He whistled. "Holy shit. I'm guessing that neither of you has said a word to Winter?"
"I don't believe it's true for a second. I was fully clothed. She was fully clothed. Did we look like we'd had sex?"
He squinted hard trying to remember that night. "No, it smelled like a brewery inside there, and you were both at the opposite sides of the truck. So if you had sex, you must have hated it because you weren't anywhere near each other."
"Right. None of it makes sense. She's lying for some reason, but what if she tells Winter?"
"You ought to tell Winter first. Tell her about that night, what Ivy's saying, and just lay it all out there."
"How happy do you think Winter is going to be that I got drunk with her sister?"
"Happier than if she found out you’re her sister's baby daddy."
We stared at each other and then, because the situation was absurd, we laughed. Mine was a sickly laugh. "Good point."
"Let's have a party. We'll invite Ivy, and while she's being occupied, you take Winter up to your room and explain what happened. That way Ivy can't cock block you, and you'll get the truth out there."
"I don't know," I said slowly trying to examine the idea from all angles.
"You got a better idea?"
"No."
Adam shrugged. "Problem solved."
20
WINTER
Crib shopping was demoralizing. I had no idea how much baby shit cost. Even Ivy appeared a little shell-shocked. We ended up buying a damaged floor model. The legs were banged up. Too many strollers, the sales guy explained. He dismantled it and helped us load it into the back seat of the car. We didn't buy anything else because we couldn't afford it. Not the hundred-dollar car seat or the bottles that cost five dollars apiece. The price of formula nearly had us passing out in the aisle.
"You're thinking I've made a huge mistake by not having a termination, aren't you?" Ivy said, breaking the silence halfway home.
I weighed my words before replying. "Not exactly, but I think we were or are clueless about the cost of these things. I don't know how Rachel has managed to raise three kids on her and her husband's salaries."
"What's her husband do?"
"Works at the tire factory."
Ivy made a pfft noise. "There's your answer. One of us needs to get a union job. Tanya's boyfriend works a union job and makes really good money."
"Is Tanya the girl who lives in the house with the lawn gnomes?" I'd had to pick Ivy up there after she'd gone on a bender.
"Yep."
"Tha
t place looked like a hellhole¸" I said, recalling the brown grass, dirt patches, and the bedroom with the mattress on the floor.
"He just bought it, and it's an actual house, not an apartment. Here's the real problem with our system, Winter. They send us out into the world, tell us not to get in trouble again, but if no one is willing to hire you, what are you supposed to do?" Ivy said bitterly. "I'm knocked up and working at a shit job but mostly relying on my sister to work two jobs to support my fat ass. I made enough running a few errands for Anton to pay for formula for six months."
"Ivy, stop it." I was alarmed. Anton was a drug dealer she'd been wrapped up with before she got sent to prison. "We're going to be fine. Finn is paying you a good wage, and you have health insurance now."
"Finn's an asshole. I'd rather fuck Anton for money than have to endure nonstop silent judgment from Finn every time I went into work. The only good thing Finn has going for him is the fact he's got money."
I pressed a hand against my forehead. She was relentless in her criticism of Finn, and I didn't really understand it. "I'm sure he's not judging you."
She snorted. "You keep referring to him as if he's a good guy, but, Winter, good guys do not get lit up, fuck girls, and then forget about them."