Wilson's Hard Lesson (26 page)

Shannon opened the bookstore door and smiled. “It’s not as
romantic as the river, but I can guarantee we’ll have privacy.” Chloe had left
that morning to spend the day with her best friend. All the signs in the store
windows read “Sorry, Closed!”

“That sounds great to me.” Brendan stepped over the
threshold and took Shannon in his arms. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking
about you since last night.” He kissed her passionately. “The taste of your mouth.
The feel of your body next to mine.”

“Let me lock the door first,” Shannon said.  “And we can go
in the back. No one will be able to see us there.”

“I don’t care who sees us,” Brendan said.

“Well, I do,” Shannon replied. She looked up as she was locking
the door. Tawni was standing across the street, watching the store’s
entranceway with a puzzled look on her face.  “Man,” Shannon sighed. “That girl
is obsessed with you.”

“Too bad for her,” Brendan said. He stepped up behind
Shannon, slipped his arms around her waist, and began kissing her neck.
“Because you’re the only one I want.”

The bookstore’s back room didn’t have the open, romantic
atmosphere of a boat on the river, but it did have a comfy sleeper sofa that
Shannon’s mom had installed ages ago. Opened up, it took up nearly the entirety
of the storage room. Shannon had piled it high with soft pillows and a fluffy
duvet.

“Perfect,” Brendan said. He kicked off his shoes and
launched himself onto the bed, pulling Shannon down with him. The sofa bed’s
springs protested with a mighty squeak, causing his eyes to widen. “Is this
thing going to hold us?” he asked. “Because things might get pretty wild.”

“We’ll have to take our chances,” Shannon said, pulling off
her shirt. “Because I’m not willing to wait any longer.”

Brendan smiled. “You are so beautiful.” He reached up behind
Shannon’s back and deftly unhooked her bra, sighing as the silky garment slid
off of her chest. “So very beautiful.”

Shannon felt a little self-conscious, sitting upright in the
bed, half-naked. She tugged at Brendan’s shirt. “You too. I want to see you.
All of you.”

“All right,” Brendan said. He tugged his t-shirt off, and
then let his hands drop to his waist. His fingers froze at his belt buckle.
“You’re sure?” he asked. “I wouldn’t want to disappoint you.”

“I’m terrified of disappointing you,” Shannon confessed.
“I’ve never done this before. I don’t know what I’m doing.” She shook her head.
“So if you can put up with me, I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to put up with
you.”

“I could never be disappointed with you,” Brendan said. He
pulled Shannon down on top of him for a slow, tender kiss. Their chests were
flattened against each other, a crush of passion and need. “And don’t worry
about not knowing what you’re doing. It’s not like I know all that much
either.” He kissed her again. “We’ll figure it out together.”

Shannon blushed. “You didn’t learn it all up at that school
of yours?”

“Going to one strip club doesn’t exactly make a guy an
expert,” Brendan said.

“Well, I’ll tell you what,” Shannon said. “If I shake my ass
in your face, you’d better be ready to put your money down.”

“Baby,” Brendan groaned. “If you shake that ass in my face,
I’ll be ready to do anything you want me to.”

“Let’s see about that,” Shannon said. She leaned upright, a
little shocked at her own boldness, but encouraged by the light shining in
Brendan’s eyes. She hooked her thumbs in the waistband of her shorts and tugged
them down, revealing silky blue panties.

“Pretty,” Brendan said. He reached for those. “Let me touch.”

“All right.” Shannon posed on the bed while Brendan
carefully, reverently stroked the silky blue fabric with his fingers. He spent
quite some time tracing patterns over her ass. Then he began to explore the
area between Shannon’s thighs. She couldn’t help but moan.

“That feels so good,” she said. “Please don’t stop.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Brendan began to move his fingers
faster, applying steadily more pressure as he went. “I can’t wait to see how
beautiful you are when you come.”

He didn’t have long to wait. Intense waves of pressure began
washing over Shannon’s body. She started shaking, cramming her fist into her
mouth as Brendan stroked her faster and faster. “Oh, oh, oh,” she whimpered.
“I’m going to die; you’re going to kill me…”

“No,” Brendan said. “I’m going to show you what it’s like to
feel good.” He twisted his hand, letting his knuckles bump up against Shannon’s
most tender flesh. She screamed her way through her first ever orgasm,
collapsing afterward in a sweaty heap next to Brendan.

“Holy mackerel,” she said to him. “Is it always like that?”

Brendan was pushing his jeans off. He rolled Shannon onto
her back and moved into position on top of her. “We’re just getting started,”
he said. “Things are only going to get better from here.”

