Page 9 of Save Me (The Wolf Hotel Mermaid Beach #2)

“ A baby, Sloane?” Gigi’s hand abandons her knitting to clamp over mine.

“Looks like it.” I decided that confessing my sins while I braided her hair was the best approach.

I knew she would never admonish me. But when she turns in her seat to peer up at me, her wrinkled face is brimming with excitement.

“This isn’t good news, Gigi. I’m terrified and feeling incredibly stupid.” Compound that with Ronan’s visit yesterday, and I can add confusion to the mix of emotions that grips me with unrelenting fervor. I thought I had him all figured out. Now, I don’t know …

Dare I hope that he’s a decent guy?

“Oh, honey, that’s normal.” She squeezes my hand before releasing it. “I remember when I was pregnant, I had never even changed a real baby’s diaper before.”

“Neither have I,” I admit, tying off her braid. Sure, I’ve held a baby here or there, but as soon as they started to fuss, I’ve happily handed them back. “And this was totally avoidable.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s wrong.” Gigi pats the chair next to her, silently instructing me to sit.

Her brow furrows with thought. “You know, your mother said almost the same thing when she came home after her fling with that fool.” She has always refused to call him my father.

As far as she’s concerned, he doesn’t deserve the title.

“It was unplanned too, and she was petrified. Didn’t know what to do.

Thought her life was over. But she managed just fine. ”

“She was nineteen, Gigi.” When I was that age, all I cared about was making money during the day and having fun with my friends at night. “Plus, she had you to help her.” I might not have had a father in my life, but I had two strong women who supplied me with a fierce amount of affection and care.

“And you’re thirty-one, which is a far cry from nineteen. You have a house and a thriving business.”

As long as Cody’s tongue-wagging doesn’t lose me my staff.

“ And you still have me. Don’t dig my grave yet,” Gigi chides with a soft laugh. “Plus, you have Frank.”

I chuckle. “He’s not exactly a wet nurse.”

“No, but he will always be there for you. That man is more loyal than a honeybee to his queen.” She peers at me. “Did you tell him yet?—”

“No.” I can’t imagine he’ll be more pleased with Ronan when he finds out.

Skye and Rebel said they thought they’d have to form a barrier when Ronan strolled past them yesterday, his clothing sopping wet.

And the look Frank gave me after was priceless—half amusement, half disappointment.

I’m not ready to be judged by him, or anyone, yet.

“You’re the only person I’ve told. Ronan doesn’t even know yet. ”

“That hotel director. He’s the father?”

“Yes. It’s his.” Saying it out loud feels wrong. I shouldn’t be telling others when he doesn’t even know. But this is Gigi. She trumps all.

“When are you going to tell him?”

“I don’t know if I will. We don’t really have that kind of relationship.”

“Ah … I see.” Her eyes twinkle with amusement. Gigi was a heartbreaker in her day. There was never any shortage of admirers, her spunkiness drawing them in like cats to a sun spot, but she was never willing to settle down. She pauses. “Do you want that kind of relationship with him?”

I’m shaking my head, but the denial is stuck in my throat. I don’t know the answer anymore. I’m still sure he’s all wrong for me, but what if he’s not? If what he said was true, he can handle a relationship. He’s looking for one. “I really don’t know, Gigi. I don’t know anything anymore.”

“Well, like I always say, a good, hard test will let you know quickly if you should waste your time with this hotel man.”

“You mean like an accidental pregnancy?” I chuckle. “He’s going to run for the hills.”

“Then he can stay up there with the rest of the chickens. You’ll do just fine without him.” She waves her hand dismissively.

She always makes things sound easier than they are. Then again, at her age, she’s seen and done a lot, and lived through a lot, always coming out on the other side.

“There’s also the thing about Mom. Her cancer? She was thirty-one when she died.”

“No need to remind me, dear.” A dark cloud passes across her face before it’s gone in the next instant.

Gigi was stoic about Mom’s passing. We can’t control these things . It was just her time, she’d tell me. But sometimes, late at night, I’d hear her crying.

“What if it’s hereditary?” My checkups have always come back clear, but that doesn’t mean the next one will. My doctor suggested genetic testing and to not wait too long to have children, in case the worst case happens and I’m facing treatments and surgeries. “What if this is my shot?”

“It’s fair of you to consider that. It’s a worry.” She nods in agreement. “But I don’t recommend making big decisions based on what-ifs. Better to have solid footing.”

