“What the hell, Annie?”

She closed the laptop without finishing the order, knowing Derrick would not be satisfied by a quick explanation.

“You ever heard of knocking?” she asked. “And you shouldn’t even be back here in the first place.”

“Quit stalling,” he said. “Tell me it’s not true.”

“Are you referring to my pregnancy? Or who the father is?”

His jaw dropped open. “Jesus, you really are pregnant?”

“It’s not any of your concern, Derrick. Or your business,” she said bluntly.

He closed the door, then turned to her. She was surprised by the anger in his eyes. “You going to tell me how this happened?”

“Like I said, it’s not any of your business.”

“The hell it’s not,” he said loudly. “I wanted to have a kid with you, but no, that never worked out, did it? And now I find out that you were sleeping with Matt Sims. He was my friend. And you were fucking him.”

Annie stood up. “Get out of my office.” She pointed at the door. “Now.”

“You’re nothing but a goddamn slut, Annie.” He laughed, but it was hardly jovial. “And now you’re living with his gay sister. What the hell is wrong with you?”

For the first time in all the years that she’d known Derrick, she was actually afraid of him. There was a look in his eyes that she’d never seen before. She didn’t know if he was in any mood to be reasoned with.

“You and I,” she said, pointing between them, “are divorced. You and I are nothing to each other. Nothing,” she said. “We’re not friends. Nothing. You have no right to come in here and speak to me like this.”

He slammed his fist down on the desk. “You’re pregnant with Matt Sims’s baby!”

“Yes, I am.”

“It should be mine.”

She held her hands up. “Why? Why should it be yours?”

“Because I still love you, Annie. I do.”

She shook her head. “Oh, Derrick, you don’t love me. We were high school kids. We had no business getting married in the first place,” she said.

She was thankful some of the anger left his face. He ran his hands through his dark hair, then plunged them in his pockets.

“How long were you and Matt…sleeping together?”

She realized Derrick was more hurt than angry. Should she tell him the truth? Should she tell him it was only the one night? She didn’t feel the need to lie to him.

“We weren’t dating, Derrick. It was only a one-night thing,” she said.

He met her gaze. “One night?”

“Yes.”

“One night? One night and you get pregnant? Hell, I tried for six years to get you pregnant. Matt gets it done in one night.”

“Derrick, don’t read more into this than it is. I got pregnant. It’s something I have to deal with. It has nothing to do with you.”

He stared at her for the longest time before speaking. “Tell me, Annie, did you ever want kids with me?”

She didn’t want to hurt him any more than he already was. So for that question, she did lie. “Yes. At the beginning, yes.”

“Yet you never got pregnant.” His tone was slightly accusing, and if he point-blank asked her if she had ever gotten off the pill, she wasn’t sure if she’d tell him the truth or not.

“It was probably for the best, seeing as how our marriage didn’t last,” she said.

“The best for who?”

“The best for me, Derrick.”

“Yeah. I guess.” He shrugged. “What are you going to do now?”

“I’m going to finish school like I’d planned.”

He nodded, then he looked pointedly at her belly. “You’re not showing yet.”

She smiled. “I’m hiding it. I haven’t told everyone yet.”

He again ran a hand through his hair. “Look, you and me. That kid’s going to need a father. Maybe we could—”

“No.”

“Hear me out, Annie. I think—”

“No, Derrick. And I know this is my mother putting these thoughts in your head,” she said. “I’m okay alone. I’m going to be fine. Matt’s parents are very supportive. They’ll be there for me. Jordan’s been great. She’s—”

“A lesbian,” he said. “What the hell are you doing living with a lesbian?”

“Jordan and I are friends, Derrick. She’s been good for me. I owe her so much. Don’t pass judgment,” she said.

“You don’t think people will talk? Will speculate about what kind of a relationship you have with her?”

“Oh, come on. Who? The people at my mother’s church?”

“For starters,” he said.

“I don’t really care what they think. It’s none of their business. I don’t belong to that church.”

“And you’re going to raise this kid alone?”

“Like I said, I have support. Something my own parents haven’t given me.”

“Oh, hell, Annie. You mother is still in shock over the whole thing. She says she cries every day over it.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “I would imagine that’s a bit of an exaggeration. She’s embarrassed more than anything.”

“And do you like doing that to her?”

Annie laughed. “Oh, Derrick, really? Did she coach you on what to say?”

