“I know you’ll do the right thing,” he replies. “Just don’t hurt her. I’ll be forced to take her side, you know.”
I laugh, suddenly seeing a bit more into why Dean freaked out so much. It’s not just about the betrayal of the unspoken bro-code, but the fear of things becoming awkward between us if Quinn and I don’t work out.
“I’d want you to.”
We reach the end of the hall and stop, looking at the map of the hospital tacked to the wall by the elevators. This place is small and dated. I’d hate working here after being in a big and busy hospital full of the newest medical equipment.
“They’re going to tear this place down,” Dean says distantly as we turn around, realizing there’s nowhere in here to get food or coffee. “No one is supposed to know yet since it hasn’t been approved, but we put in a bid to work on the new hospital.”
“New hospital?”
“Yeah. The plans are huge. It’ll be replacing this hospital and the one in Newport. It goes to the city council next week.”
“And if it gets approved?”
“Then construction crews will be picked, and we’ll break ground right away. Why, are you interested?”
“More curious,” I say, which is true. A brand-new hospital full of brand-new equipment would be nice.
Raising our child in the safe town of Eastwood would be even nicer.
15
Quinn
I lean back in my chair, wiping tears from my eyes. A logical part of my brain tells me I need to stop. But for some reason, I lack all self-control and don’t click away. Someone knocks on my office door, and I look up, prepared to hide behind my monitor if need be.
But it’s just Marissa, and I wave her in.
“Oh my God,” she says and comes around to my desk. “Stop watching those clips of dogs greeting their owners after they come home from the military.”
“But it’s so sweet!”
“You have mascara dripping down your face.”
“I didn’t wear any today.”
She hikes an eyebrow. “Then it’s yesterday’s leftover mascara.”
I grab a tissue from my desk drawer. “That’s likely.” I wipe my eyes and close the viral video. “Did you come in here just to yell at me?”
“I wish I did.” She looks behind her, making sure no one is lingering by my door. “I heard Raul and Mike talking.”
“They talk all the time.”
“About you,” she presses. “Someone started a rumor about you being pregnant and now everyone is curious. Raul wants to throw you a baby shower.”
“No showers at work. You know I feel weird when people buy me presents. And why would they think that?”
Marissa widens her eyes. “The weird food. The way you get teary-eyed at pretty much everything now. And yesterday you wore that Valentino cape dress and it totally showed off your bump. Which really just means you should give it to me until you’re not pregnant anymore. Or just forever.”
“It is a really nice dress. It makes me feel like a fancy, sexy superhero.”
“And it’s also sold out at Nordstrom.”
“Fine. You can borrow it. What weird food? I haven’t eaten anything weird.”
Marissa looks at the plate on my desk. “Is that a hot dog wrapped in cheese that you’re dipping in ranch?”
“Maybe. But that’s not weird.”
“Oh, no, not at all. In fact, I got one from that food truck down the street, uh, never ago.”
“All right. It’s weird. But I’m finally starting to get my appetite back.” I subconsciously wrap my fingers around my left wrist, making a face.
“Yes! Another thing to yell at you about.”
“Huh?”
Marissa points to my wrist. “I was in your office when you were on the phone with Archer yesterday, remember? He told you to stop taking the brace off.”
“Oh, right. It’s hard to type with it on and it’s just so annoying.”
Marissa laughs. “I’m sure it is.” She sits in the chair across from my desk. “He’s coming into town tomorrow?”
“Yeah. He’s off Thursday through Saturday.”
“How are you holding up with this long-distance thing?”
I pick up my hotdog and dip it in ranch. Okay, maybe I am getting a few weird pregnancy cravings. “It’s not fun, but I guess it’s okay. I mean, I did want to take things slow.”
“You’re such a terrible liar, Quinn. Even to yourself.”
“I’m not lying.”
“Bullshit. You want to take things slow? Really?”
I let out a breath. “We should take things slow. I don’t want him to be with me just because I’m having his baby. We weren’t dating when I got pregnant.”
“But you’re dating now, and even you have to admit Archer has gone above and beyond for you.”
“Yeah,” I say, unable to keep the smile off my face. “He has. And that’s why it scares me. This is new and exciting…what happens if it fizzles out?”
Marissa shrugs. “I’m not one to give relationship advice since I’ve been chronically single since I turned twenty-one, but isn’t that always a risk with a relationship? You do romantic things to keep it going. You’ve had a crush on Archer for years. Your feelings aren’t going to fizzle out.”
“I know mine won’t.” I rest my hands on my stomach, feeling so much love for my little Emma. “I want things to work between us,” I start, knowing the truth’s been inside me this whole time. “And I’m worried I’m forcing something that wouldn’t otherwise be there. Does that even make sense?”
“Yeah, and I see your point. You’re a practical person—most of the time. But love isn’t practical. You’ve liked Archer since you’ve known him, and you told me he said he liked you before you two hooked up. So yeah, you got pushed into a relationship, but the feelings were there on both sides.”
Tears prick the corners of my eyes, and I wipe them away, annoyed with myself for how emotional I become thanks to all the hormones. “Thanks, Mar. You’re right.”
“I usually am.” She gives me a smirk. “Now, tell me what you really want.”
“I want him to tell me he loves me, for him to get a job in Chicago, and for us to move in together and eventually get married,” I blurt.
“See? How hard was that. Now…do you think Archer knows you want that?”
I shake my head. “Maybe. I don’t want to freak him out or anything. He really wants a fellowship to do trauma surgery and he can’t really pick and choose where he’ll get placed.”
“How does that make you feel?” Marissa asks, doing her best Dr. Phil impression.
“I’d rather him be done with school so we can be together,” I say, sticking with this honesty thing. “But it’s only a year or two and it’s his dream.”
My phone buzzes and my eyes widen when I pick it up. “It’s a group text from Dean. To me and Archer.”
“Ohhh!” Marissa leans forward. “What does it say?”
I open the message and quickly read it. “He’s asking if certain dates work for the bridal shower because he wants to make sure we both can go.”
“Wow, progress! All it took was Archer saving your nephew’s life to get him to turn around.”
“I know, right?”
“Speaking of, how is Jackson?”
“Much better. He came home from the hospital yesterday and is having a hard time resting because he just wants to play.”
“That’s good!”
I nod. It’s Wednesday afternoon, but Jackson jumping into the pool still feels like yesterday. “It still freaks me out how fast things happened. He was only underwater for a few seconds and could have—”
“Stop. You’re going to start crying again. He’s fine.”
“Right. He is.” I wipe my eyes for good measure, just in time because Raul knocks on my office door, asking if I could go over some coding with him.
“Yeah, I’ll be right there,” I say with a smile.
“Thanks, boss lady.” He smiles back and looks down at my hotdog. “Interesting lunch.”
“You’re right,” I whisper to Marissa as soon as Raul leaves. I’m going to have to talk to HR sooner rather than later about arranging for my maternity leave anyway. And people are going to find out in time. I unlock my phone and open Instagram. I have an oddly high number of followers thanks to an article Forbes did on me right after I sold the app to Apple. I’m not that interesting of a person, but I do find the best funny memes to share.