Page 23 of Trial By Fire
Bronwyn? She'll still be close by. Still be involved in my baby's life, and by then, I'll have found a job and a place of our own anyway. It's a win for all of us. I think.
"Linds, are you sure you're up for this? You've been really sick," she says softly.
I nod with way more enthusiasm and energy than I feel. "Morning sickness goes away. It won't last much longer. I'm good. I promise. This is a good thing, Win—Bronwyn. It'll give us both the space we need to have our own lives while still remaining close. Be happy for me?"
Bronwyn crosses the room to where my feet are glued to the floor and gives me a long hug.
"I'll always be happy for you. Just don't do something you'll regret because you think you're not welcome or underfoot. I love you. You'll always be my sister, and you'll always be family."
I hug her back. "And you'll always be mine." Whispering for her ears only, I add, "Put the llama away after we leave and tell her it sold next time we come in. I want to get it for her birthday."
Bronwyn's chuckle fills my ears.
"Too late. I already have one in the back for her from me."
Dani and I spend about an hour at the bookstore before heading back to her house. While Bronwyn watched over Dani and the llama, I ran upstairs and packed the last of my things. Bronwyn said she'd have Gabe drop them off on the next visit so I didn't have to lug them through the streets.
While I can tell Bronwyn's worried about my decision, she doesn't try to talk me out of it and instead sings Kace's praises. I consider that a good thing. I certainly don't want to move into the man's house and discover that he's a lecher. Not that I've ever gotten that impression of him. The guys on Gabe's crew all seem to be good people, which says something about Gabe as chief, I think. It's about the company you keep; isn't that the saying?
Dani and I are almost home when I feel it. That twinge of ick I experience all too often these days.
I take a breath and swallow hard, determined to keep my ice cream down.
We make it another block before I break out in a cold sweat that's my tell-tale sign that I'm about to lose the battle.
I pick up the pace, and poor Dani is practically jogging to keep up with me because I don't want my introduction to Kace 's neighbors to be me hurling in their azalea bushes. I see the house and am practically dragging Dani along as I rush the door and get her safely inside, slamming it behind me on my race for the bathroom.
I see flashes of surprise cross the guys' handsome faces as I stumble past Kace, Gabe and Sully into the bathroom where I slam that door and fall to my knees, heaving all the yummy goodness out of my belly that isn't so great the second time around.
It's a good ten minutes before I can lift my head. Gabriel came to the door and lightly knocked, checking on me, but I ordered him away with an, "I'm fine."
Now empty, my stomach has the audacity to growl, and I glare down at it, saying a few choice words in my head in case there are also little ears outside listening.
Finally I push to my feet and splash my face, grateful I'd already left my toothbrush and essentials in the closet for use last night when I'd stayed with the girls. I let Bronwyn assume I came home after she'd gone to bed and left before she got up because I didn't want her worrying about the fact she hadn't even realized I wasn't there. More proof that she has her own life to live and doesn't need to be worrying about me.
After brushing and splashing my face a second time, I manage to exit the bathroom—which is right off the living room where the guys sit waiting.
"Something disagree with you?" Sully asks, looking genuinely concerned.
My gaze shifts from him to Gabe and then to Kace, realizing they haven't filled their friend in on the small detail of me being pregnant. "Something like that."
"You think it's food poisoning?" Sully asks next. "If so, you should contact the owner of wherever you ate. You didn't eat at Beach Babe Burgers, did you?" He shoots Gabe a look. "That would take down our whole crew."
"We didn't," I say, my voice raspy from my latest bout of morning sickness. "It's just— I'm okay, Sully. No worries."
Sully stands and moves toward me, and I can't help but see Kace glaring in our direction.
Sully lifts a hand to my forehead as though taking my temp.
"No fever," Sully says.
"I'm fine." I step back and have almost made it out of the room when Dani returns with a ball or balloon—something—tucked under her shirt.
"Daddy, look! I'm having a baby like Lindsey!"
I gasp so loud; I choke on the air, lungs seizing in a coughing fit that renders me weaker than ever. I'm holding myself up with a hand on the back of a chair when Sully's poorly contained chuckles bellow throughout the room.
"Well, I guess that answers that question," Sully says.
