Holding On Read online

  “I have, haven’t I?” Carly asked with a teasing smile.

  Quinn smiled back. She could tell that the crisis had, for the most part, passed. For now. But knowing Carly it would be back. Drama loved to find her. Possibly because she had a habit of searching it out.

  “You have,” Quinn simply agreed. “And I’m really, really sorry to do this…But I have to leave pretty soon.”

  “You do?” Carly asked. She looked stricken. It wasn’t like Quinn to abandon her when Carly needed her most. “I thought you had the day off?” Carly accused.

  “I do,” Quinn agreed. “You know I would stay. If I could. But…I kind of have something going on that I really can’t miss,” Quinn carefully explained. Even as she said it, she was wondering if she could avoid an explanation.

  “What?” Carly demanded. Her curiosity was clearly piqued and it was not going to be shoved aside.

  Quinn had a quick mental debate. She and Jake had planned on keeping the ultra sound date a secret. But Carly was so upset…It might cheer her up. And they would be telling everyone eventually, anyway. Most likely sooner rather than later…Surely, Jake wouldn’t mind if she explained to him why she told, would he?

  One look at her sister’s tear-stained face and she made the decision.

  “Well…” she began hesitantly, “we have a doctor’s appointment in a little while.”

  “Oh, okay,” Carly said. But she eyed Quinn up, realizing it might be more than a simple appointment. Especially when Quinn started to fidget and looked away. Quinn had always been so easy to read. “Wait a minute…” Carly said as she sat up a little straighter. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Is this the ultra sound appointment?”

  Quinn sighed and made a noncommittal gesture.

  “It is, isn’t it?” Carly asked with a grin.

  Quinn cringed. “Well, we weren’t going to tell anyone…But yeah, it is.”

  Carly squealed in delight. “You’re going to find out if I’m having a niece or a nephew?!”

  Quinn nodded. “Maybe. Well, yes. I think.”

  “Does Mom know?” Carly demanded.

  Quinn gave her a look that clearly said No, Mom does not know.

  Carly shook her head. “Right. Stupid question.” But then her smile grew. “You have to call me! As soon as it’s over. Then we’ll go shopping!”

  Quinn’s brow furrowed. “I’m not sure about that. Jake is still insisting he doesn’t want to know the sex. That’s why we didn’t tell anyone the appointment was today. He didn’t want anyone pressuring us to find out.”

  “What?! Why?!” Carly demanded. “That’s just…well, it’s silly! How are you supposed to get anything done ahead of time? That’s just…such a guy response. He doesn’t understand the importance of this. Do you want me to talk to him about it?” Carly looked as though she were dead-serious. As though she were already formulating the argument in her head.

  Quinn laughed. “No. No, I really don’t. Maybe he’ll come around. We’re meeting there but I have tried to make it perfectly clear to him ahead of time. I’ve pointed out all of the reasons that it’s beneficial to know ahead of time.”

  “Is he still convinced it’s a boy?” Carly demanded.

  “Completely,” Quinn admitted.

  “Then why doesn’t he want to find out for sure?”

  Quinn shook her head and smiled. “I have no idea. I think because of what he considers a small, small chance he might be wrong. He wants to be surprised.”

  “Well, I don’t. Ohhh!” Carly nearly squealed, instantly cheering up. “We should go shopping right afterwards! I could really, really use some retail therapy. Can you call me as soon as it’s over?”

  Quinn thought about it for just a second. “Jake has to go back to work after the appointment so sure. That would actually be fun,” she admitted with a smile.

  “Ohhh!” Carly cooed again. “I’m so excited. You totally made my day better! I’ll be sitting by my phone!”

  “Alright,” Quinn said with a laugh. She was so relieved to see her sister happy. “I’ll call as soon as we’re done.”

  *~*~*

  “Stop smirking! It’s not funny!” Quinn said as she laughed. She gave Jake’s shoulder a playful nudge. He’d been snickering for the past ten minutes.

  “It’s kind of funny,” he insisted with a smirk.

  She rolled her eyes at him. Jake had finally relented and agreed that they could find out the sex. After several long weeks of begging and rationalizing on Quinn’s part, he had agreed.

  And the baby had not cooperated.

  Jake grinned. “I’m rethinking this, you know. I think it might be a girl after all. No McGrath boy would ever be that shy. We just don’t have it in us,” he teased.

  The baby had nearly had its legs crossed the entire ultra sound. The tech had even allowed Quinn to get up and move around briefly. If the baby had moved at all, by the time she was settled back onto that hard bed, it had crossed its legs again.

  “Or maybe,” he said a bit too smugly, “maybe this is fate’s way of telling us we really don’t need to know.”

  “You’re loving this, aren’t you?” Quinn narrowed her eyes at him. She was only pretending to be annoyed. She wasn’t. She was disappointed but she was getting a kick out of Jake’s teasing and superior air.

  He shrugged and winked at her. “Maybe a little.”

  Quinn shook her head as they crossed the short distance to their vehicles. “I’m not going to complain though. Everything else checked out great.”

  Jake nodded. “Yeah and for me, that’s really all I needed to know. It was pretty cool, though. Wasn’t it? I mean, I thought hearing the heartbeat was pretty amazing. But actually seeing the baby?” He shook his head in wonder. “Even if it did look like a little blob,” he said with a grin, “it was way cool.”

  Quinn smiled. “Yeah, I know.”

  “You have the pictures, right?” Jake asked.

  She patted her purse. “Tucked away, safe and sound.”

  “Oh!” Quinn exclaimed as she grabbed Jake’s hand. She placed it on her stomach. “Do you feel that?”

  A smile spread across Jake’s face. “Yeah…yeah, I feel that.”

  “Now! Now you decide to move?” she said to her stomach. She laughed and Jake kept his hand in place until the movement stopped.

  The baby moved around a lot during the day. It rarely moved in the evening when Jake was home. “That was so awesome,” he said with a grin.

  “Finally,” Quinn said to her stomach. “Daddy’s been waiting for that!”

  Jake was still smiling when he said, “Sometime this week you’re going to line up one of those childbirth classes?”

  She laughed again. “Yes, Jake. I’ll take care of it.”

  He nodded and looked relieved. He was still worried about the whole parenting thing and decided he needed all of the help he could get. Starting as soon as possible. “Good.”

  Quinn leaned up against her car.

  “I’m going to have to work late, to make up for leaving. We’ve just got too much work to do, so I can’t get behind,” he reminded her. “What are you up to for the rest of the afternoon?” he wondered.

  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 he 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. It’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. “Don’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.