Chapter 13
PENELOPE
“Have eitherof you heard from Taylor?” Harley asks, crossing her legs as she sits back on my couch.
I take a bite of my pickle dipped in peanut butter and nod. “I spoke with her last night. She, Asa, and the band are in Knoxville. After the concert tonight, they head out for Louisville.”
A few days ago, Taylor left to go meet Asa in Atlanta. She plans to spend the rest of Asa’s last tour with him before he retires. Once that happens, they’ll go back to San Diego so Asa can pack up and put his house on the market. Then they’ll come back to Silver Falls and Asa will “officially” move in with Taylor.
“I still can’t believe she’s dating Asa Sharpe,” Camila comments. “What are the odds of someone landing a famous rock star they’ve fan-girled over for years? That shit only happens in movies and books, not real life.”
“Apparently, it does, because she definitely landed him. I think Asa’s just as obsessed with Taylor as she is with him.”
Camila and I nod our heads in agreement.
Despite the headache Taylor put me through with her obsession with Asa, I’m glad everything worked out for my sister. She finally got the man of her dreams. Literally.
Dipping the end of my pickle in the peanut butter jar, I scoop up a big glob and take another bite.
“That is so fucking gross,” Harley complains, her expression turning sour as she watches me eat.
“I know!” I practically yell. “I mean, who’s heard of eating pickles with peanut butter. I don’t even like pickles. Even thinking about combining the two makes me want to gag, but evidently,” I pat my stomach with the hand holding my half-eaten pickle, “little bean has some really weird cravings. I’ve already gone through two jars of pickles and peanut butter.”
“It’s still hard to imagine you as a mom,” Camila states. “Out of the four of us, you were the last one I saw having a baby.”
“You didn’t think I wanted to have children?”
“Well, yeah. Eventually. I didn’t think you would be the first though.”
I don’t take offense to her comment. Other than my family, my career has always come first above anything else. I knew I would eventually get married and start a family, but I figured it would be a few more years before I did. At thirty-four, I knew I didn’t have a whole lot of time left, but I figured I’d find a nice guy, date him for a couple of years, then get married and go from there. Kai and I haven’t been dating that long. By most standards, we’re moving at warp speed, but I’m surprisingly okay with it.
“You know we’re going to spoil that baby rotten, right?”
I move my gaze to Harley. “You’ll do no such thing. If anyone spoils my child, it’ll be Kai and me.”
She snorts. “You keep thinking that. You know damn good and well Camila, Taylor, and I will be in competition for best aunt, so our spoiling will know no bounds.”
Camila nods. “She’s right. Although, we all know who the best aunt will be.” She grins and points her finger to her chest. “Moi.”
“Bullshit,” Harley says. “No way she’ll pick you over me.”
I block out the two bickering over who will be the favorite aunt and continue eating. I eye my pickle with a glob of peanut butter. It really does look disgusting, and ordinarily I would turn my nose up at something so vile, but damn if it doesn’t taste good. I wonder what other weird cravings I’ll have.
It’s been two weeks since I found out I was pregnant. I have my first doctor’s appointment next week, at which I was told they’ll be doing a sonogram. To say Kai is happy to see the first video of our baby is putting it mildly. He’s not alone. I may have been apprehensive when I first found out I was pregnant, especially with how I ended up that way, but all I feel now is excitement and anticipation. I can’t wait to see our little bean.
“I need to go.”
Camila’s words and the way she abruptly springs up from the couch pulls me out of my thoughts.
I look over at her and find her eyes pinned down at her phone, a frown tugging down her brows.
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
Harley and I get up from the couch and follow her to the front door.
“Yeah, it’s fine.” Her eyes dart away from the both of us. “Something just popped up that I need to take care of.”
I watch her suspiciously as she takes her keys from her purse then pulls the strap over her shoulder. She won’t meet either of our eyes, which is very telling. Wherever she’s going, she doesn’t want us to know.