Page 1 of Life In General
CHAPTER ONE
BRITTANY
MARCH
“Alright, wiggle worm,” I say to the precious life growing inside of me, the one that’s sitting on my bladder while playing soccer with my left kidney. “Be nice to me today and I’ll get us a double scoop of rocky road ice cream before bed. One scoop for you, one scoop for me.”
I’m probably crazy for thinking of eating ice cream in the middle of March, seeing as winter still has us in its clutches, but I don’t care. When baby decides it’s time for our daily fix of rich, dark chocolate ice cream mixed with chopped almonds and tiny marshmallows, who am I to complain?
Still struggling with zippering my coat over my very quickly growing bump, which is becoming increasingly more difficult to do every day, I step out my front door and run straight into a brick wall. Wait! When did they put a wall in the middle of the sidewalk?
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I mumble as I finally get the zipper pull to the top, then adjust my falling purse strap on my shoulder. “I swear, these days I’m clumsier than an elephant walking a tight rope.”
“Cherry?”
The voice coming from the wall—er, man—I just collided with sounds surprised, so I finally look up.
“General?” How can he be here? Where did he come from? It’s been months since we were face to face like this, and I thought I’d never see him again. “What are you doing here?” I finally ask out loud. Because unless he’s a mind reader, I don’t think he heard any of the other questions my brain was asking.
But he’s not saying a word. His eyes are wide and locked on my waist. Oh, yeah, that. My bump. The bump he helped create that night, or maybe very early morning, back in September. The bump he helped create then disappeared, never to be heard from again.
I tried to call him once, but that didn’t go well, so I assumed I’d being going about this parenthood thing alone. Heck, maybe I still will, but I guess that’s now up in the air until I figure out what he’s doing here.
“Are you?” he asks as his eyes volley from my stomach to my face, like he’s not sure where to look.
“Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.” My sarcastic voice rings out. As I try to fight the anger brewing, not wanting to snap on this behemoth of a man in public, I can’t also help but remember the night that got us into this current predicament.
CHAPTER TWO
BRITTANY
SEPTEMBER – SIX MONTHS AGO
Every year, thousands of women flock to our small town for days of shopping, eating, ghost tours, and overall craziness for Galena’s Ladies Getaway Weekend. I heard from a few others that things can get a little hectic around town during this tourist-driven weekend, but I had no idea it would be like this. There are people everywhere, and one just stole my parking spot.
While I can appreciate a fun time and the benefits it brings to our city, sometimes too many overzealous tourists can push your buttons one too many times, driving you to need a drink. I guess that’s what then leads you to a corner bar you would normally never step inside. Again, not that there’s anything wrong with this bar, but as a single woman who has only lived in this town for less than a year, not knowing many people other than coworkers and clients, it doesn’t lead to many ladies’ nights out with one’s girlfriends.
Maybe the town does have something going here with the ladies’ weekend. Maybe I need to get out more and actually try to make some real friends. I guess tonight in this bar is a good place to start.
I look around the dark room, trying to find an empty stool. Everyone is either paired up or with a small group, so seats are limited, except an empty stool next to one man. There’s a lone wolf camped out at the end of the bar, hunkered down into the corner, almost like he’s hiding in the shadows. If he scooted six inches back, I bet the shadows would swallow him up and it would be like he was never there. He’s got a baseball hat pulled down low over his eyes as he fiddles with a napkin in front of him, and it almost looks like he’s hiding from something.
Well, we can’t have that. I guess now is as good a time as any to make a new friend. Plus, his dark and mysterious vibe is kind of hot. I need to see more of his face to make a proper assessment.
Wowza, he’s a looker. “Mind if I sit here?” I ask as I point to the stool to his right.
With a grunt and a shrug, which I take as a yes, he pushes the stool back to allow me room to climb on. The bartender comes around, so I order a beer, then sit back to try and get a good look at my new seat neighbor without being too obvious. It’s probably not working in my favor, but I really don’t care. He’s growing yummier and yummier the more I take in.
His black baseball hat with its skull and snake design stitched into the side is giving ‘back off’ vibes, but it only makes me want to know more.
From the right sleeve of his sinfully tight black t-shirt comes an arm full of colorful tattoos. I can’t see more details than lines and shading due to him leaning onto the bar top, but I find most ink to be a turn-on.
When the bartender sets down my beer, I get a full look at my mystery man’s eyes as he takes me in from head to toe. I guess I’m not the only curious one in the room.
If I was a poet and could write how blue and silver swirl together to become the most intoxicating color, that’s how I would describe his eyes. They look like storm clouds rolling in, the ones that tell you it’s going to be a gnarly storm, so you hunker down and hold on tight. I can feel the storm brewing in his gaze.
Needing to escape the storm for a bit, I continue my now not so oblivious perusal of this hunk. His nose is a smidgen crooked to the right, like he’s broken it at least once. His lips are full but look extremely kissable, surrounded by a neatly-trimmed dark mustache and beard. There are dime-sized black eyelet gages in both ears, and while I’ve never found larger piercings to be attractive before, it’s like these are meant for him. I’ve obviously never seen him without them, but I almost can’t imagine it.
Lowering my gaze, I take in his black t-shirt again, then see thigh-hugging blue jeans, faded and worn in all the right places. As a whole, he’s giving off a very strong ‘man’s man’ vibe. With the muscles and aloof attitude, he reads as a man who will get his hands dirty at work and then come home and clean up, only to get dirty again with his woman. I wonder if that woman can be me, even if only for a night or two.