Delaney

When people say an injury hurts worse the third day, they aren’t kidding. My shoulder hurt, and I was bitchy. Sebastian was in a funk because he had to go to work. As for me, I’d made an appointment to see an obstetrician. They’d squeezed me in early because they wanted to determine how far along I was. The overly chipper receptionist had even suggested the possibility of an ultrasound. Since I’d only been dating Sebastian about a month, I didn’t think there’d be anything to see. Sebastian was going to leave work to meet me there and then head back. This left me with another big problem. I still hadn’t told my parents about the baby, mostly because I’m a coward. When Sebastian had offered to tell them for me, I’d considered taking him up on his offer.

“Are you ready to go to your appointment, Laney?” my mom called out. “If we head out now, we can stop for lunch on the way.”

Sebastian had taken her over to pick up my car yesterday, so she was driving me. I decided to just be happy my father wasn’t coming. Sebastian had been completely against the idea until the police had assured him Tessa had spoken to her therapist that morning to confirm she’d be at her appointment early that afternoon. With any luck, the police in Portland would pick her up that day. Confirming her appointment meant she wasn’t in the area, so I was safe.

“I’m ready,” I assured her as I walked down the stairs.

My father was waiting at the bottom, and he pulled me into a hug. “Don’t look so worried, Laney,” he grumbled. “Stress isn’t good at a time like this.”

I wanted to ask what he meant by that, but I decided it would have to wait. My mom was hungry, and I was craving a Philly cheese steak.

My mom drove us to the little hole in the wall diner Chelsea had introduced me to. The place was a dive, but clean. It also had great food. I was disappointed that Nadine, the previous owner wasn’t working that day. Though she’d transferred ownership to her son and retired, it was rare that she wasn’t there waiting tables. It seemed her definition of retirement differed from most.

My mom looked around, bobbing her head to the music playing on the old jukebox. “This is nice, Laney,” she told me. “It’s been five years since our diner in town closed, and I miss it. It reminds me of when I was dating your daddy.”

I smiled. My parents were definitely still in love. I hoped to have that kind of love with Sebastian.

“Are you ready to tell me why you’re so nervous?” my mom asked, placing a hand on mine across the table.

I opened my mouth to speak as a wave of nausea assaulted me. “I need to go to the bathroom,” I said quickly and raced to the restroom at the back of the restaurant. When I pushed the door open, I felt a hand on my back shove me in. It was such a shock that I dropped to my knees before looking behind me to see Tessa.

“You little cunt!” she snarled, waving a metal baseball bat at me. “I’ll make you pay for going after Sebastian. He’s mine.”

The one thing I could be truly thankful for that day was Tessa’s delay in locking the door. She turned to lock the door, and before I could scream for help, my mom pushed her way into the bathroom, looking ready to kill.

“What in heaven’s name are you doing?” my mom demanded angrily.

“Get out of here, you old bitch,” Tessa hissed. “This pathetic little slut stole my boyfriend.”

Tessa looked much older than I’d expected. If I didn’t already know she was only a couple years older than Sebastian, I’d assume she was in her late thirties. Her short red hair appeared to be thinning, and there were fine lines around her eyes. It seemed Tessa’s obsessive brand of crazy had aged her.

When my mom moved forward, ready to fight Tessa to defend me, I had this strange feeling like things were moving in slow motion. Tessa pulled back the bat, but my mom still continued toward her. There was distant shouting outside the bathroom door. Not only was my shoulder throbbing, my knees were now on fire from their impact with the ground, making me even more nauseous. Despite the pain, I lunged toward Tessa, knocking her to the ground.

“Don’t even think about hitting my mother!” I shouted, landing on top of Tessa as she fell to the ground.

Tessa still held the bat in her hand above her head. She awkwardly tried to swing the bat at me, dropping it to the ground when I puked all over her. That was distraction enough for Nadine’s son to grab the bat. I had no clue when he’d entered the bathroom, but I was grateful for his presence since he was able to subdue Tessa while my mom helped me to my feet.

“Are you okay?” I asked my mom.

“I’m fine, Laney,” she assured me with a patient smile before grabbing some paper towels and wetting them to help clean me up. “How are your knees, baby?”

“Sore,” I replied in a shaky voice. “They’re already starting to feel better, so I guess I can avoid another ER visit.”

“That horrible woman is lucky she didn’t seriously hurt you or the baby,” my mom muttered angrily. “It’s going to take me hours to forgive her for what she did as it is.”

Tessa was processing the words coming from my mom’s mouth better than I was because she screeched, “Baby?”

“Crap,” I muttered before having my most insane thought of the day. “This means I don’t have to tell you about the baby.”

“Language,” my mom warned before hugging me. “We should call Sebastian to let him know what happened.”

The police had just arrived and were dealing with a shrieking Tessa, so I decided it would have to wait a little longer. Apparently, the police also show up quickly when there is a bat wielding lunatic involved. Proving I was losing my mind, I smiled when I realized this was good information for future books.