“I’m scared,” Shannon whispered.

“Don’t be,” he replied. “I’ll go slow. I want this to be
good for you.” Moving with exquisite care, Brendan lowered himself into her,
penetrating her wet folds inch by inch.

“Oh, my God,” she breathed. “I didn’t realize how big you
were.”

“I’m not big, you’re tight,” he replied. He started to move
a little faster. “Amazingly tight.”

“Oh.” Shannon started trembling again. “What’s happening?”

“I’m not going to be able to last for long,” Brendan
groaned. “I never knew this could feel so good.”

“I’m not going to last at all,” Shannon replied. She arched
her back, clenching at the bed sheets. “Brendan!”

“Holy shit,” he whispered. “Say my name again.”

“Brendan,” Shannon moaned. “I love you, Brendan.”

“God!” Brendan’s body stiffened, and Shannon could feel the
warm rush of his need within her. “I love you too!”

Shannon stood in the bathroom, staring in disbelief at the
pregnancy test in her hand. It was the third one she’d taken that morning. They
all showed the same thing: a positive result. “This can’t be right.”

She set the test on the counter, and stared at herself in
the mirror. “I’m not ready to be a mother.” Shannon looked horrible – not
surprising considering she’d been vomiting three times a day for the past week.
Her face was pale and puffy; the bags under her eyes were large enough to carry
a week’s worth of clothing on vacation.  Customers had begun asking if she was
all right. “Oh, yeah,” she assured them. “It’s just a little bug.”

“Little bug,” she scoffed. “That’s exactly what the problem
is.” Two weeks ago, she’d had that magical afternoon in the bookstore with
Brendan. At the time, she hadn’t thought about anything but her desire to make
love to her best friend. Everything had been even better than she’d imagined
possible; even now, she felt a shiver of pleasure when she remembered how good
it felt to have him on top and then inside her.

But they hadn’t taken precautions, and that pleasure came
with a price. “What am I going to do?” she asked her reflection.

“You’re going to come on out of there,” her mother said from
the doorway. “You and I need to have a talk.”

Shannon’s shoulders sagged. “I’m not sure I’m ready for
this, Mom.”

“You’re not going to get any more ready in the next five
minutes, and I have got to pee.” Chloe bustled her daughter out of the
bathroom. “Go make us some sweet tea. We’ll talk.”

Shannon had just set the glasses of tea on the kitchen table
when her mother joined her. Chloe sat down heavily. She looked really tired.

“Are you all right, Mom?” Shannon asked.

“Well, I’ve been better.” Chloe said. “But my health isn’t
really the issue here. You’ve got enough on your plate without worrying about
me.”

“Mom,” Shannon prompted.

Chloe ignored her. “So I’ve imagined this conversation
happening a million times. Never quite like this, but what can you do?” She
smiled a little. “Fortune telling was never my strong suit.”

“Mom, I’m pregnant,” Shannon blurted out. “I’m so sorry.”

“I know, honey.” Chloe patted her daughter’s hand. “I
probably knew before you did. Remember I raised you. You’ve puked more this
week than you have in the past ten years combined. That doesn’t just happen.”

“Morning sickness,” Shannon said. “I thought that was a
myth.”

“And then I noticed we had one fewer copy of What to Expect
When You’re Expecting on the store shelves. It struck me as kind of a strange
choice for bedtime reading,” Chloe said, “unless one happened to be expecting.”

“I wasn’t sure,” Shannon said. “Not until just now.” Her
shoulders sagged. “I don’t suppose I could have three false positive results in
a row.”

“Not too likely, honey,” Chloe said gently. “So now the
question is how do you feel about this turn of events?”

“Scared,” Shannon said. “I’m not ready for a baby. I haven’t
even gotten my own place yet. How am I supposed to raise a child?”

Chloe laughed. “You sound like I did when I discovered you
were on the way.” She sighed. “Of course, your father and I weren’t nearly as
close as you and Brendan are.”

“Mother. We’re not even dating,” Shannon said. “Not
officially.” The thought had been troubling Shannon since she first suspected
that she was pregnant.

“You’ve known each other forever,” Chloe said, dismissing
that concern with a shrug. “And who cares what’s official? You’ve pretty well
sealed the deal, officially or not.” She grew serious. “Having a child means
you’re connected to another human being in a way that can’t be severed. It
doesn’t matter if you’re married or not, Shannon. Brendan will always be this
baby’s father.”

“That didn’t seem to matter too much to my Dad,” Shannon
said.

“You can’t judge all men by your father,” Chloe replied. “Brendan’s
a good guy. Even if you two don’t wind up as a couple, I think he’ll do right
by the child.” She cocked her head. “You may need to make sure of that, at
least until he gets in the habit of paying support.”

