Page 69 of Pinch

“Come with me. Hurry.”

She’s got Peepee under her chin, but the serious expression hasn’t left her face. We have to talk. She wants us to be alone, and I can’t tell if it’s a good or bad thing.

We’re a block from the house, and she’s still quietly holding the tiny poodle. I’ve got Spanky’s leash, and that spoiled mutt has sniffed every bush we’ve passed and hasn’t stopped to go yet.

“I like all your family rituals,” I say, hoping to break the ice.

She nods. “Family is really important to all of us. We were raised on it.”

“Me, too.” I glance over at her worried expression. “I think that’s why Mav and I are such good friends.”

“It’s true.” She says it in a way almost like she’s remembering something. “He thinks a lot of you.”

“He’s a great guy.” And this is a weird conversation.

Spanky finally stops at an open patch of grass and starts acting like he might go. Haddy puts Peepee on the ground, and while the two dogs do their thing, she crosses her arms, looking up at me. Her blue eyes are so round, my stomach dips.

“What’s going on, Haddy?” I take a step forward, putting my hand on her arm. “Whatever it is, you might as well say it and let us both off the hook.”

Uncrossing her arms, she shakes her hands like she’s loosening up. “I’ve never been this nervous before.”

A frown pulls at my lips, and I couldn’t be more lost. “It’s okay, you can tell me anything.”

Her lips part, and she exhales a deepOh, man… Then she inhales again, walking away and back again, stopping beside a bush covered in purple flowers.

Squaring her shoulders, she clears her throat and looks up at me. “I don’t know if there’s a good way to say this. There’s definitely not a good way to find out about it…”

“Jesus, Haddy, what the hell?” I do my best to keep my voice gentle, but dang, she’s killing me.

The dogs are coming back to us, Spanky at a bounding run and Peepee doing her little hop. Haddy doesn’t pay attention to them.

Her sapphire blue eyes hold mine, and she gulps air before stopping my heart. “I’m pregnant.”

19

Haddy

The words have just left my mouth when a streak of white jumps in front of me, and I fall back with a yelp, landing slap in the large California lilac bush behind me.

Gavin dives forward, grabbing my upper arms and catching me before my butt hits the ground.

I’m surrounded by purple flowers, and Spanky stands in front of me wagging his stumpy tail. I swear he’s smiling.

“Are you okay?” Gavin lifts me out of the bush like I weigh no more than a doll.

“That’s not how I pictured it going.” I pluck broken twigs off my sweater, out of my hair.

Gavin holds me around the waist, touching my chin so I’ll look up at him. “You’re…pregnant?”

The sun is setting, casting both of us and everything around us in a shimmering hue. It’s what movie makers like to call the “golden hour,” but my heart is beating out of my chest.

This moment is not golden. It’s more like panic stations.

“It wasn’t a virus.”Or bad chicken salad, thanks, God.

I blink briefly at his eyes, but it’s too intense.

I took three pregnancy tests in the small, unisex bathroom at the science lab, and every single one came back positive in less than thirty seconds. Since then, I’ve been sort-of wandering around in a state of shock.