Though Teela hadn’t asked her best friend to do what she’d done and steal the equipment and the samples needed to impregnate her, Amy knew how many years she’d struggled in bad relationships, how many times she’d had her heart broken. She knew that she was determined to have a child by herself. That she was off men forever. She didn’t need a man to have a family. At least she didn’t need to be with a man. Even in the traditional sense.
She could have told Amy to take everything back when she showed up, sweating and shaking and soaking wet in the midst of a crazy storm on her doorstep. She could have told her no, that someday she’d save up enough money to pay for the procedure. That she shouldn’t be able to jump the line. That other people who couldn’t afford it deserved to have a child just as much as she did. Probably more, since they’d been waiting so much longer.
Then, there was reality.
The reality that she’d never be able to save up enough money on her current salary. The reality that there were few jobs with better pay than what she was currently earning. The reality that for twelve years she’d been kicked over and over again in the shit storm of love and dating. Kicked a few times, literally, if Steve counted. Not that he remembered. The bastard never remembered a thing he did when he was drunk. Luckily, Teela was smart and she’d got the hell out of that before the prick could do any real damage. She was eighteen. It was the summer after she graduated. She thought she was in love.
How fucking stupid.
She’d landed in Nester Falls though and she’d always be thankful that she’d moved out of Philly to get away from her abusive ex. He was too drunk to notice she was gone. No, that wasn’t even right. He just didn’t actually give a shit that she’d left in the first place. He’d never come after her and she’d stayed in Nester Falls. Amy joined her shortly after and they’d plowed through the upstream current that was life. Unfortunately, while Amy was engaged and happy with Bryan, her long-term boyfriend of seven years, Teela kept getting swept back down the stream to the bottom to start all over again.
If she hadn’t taken what Amy was offering, she knew, deep down, that it was never going to happen for her. She’d never have enough money to pay for the procedure. She was so entirely done with risking her heart and putting herself out there. No more men. No more dating. No more heartache and bullshit and trouble and everything. No. More. Ever. Period.
So yes. She’d been terrible enough to let Amy put that sample inside of her.
She’d been horrible enough to hope like crazy that it would work.
She’d cried like a little kid when she saw those two pink lines on the test.
And yes, it was illegal as hell. Yes, Amy could lose her job. Yes, yes, yes, they were guilty. In every single way.
“It’s okay.” Teela snuggled over on the couch next to Amy. “It’s all going to be okay. I promise. No one is going to find out about this. You’re not going to lose your job. You’re not going to prison. Neither am I. No one is ever going to know. I could easily say I had a weekend away in Philly and came back with a little souvenir. I go there often to visit mom and dad, so no one would be able to say otherwise. I promise. Seriously, I really do promise.” She gripped her best friend’s hand. It was cold as ice.
“But- but- you said that Ross Day is the devil. You quit your job. You got into it with him. You pitted yourself against him. Don’t you know he’s from Nester Falls? You think you can beat him at his own game, but you’re wrong. People know him and love him. He’s the golden local boy making it big and now he’s opening a store here. People are going to flock there no matter what you say. You should have stayed on. You could have convinced him to keep things local.”
Teela’s mouth dropped open. “I didn’t know he was from Nester Falls.”
Something about Amy’s face wasn’t right. She was dark haired, had dark black eyes and her skin was normally bronzed. At the moment, it was nearly white. Is she that worried about the sample we stole? About being found out? She looked like all the oxygen in the room had suddenly just sucked out the window.
“Of course, he’s from here. I thought everyone knew that.”
Damn it! That started the whole train wreck of thoughts roaring back up again. God, even his hands were pretty with those blunt strong fingers. He smelled good. Annoyingly enough, Teela noticed those things about him when she walked into the room, even though she had been so nervous about losing her job. She thought about his intense direct stare, how he was used to getting what he wanted, but worse, how he’d looked at her, for just a fleeting second that she’d probably imagined, like he wanted to know what she looked like out of the sweater dress and leggings she’d had on.