“Jesus, Mom. I haven’t even told him I’m pregnant yet, and
you’re worried about child support.”

“I don’t want you to make the mistakes I’ve made.” Chloe
took a big drink of her tea. “I was hell bent that I could do everything on my
own. I didn’t want to give Stanley any reason to believe he had any kind of
claim to you – and he was more than happy to be just as irresponsible as he
always was.” She shrugged. “Today, things are different. It’s not all right for
a guy to just walk away from the babies he’s created.”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.”

Chloe stood up and paced around the kitchen, stopping only
when she reached the window over the sink. She stood there for a long moment,
staring out into the back yard.

“Mom, what is it?” Shannon asked. “Tell me what you’re
thinking.”

“Why didn’t you use protection?” Chloe asked the question
without turning away from the window. “It’s hard to have a baby when you’re
this young.”

“I didn’t know anything was going to happen,” Shannon said.
“I really didn’t.”

“For goodness sakes, Shannon. Everyone knew this was going
to happen. All you had to see was the way Brendan looks at you – the way he has
always looked at you – to know this was going to happen sooner or later.” Chloe
sighed. “I guess I’m glad you waited until after graduation. But still, the timing
is terrible.”

The first part of her Mother’s statement filled Shannon’s
heart with so much joy that it took her a minute to hear and process the second
part. “What do you mean the timing is terrible?”

Chloe put her hands on the edge of the sink and bowed her
head. “I’ve agreed to sell the store, Shannon.”

“What?” The bookstore had been one of the cornerstones of
Shannon’s life; she couldn’t remember a time before her mother ran the place.

“It’s barely profitable. We’re just squeaking by, and that’s
because I’m paying you far less than you’re worth.” Chloe shook her head,
sadly. “I have absolutely nothing in terms of retirement savings, and this
Amazon thing on the internet? It’s going to kill independent bookstores. I
can’t afford to wait for that to happen.”

“What are we going to do?” Shannon asked.

“I’m going to go to Aunt Zoe’s,” she began.

“In Florida?” Shannon yelped. They’d never been there,
although Chloe often talked about visiting her sister someday.

“Yes, in Florida,” Chloe said. “She’s said I can stay with
her and help out in her shop until I find my footing.  The cost of living is so
much lower down there. I should be able to put something away so I’ll be able
to retire. Someday. Maybe.” She laughed a little bit. There wasn’t a lot of
humor in it.

“But what about me?” Shannon asked.

“I don’t know,” Chloe said. “My plan was to sell this place
and use that money to send you to school. You’ve got to have an education to
make it in this world.”  She turned to look at her daughter, letting her gaze rest
heavy on Shannon’s stomach. “But now I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“Someone’s already agreed to buy the store?” Shannon asked.

“I’ve sold the building,” Chloe replied. “I’ve had a hard
time finding anyone who’s interested in the inventory.”

Shannon laughed. “Well, that’s the same problem we’ve had
right along.”

Chloe laughed too, shattering the tension in the room. “It’s
going to be all right, honey.” She walked over to Shannon and pulled her up
into a hug. “Things have a way of working out.”

“I don’t see myself moving to Florida,” Shannon said. “I’ve
never been there. I won’t know anybody but you and Aunt Zoe.”

Her mother nodded. “I didn’t think you would,” she said. “I
was really thinking you’d wind up in Albany with Erica and Brendan.”

“Erica did ask me to move in with her,” Shannon said. “When
we were hanging out the other day.”

“Are you thinking about that?” Chloe asked.

“I was,” Shannon admitted. “But now I don’t know. It’s one
thing for me to live with her. It’s another thing for me and my baby to live
with her.”

“What about living with Brendan?”

Shannon shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind that, but he hasn’t asked
me.” She laid a hand on her stomach. “Of course, he doesn’t know, yet.”

“Don’t rush into a relationship with him if it doesn’t feel
right,” Chloe said.

“Mom. You just told me I was bonded to him for the rest of
my life no matter what anyway.”

“And you are,” her mother replied. “But that doesn’t mean
you’re obligated to date him if you don’t want to.”

“You make absolutely no sense,” Shannon complained.

“Life is like that. You want it to be logical. You want
there to be rules, and for one thing to follow another, ABC, XYZ.” Chloe shook
her head. “But it never actually works out like that. You go along, thinking
you know a thing or two about how the world works, and when you least expect
it, whammo! Everything changes.”

“You know what, Mom?” Shannon back down and looked up at her
mother. “I think that is the truest thing you’ve ever said to me.”