Page 58 of Only You

“Good idea. Just stay in bed all day and rest. Mara’s sister is ill and in the hospital. She left for New York and asked me to look after Lucy until Alex returns.”

“Does Lucy know?”

“Yes, and she’s pissed. I don’t know what to do, sis.”

“Try and bond with her. Gotta go. Going to be sick.”

Lucy walked back into the kitchen and took down a bowl from the cabinet.

“What are you doing?”

“Pouring myself some cereal,” she said in a snotty tone.

“I can do that for you.”

“I’m not a baby. I can do it myself.”

She took her bowl, the box of cereal, and the milk over to the table. I got up from the stool and sat in the chair across from her. She looked at me, grabbed her bowl, and took it to the island. My phone pinged with a text from Alex, and my belly fluttered.

“Good morning. I spoke to Mara. Thank you for looking after Lucy. I appreciate it.”

Not a ‘How are you? How’ve you been?’ Nothing.

“Not a problem,” I replied.

I waited a moment to see if he’d respond, but he didn’t. I told Lucy to get her backpack because it was time to leave for school. She stomped up the stairs, grabbed her backpack, and went out the door with an attitude.

“Listen, kid,” I said, climbing into the car. “I don’t know what your problem is with me, but we need to talk about it.”

“I’m not talking about anything. Sometimes people just don’t like other people. Can’t be helped.”

I furrowed my brows. “What did I ever do to you?”

“I said I’m not talking about anything.” She stared out the passenger window. “You missed the turn to the school.”

“Shit,” I heavily sighed as I made a U-turn in the middle of the road.

I pulled into the school and up to the curb. Lucy grabbed her backpack and opened the door.

“Have a good day. I’ll be here at three o’clock to pick you up.”

“Yep.” She climbed out and slammed the door shut.

I ran some errands for the engagement party and then went over to Adalyn’s to check on her. Walking into the house, I went upstairs.

“Hey, how are you?” I asked, climbing on the bed next to her.

“Nauseous as hell. I didn’t know anything was going around. Nobody I know has been sick.”

I stared at her momentarily, noting the exhaustion in her eyes. “Don’t be mad at me.”

“Mad at you for what?” she asked.

I got up from the bed, walked over to where my purse was, and pulled out a pregnancy test.

“I stopped at the store and picked this up.” I held up the box. “I think you should take it.”

“That’s not even funny, Hannah.”