Chapter Three

Hadley

The drive to Charlotte was vastly different the second time around. Instead of excitement, this one was tinged with desperation. I was moving to a strange place and taking on a new job, while pregnant from a one-night stand with a man I didn’t even know. I may not know him, but that didn’t stop me from fantasizing about him. That is, when I wasn’t feeling exhausted or nauseated, which these days was pretty much all the time. I’d never lived anywhere but Alabama. I’d never really wanted to live anywhere else, and I was scared. More like terrified. Blake deserved to know that I was carrying his child, but what then?

“You’ll figure it out,” Mom had said.

“But what if I don’t?” I’d replied.

“Then you come home and we’ll figure it out together.” Her matter-of-fact answer was exactly what I needed to hear. I was a planner, and for the first time in my life, I didn’t have a plan. I was flying blind. The ground beneath my feet kept changing and the rules by which I’d governed my life were shifting faster than I could keep up with. The night of Cat’s wedding, Blake wanted me. I saw it in his eyes and felt it in his touch. God knows I’d wanted him, but I couldn’t help but wonder if that was all there was to it. Was there a connection between us or had I just imagined it? Was it just a drunken hookup? I wasn’t sure. Either way, that night had landed me in one hell of a predicament.

I glanced at my reflection in the rearview mirror. At twelve weeks pregnant, I was far from glowing. Dark circles under my eyes betrayed my lack of sleep and my skin looked pasty. Instead of gaining weight, I’d lost it. When I mentioned this to my doctor a few days ago at my checkup, he said it was normal. Other than the bone-deep exhaustion, the sporadic bouts of nausea, and my hag-like appearance, you couldn’t tell that I was pregnant. Nevertheless, I was, and figuring out how to tell Blake weighed heavily on me. Sadly, Blake wasn’t my only concern. There was also my father.

The day after I called Cat, I broke the news to my dad. Dad and I had always been close. Not like I was with my mom, but still close. After my parents divorced, his job relocated him to Florida. That’s when the ‘every other week’ visits turned into ‘summers with Dad.’ We missed Mom, but nothing beat Florida summers with Dad. Tilly took after our mother in that they were both free spirits. I was my father’s daughter through and through. I was practical, thoughtful, and cautious. Because of this, I skipped the irresponsible part of the conversation and dove right in to the move, my new job, and all of the money I would be making.

“What about the bakery?” Dad asked.

“It’s still there. However, I feel that this is a better opportunity,” I answered, praying that he wouldn’t push.

“I’m not disagreeing with you, but you’ve been talking about buying that bakery for two years. Why the sudden change of heart?” His question made me physically squirm.

“I just need a change of scenery. Plus, it really is an exceptional opportunity,” I lamely replied.

“Okay, honey. If this is what you need to do, then I support your decision.” His soft tone made my eyes well with tears. God, my dad was such a good man. Even though he questioned my motives, he still gave me his support. A part of me wanted to spill the beans and tell him that he was going to be a grandfather, but something stopped me. What if Blake was a total jerk and didn’t want to be a father? What if I hated the job and decided to put the baby up for adoption? At this point in time, there were too many unknowns, so I decided to keep my mouth shut about the pregnancy. With the promise to call when I got to Charlotte, I ended the call.

Around eight that evening I arrived at my destination. The late-summer sun had almost set and Riverbend was captured in a warm, golden glow. As I pulled into the circular drive and parked, I was struck again by the beauty of the place.

My hands drifted to my stomach. “Well, this is it, my lima bean. Our home sweet home,” I whispered. Then I grabbed my purse and opened the car door. I came up short when I noticed Cat and Zane standing in the complex doorway. Their eyes were on me and Cat had a huge grin on her face. Zane did not. This made me wonder exactly what Cat had told him. For fear of Zane telling Blake, we’d agreed not to tell Zane about the pregnancy. Still, Cat had to have told him something.

