Page 98 of Memories By the Shore
“Avery?” Cassie’s timid voice is behind me.
I whip my head around to see her standing only a few feet away. “Yes?”
“I’m sorry.” She sighs. “It is none of my business, and I shouldn’t have inserted myself in it.” She tucks a corkscrew curl behind her ear. “I’m sure this is hard for you. I shouldn’t be making it worse.”
Cassie is apologizing, but I still feel there’s a backhanded comment threaded in her words.Why does she think it’s hard for me?I love Jasper. My pregnancy was a surprise, but I chose to marry him.
“I appreciate the sentiments, I do, but I love Jasper, and I refuse to believe that we’re not meant to be together. The most significant sign of that is this pregnancy.” I defend myself.
“We’re the same age, and I know I’d feel worried if I were in your position, even if I was in love with the guy.” I open my mouth to speak, but she interjects. “And it doesn’t take love to make a baby,” Cassie adds with a friendly wink.
Her intentions are in the right place, but I’m frustrated with the tone of this conversation. I blow out a heavy breath of air. “I know you mean well, but butt out, okay?” I snap, then turn onmy heels. I gather my things, clock out, and head to my car.
As soon as I open the door to Helen’s, the sweet scent of pineapple chicken hits my nose. My stomach rumbles.
“Hi, Helen. I’m home,” I say, dropping my purse on the table by the front door.
“In the kitchen,” she calls out.
When I get to the kitchen, she’s standing over the stove, stirring a large wok filled with chunks of chicken, pineapples, and spices. “I made your favorite pineapple chicken.”
“It smells amazing in here.” I smile and climb onto the bar stool at the island. “You didn’t have to do all this. We could have just ordered takeout.”
She flips a dish towel over her shoulder. “When you said you’d be here tonight and not with Jasper, I got excited to spend dinner just the two of us.”
“That’s sweet. Thank you.”
“Where is he tonight?”
“He had to work late at Duke’s. They’re preparing for that artist to come in,” I tell her.
Helen places a bowl of chopped fruit on the counter in front of me. “Oh yeah. He’s the one who’s going to design a bunch of custom boards for them, right?”
“Yeah. I know Jasper is excited about it. He believes it will be another way to bring in tourists,” I say, popping a slice of mango into my mouth.
“Same with Duke,” she replies with a smile.
While my aunt cooks, I replay my conversation with Cassie at work. I shouldn’t let her get to me, but she is. Helen has been more than supportive and understanding about thepregnancy and that Jasper and I eloped. If she and Duke have any reservations, they’re hiding them from us—well, at least me.
“Aunt Helen?”
“Yeah?” she replies, pouring dry rice in a pot.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course,” she says, pausing her movements to give her full attention.
Nervously, I bite the inside of my bottom lip. “How do you honestly feel about everything going on with Jasper and me?”
She glances around the room for a second before circling back. “What do you mean?”
“Are you disappointed about me getting pregnant?” I begin. “And then about him and I running off to get married?”
She sighs. “That’s a tough question.”
“You haven’t really expressed any real feelings about it.”
Walking over to the island, I see her throat bob with a hard swallow. “I just want you to be happy. That’s all. And if this is what is going to make you happy, then I’m supportive.”
