Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 22788 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22788 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
“How are you feeling?” Emily asked.
This made her curious and she turned to her friend. “Huh?”
“I don’t know. I was just wondering if you felt any different?”
Mae frowned. “I’m not sure I follow.”
Emily pressed her lips together. “Uh, don’t worry about it.”
“No, no, you don’t get to tell me not to worry about something after you behave that way. Come on. Own up. What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“I’ve known you my whole life, Emily. I know when you’re lying, like you are doing now.” She put her hands on her hips and looked toward her friend. “Fess up.”
She looked to Emily, waiting, but the truth was, she did feel a little different. Just this morning, she felt sick when she woke up. Her stomach was doing all kinds of strange things, and if she was honest, her breasts felt different. The sickness had abated with some toast, but she hadn’t thought about that until now.
Emily let out a squeal. “I think you might be pregnant.”
Mae’s mouth fell. “Emily, you’re the one who’s pregnant.”
“I know, and you and Caleb have been having unprotected sex, so I thought we could actually be pregnant together. Don’t you think that is great?”
She didn’t know what to say or think, it was all just a little too much. She looked at her friend, and then her hand went to her stomach, because there was a good chance she might be pregnant. Protection hadn’t been high on their list.
She and Caleb had also not talked about babies. The one time they had, it had ended with them not seeing each other for a week. Also, they had taken care of Emily and Pete’s children.
Emily winced. “Crap, this is not good.”
Mae didn’t quite know what was good or not, but she was still reeling from the fact she might be pregnant. If she actually turned out to be pregnant, Caleb could go running for the hills, and she might never see him again.
“Mae, will you follow me?” Emily asked.
“What if he leaves?” Mae asked. “I’ll have to raise a baby all on my own.”
Her friend rushed around the counter. “You know, that is not something for you to worry yourself with right now.” Emily grabbed her hands. “You know, I think I hear one of your favorite bands playing.”
She was so distracted in her own little world, that she wasn’t paying attention to what else was going on around her. Before she knew what was happening, she was being marched outside where everyone was. There were so many people.
The noise seemed overwhelming as she tried not to panic about what was going on inside her head. There was real fear in her heart. A panic unlike anything she had ever known.
She wanted to run back to the shop, but all of a sudden, the music stopped, and she heard Caleb’s voice. Like a moth to a flame, she looked toward the stage that had been placed in front of the main town building.
“Is Mae Blake out there tonight?” Caleb asked.
Emily let out a scream. “We’re here. We’re right here.” Her friend waved her hands in the air like a crazy person and Mae could do nothing but look on in shock as she stared at Caleb.
There was a light cast down on her. It wasn’t too harsh, but Mae held her hand out and knew she felt stiff as a board. She didn’t know what to say or do.
“I bet you’re all wondering what the hell is going on right now, but as you can see, something pretty damn special is going to happen.” Caleb started to climb off stage and another light followed him as he started to walk down the street. His voice seemed to fill every speaker. “You all know that Mae and I have been seeing each other. In fact, we’ve not been silent about it. We’ve kept it pretty obvious. What you all don’t know is that I am completely and absolutely in love with this woman. I know, I know my reputation says I’m just using her, but I know for a fact this woman is the real deal. She is the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. She is the woman I love more than anything in the world.”
Mae’s heart was pounding inside her chest.
“And you all should know that I want to marry this woman. I want to get her pregnant so we can have lots of kids and have a big happy family.”
Caleb was now standing in front of her, and Mae looked at him in absolute shock. She was just reeling from the fact she might be pregnant.
“Hey, Mae,” he said.
“Hi.”
And then, right there, in front of the town and the tourists on Halloween night, with Emily and Pete there as well, he went down on one knee.