Page 36 of Pretty Desperate (Pine Village #6)

My foot starts to tap on the floor as I try to figure out what to do.

I’m so overwhelmed, I’m not sure what the appropriate next step is.

Do I call Kameron? No, not yet. I’m not even sure I’m pregnant, even though the signs are all pointing that way.

Maybe I really am just battling a stomach bug or viral infection.

The last thing I’d want to do is tell him I’m pregnant and I’m not.

I reach for my phone, my finger hovering over his contact. In just a short amount of time—a matter of weeks—he’s become my person. The one I want to share all the things with, from the small stuff to the giant news.

And this definitely qualifies as something enormous.

But I don’t call him.

The phone rings twice before Blair picks up. “Hey, Jillian.”

“Hi, Blair. I’m so sorry to bother you on a Sunday afternoon. I’m sure you’re busy with your family,” I say, feeling terrible for interrupting her day.

My legs start to bounce even harder.

“You’re not interrupting anything. Actually, you are, but it’s only laundry, and that’s a welcome reprieve,” she says with a chuckle.

“Oh. Okay. Well, I don’t want to take any time away from Gabe and Wrenlee.”

“You’re not. He ran to the grocery store to grab something for dinner and took her with him. What’s up?”

“Umm, well, I think I need your help.”

“What’s wrong?” she asks, all serious and businesslike.

“I think…Uhh, I might be pregnant,” I whisper, as if the walls will overhear my words and blab them to the world.

“Oh. Oh, shit. Okay.” I hear the dryer door slam. “You need to take a test?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Well, the last thing you want to do is go to the grocery store or the pharmacy to purchase one, so why don’t you meet me at the clinic.”

My entire body relaxes, as if just hearing her words and her quest to keep everything private are exactly what I needed to hear. “I can do that.”

“Meet me around back. There’s a small parking lot for staff behind the alley. I’ll be there in ten minutes, tops.”

“Okay.”

After a pause she says, “It’s going to be all right, Jillian. Everything will work out.”

“I know,” I murmur, hoping I start to believe it myself soon.

“See you in a few,” she replies before hanging up.

I set my phone down and look around the room. My head is swirling with the implication of being pregnant, and what that means moving forward. Not only will I have to tell Kameron, but it’ll alter our relationship.

This changes everything.

Knowing I need to get going, I grab my phone and head for the kitchen. My purse is still on the counter, so I quickly collect it and make my way outside. It’s a decent day, the sun hidden behind a few clouds, but the temperatures are holding steady for the second half of September.

I climb inside my vehicle and head for the clinic. It’s not too far, only a handful of blocks to Main Street, so it only takes a couple minutes to reach the small back parking lot Blair mentioned. Her SUV is already there, and the moment I park beside her, she climbs out.

“Hey,” she says, offering me a small smile.

“Hi.”

As soon as I step beside her, she pulls me into a big hug. “Come on, let’s go find out.”

We walk to the back entrance, and she uses her key to unlock the facility, followed by a few taps on the keypad to disable the security system. “I really appreciate you doing this,” I murmur as we step inside.

“It’s what friends are for. I would have offered to just grab you a pregnancy test, but I figured this was quicker and more private.”

I nod in response, glancing around the back of the clinic just to give myself something to do. Blair flips on a light for a small room in the hallway. “Come on,” she says, stepping back so I can enter the room. “Have a seat.”

But I can’t sit. I have all this nervous energy, and taking a seat is the last thing I want to do. “This is okay, right? I mean, coming in here? I know you own the clinic, or your dad does, but…”

She offers me a friendly grin. “Yes, Jillian, this is fine. One little pregnancy test isn’t going to break us.”

I watch as she moves to a cabinet and pulls things down. She spins around and hands me a urine sample cup and a sanitary wet wipe. “You know the drill, right?”

I nod. This is most definitely not my first urine sample. When I was younger, I was plagued with a string of UTIs and it took a couple rounds of antibiotics before they got the right one to take care of the issue.

“Just bring the sample back here when you’re done.”

Moving across the hall, I go into the restroom and close the door.

I stare down at that small cup, knowing what needs to happen next.

I take a deep breath and get to it. I try not to think about the results, but it’s hard.

I want to think about what the results mean, whether the result is pregnant or not.

After providing the sample, I wash my hands and retrieve the cup. Blair is waiting in the small room we started in and takes the cup when I join her. She dips a pregnancy test in the sample and sets it aside on a paper towel.

“Are you going to be okay if this is positive?” she asks, glancing my way while we wait for the results.

I know instantly my answer. “Yes.”

She grins widely. “Good, because you’d be a fabulous mom.”

My throat is thick with emotion as I truly consider those words for the first time. It’s not just the shock of being late, but it’s the realization I might very well be a mother in just nine short months.

What I’ve always dreamed about.

Tears fill my eyes and I’m pretty sure I’m not breathing as Blair grabs the test and looks at the screen. Without showing any emotion, she holds it up so I can see the small display area. A strangled cry erupts from my throat as I realize my future is about to change.

Everything I’ve always wanted is happening.

The confirmation is right in front of me.

I’m pregnant.

Oh my God, now what?