Holding On (18 page)

She shrugged.
She had explained to him while they were in the waiting room that she’d told Carly about their appointment. And
why
she’d told her. He hadn’t been too bothered by it. Because she had been right. They’d be telling everyone soon enough. Or so they thought.

“I really don’t know
what I’ll do for the rest of the day. Carly and I were supposed to go shopping. It seems kind of pointless now. She’s going to be so disappointed. I never should’ve told her about the appointment.” She frowned.

Jake shrugged. “She’ll just have to settle for seeing the pictures.”

This brought a smile to Quinn’s face. “True. I know she’ll love to see them.”

“Are you going to run them over to your mom’s?”

She sighed. “I suppose I probably should. She’ll feel bad if I don’t.”

“Hey,” Jake said, only half-teasing, “she picks on you at all, you tell her she’ll have to deal with me.”

“I’ll do that,” Quinn said, playing along. She knew her mom loved her but sometimes, she was just a bit much.

Jake sighed. “I suppose I better get back to work. If I’m going to be much later than six-thirty, I’ll give you a call.” Quinn nodded. “You’ll be at your mom’s though, later today?”

“Yeah, for a while since I don’t really have anything else to do. I had really wanted to get the nursery painted. And I wanted to buy the bedding and have it washed up, ready to go.”

Jake pulled her into a hug because her disappointment was so obvious. “We have one more ultrasound, right?”
he asked. She nodded. “I’m sure we’ll be able to find out then.”

He knotted his hands into her hair and pulled her in for a kiss.
She didn’t resist and thoughts of anything else escaped her.

13

I have got to start wearing better shoes
, Quinn thought to herself. It was the end of the day, a Friday afternoon, and she was just leaving the bank. It had been a fairly busy day, as Friday, paydays, typically were.

Just this
past week she’d realized that being on her feet all day was starting to—literally—become a pain. She didn’t want to mention it to Jake, though. He’d surely start in again about her not working.

Although…she was surprised to realize that idea wasn’t as unappealing as it had been a few months ago. She was sure she could keep herself plenty busy at home. There was always something to do. Cooking, cleaning, gardening, yard work…

She was tossing around ideas of what she could keep herself busy with as she made her way to her car. She wasn’t paying much attention to her surroundings as she dug in her purse for her keys.

“Hey gorgeous.”

She jumped at the sound of Jake’s voice. She spun, with a smile on her face. “Hey gorgeous, yourself,” she said.

He grinned as he walked up to her. “Are you hobbling?” he asked.
His tone was teasing and a smile danced across his lips.

Her expression
instantly became offended. Although at least, she realized, he hadn’t accused her of
waddling
. She didn’t think she was actually hobbling either. Though she wouldn’t have denied it if he’d accused her of shuffling along. Before she could say anything he cut her off.

“I was just wondering!” he said as he threw his hands up in the air in a defenseless gesture. “You just…you don’t look all that comfortable.”

She sighed because he was right. “It’s the shoes.” They had a small heel. She realized she would be better off wearing some flats. She would probably have to invest in some because from this point on, it would only undoubtedly get worse.

“Are you sure you don’t want to try the stay at home thing?” Jake teased.

“I might.”

They both blinked at each other in surprise. Neither had expected that answer.

A satisfied smile spread across Jake’s face. “I think you should.”

She shook her head, smiled, and changed the subject. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh,” he sounded surprised by the question. “I ran into Nate at lunch. He mentioned that he and Lily were going to dinner at Shady’s tonight. He was wondering if we wanted to meet them there. I told him I’d check with you but that I thought we might. I know it’s been a while since we’ve done anything with them.”

Shady’s
Bar and Grill was their favorite hangout. It was the only bar and grill in the small town of Lanford. But they hadn’t been there in a while. Jake was right, they hadn’t done anything with Lily and Nate for a long time. For once, after a long day at work, Quinn really didn’t feel like cooking.

“That sounds good, actually,” she agreed.

She had abandoned her search for her car keys. Jake grabbed her hand and walked her to the other side of the lot. His truck was parked there and she wondered how she missed it. She felt like she was becoming more and more of a scatterbrain.

“Were you serious?” he asked as they walked. “Are you ready to give your notice?”

“I think,” Quinn said slowly as the thought took hold, “that maybe I am.”

Jake grinned at her. “
Monday morning?” he pressed.

“I don’t know…”
But then she laughed. “Although, after today, I have to say it is sounding more appealing.”

“Bad day?” Jake wondered.

“No,” Quinn said. “Nothing like that. It’s just that the little jellybean was pretty active today. It can get kind of distracting. You know, trying to count out bills while there’s a dance party going on inside of your tummy.”

Jake laughed. “Yeah, you should probably quit then. The sooner the better,” he was only half teasing.
He was afraid if he let her wait, she’d change her mind. He liked the idea of taking care of her, completely. Especially now. But he didn’t want to pressure her either. He was just getting ready to tell her that; that he didn’t want her to do anything she wasn’t ready for when she spoke again.

“You know,
I think I will,” Quinn decided. She’d been tossing around the idea for a while. And now that she actually said it out loud, she felt pretty comfortable with it. “I’ve had that job the past four years. But it’s not like it’s my career or anything.”

