Page 31 of Unexpected Pass

“My son has quite the car problem,” Ms. Barnes stated as if she could read my mind. “One of the many things he collects.”

The elevator opened. I followed her on, trying to control my breathing, but my nerves were too bad. Kellon was welcoming me into his home. That was big. I twirled my hair, watching the elevator ascend to the fourth floor. The doors slid open, and my mouth dropped once again.

“Welcome!”

Ms. Barnes waved her hand around, stepping off the elevator. I stood there for a moment. My feet were frozen as I took it all in.

“This is the living room,” she announced.

The living room?My entire apartment could fit inside here. I stepped off the elevator, following Ms. Barnes as we walked through the living room. The beautiful view of the city could be seen through the floor-to-ceiling windows that greeted me.

“This is beautiful.” I roamed around admiring Kellon’s home, trying not to act like I’d never seen nice things before because I had but nothing as lovely as this.

“Kellon loves it here. I prefer the beach, but hey, who am I?” Ms. Barnes smiled. “Come on. I’ll show you around.”

I placed my purse on a nearby table and walked alongside Ms. Barnes as she showed me around the home. Every room had the sleek feel of a bachelor pad, but small things like flowers and prop books let me know a woman had assisted in the decorating.

“You helped decorate?” I asked as we walked onto the balcony overlooking the skyline. “It’s nice.”

“Kellon’s ex is an interior designer,” she replied, staring at the city as if she hadn’t dropped a seed of doubt in my ear.

The mention of Kellon’s ex made me feel a tinge of jealousy I couldn’t explain. She’d picked and placed everything in hishome, meaning her presence still lingered here. I didn’t know how to feel about that, nor did I know if I should be feeling anything at all.

“This is pretty much it. I’ll let Kellon show you the rest when he gets here,” she said before stepping back inside.

I allowed the city air to soothe my nerves before joining her inside. When I returned, Ms. Barnes was already putting back on her coat and heading for the door.

“You leaving?”

“I have to get back to the studio with Kellon. Make yourself at?—”

“Uh, excuse me,” I interrupted.

A wave of nausea hit me, and I knew immediately I needed to find the nearest bathroom. I racked my brain trying to remember the closest restroom and made a beeline to it. I barely made it to the toilet before vomit spilled from my mouth. This was it. My first pregnancy symptom had reared its ugly head in front of Kellon’s mom.

“Phileigh, are you okay?” Ms. Barnes rushed inside the bathroom with concern etched on her face.

“I’m sorry. I just…” My words trailed off as more vomit spilled from my mouth. “I don’t know what happened.”

My voice trembled as I ran my hand across my mouth, trying to clean myself up.

“Here.” Ms. Barnes handed me a towel.

“Thank you.” I quickly stepped back from the toilet and began cleaning myself up. I was lucky that none of its contents had gotten on me. “Must be something I ate at lunch.”

Ms. Barnes stood there staring at me. Her eyes were full of suspicion. “Morning sickness is the worst.”

My head swiveled in her direction.What did she just say?

“Phileigh, I wasn’t born yesterday. I know you and Kellon didn’t just meet. I know you’re more than his barber.”

My heart raced. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve been pregnant enough to know the signs,” she replied gently. Her gaze was piercing yet kind. “I know you’re pregnant with my son’s baby.”

My breath caught in my throat. “I... I...”

I didn’t know what to say. She knew I was pregnant, and worse, she thought I was pregnant by Kellon.

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