Chapter Seven

“You’re helping enemy number one with the dance?”

I looked around the comedy club to make sure Sawyer hadn’t sneaked in before I responded to Jenna. We were hiding out in the sound booth, which wasn’t exactly private as it was near the stage on the floor. It’s where Brad typically emceed depending on what acts they had on tap for the night. Brad’s commentary alone was worth the price of admission. The man in question was nowhere to be seen. That same man was making it hard to distance myself from him. If he didn’t see me, he called me every day and he was coming tonight for the big gender reveal I had planned. I couldn’t wait for Jenna and Brad to know what I already knew.

I lowered my voice before saying, “We probably shouldn’t call her that anymore. I promised Sawyer I would help her and try to get to know her better. She’s as thrilled about it as me.” I thought back to Sunday night when Sawyer and I finally made it back to the main house. There Josephine waited. She was annoyed Sawyer was gone for so long and when she asked me to help her, she choked on her words. She had to hold onto Sawyer for support, as if it was the hardest thing she had ever done. I wanted to say, believe me, lady, this is no cake walk for me and the only reason I’m doing it is because your son is the best person I know and his happiness means the world to me. Instead, I graciously accepted her offer, well, as gracious as it was to say yes through gritted teeth.

Jenna narrowed her pretty blue eyes at me. “Don’t you think it’s weird that Sawyer wants you to get to know his mom better?”

“Not really. When you think about it, it makes sense since we’re related. Though I use the term lightly.”

Jenna started twirling her bobbed curly hair that had turned a darker shade of blonde throughout her pregnancy. “So, you don’t think there is any other reason?” She flashed me a devious smile.

“What other reason would there be?”

She rolled her eyes. “Come on. Do I have to spell it out for you?”

“What am I missing?”

“Emma,” she smooshed my cheeks, “have you ever stopped to consider that Sawyer is into you?”

I snorted so loud it hurt my nose. “I think you have pregnancy brain,” I said through smooshed cheeks, which made us laugh because I sounded ridiculous.

Jenna dropped her hands. “That may be, but I’m pretty sure I’m right about this.”

I waved her silly declaration away. “Do you know how many times he’s called me his friend in the last year? And let’s not forget, after he met me in person, he never asked me out again.”

“He doesn’t need to, he sees you more than I see you.”

“It’s not my fault you got married,” I teased her.

“Actually, I do blame you for it.” She smiled.

“I’m so sorry you’ve been tortured by a man who worships the ground you walk on and spoils you rotten. Please sign me up. I mean, not with Brad, but, you know.”

“There are some days I would let you have him, but I’m pretty sure Sawyer would like the job.”

“Like I said, pregnancy brain.”

“Why don’t you just ask him?”

I spat out a laugh. “Are you crazy? He’s my freaking stepbrother. It’s not like I could avoid him after he lets me down gently.” As kind as Sawyer was, I knew he would be gentle about it after he tried to hide his disgust.

“You don’t know that would happen.”

“I’m 99.9999 percent sure. I’m not risking my heart on the one ten thousandth of a percent chance.”

She pressed her lips together thinking of a good counter argument. “Maybe you should just kiss him.”

“How would that be any less embarrassing?”

She grabbed onto my arm. “Listen to me. You two are always having cozy little chats, which by the way, proves my point that he’s into you. But anyway, next time you find yourself alone with him chatting it up, lean into him and take him by surprise. If he kisses you back, great, keep on kissing him and seal the deal. If he pulls away, play it off like it was an accident.”

“Oops, I’m so sorry my lips accidentally fell on yours. That sounds legit.”

“If alcohol is involved, it’s highly plausible.”

“Speaking of poor decisions, I saw Macey and Ashton sneak off into the woods when I left Sunday night.”

“Don’t think we aren’t coming back to you and Sawyer, but what the heck? How old is Ashton?”

“He’s thirty-six, so eleven years older than her, which is fine. The problem is I think Marlowe likes him too, and you know the whole creepy stepbrother thing.”