“I’m so glad you’re here!” she squealed from across the parking lot. The moment I reached where they were standing, she pulled me in for a hug.

“Sorry about your mom,” Zane mumbled. I shot him a questioning look, but quickly reined it in when I saw Cat’s panicked expression. Zane held the door open and I thanked him as we entered the building.

“Both of my parents are dead, so if you ever need to talk, you know where our door is,” he offered.

My body jerked and my eyes flew to Cat, who quickly put her arm around me, and muttered under her breath, “Just go with it.”

“Oh, okay, thanks,” I replied.

On entry to their apartment, Zane gave Cat a kiss. Then he asked if we wanted any wine. Cat told him no, which garnered her a strange look.

“Zane is making his famous shrimp fettuccine tonight,” she informed me. “We’d love to have you for dinner.” Just the thought of shrimp made my stomach lurch. It was a good thing Zane’s back was to us or he would have seen me turn three different shades of green. Cat noticed it and quickly amended, “Silly me. What was I thinking? I bet you’re exhausted.”

“Fettucine sounds great,” I lied, “but I ate a bunch of junk on the drive in and am really tired. What I really need is a shower and a good night’s sleep.”

“No worries, we’ll get you over for dinner later this week,” she murmured.

Once Zane was out of sight, I swiveled around and bugged my eyes at her. “What the hell?” I whispered.

“Sorry. Zane wanted me to hire someone from the hotel for the job. I had to think fast.”

“So you told him my mother died?” What was she thinking?

“It was the only thing I could think of on such short notice.” Her guilty expression would have been funny if it hadn’t been my mother she’d lied about. What was I supposed to say when Mom and Tilly paid me a visit?

The kitchen door suddenly opened and Zane was back...with olives and a block of what looked like a yellow blob of curds surrounded by crackers.

He waved the tray under my nose as he passed by, and announced, “I hope you like pimento cheese. Cat’s is the best.” By the grace of God, I managed not to gag. I felt my face turning red. My nose stung as my eyes reflexively moistened, but I somehow managed to swallow it back.

Sensing my distress, Cat said, “I’m going to show Hadley to her apartment. Be right back.” I barely managed a wave before we were on the move.

Cat led me up a flight of stairs and down a long hallway. At the halfway mark, she halted in front of a door with the letter D on it.

“This is my old apartment. Instead of renting it out, Zane and I have been using it for guests. Once you’re on your feet, we’ll reevaluate, but for now, it’s yours.”

“Cat,” I whispered. This really was too much. Her hand latched onto mine and she squeezed.

“Please, just give it a chance,” she urged.

“I am...and will. Thank you,” I replied. Her shoulders sagged in relief as she stuck the key in the lock, turned it, and opened the door. Even though I’d been drunk that night, I instantly recognized it. Images of Blake fluttered through my mind as I glanced around the spacious living area. Built in a similar style as Cat and Zane’s, it had high ceilings, floor to ceiling windows, intricate crown molding, and plantation shutters. It was exactly as I’d remembered. The walls were painted an elegant silver gray and the bathroom had a garden tub and a separate shower with a mammoth showerhead jutting straight from the ceiling. I recognized the overstuffed sofa and chairs from that night, but the rest of the furniture looked brand new.

“This is too much,” I repeated.

“It’s great, isn’t it?” she asked with a huge grin on her face. Our eyes met, and we both broke into laughter.

After showing me around, Cat mapped out the plan for the next few days. At the mention of designing menus and hiring my own staff, I began to get excited. This was really happening. It might not be my own bakery, but it was a close second.

While unpacking my things, I called Tilly. When I told her what Cat had done, she laughed her ass off. Then she said Mom could be our older sister when they visited. Somehow, I didn’t think my mother would be overly put out by this.