Derrick shook his head. “She said that you’d changed. I guess it’s true.”

“I haven’t changed.” She paused. “Well, maybe I have. The whole time living at home with them I was never able to…to spread my wings,” she said. “I went from living with them in high school to living with you. Then I went back to living with them. It was a mistake, but I couldn’t afford a place of my own.”

“Your mistake was leaving me.”

“No, Derrick. That was the best decision I could have made. For me and for you. I wasn’t happy and I wasn’t making you happy. You know that.”

“We never even tried counseling.”

“And there’s a reason we didn’t. I’m sorry, Derrick. It was never your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong. It was always me,” she said.

“And there’s no chance for us…ever?”

“No. You need to quit thinking there is. You need to find you somebody and get on with your life.”

He shrugged. “How come we never talked like this before?”

“You weren’t receptive to it,” she said. She walked around the desk and faced him. “Don’t waste any more years, Derrick. You’ll make someone a good husband.”

He nodded. “I’m sorry I called you a slut.”

She smiled. “It’s okay. I know I’m not one. It’s only the truth that hurts.”

“You’ll let me know if you need anything? I mean, you know, maybe the kid will need someone to teach him how to play baseball or something.”

“We’ll see.” She reached for the door and held it open for him, stepping aside so he could pass.

“Take care of yourself, Annie. Like I said, let me know if you need anything.”

“Thank you. I will.”

As soon as the back door to the store closed, she let out a relieved breath. She knew she’d have to have this talk with him, and truthfully, it had gone better than she’d anticipated. She went back to the desk and opened up the laptop again. Her session with the retailer had timed out, losing her order. She logged in again, feeling a lightness in her mood, something she rarely felt after a visit with Derrick. She only hoped Derrick would relay their conversation to her mother. Maybe then she’d give up on the hope of them getting back together. Because that was never going to happen.

But thoughts of her mother dampened her good mood a bit. How long was she going to punish her over this? How long would it take before she embraced her? Would she ever?

* * *

Jordan came in the front door carrying a large bag from Pepe’s. She’d run across the street for lunch and noticed that Brandon was still talking to the same young woman as when she’d left. Well, she was cute. She couldn’t blame him. But there were other customers in the store, and Molly was working the cash register. So she walked over to him with a questioning look on her face.

“Hey, boss. Glad you’re here. Two things. First, I want you to meet Kensi.”

Jordan smiled politely. “Hello, Kensi.” She turned to Brandon. “What’s going on?”

He grinned. “Well, I’m working, of course.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Really. I met Kensi at the festival.” He pointed to a handful of prints she held. “Local artist. What do you think about carrying some of her stuff?”

“Yeah?”

“I mean, I didn’t promise her anything. I’m just looking at them. But she’s really talented.”

Jordan looked over at Kensi, who had been standing by silently. “Let me take a look.” She put the food bag down and took a couple of prints from her. They were the originals, all done in watercolors. Different birds, of which Jordan could only identify the heron and the whooping crane. They appeared to be very good to her untrained eye.

“These are good,” she said. “I’m assuming you’ll make copies of these and sell them as numbered prints? Maybe signed copies?”

“Yeah. Like limited editions,” Brandon said. “What do you think, boss?”

“What all do you have? Just watercolors?” she asked Kensi.

“I have some in pencil too. Oil and acrylic. Watercolor is my favorite medium though.”

Jordan nodded. “Okay, sure. Why not. We’ll give it a try.”

“Great!” Brandon turned to Kensi. “See? I told you she was super cool.”

Super cool? God, had she ever been called “super cool” before? Jordan smiled as she picked up her lunch bag. “What else?” she asked, still smiling. “You said you had two things.”

“Oh, yeah. Derrick Dockery was here.” He motioned to the back. “In the office. Molly said he was yelling.”

“Yelling?” Jordan narrowed her eyes. “At Annie?”

“Yeah. I told her to listen at the door, but she was scared to.”

Jordan felt her jaw clench. “Is he still here?”

“No, he left. But Annie hasn’t come out.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Jordan hurried to the back. She’d promised Annie that she would be here when Derrick confronted her. She only hoped he hadn’t been too much of an ass. The office door was closed, and she knocked twice before opening it. Annie was not sitting behind the desk. Instead, she was on the sofa, looking a little somber.