“Is that what’s keeping you from pursuing Sawyer? It’s not like you grew up together.”

“What’s keeping me from Sawyer is he doesn’t want me, but regardless, the whole dating your stepbrother thing, it’s weird, right?”

She tossed her head back and forth. “Kind of. Could you imagine explaining it to your kids?”

The honest answer was yes, because I had already named our offspring. We were going to have two girls and one boy. Eleanor Jane whom we would call Ellie Jane, Shannon Elaine after me and my mother, and our son, Dane Anders, after my fathers. I didn’t mention this to Jenna, because, hello, it was crazy. “I don’t need to worry about it, I think he has a mother in mind for his kiddos.”

Jenna’s face contorted in several expressions trying to land on one. “Who?”

“Shelby.”

Jenna shook her head. “No way. He didn’t act remotely interested in her at dinner last week.”

“Oh, believe me, he’s interested. He took Miss Sunshine on a tour of the town on Saturday.”

Jenna pursed her lips together. “Huh. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”

I didn’t get to respond because Brad entered the picture and wrapped his arms around Jenna from behind. “Hey baby, who’s having my baby.”

Jenna snuggled right into him. “I can’t wait to find out what we’re having.”

“I already know it’s a boy,” Brad responded. “I was sure I saw his manhood on display today during the ultrasound.” He sighed with content. “I’m so proud to have passed down the family jewels.”

Jenna smacked his arm. “I think you were seeing things.”

“Yeah, I was—my boy in all his glory. Am I right, Emma?”

“You’ll have to play my game and find out.” Ever since they handed me the envelope this afternoon, I was having a hard time not telling them what they were having.

“Speaking of games, Brad and I want to try out a new game on the crowd tonight and we need you to help.” Jenna smiled coyly.

“We do?” Brad looked down at Jenna confused.

Jenna elbowed him in the ribs, making him groan. “Yes. Don’t you remember?”

Brad nodded furiously. “Oh, yep, yep. New game. It’s going to be awesome. Jenna just came up with it today.”

I narrowed my eyes at my two best friends. “All right. As long as it doesn’t involve slime, removing my clothes, or singing Spice Girls songs, I’m in.”

“Come on, Em, no one sings ‘Wannabe’ better than you while in a vat of slime in your undies.” Jenna laughed.

“As true as that may be, I’m not twenty-nine anymore.” I smirked.

“You’ve really matured these past couple of years,” Jenna smiled, “but don’t worry, this will be even more fun.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

About that time, patrons of the comedy club and our friends started filing in for the show and the gender reveal. Jenna and Brad had used their baby for marketing purposes, and judging by the crowd, it had worked. Tonight’s theme was, Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby. Sex apparently still sells. Not that they didn’t normally do good business. Edenvale was home to Vale College. If there was one thing college students loved besides sex, it would be cheap entertainment. Come to think of it, sex could fall right into that category. Anyway, the comedy Jenna’s and Brad’s club provided was worth the ten-dollar cover charge. They also made a killing in concessions and merchandise.

One face stood out in the crowd. Unfortunately, the face right next to him stood out even more. It wasn’t right for someone to be so beautiful, and I wasn’t talking about Sawyer, though he was ridiculously handsome. But Shelby, Belle of the South, was stunning in her pencil skirt and silk camisole. Together they made a gorgeous couple.

Jenna looked wide-eyed at them. I gave her a look that said I told you so. She gave me one back that said she’d meet Shelby out back and teach her a lesson. For that she earned a smile.

“Hey, Em.” Sawyer met us at the sound booth with his beautiful tagalong.

“Hello to you too, Sawyer,” Jenna didn’t take kindly to being excluded from his greeting or his guest.

Sawyer’s eyes stayed on me while addressing Jenna. “How’s the mother-to-be?”