Jake nodded as he clicked open the door of his truck. He opened it for her and after she was inside she turned to face him.

“You really want this, don’t you?” she asked him.

He grinned at her. “You have your whole life to work, if you want to. I just think now would be a good time for you to just relax. Enjoy yourself before the baby comes.
Let me take care of you.” He closed the door and jogged around to the other side.

“Okay,” Quinn said when h
e got in. “I’ll give my notice Monday morning. I’m sure I’ll be able to find things to keep me busy.”

Jake threw her a sidelong glance as they left the lot. “The idea isn’t for you to keep busy. I
t’s for you to take some time for yourself. Maybe see a little bit more of Carly before she has to go back to school.”

Quinn nodded at that. “I’d like to see more of her. I’m glad she was able to go away to school. Because she always wanted to…but I always miss her when she’s gone.”

“Speaking of Carly,” Jake asked. “How’s she doing? With the Jesse thing?”

Quinn was surprised he brought it up. Since he tended to see things from his friend’s point of view and she tended to see things from her sister’s point of view, it could sometimes turn into a touchy topic.

“She hasn’t mentioned him,” Quinn told Jake. “But that could mean anything. Either she’s wallowing in silence. Or she’s moved on. With her, it’s hard to say.”

He nodded because he knew better than to throw in his opinion of the situation.

“How are Jesse and Betsy?” she wondered.

Jake shrugged. “I don’t know. It doesn’t come up much.”

Quinn wondered if that was because they were guys and didn’t discuss it, or if it was because Jesse didn’t want to involve Jake in the drama because of his relationship to Carly. She decided some things were better left alone so she let the subject drop.

“Looks like Lily and Nate are here already,” she pointed out
.

Jake found a spot on the other side of the lot. Shady’s kept busy during the week, but Friday and Saturday nights were especially crowded. The lot was already pretty full.

When they made their way inside, they spotted their friends right away. They wove through the crowd to the table Lily and Nate had at the back of the place.

“Quinn!” Lily said as she jumped up. She pulled her friend into a hug. “I feel like I haven’t seen you forever!”

“I know,” Quinn agreed. “We need to get together more often,” she said as she took a seat.

“Well,” Nate said, “if you do that, you better do it soon.”

“Why is that?” Quinn asked as Jake took the seat beside her.

Lily was beaming.

“What’s going on?” Quinn demanded.

Lily glanced at Nate
, he smiled encouragingly.

“Come on,” Quinn urged. “D
on’t keep us in suspense.”

Lily was still smiling, her countenance was downright giddy. “I got a job!” she finally blurted out.

“Oh, Lily!” Quinn exclaimed. “That’s so great! Congratulations!”

“Thanks,” her friend said. Though she was still smiling, she cringed just a bit.

“Then why,” Quinn wondered, “don’t you look completely ecstatic?”

Lily glanced at Nate again.

“The job’s in Baxter,” he explained.

“Ohhh,” Quinn said. She nodded
in understanding.

“Baxter, huh?
” Jake said and Nate nodded.

Baxter was the next biggest town over. The town that was an hour away. It was also where Luke was currently living and where Nate had grown up. He and Lily had planned on staying in Lanford until she was done with school. And now she was. Quinn had known this was a possibility. That if Lily got a job they’d be moving back to Nate’s hometown. His parents owned a furniture store and they were getting closer to retirement age.
He had his degree in management, had gotten it last year. But he’d stuck around Lanford working at a department store while Lily finished up her last year. Quinn knew he was anxious to move back home and take over the business for his parents sooner rather than later.

“Baxter isn’t too far,” Quinn said. Though she knew it was hard enough to get together with her friends lately as it was. “When are you moving?” She would be disappointed to see her friend go but she completely understood her excitement over finding a job.

Lily’s smile faded a bit. “Soon,” she said with a sigh. “Next month, probably right at the end of August so I can have a week or so to settle in before school starts.
We looked at a few apartments yesterday and I think we have one picked out.”

“That’s great.
What grade will you be teaching?” Quinn asked. She was determined to be excited for her friend.

Lily’s smile returned full force. “Third.”

“Good,” Quinn said. “I really am happy for you.”

The waitress
came and took their order. The conversation picked up again. Jake offered to help Nate with the move. Nate said he’d gladly take him up on it. Quinn was already counting off the weeks in her head. It wouldn’t be long at all before Lily and Nate were gone. And it would be around the same time Carly would be leaving, too. With Luke also gone, it would be a quiet fall.

She grabbed Jake’s hand and squeezed, feeling lucky to have him. Though he had no idea what was really going on in her head, he smiled and squeezed it back.

“Oh, hey!” Nate said, “Look who’s here.” He waved to Jesse who had just walked in with Betsy a step behind him. Quinn thought it could be her imagination but Betsy looked a bit tipsy already.

Jesse waved back and glanced around the crowded dining area. There weren’t any seats available so Nate motioned to him to come join them.

“Sorry,” Lily murmured as she scooted her own chair closer to Quinn.

Quinn shrugged and smiled. Their table did have two extra chairs so it only made sense. She didn’t know Betsy well but figured she could get along with her just fine.