An hour later, I was mostly unpacked and ready to try out that amazing shower. I was happy to say that it didn’t disappoint. Directly after that, I crawled into the all too familiar bed and glanced around the beautiful room. All the while, I tried not to think about that night with Blake or how much I missed my home and family. As I nestled my head deep into the pillows, my mind wandered there anyway, and I couldn’t help but wonder if I was about to make a huge mistake.

Spanning my hands protectively over my abdomen, I whispered, “I can do this.” Minutes later, I was asleep.

The next morning, at nine sharp, I knocked on Cat’s door. Since this would be my first visit to Sazerac’s, I decided to dress for the occasion. This meant that I was wearing white pants and a pale-pink, silk blouse. Paired with a silver and gold woven belt and silver and gold wedge sandals, the outfit screamed simple but classy. Soon enough I would need to wear chef’s whites, but for now I wanted to dress to make a great first impression.

As I waited for someone to answer the door, I glanced around the large, nicely-decorated foyer. Across from Zane and Cat’s apartment was a second apartment with the letter B on the door. In the back-left corner was an elevator and in the right corner was a wall of mailboxes and another door, which I assumed led to the pool area. I knocked again and jumped when the door to apartment B suddenly swung open. A woman wearing a large, silk kimono glared at me. At least, I thought it was a kimono but wasn’t sure. Kimonos were kind of formfitting. This more or less draped.

“Do you know what time it is?” she asked in an extremely haughty tone of voice. I was too busy staring at her outfit to answer. It took me a moment to register what I was actually seeing. Her kimono was covered in squirrels. Some had nuts. Some were holding hands, or was it paws? Did squirrels have paws or were they claws? Some were chasing each other’s tails. One or two had giant sized—”

“Yooo-hooo!” she called out.

I blinked to clear the visions of squirrels from my brain, and asked, “Pardon?”

“I swear, you kids need to stop smoking so much Mary Jane.” She swirled her finger over the top of her head in a ‘cuckoo’ like motion. “It zaps the brain cells and makes you act like ignoramuses,” she huffed before slamming the door in my face.

“What was that about?” Cat asked from behind me.

I spun around, and whispered, “Who...was that?” An evil grin appeared on her face.

“That’s Miss Weston.” Before I could ask about the squirrel kimono, Cat yanked me into her apartment.

“She’s quite offensive,” I told her.

“You have no idea,” she muttered. Then she pulled back and said, “You look great. We need to go or we’re going to be late. I’ll drive.” I waited for her to grab her purse before following her out to the car.

The sun shone brightly and the promise of a warm day was in the air. The humidity was high, but not as high as Birmingham, thank goodness. Alabama’s humidity could get so bad that it made it physically difficult to breathe. I could already tell that Charlotte was much more temperate. Okay, there was a check in the positive category. So far, I had three. Riverbend was beautiful, my apartment rocked, and Charlotte was a breathable place to live.

On the drive to the bar, Cat explained the dynamics of my future work environment. “Before we get here, there are some things you need to know. Zane manages the place, but Wayne runs it. This means that Wayne needs to like you.”

“Wayne?” I asked, feeling a slightly uncomfortable twinge in my belly.

“He’s in his early fifties, extremely flamboyant, and has been at The Mitchell for over twenty years. He runs the bar. Hell, Zane won’t admit it, but he runs the entire freaking hotel,” Cat said on a laugh. While she was talking, a thought struck.

“Did Wayne not want you to hire me?” Even though she was focused on the road, I saw her expression change and knew I’d hit the nail on the head.

“Shit,” I whispered. This wasn’t good. Starting a new career was stressful enough. Add befriending Wayne the flamboyant bartender, who didn’t want me there in the first place to the list, and my stress levels tripled.

“Relax. I told him all about you. Just be yourself and you’ll get along famously. I can’t wait for you to see the place. You’re going to love it.” She talked more about the hotel, but I didn’t listen. I couldn’t. All I could focus on was Wayne and the fact that he didn’t want me there.

If only she hadn’t told me.