Chapter 27

Adelaide

“It’s good to see a smile on your face,” Mandy says before popping a bite of blueberry pancake in her mouth.

“It’s good to see you in the sunlight,” Renee adds.

“The beginning of school is always crazy,” I tell them before taking a sip of orange juice.

“You’re smiling more this week,” Mandy says.

“Must have finally gotten over that asshole,” Renee says, but then her face falls.

Hardly.

“I’m focusing on school,” I tell them.

Renee’s eyes dart all around, as if she’s searching for an escape route. Her eyes focus on the back corner, and like a shot, she’s off without a word. I turn my head and follow her as she practically runs toward the restroom.

“Upset stomach?” I ask.

My eyes move to Mandy, finding her looking straight ahead and refusing to engage. I narrow my eyes at the nervousness on her face.

“No,” I whisper. “She’s—?”

I look back toward the bathroom.

“She wouldn’t.”

Mandy continues to look straight ahead even though the older man in the booth in front of us is beginning to squirm in his seat from the scrutiny. I grab her arm and shake her.

“Do not tell me she’s pregnant.”

Mandy rolls her lips between her teeth, then looks down to focus on her pancakes like they’re going to share the secrets of the world with her.

“Okay,” she finally says. “I won’t.”

I shake her harder. “She’s only twenty-five. She’s unmarried.”

My eyes roam back to the restroom.

“Mom and Dad are going to flip,” I mutter. “Whose is it?”

She continues to act as if I’m not grilling her for answers.

“Fine. I’ll ask her all of this when she comes back out.”

That gets Mandy’s attention. Turning in my direction, she clasps my elbow. “You can’t tell her I told you.”

I huff a laugh. “You haven’t told me anything.”

I wait, impatiently, tapping my fingers on the Formica top of the old diner table. After an eternity, Renee returns, slightly less put together, eyes red-rimmed and wet.

“Not feeling well?” I watch her face for confirmation.

She simply nods and takes a drink of water. The lack of coffee in front of her is another thing I’m just now noticing.

“You’ve been sleeping a lot,” I add. “So tired, you were late for work two days this past week.”

“Stomach bug,” she lies. “Should be over soon.”

“Only if the morning sickness doesn’t carry over into the second trimester,” I say calmly.

Renee hisses and looks at me for a brief second before turning her ire on Mandy. “You fucking told her?”

“I figured it out on my own,” I interrupt. “But I can say my feelings are extremely hurt that you would tell Mandy and not me.”

“Not everything is about you,” Renee growls.

“That’s not fair,” Mandy says, coming to my defense. “Addi is the most giving person we know and you, of all people, are aware of that.”

“You better not tell Mom and Dad,” Renee grumbles.

“Going to be kind of hard to hide after a while, don’t you think?” Mandy stating the obvious draws Renee’s angry glare back to her.

“How did you let this happen?”

Renee rolls her eyes at me. “Might as well call Mom and Dad and have this discussion on speaker phone since you’re grilling me exactly like they would.”

“Sorry,” I mutter. “I’m not meaning to sound like them, but I thought you were always careful. You’ve always drilled it into my head how safe sex is so important.”

I think back to my night with Axton and how his release landed on my stomach. A spike of fear pierces through me before I can stop the insane thoughts since his semen didn’t get anywhere close to where it needed to be to create a life.

“We were drunk,” she explains.

Elijah. I figured as much.

“How did Elijah take the news?”

She shakes her head, but doesn’t speak.

“You have to tell him,” I urge.

“I know.” Her eyes meet mine, glistening with tears. “He’s already angry at me for what happened that night. He’ll hate me forever when he finds out.”

“I don’t think Elijah is the hating type,” Mandy offers, reaching across the table to squeeze Renee’s hand.

“Hey, Adelaide.” I jolt when the masculine voice beside me reaches my ears.

Looking over, I find a smiling Marcus standing with his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

“Marcus,” I return with a genuine smile. How did I forget how handsome he is?

