Page 108 of This Woman Forever
“You’re going to make me say it?”
“You haven’t actually said it. You said you wanted to say it.”
“I apologize.”
He sounds about as sorry as I am. Not sorry. “For what?” I need to shut the fuck up and accept. Get him off my back, but then there’s Kate. Sam. This guy has breezed back into town and caused a shitstorm at every turn. And now he’s sorry? I’m not buying it.
“I was worried about my sister,” he says.
And that was before this raging alcoholic barbarian got her pregnant. “And you’re not worried now?”
“She obviously loves you.”
I hum. She’s pregnant.
“Look,” he goes on. “I’d really like it if we could meet up.”
What, for coffee and a chat? She’s pregnant. I bite my tongue. It’s fucking hard. Dan and I will never be best mates, so where the fuck is this going? “You want to meet up?” I’m so fucking curious. It feels like he’s got something to share. As have I. She’s pregnant.
“Yes.”
“Right,” I say slowly. “I’m a bit busy this week. I’ll call you.” I hang up and chomp on my lip, my mind racing for a minute before my phone’s ringing again. “Ava’s pregnant,” I blurt to the room, needing to release the buildup of words before I answer to John. I’m not sure how I’m going to tell him. I know I’m in for a royal dressing down, and I’m not in the mood for that now. “Hi,” I say when I answer.
“Alive?”
“Very much alive.”
“Where did you go?”
“Just a small something to deal with.”
“Ava’s brother showed up.”
“Did you let him in? Offer him tea? A tour?”
“No, but he was quite curious about the truckload of sex furniture that showed up.”
“Oh fuck.”
“It’s fine,” John says. “I diverted him.”
“He just called me. I was supposed to meet him.”
“What for?”
“Not a fucking clue. Something’s not right.”
John hums. “I saw that Owen guy hanging around the gates when I left earlier.”
“Did you speak to him?”
“No, why would I?”
Doesn’t hurt to talk to them. John’s words. The silence stretches, me waiting for John to speak, John waiting for me. Except I’m not sure what’s the right thing to say. “John?”
“Want to talk to him?”
I inhale, chewing my lip. “Doesn’t hurt to talk, right?”