April frowned. “Why not?”
“He doesn’t love me. He doesn’t have feelings for me like Jude does for you.”
She sighed. “I wish I could send Connor to beat some sense into him.”
My lips twitched up. “At least you don’t want to kill him.”
“Your baby needs a dad. And despite everything, I think Cy will be a good dad. I just hate how he’s handling this.”
“It’s my fault.”
“Still, he could be more understanding.” She stared at me for a minute. “What if Maya and I come over and we can have a slumber party like we used to? She and I’ll take care of everything. We’ll pamper you. Make you feel like the queen that you are.”
“I just want to sleep.”
“That’s what I said. Slumber party.”
“You’re the best friend ever,” I said.
She stood and I rose from my chair.
She hugged me. “You were there for me, Petal. Don’t think I forgot how much you’ve done for me and Maya.”
She broke away and started toward the door. “Now, I’m going to put a contract out on Cy.”
I laughed. “Take some cupcakes. I have a new batch of limoncello. Oh, and I have a chocolate peppermint for the holidays. You’ll have to let me know what you think.”
I followed her out and made a box of cupcakes to take to the office.
“It’s all going to work out, Petal. You’ll see,” she said, taking the box.
“I hope you’re right.” I watched her leave and then turned to Libby. “Shall we make some cupcakes.”
She nodded. “I’ve got an idea for a lavender cupcake. Can we try it? I brought some lavender in today.”
“Sounds lovely.” I pushed away all my concerns and focused on helping Libby create a lavender cupcake.
29
Cyrus
When I reached the sidewalk after leaving Petal, I was agitated. It felt wrong to leave her. She was carrying my child. She looked exhausted, and I was probably an asshole to confront her like that considering how worn-out she appeared. But I couldn’t get past the fact that she’d kept something this significant from me. It went against everything I thought about her.
How the fuck did this happen, anyway? I’d used a condom. Well, most of the time. But she hadn’t said anything about not being on the pill. Had she done this on purpose? I couldn’t imagine why. I wasn’t her last hope for a family. There were plenty of men on that dating site that could have given her that. I supposed it was an accident. It was that witch’s outfit that short circuited my brain. Sweet Petal in that sexy naughty dress. And now we were going to be parents. As angry as I was that she hadn’t told me about the baby, we were going to have to learn to navigate parenthood together.
I considered returning to her place because I had more questions, but she was fatigued and she needed her rest. Stress probably wasn’t good for her or the baby. So I pulled up my Uber app on my phone, and ordered a car to take to my house. She didn’t seem particularly interested in moving into my house, but I’d look it over to see what changes it might need for a child. I’d have to keep it so I had a place to visit if I didn’t return here. I’d have to try again and convince my mother to move here unless I could get Petal to move, but since we weren’t making any commitments to each other, and her business and life was here, it seemed like a lot to ask of her.
As I rode in the back of the Uber, I replayed the conversation with her in my head trying to understand why she’d keep the news from me. My brain skidded to a halt when I recalled her saying my mother told her I was out with Lora. No, not Lora. With my fiancé.
Fuck. I could totally see my mother saying that even though it wasn’t true. But even if it was true, it was a shitty reason for Petal to keep my child from me. Although if it was true, Petal was right in that it would have been shitty of me to move from a relationship with her to Lora so quickly. I’d told her I wasn’t seeing anyone else, but she apparently didn’t believe me. Then again, my mother told her otherwise. I realized I hadn’t corrected her on her assumption that I was engaged again to Lora. But what did it matter now? The tenuous line between us was broken.
I took a quick walk through my house when I got home, and made a list on the note app of my phone of areas to childproof. Then exhausted myself, I went to bed since I was taking the first flight back to Chicago tomorrow. I considered staying another day and going into the office, but I couldn’t face Jude. Not yet.
I was up early and on the flight just as the sun was coming up. I did some work on the plane and began to consider making my move to Chicago more permanent. I’d hinted at that with Petal. Then again, maybe I needed to return to Bismarck to be closer to the child. Except I didn’t know how long my mother was going to need help. I was being torn in two emotionally and physically.
I put my work away, and researched family law attorneys to talk to to find out about my rights and what I needed to do to protect them. I wasn’t married to Petal, so I wondered if I needed to take a paternity test. Jesus. I was going to be a father.
I arrived home, parking next to Lora’s car in the driveway. I wondered if she’d still want to reconcile with me if she knew Petal was pregnant. Wasn’t that one of the reasons Petal gave for not telling me? That it would ruin my relationship with Lora?