Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 153946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 153946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
“I’m in shock that’s all,” August said. “I had a doctor’s appointment today.”
My heart plummeted. Right after her mother died two years ago, August had gotten sick. There’d been no label for the truckload of symptoms that had come with her illness, but Chick told me he’d called it The Fuckening. Heart palpitations, high blood pressure, headaches, brain fog and an early helping of hormonal issues. Just a bucket of shit that she hadn’t deserved.
But we’d been working out together and she’d been so much better, it had seemed like most of that was behind her.
I braced myself. “What did he say? Did Wade go with you? What do you need?”
“Wade is still at work, but Chick is here. I know you just closed up for the day, but if you wanted to stop by—”
“Already in my car. Stay on the line.” I backed out of my driveway and tightened my grip on the steering wheel.
“Do you already have the margaritas ready or should I pull into the store on my way to your place?” I asked, trying not to sound as nervous as I felt.
“No margaritas.” She started sniffling again and I sped up without thinking.
“You’re going to have to give me a hint before I get into a car accident,” I said honestly, hating the panic tightening my throat.
“Don’t speed through the neighborhood, B.”
“If you wanted calm, you should have called Morgan.”
Her sister was an unshakeable rock.
“She doesn’t have your experience. Fine, I’ll give you a hint,” she said shakily at the same time I was turning onto her street. “You remember that first day you took me to the track for go-karting? Before the movers?”
I remembered the movers. One in particular. We’d had a nice evening, but it wasn’t nice enough for me to call him back. He had some experience to acquire, and I wasn’t known for being a patient teacher. “Refresh my memory.”
“You said it wasn’t too late for me to come to the dark side. That forty-three was the new—”
“Thirty-three,” I finished for her, almost stopping in the middle of the road by her driveway as I remembered our conversation. No way.
I’d been joking.
“I’m here. Where are you?”
“By the pool.”
The sweat that had transferred to the shirt I threw on had almost dried, but in spite of the sixty-degree weather, I was still emitting heat from my workout.
And possibly from the shock of what August was hinting at.
When I walked around back, she and Chick had their feet in the shallow end of the pool while her dogs sniffed happily around the yard. Her head was resting on his shoulder.
I dropped my purse and keys on her new outdoor table. “You’re pregnant?” I blurted out. “How is that possible?”
Chick grinned up at me. “Well, when an author who hasn’t gotten laid in years does too much naked research for a book—”
“Don’t tease her,” August said as I dropped down beside them and took her hand. “The doctor said it’s unusual, but not unheard of, for someone to get pregnant during perimenopause... while tapering off the pill. Which, you know, I was still on.”
That was crazy.
“Your brother is a fertility god.” Chick shrugged. “Part of me feels like quoting Jurassic Park. You know, ‘Life finds a way?’”
“Because I’m a dinosaur?” August narrowed her eyes.
“Apparently, the part of me that told me to keep my trap shut was right this time.”
“How far along?” I asked, because that was the question you automatically asked and I was still trying to wrap my head around this completely unexpected turn of events.
“I’m due in the summer. About three and a half months along.”
“That’s good news,” I told her firmly. “You’re already through the first trimester.”
I watched her take her first full breath since I showed up and knew that was the experience she’d been talking about.
“You didn’t have any symptoms before now? Nausea? Tender breasts?”
August shrugged helplessly. “I ate a lot and had tons of sex. I thought that’s all it was. Italian food and orgasms.”
“I have a few pregnant clients who are almost our age. And women are safely having children in their forties all the time now,” I said with as much confidence as I could muster. “What we’re going to do now is adapt your yoga lessons, watch your blood pressure and make sure you’re eating better and getting enough rest.”
With her health issues, she’d have to be on top of things, but… “August Retta Hudson, you’re growing my niece or nephew inside you.” Excitement exploded through me. “You’re having a baby.”
She put her hands on her stomach hesitantly. “Do you think Wade will be upset? He’s been talking about all the traveling he wants us to do, and some of it is probably going to have to be put on hold now.”
“Are you actively trying to see the downside here?” I demanded.