She regretted doing so the second she heard Oliver’s voice. “Hey.”
Conscious of Sierra watching her, she tried not to show her sudden panic. “Hi.”
“What’s up?”
“Not a whole lot. I’m at the beach with some friends.”
“Did Danielle go to Virginia with you?”
“No. These are just...some people I met.”
“For the first time?”
“Yeah. Two of them are twins.” She wasn’t sure why she added that unnecessary detail, except that she was nervous. “They live here year-round.”
“I live here year-round, too,” Sierra volunteered. “My dad and I moved in just after Christmas.”
Taylor glanced over. “Three of them live here. The rest are visiting for the summer, like me.”
“How’d you meet them?”
“They were here at the beach when Caden and I arrived.”
“Oh.”
He didn’t say anything else, so she scrambled to fill the silence. “What are you doing?”
“Babysitting my little brother. He’s such a pain in the ass,” he added under his breath.
“How old is he?”
“Eleven.”
“My brother’s quite a bit older than that, but he can be a pain, too.” She said that automatically, with a laugh, but regretted it right away. Oliver knew Caden—they used to be friends—so he might have something negative to say, too, which she already knew she couldn’t tolerate. She could say what she wanted to, but if anyone else put Caden down, she’d defend him to her dying breath.
Luckily, Oliver didn’t comment on Caden, and managed to gain a little of her respect.
“When will you be back?” he asked.
“Not until school starts.” She was glad she had almost three months before she had to face even the possibility of running into him. Except...if she was pregnant, she would almost be showing by then.
She grimaced at the thought of going through her senior year carrying a baby. What had she done? If she was pregnant, her mother was going to be so upset.
“Okay. Well, call me if you get bored,” he said.
“I will.”
“Um, Taylor?”
She caught her breath at the more somber tone of his voice. “Yes?”
“That night at the party...”
Knowing Sierra was watching her closely, she tried not to react. “What about it?”
“I keep thinking...”
She waited.
“We didn’t use any protection, did we?”
“No,” she replied and heard him sigh heavily through the phone.
“I didn’t think so.”
They’d both been a little drunk.
“Is that going to be a problem?” he asked.
She could hear the anxiety in his voice, and it almost made her angry. He thought he was scared? The worst that could happen to him was he’d have to pay child support for eighteen years. As bad as that sounded, especially at their age, it would be much worse for her. Not only would she have to pay at least as much, she’d also have to carry the baby, deliver it and raise it—unless she had an abortion or gave it up for adoption. “I hope not.”
There was a long silence. “Does that mean you don’t know?” he asked at length.
She glanced over at Sierra, who was adjusting the straps on her swimsuit. “That’s exactly what it means.”
He said nothing for a moment. She wanted him to comfort her, to reassure her that she wouldn’t be in it alone. But she knew that was asking too much. He wouldn’t be there for her; they weren’t even together. “Will you let me know when you find out?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry if you’re scared,” he said. “If it comes to that, we’ll...we’ll figure it out, okay?”
Not only did his words surprise her, they also came off as sincere, dissipating some of the tension, fear and anger she’d been feeling. “Okay. Thank you.”
“Sure thing,” he said, and then he was gone.
“Who was that?” Sierra asked as Taylor put her phone back in her purse.
“A guy from Tampa.”
“Your boyfriend?”
Taylor saw Caden coming toward them and wanted to stop talking about Oliver before he overheard and started asking questions. “I’ll tell you later,” she muttered under her breath.
Sierra’s eyes moved from Taylor to Caden and back again. “Your secrets are safe with me,” she said.
* * *
“Let’s go over to The Daily Catch for dinner.”
Ever since her mother and aunt had returned from their errand at the bank, Autumn had been curled up on the antique red velvet couch in the corner, deeply immersed in Kristin Hannah’s latest book. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been relaxed enough to read for pleasure, so it felt familiar in the way coming home felt familiar—cathartic, healing, right. “Tonight?” she said to Laurie, who’d been the one to suggest it.
“Why not?” Laurie put several pens into a drawer as she straightened the register area. “Chris is dying to see you, and he loves that restaurant almost as much as you do.”
Autumn’s mind reverted to her encounter with Sarah’s mother and what Mrs. Vizii had had to say about Quinn. “I can’t wait to see Uncle Chris.” She was about to suggest they go somewhere else, though. She wasn’t eager to run into Quinn, given her embarrassing behavior when they were younger and then his awkward situation now.
But as she opened her mouth to continue, Laurie spoke again. “I try to give them my business whenever I can. I heard that one of Beth’s cancer medications costs eight thousand dollars a month. Can you believe that?”
Using one of the bookmarks they gave away for promotional purposes, Autumn closed her novel and sat up. “No way! That’s outrageous. How could one prescription cost so much?”
Laurie shook her head. “I have no clue. It’s a crying shame—that’s what it is. And, apparently, it’s not the only medication she needs, so there are other bills piling up.”
Mary had just carried a box of books that hadn’t sold into the back so that she could make room for all the new releases. “There was talk around town of creating a GoFundMe campaign to help cover her treatment,” she said as she returned, keeping up with the conversation while she worked. “But Mike and Quinn wouldn’t hear of it.”