Jenna scowled at him and Shelby before exiting the booth. “I’m fantastic. Excuse me, I need to go check on our glowstick supply for tonight.” They threw glowsticks out into the crowd between sketches and performances. It was kind of their thing. She waddled off irritated.

“What’s up with, Jenna?” Sawyer asked once she was out of earshot.

“She’s just anxious to find out the gender.”

“I’m so excited for them,” Shelby jumped in.

I gave her a small smile, not exactly sure why she was so excited for someone she didn’t really know, other than it fit her sweet demeanor. “How are you, Shelby?”

Shelby looked around the club walls filled with eighties and nineties movie memorabilia that Brad had been collecting forever. “I’m well. This place is just precious.”

Precious? That wasn’t a word I would use for it, but okay. “It’s a lot of fun.”

“I know I could go for some fun tonight.” She leaned into Sawyer. She needed to quit doing that.

Sawyer gave her an uneasy smile. “Do you want to find us a couple of seats?” His voice seemed to be unusually high.

“Sure thing, darlin’.”

I raised my eyebrows. She was using pet names now? I watched her walk off in her sky-high heels. Wow, could she swing those tiny hips of hers. A trail of hormone crazed college boys stared after her.

“Darlin’, huh?” I asked Sawyer. “You two are becoming cozy little work buddies.” After hours ones now too.

Sawyer undid the top button on his dress shirt while clearing his throat. “That’s just how Southerners talk.”

“Right.”

“She calls everyone that at the clinic.”

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me. I think it’s precious.” I tried to keep the cattiness out of my voice. Honestly, I thought Shelby was a nice woman. I was only jealous.

He narrowed his gorgeous eyes at me. “We’re friends.”

“Friends are good.” I stepped out of the booth. “I need to go set up and make sure Aspen is FaceTiming in Jenna’s parents.”

“Do you want some help?”

I looked up to find Shelby waving at him in the third row. “I think your friend is anxious for your company.”

Sawyer cringed when he looked over to see Shelby beaming at him. “She can wait if you need my help.”

“I’m good, thanks.” Total lie. I wasn’t good, but this was good. Reminders of my real relationship with him—friend and stepsister. I really needed to rip that Band-Aid off, but in so many ways he was a good healer of emotional scrapes and cuts. On the other hand, he created a big gaping wound of unrequited love.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely positive.” I plastered on a fake smile before I grabbed my box of decorations with the reveal eggs and walked off. I met Jenna and Brad on the stage. Brad had set up a table for me. We weren’t doing pink and blue—I used Jenna’s and Brad’s favorite colors of purple and black. It took me a few tries to get the right colors. I had to use purple cabbage and blueberries. Good thing I had a minor in chemistry. I’d even made a banner for the table that said, “Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby.” For some reason, when I made the banner I swore I could hear my mom giggling before she said, “Yes, let’s talk about sex, and when are you going to have a baby?”

At this rate, the answer was never unless I decided to skip trying to do it the old-fashioned way. Or perhaps I would get that Golden Retriever I’d always wanted.

Aspen joined the three of us on stage. It was the four amigos again. It had been that way since junior high. During high school it might have been five or seven if the other three were dating someone. We were quick to weed out anyone we didn’t like, no matter how good of a kisser they were, which was Jenna’s only criteria for a long time, to Brad’s dismay. He’d even asked me once to help him out, give him some pointers. Not sure why he’d asked me. I got the least amount of action in that department and kissing Brad would have been like kissing my brother. Not my stepbrother, because I was pretty sure that would be amazing, but a flesh and blood one. He should have asked Aspen; she was adored by many. Too bad she picked a loser in Leland, the father of Chloe. Since their divorce several years ago, she’d kept herself off the market.

The four of us gathered around the table where I was hanging the banner and doing my best not to spill the beans. I was so excited for Jenna and Brad to find out what they were having. Even more excited than Shelby, I might add.

