“I don’t hide at the inn.”
“Tell it to someone who believes you.”
“Are we referring to Ellery being pregnant?” Lilac asks.
While Juniper and Aspen gasp, I glare at Lilac. “How do you know?”
“It wasn’t difficult to puzzle out. You haven’t been drinking and you’ve been feeling nauseous a lot.”
“I never said I was feeling nauseous.”
Lilac sighs. “You don’t have to say it for it to be true. It was obvious.”
And here I thought I was hiding my condition from everyone.
“Can we not talk about this here?” I hiss. I don’t want the entire town knowing. Not until I decide how I’m going to handle the situation.
Lilac studies me. “You won’t be able to hide your pregnancy much longer. You’ll begin showing soon.”
Behind her, someone inhales sharply. I close my eyes and allow my head to fall back against the wall. This is not how I intended for him to find out.
“You’re pregnant,” Cole grumbles. “Is it mine?”
Before I can respond, my sisters are ushering me out of the building while Lyric herds Cole outside with us. They push us into the alley between the brewery and the recording studio.
“You don’t have much time before the natives get restless,” Lyric says before positioning himself at the mouth of the alley to guard our privacy.
I whirl on Cole. “How dare you ask if it’s yours? Do you think I’m some kind of slut who sleeps with all her guests? If that’s what you think, you can leave this minute.”
He rubs a hand down his face. “I’m sorry. You shocked me. I don’t think you’re a slut.” He pauses. “It’s true? You’re pregnant?”
I feel tears well in my eyes as I nod. “Yeah. I’m pregnant.”
Cole’s shock switches to anger. “And you didn’t think to tell me?”
My hands ball into fists. How dare he? “I was going to tell you.”
“When?” he exclaims. “When the kid graduates from college?”
“No,” I hiss at him. “When I’ve made a decision about what to do.”
His eyes widen, and he retreats a step. “Do you not want my baby?”
His baby? I’m pretty sure it’s more mine than his at the moment. “I want him to grow up with a family, not a single mom.”
“It’s a boy?”
“Impossible,” Lilac says from the end of the alley where she’s obviously been listening. “According to my calculations, Ellery is not yet eighteen weeks, which is when it’s possible to ascertain the gender.”
Cole’s eyes narrow and I can tell he’s counting. “Eighteen weeks sounds about right. It’s a boy?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t had my mid-pregnancy ultrasound yet.” But I think of the baby I’m growing as a boy who resembles Cole with his curly brown hair and blue eyes.
“I like the idea of having a girl. A girl with your green eyes and your nose.”
I cover my nose with my hand. “My nose? What’s wrong with my nose?”
He grasps my hand and pulls it away from my face before kissing the tip of my nose. “It’s adorable.”