Grace had kept her word. There was no dilly-dallying in storytelling. As soon as the last person was out the door, she flipped the lock and pulled Harper and Mel into the back of the café. She was able to do this as she was part owner of said café. Her grandmother, Lula Mae King, had opened it years ago, and Grace was now in charge of all the baked goods.

As it was well past Rosie Mae’s naptime, she’d gone home with her great-grandmother, so the women were able to talk freely. They all settled into the table and chairs set up in the back corner of the café kitchen, and Harper told them every last detail…except for one very important one.

She left out the fact that she was without a doubt in love with Liam. For now, she was going to keep that to herself.

“So I’m pregnant,” Harper finished, looking both of them in the eye in turn. She took a deep breath, letting it out in a wave of relief.

They knew. She’d told someone. Two someones. She wasn’t alone in this.

After a few beats of silence, where both of her friends digested the news, Mel was the first to talk. “Okay, I’m going to ask the obvious question here. How did this happen? You guys did…you know…use protection, didn’t you? And aren’t you on birth control?”

“I stopped taking it after Brad, which is why everything has been a bit irregular lately. And we did use condoms…they just didn’t work.”

“No kidding,” Grace said slowly, still in shock. “Does he know?”

Harper shook her head. “Not yet.”

“Yet. So you are going to tell him?” Mel asked.

“Yes. I am.” She nodded, and she was going to have to tell him much sooner than later.

She’d long since programmed his number into her phone. She’d also spent more than one night staring at the piece of paper that he’d written said number on—and his address for that matter—all those weeks ago.

She was pathetic. Just another thing to add to the list.

One: Coward

Two: Delusional

Three: Pregnant

Four: Pathetic

She could keep going, but she wasn’t really interested in feeling more depressed about the situation. She’d reached her max.

“And after?” Mel asked.

“I have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen after I tell him…if he’ll want to be involved, or if I’ll be raising this child alone. Because I will be raising this child. That much I do know. Without a doubt.”

“Well, that’s good, but you’re wrong about one thing,” Grace said as she reached across the table and grabbed Harper’s hand.

“Yeah,” Mel agreed as she grabbed Harper’s other hand. “You will not be raising this child alone.”

And there was another thing to be added to the list.

Number five: Foolish

Because not telling her friends earlier had been beyond foolish.

*  *  *

The waiting area of the women’s health wing of the Atticus County Hospital was almost empty when Harper and Mel took a seat, but that’s what Harper had been hoping for when she’d made the eight a.m. appointment.

She’d asked Beth—who was an OB/GYN nurse and had gotten a job at the hospital when she’d moved back—to get her in as early as possible, and her friend had complied.

“You’re going to need to get me another cup of coffee when we leave here,” Mel said around another yawn.

“Seriously, don’t your classes start at seven in the morning?”

Mel was a high school math teacher so she kept an early schedule nine months out of the year, something that Harper found to be a miracle as her friend wasn’t much of a morning person…actually she wasn’t a morning person in the slightest little bit. The woman required multiple cups of coffee in the morning to actually function like a human.

“Yes.” Mel nodded. “But in the summer I keep summer hours, which means sleeping in.”

“Your husband let you get away with that?” Harper asked as she started to fill out the forms in front of her.

Name: Harper Maria Laurence

“Are you kidding? Bennett sleeps in, too. He takes full advantage of longer mornings in bed.”

Age: Twenty-six

“I’ll just bet he does.” She did her best to keep her voice neutral when she checked the single box.

Not alone. Not alone. Not alone. She told herself. The fact that Mel was there was proof positive of this fact. And Harper knew beyond a doubt that Mel had absolutely no qualms about being in the doctor’s office that early in the morning. Mel was making a valiant attempt at distracting Harper, and though it wasn’t working all that much, she appreciated the effort nonetheless.

Mel continued talking as Harper started to fill out her address.

She lived on the third floor of a walk-up. Two bedrooms, one her “laboratory”/storage for the lotions and oils she made. There was barely enough room in there as it was, so it would definitely be too small for a baby’s nursery. Who was she kidding? The entire apartment would be too small for a baby’s nursery.

What was she going to do? The rent for the place was pretty much the max that she could afford as it was, and now she was going to have so many more added expenses when the baby came along.

Oh God.

“Hey.” Mel’s hand was on Harper’s knee squeezing lightly. “Where did you just go?”

She turned to look at her friend, knowing that her wide eyes were filled with a fear she couldn’t control. “I’m either going to have to be homeless with a baby or move back in with my parents.”

“Okay, I don’t think those are your only options. So let’s stop spiraling. And how about I finish filling this out,” Mel said as she pulled the clipboard and pen out of Harper’s hands. “One step at a time, babe, and I don’t think we are anywhere near where you just went.”

“Promise?”

“Promise. Here.” She reached over and grabbed the newest copy of People. “Read up on what’s going on with Miley Cyrus and Kim Kardashian, it will make you feel better about your life. One because you’ve yet to prance around wearing a slutty teddy bear onesie while doing this.” She stuck out her tongue and held up two peace signs. “Nor have you been impregnated by Kanye West.” She paused, tilting her head to the side as she narrowed her eyes on Harper. “I mean, Kanye isn’t the father, is he? You didn’t just say Liam as a code name, did you?”

“She’s got jokes, ladies and gentlemen.” Harper rolled her eyes, but she did have a smile creeping up her face as she focused on the magazine in her lap.

It was another five minutes before Harper heard her name called. She looked up to find Beth holding the door open. Her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing light blue scrubs that were almost the exact same shade as her eyes. Eyes that widened fractionally when she saw that Mel was sitting next to Harper.

Beth had probably just thought Harper needed to see the doctor for a routine checkup or something. She probably hadn’t guessed that her friend was pregnant. But she didn’t ask any questions or comment at all when Mel came with them. She just nodded before she turned and led them down the hallway.

“Weight first.” Beth stopped in front of the scale. Harper handed her purse to Mel before she got on.

Hey, every little bit counted.

But when she saw the number that Beth jotted down, she cringed. She’d lost twenty pounds in the last few months, and though she didn’t think that all of it was post getting pregnant, she knew that some of it was and concern for the baby filled her, causing her chest to tighten and that ever-present anxiety to perk up.

Well, her blood pressure number was going to be awesome now, wasn’t it?

Chapter Six How to Be a Grown-Ass Adult Step One: Wait Until the Following Week

An hour later it was official. Officially official. Harper was pregnant and due at the end of January.