“All right, kiddo. What’s this I hear, you got yourself knocked up?”

Harper looked over her shoulder. DJ stood there with her blonde chin-length hair pushed back with fat sunglasses. She was makeup free and looked about sixteen without her bartender uniform on. “Hey.”

“That stud has super sperm, huh?”

She let out a laugh that was half sob, half hiccup and turned back to the ocean. Crap. She was not going to cry again.

“Hey now.” DJ rushed forward and hooked her arm through hers. “I’m glad you came looking for me. We’re going to go do the girl thing and get a pregnancy test and pee on that motherfucker. I have awesome karma. If we don’t want a blue plus sign, I can hit you up with some crazy mojo.”

Harper sniffed. “I’m sorry to drag you in here on your day off. I just ran out of the cottage and came here. I didn’t know what else to do,” she whispered.

“Well, you’re in luck. I have a shitbox of a car waiting outside and we have a drugstore less than five minutes away. Even better, my apartment is right around the corner from this fantabulous drugstore. You can pee on the stick and we’ll figure shit out.”

Harper nodded. “Okay.”

DJ flung her arm around her shoulder and squeezed. “Every woman has had a pregnancy scare.”

Not this woman. Of course Deacon had been the only man she’d ever had unprotected sex with.

DJ steered her off the deck and inside. Harper grabbed her purse, letting DJ lead her out the front to her car. Just like any coastal town, rental houses and hotels crowded the streets right near the water. DJ took a few side roads then they came to a major intersection.

Signs for restaurants and fast food speared up from the street. Congested lanes reminded her that she had no idea how long she’d left Deacon. She dug into her purse, and no message was waiting for her. Was he still sleeping? She didn’t even remember what she’d put on the scribbled note for him as to why she was gone.

“Cut it out.”

Harper looked to DJ. “Can hear my mental freakout, huh?”

“It’s as loud as an air horn.” She swung into a small parking lot. “Test first, then we figure out a game plan.”

As they parked, Harper’s nails dug into her thighs.

“C’mon, Harper.”

She nodded, but couldn’t make herself move her legs.

DJ came around and opened her door, reaching in to drag her out. “I didn’t take you for a coward.” DJ’s eyebrows rose behind her large shades. “There we go. There’s that attitude. In we go.”

Harper hooked her purse over her shoulder and wrapped her arms tight at her chest. They walked inside. Lights were insanely bright and all the aisles were perfectly marked. No need to ask for directions to the contraception and pregnancy test aisle. Did they do that on purpose? Hey…let’s give them a reminder if they don’t use condoms that an entirely different little box was in their future?

Why the hell didn’t she listen?

DJ walked ahead of her and stood in front of all the different ones. “Okay.” She tapped on three different brands. “These are the ones I’ve used.”

Harper’s eyes widened. “All of them?”

DJ lifted a shoulder. “I had one scare and I didn’t believe it. All three of them said yes.”

Harper wanted to ask what the answer had been. What had she done? Was there a little kid waiting to greet her at DJ’s apartment?

Had she given it away?

Had an abortion?

Lost it?

With shaking fingers, Harper took the box that she saw on a million commercials. Early Pregnancy Test, First Response, the idiot proof test Clear Blue Easy….God, there were a half dozen on one row. Let alone the other ones for ovulation and pre-screenings. She snatched three of the main name brands off the shelf and stalked up to the counter before she chickened out.

The woman at the counter didn’t say a word. Harper must have full-fledged panic attack ahead in her eyes or something. She didn’t even hear the amount, just swiped her bank card, and took the bag out the front door. DJ ran after her.

“Hey there, psycho-girl. Wait up.”

“I just want to get it over with. Please, DJ.”

Her new friend sighed and simply nodded, opening her door and starting the car.

The ride to DJ’s house was quiet. She could see the pink and blue boxes through the thin plastic of the bag. Easy to do, quick answers, smiling babies, and a wildly grinning woman stared back at her.

Where was the box with the terrified woman like her? The one who had rage and disappointment in her eyes because she’d been stupid? Where were the boxes with the shaking hands and women curled up in a fetal position?

Jesus. Did she have to think of fetal?

She cupped her hand over her middle and closed her eyes.

“We’re here.”

Harper blinked her eyes open, realizing that they’d stopped. She clambered out of the car and followed DJ up a set of cement and iron stairs. It was a typical apartment complex. Exactly like one she’d lived in with three girls while in culinary school.

DJ opened the door on the second level and held open the door. “Do you need to drink something so you can actually pee?”

Harper knotted the bag around her finger and nodded. “Yeah, maybe.” She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry I’m being a freak over here. Thank you so much for helping me out.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve been there.” DJ turned and handed her a glass. “I’m just surprised you don’t have a girlfriend to call.”

Harper gulped down half the glass, setting it down on the counter of the small kitchen. She had Annie, but she was vacationing with her parents. How the heck was she supposed to call with this kind of freakout? “I work with mostly men, to be honest.”

“Not a hardship.” DJ crossed her arms. “I recognized your husband on the first day.”

Harper stopped twisting the bag around her fingers. God, she hadn’t even thought about that. Since they’d gotten to Texas, no one seemed to notice Deacon under his beard.

What if she took the test and DJ called the tabloids to tell everyone? Would that be juicy information?

