Page 31 of Romance Reset
“It won’t,” the girl sobbed against Amelia’s shoulder. “What if I am? I left the island and drove all the way here so no one would see me and nowyou’rehere and what am I going to do when I tell my dad and heexplodesand school is starting and my life isoverbecause I was stupid enough to think Jaxon loved me and wouldn’t leave me?”
That was one long sentence in one equally long gush of breath. Amelia realized then that the birth control was positioned directly beside the pregnancy tests and that was what Breanne had been staring at with such panic. Amelia squeezed the girl tight again before she purposely but gently pushed her away. “Okay. Hey, look at me. Here’s the plan. You are going to take my keys and go wait in my car. I’m the black Mercedes parked beside the handicapped spot as soon as you walk out the door. On the left. Okay? While you do that, I am going to buy a test for you along with my groceries. Then we’ll… go back to my place and you’ll have some privacy and an answer. One way or another. But you won’t be alone. Okay?”
Lincoln’s beautiful daughter blinked at her, silent tears still streaming down her face.
“Why are you helping me?”
Amelia tilted her head to one side and brushed the girl’s tear-sodden hair away from her face. “Because if I’m ever blessed with a daughter and she needs help, I hope someone would step up for her. Right now? It’s my turn to do this for you. Now get going. I’ll be right there.”
Breanne wiped her eyes, accepted Amelia’s key fob. Amelia watched Breanne simply stand there, frozen by her fear.
“God, what am I going to do?” Breanne breathed softly, head down as she turned and walked away.
Amelia grabbed the pregnancy test on her trek toward the front of the store. She quickly pondered what Lincoln had told her about his twins and what she’d gleaned from their coffee date with them, remembering Breanne had mentioned her like of dark chocolate. This kind of situation called for emergency chocolate on a grand scale, so she grabbed several bars on her approach to the checkout along with a miniature dog stuffie that was cute and just seemed like the thing to get to help with a bad day.
Minutes later, she and Breanne were on their way toward her condo.
“What about my car?”
“I’ll drive you back later,” Amelia said.
“Dad said you’re working a lot. I’m sorry to be so much trouble.”
“It’s no trouble,” she said, even as her body dragged with fatigue and the need for sleep, the restful kind that came on rainy days when she had nowhere to be and could lie in bed dozing for hours past her wake-up time.
“So you want kids?”
Amelia stopped at a red light, her grip tight on the steering wheel. “What?”
“You said if you ever had a daughter… back in the store.”
“Oh. Yeah, I do, actually. Very badly.”
“Does that mean you want kids with my dad?”
Oh, that made for one touchy subject. “I… don’t know yet. We haven’t reached that stage in our relationship, but it’s important to me, so I suppose it’s something we need to discuss very soon due to my… age.”
“You’re almost forty, like Dad, right?”
Amelia nodded and tried not to cringe. “Yup. It’s not uncommon for women my age to get pregnant, but it can be more difficult, especially if there are issues. I have endometriosis. Have you heard of that?”
“I remember that from biology class. It’s gunk that keeps you from getting pregnant, right?”
“Right. So even though I want to get pregnant, it might not happen for me.” Regardless of whether it was with Lincoln… or a sperm-bank baby as Izzy liked to say.
“Yeah, well, if I am, I’ll trade you,” Breanne muttered.
The car behind her honked when Amelia missed the light turning green, and she stepped on the gas. “Children are blessings, Breanne. I know you’re scared and hurting right now, but I don’t believe any child is a mistake. Ever.”
The girl went quiet at Amelia’s statement, and she wondered if she’d said too much.
“I heard Uncle Carter teasing Dad about hiring a matchmaker. Did you hire her hoping you’d meet someone and get pregnant?”
Amelia had to remind herself of two things: Breanne was Lincoln’s child and concerned about her father… and she was an eighteen-year-old woman facing the future with potential pregnancy hormones. “I… didn’t hire Marsali, actually. My friend did.”
“Because?”
“Breanne, I’m not sure we should be discussing—”