The last thing I have is solid footing. “Please don’t say anything. I’m not ready for people to know. Not until I’ve figured out what I’m doing about this giant mistake.”

“It’s no one’s business until you’re ready to make it theirs.

” She reaches out to squeeze my knee. “And it may be a mistake, but that doesn’t mean it won’t also lead into a wonderful thing.

My marriage was a colossal disaster, but I got your mother out of it.

She fell for an idiot, but we all got you out of it.

” Her face lights up. “For what it’s worth, you’ll make a wonderful mother, Sloane. ”

Her validation brings me a wave of comfort I didn’t know I needed. “You really think so?”

“Of course I do. I’ve always thought so. And, selfishly, I hope I get to see it happen. But only if you’re ready. The good thing is you have some time to get ready if that’s the path you decide to take.”

I let out a huge sigh of relief. My problem isn’t solved, but Gigi always knows just what to say to lift the weight off my chest, even if only temporarily. “Ronan invited me to dinner tonight.”

“Well, that’s a good start.”

I give her a knowing look. “At the hotel, with his boss, who doesn’t know Ronan is inviting me.”

“You mean, Henry Wolf?” She hoots. “This Ronan fellow may be handsome, but he doesn’t seem too bright.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what he’s thinking, honestly. But it gets better, Gigi. Henry warned him to stay away from me because of all the problems I caused. And now Ronan wants to bring me there, even though Henry Wolf will probably fire him for cavorting with the enemy.”

“Let’s pray the child gets your brains.” She breaks off a chunk of her macadamia scone. “Did Ronan say why he wants to bring you into the lion’s den, so to speak?”

“Just that he wants them to get to know me. He doesn’t seem to like Henry, but he’s good friends with Abbi Wolf, Henry’s wife. It’s her he wants me to meet.”

“Introducing you to his friends. That says something.”

“I guess.” You don’t introduce the new woman to your close female friends if she’s just a casual fuck. Is this Ronan’s way of proving he has feelings for me ?

But what will Abbi Wolf think about the crazy rooster commune lady who plastered all sorts of unsavory posters, including headlines that dragged her?

Does she know about those? Which reminds me …

Talk of Abbi Wolf and Alaska last night has stirred up dust in the far recesses of my memory.

I can’t quite remember why it all sounds so familiar, and the only thing I can think of is that I likely read something in an article.

I need to go mining for information again.

Gigi watches me quietly as she nibbles away.

“So, what do I do about dinner?”

“Do you want to go?”

“No.”

She arches a wrinkled eyebrow.

I could never get a lie past Gigi. “I mean, I want to know Ronan better, especially given our situation.”

“That he has no clue about,” she chips in.

“Right.” In a public setting where our clothes have to stay on. Then again, Starfish Island is pretty public, and that didn’t stop us. “But it’s the hotel. Aren’t I being a giant hypocrite by showing up there now, after everything?”

“Why? You were invited.”

“Not by Henry Wolf. He doesn’t know what Ronan’s planning.”

“Maybe he’ll have no idea who you are.”

“I guess there is that possibility.” I’ve never met the man; he never involved himself in any of the council meetings.

Unless Ronan makes a point of introducing me as the crazy rooster commune lady, I could be completely incognito, just arm candy.

“I could pretend I’m someone else.” Am I that good of an actress, though? Likely not.

Gigi hums. “I imagine it’ll be a nice meal.”

“I would hope so. And it’s not just him and his wife. There will be a bunch of people there. Ronan said it’s a casual, friendly thing.”

“Aren’t you just a little curious to meet this billionaire man and see what all the fuss is about?”

“Maybe,” I admit with reluctance. “At least so I can say, yes, I’ve met him and can confirm once and for all that he is, indeed, the douchebag we all think he is.”

She tsks. “Neither the hotel nor the man is going anywhere, whether you like it or not, so you may as well make peace with it.”

“You’re beginning to sound like Frank.”

“Frank’s a wise man. Why do you think I kept him around all those years? You should listen to him!”

“But can you imagine how awkward a dinner with Henry Wolf would be?”

“For you or him? I say put on a dress and let the man feed you. Be sweet as peach pie. That’s what I’d do.”

“I’m not good at that.”

“Fine, then spit in his face and call him a filthy ghoul while you get your fill of caviar.” She cackles. “Oh, to be a fly on that wall.”

A knock sounds.

Like a child about to get caught doing something naughty, Gigi stuffs the last piece of her scone into her mouth and, crumpling the packaging, drops it into the nearby trash.

I shake my head but grin as I call out, “Come in. ”