“No…I got off of it some time ago because I had a really bad reaction to it.”
“Shit. Okay.”
Think.
Think.
Think.
Pray.
Think.
No wonder it had felt so good; I was fucking her raw and didn’t even know it. Not knowing what to do, I stayed by the bathroom door until she opened it.
Wrapping my hands around her face, I asked, “Are you alright?”
“I hope so.”
“I’m really sorry that happened. This is the first time that’s ever happened to me.”
Amber just kept nodding. “We’ll be okay. The chances are…” She looked up, seeming to be struggling with what to say. There was simply no way to know yet if we were in trouble.
I was doing the math in my head. It had been a couple of weeks since Amber had her period. “Do you know when you’re…fertile?”
She grabbed her phone and seemed to be calculating something.
“It says there’s a window, and today is smack dab in the middle of the ovulation period.”
Fuck.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
She sighed. “It says I have to wait seven to ten days after ovulation to take an accurate test.”
Not knowing what else to say, I pulled her into me. “It’ll be okay.”
I’d be praying to God that I was right.CHAPTER EIGHTEEN* * *AMBERAnnabelle was listening to my pregnancy fear woes as I walked and talked on my way home from work. So preoccupied, I’d nearly slammed into three different people.
“Are you sure you can’t just take the test now?” Annabelle asked.
“I’m positive. It’s too early, and I don’t want to have to go through it twice.”
“Okay. It’s probably fine. It was just one time. Try not to worry about it unless you have to.”
“Easier said than done, but okay.”
As I approached my building, I stopped dead in my tracks upon the sight of a woman who was sitting on the steps, looking like she was waiting for someone.
“Annabelle, I’ll call you back,” I said before hanging up the phone.
This wasn’t just any woman. It was Christine Lord, Channing’s mother.
What was she doing in Boston, and was she even fit to be here?
My heart was beating like crazy as I just observed her for a while. She was looking around and hadn’t noticed me yet.
Where’s her boyfriend?
Forcing my feet forward, I finally got her attention. “Christine?”
She stood up suddenly. “Amber?”
Still utterly confused, I embraced her.
“Are you waiting for Channing? He didn’t mention you were coming.”
“He’s going to be so mad that I’m here.”
My eyes widened. “He doesn’t know you’re here?”
“No. He wouldn’t let me come if I asked him first.”
“What made you come to Boston?”
Her eyes welled up. “Fred left me. He said he couldn’t handle things the way they are anymore. I didn’t know where else to turn. So, I booked a flight. I didn’t want to be alone. At the airport, I just gave the cabbie your street number that Channing had written down before he left and here I am.”
Swallowing my worry, I tried to remain cheerful for her sake as I waved my hand toward the door. “Well, let’s get you inside. It’s cold. Come. Please.”
My nerves were rattled. Channing was not going to be happy about this.
I made Christine some hot tea, and we sat for a while, catching up. She asked me not to call Channing at work. She didn’t want him to feel like he had to come home. I was happy and relieved to see that from what I was observing, she didn’t seem like she was losing her mind. That gave me hope that maybe things weren’t as bad as I’d imagined them to be.
I filled her in on my teaching assistant job, on working with Milo, and she was asking me how my parents were. Things seemed pretty normal. It was actually really good to see her; she reminded me of my childhood.
Later, Christine followed me into the kitchen, looked me in the eyes and asked, “What is it that you do?”
“Huh?”
“For work?”
I froze. An hour ago, we’d spent several minutes talking about my job. It was then that I saw firsthand what Channing had been referring to.
My heart broke as I began to explain to her what I did for a living as if it were the first time. She enthusiastically listened as I told her the same story all over again.
As we remained in the kitchen, I heard the front door open and braced myself for Channing’s reaction to seeing his mother standing there. I could hear him talking to Kitty.
When he walked in, his eyes practically bugged out of his head. “Mom? What are you doing here?”
“Surprise?” She smiled awkwardly.
“Yes, it is, and not a good one. You shouldn’t be here. Where’s Fred?”
“Fred broke up with me.”
Channing’s ears were turning red. “He what?” A vein popped out in his neck.
“He left me. He said he couldn’t handle things at home anymore. He sent your Aunt Laura over to stay with me for a few days. She left to go food shopping, and I snuck away, headed to the airport.” She shrugged. “And here I am.”