By the age of nine, I was an enthusiastic cupcake baker who knew her way around the kitchen. Money was tight. So I would use the walks home from school to wander through parking lots of the casinos looking for spare change so I could buy ingredients for my next baking adventure.
I was also really good at English, so at school I started my own essay writing service, selling five-hundred words for five bucks. Some weeks I made up to twenty-five dollars, which meant I could afford to buy some baking books and experiment with different recipes and ideas.
My mom made my childhood lonely and sad, but her abandonment gave me the love of baking, and as a result, a rewarding career.
And probably the best mothering skills in the world.
Because I wasn’t going to be anything like her.
I took another sip of my tea. “I want to tell him. I do. But I just don’t know how to do it.”
“Stop having sex with him would be a start.”
“I’m serious, Autumn. I don’t know how to bring it up.”
“So am I.” She gave me a stern look. “You need to go over there right now and tell him you’re having his baby.”
Autumn was right. I needed to tell Caleb. So when she left for her college night class where she was studying business, I tried calling Caleb but there was no answer.
So I took a shower, put on fresh clothes, and tried to steady my nerves with a cup of ginger tea. When I rang his phone a second time again, it went straight to voicemail. He was busy. It was only five o’clock so he was probably out and about, or doing club stuff. I didn’t really know anything about him, so it was hard to guess, and it did little to help my nerves. Because now that I’d made up my mind I was telling him today, I wanted to get it over with.
I splayed my fingers across my stomach. So far I only had a slight bump, but it wouldn’t be long and I wouldn’t be able to pass it off as a food baby or too many egg rolls. My body was changing and I would have to start telling people sooner rather than later.
To hell with it.
I stood up quickly.
I needed to stop by the grocery store anyway, and the clubhouse wasn’t that far away from it. I could stop by on my way, tell Caleb he was going to be a father, pick up milk, and still be home before Autumn got home from her night class. I picked up my bag from the kitchen counter, and with a stomach full of butterflies and my head full of all the words I was going to say to Caleb, I left for the clubhouse.
I arrived just at sunset and was walking into the clubhouse when I ran into Maverick.
“Hey, Teetotaler.” He flashed his big white smile at me. “Where’s that hot patootie girlfriend of yours. She hasn’t called me.”
“Didn’t you just see her this morning?”
Autumn said he didn’t leave her place until she’d fed him breakfast and given him a blowjob in the shower.
“That was hours ago. Said she was going to call me. Tell her I’m beginning to feel used.” He made a heart-shape with his fingers and held it up to his chest. Then the six-foot-seven biker attempted a sad face as he broke his finger heart like it’d been blown up. I had to admit he did look kind of adorable. Then he grinned, a deliciously perfect smile and squinty eyes as he turned and disappeared out the door.
Shaking my head, I headed for Caleb’s room, but as I approached it, a sudden tingle of anxiety washed over me.
What if he wasn’t happy to see me?
What if he was annoyed because I’d shown up without any notice?
Why hadn’t he answered his phone?
Suddenly hating my decision to show up unannounced, I stood there for a moment, weighing whether it was a good idea to knock or flee. Maybe he was busy. Maybe he already had plans and I was interrupting them.
I turned to leave, but then swung back. Indecision washed over me and prickled at the back of my neck. With a frustrated huff, I turned to walk away again, but in a second of maddening confidence I strode right up to his bedroom door and knocked.
I heard a murmur behind the door, and then it opened, and Caleb’s face appeared in the crack. He looked disheveled, his eyes hooded and heavy, his hair messy like he’d been in bed all afternoon.
“Honey, hey,” he said, obviously not expecting me. He didn’t open the door any wider, and something about him seemed off.
“Hey,” I said, trying to ignore the bad feeling tingling in the base of my stomach. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”