Deacon’s band was gaining notoriety, but they were off tour and out of the public eye lately. Would anyone even care?

DJ stepped in front of her. “You need to breathe and stop worrying about shit. Just because I know your hubster is famous doesn’t mean I’m going to freak out or anything.”

Harper bowed her head. “We just started dealing with the fame thing. It’s not like I’m with Simon. He can’t even walk down the street.”

“But Deacon is a big guy. People notice.”

Harper’s head lifted. “Exactly. Even if they don’t recognize him they stare because he’s so damn tall. Then the more people look, the more they think…wow—he’s gotta be someone famous. And then it spirals from there, usually.”

DJ leaned against her counter. “You’d think being with a famous guy would be cool.”

Harper snorted. “It is, until someone literally climbs over you to get to your husband.”

“I’d start swinging.”

“It’s easier to just get out of the way.”

“I don’t know how you do it. Well, I do. Because, wow, that man is fine.” DJ fanned her face. “No offense, but your husband is sexy as sin.”

Harper lifted her bag. “Obviously, you don’t need to tell me.”

DJ snickered and took the bag. She set it on the kitchen table, unpacking the boxes. “Let’s figure this out, all right?”

Harper nodded and picked up a blue and white box. A few minutes later, they had all of them open and the little wands lined up. Other than the length of time it took for the results to show in the window, there wasn’t much difference.

All she had to do was pee on them.

Sweet lord have mercy.

Before she could nerve up any more, she swiped all three up and followed DJ down the hallway to the bathroom.

“You good?”

She was so far from good, but she nodded anyway. She closed the door and took care of business. A few seconds later, she had them all lined up on a hand towel.

She washed her hands and dug out her phone.

She flicked away Deacon’s text and set the timer for five minutes then left the room. She couldn’t stare at them.

DJ poked her head around the corner. “Well?”

She held up her phone. “We’ll know in a few minutes.” She popped her knuckles and paced the length of DJ’s hallway. Six steps, spin, then five.

Six then five.

Her phone buzzed in her palm. She lifted it and another text bubble filled her screen.

She curled her hand around her phone and pressed the top edge to her lips. He had no clue.

He should be here, Harper Lee.

Nerves and guilt swirled in her belly. She just needed to know then she could deal with it. She could make a game plan and sit him down to figure things out. It was better this way.

Her phone chimed and buzzed under her hand.

Time’s up.

She swiped a hand down her face, lifted her chin, and pushed the door open to the bathroom.

Plus sign.

Blue line.

Positive.

Something inside her knew. As much as she wanted to deny it as stress or a late period. She’d known.

She crouched down and pressed her forehead to the front of the counter.

A baby.

Inside of her.

Deacon’s baby. How was she going to tell him? Everything in their life was so in flux. They barely had their own bedroom in the house they were renting with the band. They’d barely had a moment alone, with him in the studio and her business.

They were just starting out.

Fast.

Mach speed fast. She’d fallen in love, gotten married, and started her company years ahead of schedule. How were they supposed to do this too? She had freaking whiplash, for God’s sake.

“Well, shit.”

Harper turned her head at DJ’s voice. “Yeah. Can’t get much more positive than that line up, huh?”

“I have to say, I was hoping to crack open a bottle of wine, not a ginger ale.”

“You and me both.” Harper sighed and stood. She gathered up the applicators. She had a feeling she would need them. Proof to stare at or to defend when she told Deacon.

Would he be happy?

His entire life was just starting. The timing on this was so beyond awful.

“All right. Let’s go with plan B discussions. Are you hungry?”

Harper shook her head.

“Mind if I eat?”

She shook her head again.

DJ herded her out of the bathroom and into the living room. “Sit.”

She sat because it was easier to follow directions at this point. Her brain had completely seized and a symphony of white noise had taken over her hearing. The three sticks were fanned out in her fist.

Funny how she couldn’t quite put them down.

DJ sat down next to her with one of the test boxes, a bowl of grapes, and three Babybels. She unwrapped the cheese and split the wax encasing before handing her one. “Your gut has to be a mess.”

“Food doesn’t taste right.”

“Try it.”

Harper nibbled on the edge. It tasted like cheese. Thank God. She took a larger bite and collapsed against the couch.

Her newfound friend held out the box for the testing wands. “Time to come back from crazy town.”

She sighed and slid the applicators into the box. “You’re right.” She bit off a small piece of the cheese. “What did you do?” She nodded at the box. “When this happened to you.”

“I was only a few weeks pregnant when I figured it out. I’ve been right where you are. Right on this couch, actually,” she said with a humorless laugh. “The difference? I didn’t have anyone to talk to. So, I went to Planned Parenthood. After I bawled like a baby and thought it over, I knew there was no way I could have a kid. At least not then. The guy had been king of the losers and was already long gone.”

The piece of cheese Harper had managed to get down stuck in her throat.

The idea of a sterile room and nurses telling her all about her options was so…cold. Remote. Isolating.

“They’ve come a long way with their…technology, I guess is the best way to put it. As long as you’re still in the first trimester you don’t even have to have a procedure. All I had to do was take a pill.”

Harper blinked and finally looked DJ in the eyes. “Like the morning after pill?”

“Kind of. Much stronger obviously, but along the same lines.” DJ touched her hand. “You don’t even have to tell Deacon if you don’t want to.”