Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Ten minutes of dry heaves later and I was exhausted. When I walked back into the kitchen, Mrs. Harper handed me a glass of water.
“I put some peppermint in it. Peppermint water was the only thing that kept morning sickness at bay for me.”
Taking the glass, I rasped, “Thank you.” After taking a few sips, I set it down on the counter.
“Was it the bacon?” Mrs. Harper asked, as she moved the pan to the sink. It was only then that her words registered.
“Did you say you drank peppermint water to help with morning sickness?”
She glanced back and winked. “I knew the moment I saw you.”
I blinked a few times. “Did Caden tell you?”
Turning fully, she leaned against the sink and dried her hands on a kitchen towel. “Ahhh…is Caden the father? No, he didn’t tell me. My grandmother used to tell me that I had the gift of knowing when a woman is carrying a baby. There’s a certain…look about an expectant mother.”
“That’s a pretty neat gift.”
She chuckled. “I’m going to guess that’s why Caden seemed distracted this morning?”
“Probably. I found out less than a week ago, and told him two days ago. We went to the first OB appointment yesterday.” I smiled. “We got to hear the baby’s heartbeat.”
Clapping her hands, she said, “A wee little one! I’ll have to get to knitting a blanket. Will you find out if it’s a boy or a girl?”
“I’d like to find out. I think it would be easier that way. Then I don’t have to have all yellow and green things.”
“Let me heat up this bread. Preserves?”
I shook my head. “If you have crackers, I think I’d rather have that.”
She pointed to the pantry. “Help yourself, and let me get this pan cleaned. Then we can have some tea if you have time.”
Glancing at the clock, I nodded. “I’ve got time.”
Soon we were sitting in Mrs. Harper’s enclosed sunroom, looking out the clear glass at the light snow falling.
“Snowing again. That’s good. We need it for this summer. We haven’t gotten very much, just a storm here and there.”
Sipping the peppermint tea, I nodded.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Glancing at her, I smiled. “How can you tell something’s bothering me?”
“You’re very much like Caden in the sense that you wear your heart on your sleeve. You’re normally so upbeat and happy. This morning, your mind is somewhere else.”
I set the mug down and sighed. “I’m eight weeks along, so we decided not to tell anyone until I made it to the twelve-week mark. Besides our parents, that is. Caden wants me to move in with him. At first, I said no, but then he made some really good points. He’d be able to be there and experience things with the pregnancy. There’s more room at his house, and the baby will have their own room.”
“I hear a but coming.”
“It’s complicated, because when we started this…thing that we started…Caden was very upfront with me. He told me he wasn’t looking for anything serious. It was a fling.”
“A fling?” she asked, her brows raised.
“I’m sure you think less of me now.”
Waving her hand and laughing, she said, “I had my fair share of flings before I got married. There’s no judgment coming from me.”
I giggled as I pictured Mrs. Harper having one-night stands.
“Anyway, we spent a lovely few days together, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to Caden even before that. I know we fought like cats and dogs, but I still liked him. Not enough that I was worried about deeper feelings. Then we spent those days together…and I really got to know him more. We became friends, and then we had another shared evening. I knew then that I couldn’t keep doing it. I was starting to fall for him, and I told him that. So we agreed to just be friends.”
“Then you found out you were pregnant.”
Nodding, I replied, “But that didn’t change anything. I know Caden can’t commit to anyone. He was very honest about that.”
She leaned forward and set her mug on the table. “You think by moving in with him you’ll fall in love with him.”
It was something I hadn’t been able to admit to my parents, or to myself.
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of. I can’t stay in the garage apartment, and moving in with my mother and father is out of the question. I made the mistake of telling my parents about my feelings for Caden, and now they think I shouldn’t move in with him. And the worst part of all of this…”
She raised her brows. “What’s the worst part?”
“They now want to buy me a house! Down the street from them. I love my parents dearly, Mrs. Harper. I followed them here to River Falls. But I can’t live four doors down from them for the foreseeable future. And I refuse to let them buy me a house.”