“I was hoping to hear from you after you got back from Belize.” His tone is jovial, not a hint of accusation.

“You guys should chat,” Mandy says with a shove against my thigh, urging me to get up so she can slide out of the booth. “I’ll ride home with Renee.”

Renee gives Marcus a sad smile and stands as well. “I’ll grab the bill.”

“Thank you,” I tell her, finding I’m not upset they’re deserting me and leaving me with Marcus.

Renee turns back in my direction and gives me a pointed look. “Button up, button down.”

“Of course,” I promise at her insistence to keep my mouth shut about our conversation. We came up with it as kids. I’m happy to be somewhat in the loop, having heard her and Mandy use it with each other more than it’s ever been used with me.

“Good to see you, Marcus,” Renee says before walking toward the register.

“May I?” He points to the recently vacated seat.

“Of course.” Gathering the untouched plate of food, I move it to the side. “How have you been?”

“Good. Better now that I’ve run into you.” He beams at me, settling deeper into the booth.

“Sorry I haven’t called or texted,” I begin. “I only had a few days to get my life back in order after my trip before school started. School has been so hard to focus on this semester for some reason.”

That reason is Axton.

“You don’t have to apologize. I understand life getting too busy.”

A waitress approaches.

“Can you stay and talk a while? I came for breakfast, but was distracted when I saw you.”

“I can stay,” I tell him, and he proceeds to order something to eat.

“They have the best French toast here,” he says as she walks away to put in his order.

“I love the crepes,” I counter, then turn my juice up to my lips. “Their fresh squeezed orange juice is delicious as well.”

“I’ll try it next time,” he promises, watching my mouth as I drink.

I smile, my lips curving up at the edge of my glass.

“You’re very simple,” Marcus says.

My smile falls.

“In a good way,” he amends.

“I think you’re going to have to explain yourself,” I tell him, my glass hitting the table with a thump.

“You don’t need much to make you happy. You’re not one of those girls who needs flash and reverie to have a good time. You don’t seem like the thrill seeking type.”

“I’d say that’s pretty accurate,” I offer.

“It makes it easy to see what Axton Lane sees in you.”

I stiffen at the mention of his name and the fact that this is the second time we’ve talked and the second time he’s mentioned a connection to Axton.

“What does he have to do with anything?”

Marcus’s smile softens. “Really? Are you ever on social media?”

I shake my head. “I deactivated my accounts.”

“Hashtag Missing Addi is in almost every one of his posts.”

That’s news to me. The last time I saw him was a month ago, and he was livid with me. He’d texted the next day, I’d sent back a generic response, and I haven’t heard a word since.

“His Facebook profile picture is of the two of you.”

My heart clenches at the information, and I begin to question if letting him leave with the “just friends” was the right decision. I inwardly wonder if it’s the selfie we took the day it stormed and I stayed with him—the day before everything turned sour.

“It’s good to know his tour is going well.”

Marcus shakes his head. “That’s the thing. From the chatter online, it isn’t going well at all.”

“Hmmm, I hate that for him.” I want to ask exactly what’s troubling him, but it’s not a conversation I can bring up with a casual acquaintance.

“He doesn’t seem to get along with anyone on tour with him. Someone posted about him not meshing with the band.”

“That’s awful,” I say, and for a split second, guilt over hoping he would hate being on tour so he would quit and come back to Macon washes over me. Now that it’s a possibility and the potential dissolution of his dreams, I’m heartsick for him.

“I can’t believe you didn’t know,” Marcus says. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“It’s just hard to hear when your friends aren’t doing well.” I offer him a small smile and change the subject.

Our impromptu breakfast date turns into an early matinee and ends with a slow stroll through the park. I purposely avoid the area where I sat with Axton months ago. There’s no need for the ghost of that memory to interrupt me when I’m having a genuinely good time.

When we finally make it back to my car, I don’t even shrink away when Marcus kisses me on the cheek and offers a warm hug. Instead, I lean into it, enjoying his company.

When he requests I call him soon to get together, I promise him I will.

And it’s the truth.