Without saying a word, we all looked over at Sawyer and Shelby, who were chatting animatedly. Shelby talked with her hands in between her episodes of leaning and putting her hands on him whenever she could. Sawyer was smiling at her the entire time. Three sets of eyes landed on me to gauge my reaction.

“What?” I shrugged my shoulders before kneeling to more securely tack down my sign and my heart.

My friends congregated around me. Even Jenna—with her baby bump—knelt around me and began rubbing my back.

“I’m fine.”

Aspen bit her lip. “I overheard Shelby,” she whispered, which was unnecessary since the music was blaring in the background giving the place a beat of its own, “invite herself to the campout this weekend.”

I dropped the tape I had been using. I must have blinked a thousand times before I said, “The more the merrier.” It came out sounding like I’d sucked in some helium.

“Tell Sawyer to uninvite her.” Jenna’s face was turning bright red.

“I won’t do that. Sawyer deserves someone like her.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Jenna asked.

“Look at them. They look like the perfect couple, and she seems really nice.”

Jenna rolled her eyes. “Will you quit selling yourself short?”

“I don’t want to talk about this right now. Tonight is all about you, Brad, and your little . . .”—oops, I almost blew it there—“. . . your little banana.” I had been tracking the pregnancy too and the site said a baby at twenty weeks was as long as a banana.

“Men are douche bags,” Aspen growled.

“Hey, I take exception to that.” Brad stood tall and proud.

Jenna stood up and patted his flat gut. “Even you, babe, can be a d-bag.”

I stood up too. “Sawyer is a good guy. I’ve told you all along where we stand, so can we move on? We have a baby’s gender to reveal and I bought the cutest freaking outfit for my godbaby that I’m dying to give you.”

They made an Emma sandwich out of me in a group hug before dispersing. Aspen took her seat in the front row, ready to FaceTime Jenna’s parents, and the parents-to-be took center stage while I arranged the colored eggs on the table. Eleven of the twelve eggs were hard-boiled, but the one that wasn’t, revealed the gender. Jenna and Brad were going to take turns smashing the eggs on each other’s heads until they got to the raw egg. If it was purple it was a girl, black was for a boy.

“All right, all right,” Brad yelled into his mic. The music ceased to thump. “Let’s talk about sex, baby!”

The crowd went nuts.

Brad looked his pregnant bride up and down. “Maybe we should have done a little more talking and a lot less action,” he teased her.

“Oh, honey, if I remember correctly, there wasn’t a whole lot of action,” she zinged him back, making the crowd cheer loudly.

Brad rubbed Jenna’s stomach. “Now, baby, it’s not nice to lie. You know it took a whole two minutes.”

“I’ll give you a solid ninety seconds.”

Several guys in the audience yelled, “Burn!”

Jenna and Brad were good with roasting each other on stage. Off stage they were at times nauseatingly wonderful to each other.

I snatched the mic from Brad. “Save your pillow talk for bed. We’re all here to see what you two lovebirds created.” I got a lot of applause. I went over the rules while Jenna and Brad put on ponchos to protect their clothes from egg yolk just in case they were the recipient of the raw egg. I laid out a plastic tarp for them to stand on and stood back to let them do their thing. They weren’t timid about it. Jenna was smashing the black eggs on Brad, and Brad the purple on Jenna. The first few smashes they really pushed the hard-boiled eggs into their hair, but they were getting anxious and started going quicker, hardly cracking the egg before tossing it to the side. That was, until Jenna grabbed the winner and cracked that raw black egg on her hubby’s hair. Yellow goo slid down his hair into his face. Brad was so ecstatic it was a boy he didn’t care that he could have had a raging case of salmonella on his head. He picked Jenna up and swung her around.

There I watched from the outside, so happy, yet wondering if it would ever be me. I looked out into the crowd where Sawyer and I happened to lock eyes. His eyes screamed he longed for a day like this too. My eyes drifted toward Shelby, who beamed up at him. I had a feeling one of our wishes was about to come true, and it wouldn’t be mine.