Page 67 of It Happened Back Then
“Hey, you,” she says, and welcomes me in with a hug. This feels nice. I’m welcoming the cool air right now to keep my breathing steady. But standing here with her? It steadies me. Even when everything inside me already knows this is the calm before something bigger.
“You survive all the testosterone?” she teases, bumping her shoulder lightly into mine.
“You mean did I survive your brother?” I chuckle. “And the answer is barely.Barely.I think he threatened to neuter me at least twice.” She laughs and the sound uplifts me. “It was fine. Lief and Italked. If you could call it that. He was definitely playing the big brother on all fronts. I caught the brunt of it, but Drake didn’t escape it. And neither did Cole.”
She shakes her head andtsks.“I really expected Lief to be cool with everyone.”
I shrug. “He was. He just had to assert his dominance. I respected it.”
She smiles and we sit together on the little porch swing. It’s not the safest, it creaks when we both land in it, and I vow to myself to buy us a house with a wraparound porch and swing big enough to hold us and our baby. “We need to talk,” she says softly.
My heart drops, but I just nod, offering my hand without thinking. Whatever it is, I’m not going anywhere. Ever again.
“Let’s go to Bean Lake.”
~~
The moon mirrorsoff the surface of Bean Lake. It’s quiet out here, just the breeze and the occasional ripple of water from fish jumping. This place has meant something to a lot of people, but for me. It’s always beenher. This is where everything started.
We walk side by side until the trees thin out and the shore opens up before us. The lake laps at the edge, steady, small waves kissing the sand. We sit, and my legs stretch out in front of me, hers tuck in crisscrossed like they always have. She looks nervous. I feel it too, but I don’t thinkanything could have prepared me for what she’s about to tell me.
“Are you okay?” I ask. “We can go sit in the truck if you want.”
She shakes her head softly. “No. I’d like to feel the air.” She breathes in, and it’s further confirmation something’s coming.
“I talked to my mom the other day,” she says.
I smile. “Is she happy about the baby?”
Her laugh is light. “She’s so happy. Already wants to shop, already thinking about names. She’s driving me crazy.”
“I haven’t told my parents yet,” I admit, then rush to add, “I will. I just… wanted a second to have this. You and me. Before anyone else gets a piece of it.”
She nods, but her eyes are heavy now. Her smile disappears. “That’s what I wanted to talk about. When I talked to my mom, she reminded me I don’t have to carry everything alone.”
“Why would you be alone?”
“I’m not. Not now anyway. But there’s something I never told you. From when we were kids. Before you left for college.”
The shift in her tone punches the air right out of my lungs. I turn to her fully, watching emotions play out on her face, knowing she’s about to hand me something heavy.
“Okay,” I swallow hard. “What is it?”
She clears her throat, eyes locked with mine as she replies. “I was pregnant, Bennett. At eighteen.”
My body freezes, but my heart pounds in my chest, like it’s trying to tear its way out. My hands curl into the sand, grounding me, because everything else suddenly feels like it’s spinning.
I don’t say anything. Ican’t. I’m trying to understand,trying tobreathe. She watches me, waiting, but I don’t even know what the hell I’m supposed to do with that.
“I didn’t even get to tell you,” she says, her voice cracking. “I lost it. I had a miscarriage.”
And fuck.
I feel it all hit at once, rage, heartbreak, guilt, like a storm that’s been hiding inside me finally lets loose. My hands ball into fists, jaw locked so tight it hurts. I want to say something but I’m afraid if I open my mouth, I’ll explode.
So she keeps going, rushing to explain.
“My mom was the only one who knew. I was scared. I wanted to tell you; I was just so—” She stops short, swallows a few times while she works to form more words. Then she rushes on, “And your dad, I don't know how, but he found out. He knew before I even realized. I mean, I had an idea, but he,” she takes a breath, “he confronted me. Said he knew what was going on with us and wouldn't let me trap you, and that he didn’t want you stuck in this town.”
