Page 83 of Adoring Delaney

“I told her that Parkside’s security is the best in the state. I was a little freaked out she was asking about the metal detectors, which we don’t have. Then she started talking about how much she loved the beach. The Atlantic Ocean, specifically. And how she spent a lot of time near the water because it helped her think. She asked if I liked it, too.”

“The Atlantic? Thought she was from Chicago.”

“Yeah, that’s why I thought it was a little strange. The way she was talking about it, like she visited regularly when she was younger. So I asked her about living in Chicago. And I kid you not, it took her a full minute staring at me for her to understand what I was talking about. When she recovered, she blew it off by saying that was why she left the city and chose Georgia. Because we had great beaches from Virginia down to Florida and she could be at one within a few hours. Individually none of that would give me the creeps but put it all together and it bothered me. I was ready for lunch to be over when Quinn showed up. Her timing was perfect. Natalie wasn’t happy for the intrusion, but she masked her irritation quickly.”

“Did she mention why she was in Chicago?”

“She said she went to art school there.”

“But she’s lookin’ for retail jobs at the mall?”

Damn, he didn’t miss anything. “Yeah.”

“Anything else that gave you pause?”

“She asked about my family but dodged the topic of hers. Said she wasn’t close with them. But then later she said that her brother had died and she was still heartbroken. When I asked about him, she told me he died in a car accident when she was a kid. Then promptly changed the subject. I understand not wanting to talk about something painful, and going into auto pilot when recalling a bad memory, but the way she was talking was like…I don’t know…like she was making it up as she went along. God, I’m going to hell for saying that. But I swear that’s what it felt like.”

Thankfully Carter didn’t rub it in that he could be right, Natalie could be a complete whackjob. But on the other hand, maybe every word she’d told me was true and she was simply lost and all alone in the world and needed a friend. I didn’t like thinking poorly about people, but I learned the hardest of ways, that people do bad things.

“I don’t want you to—”

“You don’t have to say it. If I see her again, I’ll avoid her. If she calls, I’ll let it go to voicemail and text her with an excuse. I asked her what her last name was. She told me it was Whitefield.”

“Thank you,” he muttered and hauled me closer to kiss my forehead. “Ready for bed?”

“Yeah, but could you hand me my phone first? I need to add my lunch date with Honor and Carson into my calendar so I don’t forget.”

“The infamous social calendar.” He chuckled before he sobered. “You sure you’re all right having lunch with them?”

“Yes. And don’t make fun of my calendar. You know I forget things if I don’t write them down.”

“Babe, you’re the only person I know who has three calendars. All of them have the exact same shit written on them.”

He handed me my phone off the nightstand and I pulled up my calendar. He was correct, I did have three. My phone, a day planner in my purse, and one hung in my kitchen. He was also accurate that each one was the same. It was a habit I started in college and it’s stuck. I needed things in triplicate or I’d forget. I wrote everything down.

“Yeah, well, what can I say? I’m special that way.”

“You’re something all right.” I could hear the humor in his voice. “What did Honor say about…”

I was no longer paying attention to Carter’s words, my head was swimming at my idiocy.

Holy shit.

No.

How could I have forgotten?

“What’s wrong?”

“Um.”

“Laney.”

“Shit. I’m not on birth control anymore. I haven’t been since…well, I’m just not. I forgot.”

“So?”

“So?” My voice was shrill even to my own ears. “I could get pregnant.”

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