“He saw me kiss Trey good-bye,” Jessie said as she closed her eyes.

“Like, what kind of a good-bye kiss? A peck or a kiss-kiss?” Ari asked.

Jessie opened her eyes. “A kiss-kiss.”

Ellie put her hands up to her mouth. “Why, Jessie?”

She began shaking her head. “I don’t know! I guess I felt bad for him because I was just leaving him so suddenly. He seemed so hurt, and he wanted something more than friendship. It started out as just a friendly kiss, but Trey quickly made it into something more, and I stopped it immediately. I’m not sure what all Lark saw.”

“Whoa…wait. He wanted to be more than friends?” Ari asked.

“Yes, but I kept telling him I wasn’t ready. Then, I started to figure out that maybe it wasn’t Scott who was with Chelsea. Like I said, I think a part of me always knew. Anyway, that was the day I called Scott and my dad when the storm came in. I called Scott first and told him I needed to talk to him. When I called him again later, I told him where I was. Then, everything started falling into place—how I had been feeling so bad and I hadn’t had my period. I took a test in the middle of the damn tropical storm, and that was when I found out I was pregnant—on Christmas Eve. I told Trey, and he tried to tell me he would take care of the baby and me if Scott didn’t want to. It was a terrible night because the phones had gone out, and I couldn’t get a hold of Scott. I ended up sleeping in Trey’s lap the whole night, and—”

“What?” all three of us called out again.

Ari stood up. “Jesus H. Christ, Jessie. You say you don’t have feelings for this guy, but when you find out you’re pregnant with another man’s child, you sleep in the guy’s arms all night long, and then you lead him on even more by kissing him good-bye.”

I looked at Ari as Ellie stood up.

“Ari, stop this. Stop yelling at her,” I said.

“No, this is bullshit.” Ari looked down at Jessie, who was crying again. “You need to figure this shit out and figure it out fast. You clearly have feelings for Trey.”

Jessie started shaking her head.

“Yes…yes, Jessie, you do. What happened between you and Scott this morning?”

Jessie wiped the tears away. “He asked if I was sure I really wanted to move in, and then he brought up Lark seeing me kiss Trey. I got mad and asked if he had Lark spying on me. Then, the guilt from me kissing Trey good-bye hit me like a brick wall, and when Scott reached to touch me, I pulled away. I don’t know why I pulled away.” She began sobbing hysterically. “I just feel so dirty, knowing I kissed another man and let him touch me where only Scott should be touching. Oh my god, I’m so confused.”

She looked up at me, and my heart broke.

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Jessie, if you truly didn’t have feelings for this Trey guy, you wouldn’t be sitting here, saying you’re confused.”

“No! No! I want to be with Scott. I love Scott. I’m not sure what in the hell it is. I think I’m feeling guilty more than anything. I don’t have feelings like that for Trey! I want to have this child with Scott. I want to move in here and raise her together. I don’t want anyone else!” Jessie screamed out.

Then, she stopped suddenly. “Oh god.” She put her hands down to her stomach.

I jumped up and looked at Ari and Ellie. “Jessie?” I said.

She slowly stood and then leaned over. “Oh my god…no…please, God, no,” Jessie barely whispered.

Ellie bent over and looked at Jessie. “Jessie, tell us what’s going on, honey.”

“I have a pain…in my stomach.” Jessie tried to take a deep breath.

I looked up at Ari. She was standing there, frozen.

“Ari, call Scott and have him meet us at the hospital. I’m taking her to the hospital here in Mason,” I said.

“My mother is working there today,” Ellie said as she took Jessie’s arm and helped her out to my car.

After we put Jessie in the front passenger seat, I turned and looked at Ellie. “She’s gonna be fine. She’s probably just experiencing cramps.”

Ellie looked white as a ghost, and Ari was crying.

“Ari, you know this. You know you can have cramps early on in the pregnancy,” I said. I looked at Ellie and touched her arm, causing her to jump. “Ellie…I need you to drive. Ari can’t drive, sweetheart. Can you drive, Ells? Follow me to the hospital, okay?”

Ellie turned and looked at Ari. She looked back at me and nodded her head. I quickly walked to the driver’s side of my car and got in. I looked at Jessie, who looked scared to death.

“Heather…what’s wrong? Am I going to lose the baby?” She began to cry.

“No, you’re not.” I took off and headed to the hospital.

The whole way, I prayed to God that I hadn’t just lied to Jessie.

I burst through the hospital doors and began looking around for one of the girls. Jeff was right behind me. We had stopped at Garrett and Emma’s place to drop off Luke and Grace, and then we’d headed straight to the hospital.

My hands were shaking, and I didn’t see Ari, Ellie, or Heather anywhere. I walked up to the nurses’ station. I was just about to ask for information when I heard Heather’s voice.

“Scott.”

I turned and looked at her. I tried to read her face for any signs. I was so scared that Jessie had lost the baby. Heather smiled that sweet smile of hers and walked up to me.

“She’s fine,” Heather said.

“The baby?” I felt tears building in my eyes.

“The baby is fine also.”

I let out the breath I had been holding and collapsed into Heather’s arms. “Oh, thank God. Oh, thank you, God.”

Heather pulled back and looked at me. “She just had some cramping, which is normal.”

I looked at Heather, confused. “Cramping?”

She nodded her head. “Just think of it as her body’s way of trying to get ready for what all is about to happen. Her hormones are in overdrive, and then add in the stress of everything on top of that. She just needs to try to de-stress.”

My face fell, and my knees felt weak. I caused this…oh my god.

Heather must have read my face. “You didn’t cause this, Scott. Please, just calm down, and try to relax before you go in the room. Ellie, Ari, and Sharon are in there.”

I nodded and took a few deep breaths. “Where is she?”

“Come on, I’ll take you to her room. They aren’t planning on keeping her in the hospital, but they wanted to get some fluids into her.”

I stopped outside the door. I couldn’t move. I was frozen in place. Heather took my hands in hers and smiled.

“What if she leaves me for him?” I whispered.

I saw the tears in Heather’s eyes as she shook her head.

“She won’t because she loves you so much, Scott. She. Loves. You,” Heather said, stressing each word.

“But she cares about him, Heather. How do I know she’s not going to be thinking about him, wondering what if she hadn’t gotten pregnant?”

“Oh no, Scott, don’t think that way.” Heather wiped a tear away.

I smiled and took another deep breath as I opened the door. Everyone looked up, but the only person I saw was Jessie. The moment her eyes met mine, I wanted to run to her, to grab her in my arms and tell her how much I loved her. But I couldn’t.

Sharon smiled and nodded. “Well…looks like dad is here now. Come on, girls. Let’s give them some time alone. I’ll be back, Jessie, in a few minutes. The IV drip is almost done, and then I’ll get that out of your hand. Then, we can get you ready to head home.”

As they all walked by, they each gave me a strange look.

Was that pity I saw in their eyes?

The moment the door shut, Jessie smiled at me. “I’m sorry if you were scared. The doctor said it’s normal to feel cramping, and some experience it more than others. Hopefully, it won’t last long.”

I looked at the IV bag.

“I guess they thought I was dehydrated or something,” she said with a weak smile.