind flew in a million different directions. How could this have happened? Why had I stupidly believed Markwayne when he had clearly been the one with fertility issues? The most important question was how Bobby would handle the news. Dr. Mattson thought he needed to know, but I was afraid his fragile psyche wouldn’t be able to handle it, and I couldn’t afford to lose him. He meant everything to me. I’d waited for him for so long.

After I got past worrying about all of those things, my heart began to swell with happiness. A baby. A baby was growing inside of me that was half Bobby. The idea of it made me so incredibly happy that I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. Even if Bobby for some reason hated me, I’d still have a piece of him forever. For once in a very long time, I had something to look forward to. Something to hope for.

I must have drifted off to sleep, because when I woke up later that morning, Bobby was gone and Momma was sitting in the chair on her phone.

“Hey, Momma,” I croaked, my throat dry from sleeping.

“Baby girl! How are you feeling? What happened?” she demanded as she hurried to the bedside. Momma was a good woman. She was going to make an awesome grandma.

“I’m fine. My blood pressure spiked from the stress of everything and I passed out. They just wanted to keep me overnight for observations. I’ll get to leave soon after they discharge me this morning.” I deliberately left out the pregnancy part for now. Bobby needed to know before anyone else.

“Okay, hon. You had me so worried. I’m sorry about Mr. Acer. I know how close you two were and obviously you are taking this pretty hard as well.”

“Momma, where’d Bobby go?” I questioned. My chin started to quiver as I worried that he had abandoned me.

“Sweetie, I relieved him. He was going by the house to pick up a suit for his dad and then meeting them over at the funeral home to plan the arrangements. I’m sure you’ll see him later this afternoon. He was worried sick about you, love.”

My heart fluttered wildly when she told me he was worried about me. Still, I needed to talk to him. To touch him. To kiss him. God, we had hardly been apart for very long and I missed him like crazy.

“Momma, I love him so much,” I whispered as tears spilled over.

She took my hand and squeezed. “I know you do, baby. He loves you too.”

I really hoped he still did, especially after what I was going to tell him.

Bobby

I couldn’t believe I’d lost my cool last night with June. My heart ached to know that she’d fainted because I had been the biggest asshole on the planet. The look of pure despair had crossed her face when I told her to leave me alone.

When she fainted, I’d freaked the fuck out. A doctor had tried to give me something to calm down because, between Dad and June, I was losing my shit quickly. Once they’d finally gotten her to a room and confirmed that she was going to be okay, I crashed hard. They’d told me her blood pressure had spiked from the stress, and I wanted to clobber myself for sending her over that edge.

Now I was headed to the house to find Dad a suit and meet with the funeral home director. This was difficult having to do it alone, and I wished June were with me. But no, I’d put her in the hospital with my temper.

Pulling into the driveway, I saw a rental car running idly. When I drove up next to it and realized it was my mom, I nearly lost it again. Scrambling out of the car, I ran over to her car door and guided her out and into my arms.

“Momma,” I choked out as tears fell shamelessly down my face.

She held on tight as she sobbed with me. “Baby, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry about everything. Things will get better, sweetheart. I’m here to help you now. You aren’t alone.”

“Momma, I’m so fucking pissed at you. Like, I’ll never be able to forgive you. Don’t think this is settled. I just can’t cope with your lying my whole life and Dad’s death. You robbed me of precious time with him. With that being said, you’re still my mother and I need you right now. Just know that we have a long road ahead of us where your betrayal is concerned.”

She nodded, tears flowing rapidly down her cheeks. Thankfully, she knew not to say any more on the subject. Once we’d composed ourselves again, we headed into the house.

Mom looked around and smirked. “Pretty tidy for a couple of bachelors to have been living here.”

A smile spread across my face for the first time since yesterday. “June. She’s been staying with us, helping out with Dad.”

“Little June from down the way?” she asked, astonished that we had reconnected so easily.

“One and the same. Thing is, she’s all grown up now, Momma. I love that girl, but I may have ruined it. Last night I said some pretty awful things to her that I didn’t mean. She’s it for me. I can’t think of my life without her in it.”

Mom smiled and took both of my hands. “Bobby, from the moment that girl laid eyes on you, she claimed you. Your daddy and I saw it right off. If she really cares for you, she’ll be able to forgive you. Everything’s going to be okay.”

There was nothing like getting that motherly assurance to give me the strength to face the day. We located a suit for Dad and headed out to the funeral home.

After the details about the service were sorted out, Mom and I had lunch and then went back to the house. She’d successfully been able to take control of the areas I had been having difficulty with, and I was incredibly thankful that she had shown up. I was still furious with her, but she was my only parent left. As angry as I was at her, I wouldn’t be able to handle this without her. We’d be having the funeral in two days.