Page 25 of Entwined Hearts
Tess came and sat by me, taking my hand in hers. “Why did you freak out?”
I shrugged a shoulder and gnawed on the inside of my cheek. “I don’t know,” I whispered, suddenly feeling like crying. “He’s a nice guy. He’s stable, he works hard, he’s reasonably attractive, he doesn’t overcomplicate my life, doesn’t come with baggage. On paper, he’s perfect.”
“But does he make your heart race like you said Weston does? Make you feel seen?” Delilah asked, her face somber. “Can you imagine your life with him? Imagine him here with us? Withallof us?”
“No.” Something inside me cracked at the admission, something vital that reverberated through the rest of me. I’d never said that out loud, never let myself think it, really. But no, Stewart wouldn’t fit in with my family. He’d think Wild Creek was some podunk rundown town, he’d think he was above all of it, and want us to stay away in Dallas. And before Mom died, I was happy to stay away, but now? Now I wasn’t so sure.
Tess wiped my cheek. “Sometimes, stable is the good choice. The right choice. Passion feels good in the moment, but it can turn into a fire that burns you down,” she said. When had my baby sister gotten so wise?
The words stung more than I had expected them to, maybe because I had told myself the same thing time and time again, even though it felt like settling for less.
“But that doesn’t mean you don’t still want to walk into it and get burned,” Delilah added. “Some people thrive in the fire.”
I looked at the rest of the girls, all of them giving me looks of concern and silent support, no matter what I chose. I sniffled, wiping my nose on my sleeve. “But what if I just love the idea of Weston?” I asked no one in particular. “Like, the memory of him and what we had? What if I give everything up in Dallas and regret it?” What if I didn’t?
“There’s only one way to find out, Savvy,” Claire said, her eyes soft. “I know it’s scary. I was scared when I started to have feelings for Beau, and I can’t even imagine how terrified you feel with your situation, but you’re never going to know if it’ll work unless you go for it.”
Anna let out a soft grunt that sounded more like discomfort than a sound of agreement or disagreement.
I tilted to the side, looking past Claire to find Anna staring down at her stomach. “Guys…”
“I swear to God if you say your water just broke, I’m walking into traffic,” Delilah said with a horrified and disgusted look on her face.
Anna winced, gasping as she clutched her stomach. “Yeah,” she nodded, “my water just broke. I was having contractions earlier, but I thought they were just Braxton Hicks.” My jaw fell open like a busted hinge.
“Shit!” Delilah screeched, scrambling over the back of the couch like Anna’s head had started spinningThe Exorciststyle.
“None of us can drive!” Brittany yelled on the verge of tears.
Anna wailed, her face screwed up with pain. I stared at her wide-eyed, frozen.
Claire shot up, clutching her head, her face pale. “Okay, nobody freak out. We’re all capable, intelligent women. We can figure this out.”
“Somebody call my fucking husband!” Anna screamed, fracturing the barely there sense of calm, and everyone sprang into action.
“Joseph’s not answering,” Brittany said, hands shaking as she typed on her phone. “I’m calling Colt.”
“I’m calling Beau,” Claire said.
“And I’ll try Joseph again,” Delilah said.
Tess ran to the kitchen, grabbed ice, and wrapped it in a towel. She put it on the back of Anna’s neck. “I did this when I had Luke,” she said. “It’s a distraction from the pain.”
Anna let out quick, hard breaths like in the movies, and that’s when it hit me. Anna was having a baby. She was having a baby right now. On her couch, if we didn’t get her out of here soon.
“Nobody is answering their goddamn phone!”
Anna sobbed. “I can’t have this baby on my fucking couch, it cost a fortune.”
I looked over at the coffee table at my phone. I reached for it with a trembling hand. “I’m gonna call Weston,” I said, and everyone went silent.
“Are you sure?” Tess said.
“He’ll answer if I call.” I looked at Anna, who had a panicked look on her face. “Trust me. He’ll answer.”
It was just a ride to the hospital, I told myself. But a part of me knew it was more than that; the part the girls had begun to pry out of me after keeping her locked away for years. The part that knew when everything was falling apart, Weston was the one I could run to. The one Iwantedto run to.
But I didn’t have the time to dwell on that now. I dialed his number, having memorized it as if it were my own. I put the phone to my ear, my breathing shallow.
