The last time he’d found himself seeking her out, he caught her gaze and held. It was like a silent communication, a connection of souls, and he knew he couldn’t wait any longer to talk to her. Then her friend leaned in, and from the way Patricia looked at him, he knew something was wrong. When she ran off, he followed.
It killed him to listen to her crying in the women’s stall, and he knew she wouldn’t want him to be there to witness her pain, but he was glad he was. He wanted to be there for her, in whatever way he could, even if he were the cause of her pain.
In the end, he was glad he had been, because he wouldn’t be seeing her tomorrow if he hadn’t followed his heart and chased after her.
He knew the answer to Casey’s question. Taking her hand, he gave it a squeeze. “Yeah, she’s ‘The One’.”
Squealing, Casey launched herself into his arms and hugged him tight. “I am so happy for you, big brother! Are you going to propose?” she asked, pulling away.
He shook his head and leaned forward to place his empty bottle on the table. “One step at a time, little sister. I haven’t even found out if she’ll take me back yet.” He frowned down at his hands. “I really screwed things up with her.”
Casey rubbed small circles into his back. “If she’s coming over, then I’d say she’s already forgiven you. I suggest you lock it down before she comes to her senses and realizes you’re the same beer drinking, golf playing, football watching meat head as all the rest of them.”
“Oh really?” Jon said, twisting around to grab her hands. Casey squirmed, laughing as she brought her feet up between them.
“Don’t you dare!”
“You think you’re so funny,” Jon said, restraining his own laughter. He dug his fingers into her armpits, ripping a shriek out of her. “This coming from the girl who’s dating an ex-football player.”
“Jon,” she panted, struggling to fend off his attack. “Stop, I’m gonna pee!”
“Then I hope you remembered to wear your Pull-Ups.”
“I want everything to be perfect.”
Patti watched Jules shift from side to side in front of the mirror, admiring her perfect figure and stunning good looks. If she had even half of her natural beauty, well, she’d still be sitting here on the bed watching her friend get ready for a date. Despite going out with her friends on a regular basis, she wasn’t really a social person. She enjoyed her friends, she enjoyed having a good time, but she wasn’t a partier. She’d never be able to do what Jules did, which was pick up random guys. With everything she did in life, Jules possessed more confidence in her little fingers than Patti did in her entire being.
“Would you quit fussing?” Patti flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. “Everything will be perfect, and you know it.”
She heard the subtle swish of fabric as Jules crossed the room to lie down beside her. “You really think so?”
“I know so.” She couldn’t imagine anything having to do with Jules being less than perfect. It seemed to be her theme in life.
Jules took her hand and squeezed it. “Thanks.” She turned her head to look at her, and Patti did the same. “So what about your guy? What did I interrupt earlier?”
Patti shrugged. “Nothing. He followed me when I went to the bathroom.”
“Shut up!” Jules slapped her thigh, her eyes widening. “Did you pull a Piper? Did you two do it in the ladies’ room?”
“What?” Patti screeched, incredulous. “Jon isn’t a man whore,” she claimed, her thoughts straying briefly to their first date when he’d pinned her to the side of her house and turned her body inside out with just a few simple touches.
“Every man is a man whore if given the right place and the right opportunity.”
“Well, Jon isn’t. He’s a gentleman.” Patti sniffed.
“I’ll just bet he is.” Jules snorted. “So what happened, besides sex, when he followed you?”
“Like I said, nothing. We just talked.”
“Did you tell him about the baby?”
Patti chewed her lip. “Not yet.”
“Then when? You can’t put this off forever you know. These things have a way of getting found out,” Jules chided. “You know, right about the time your stomach blows up like a balloon, or, if not then, when you show up one day with a squirming human in your arms that shits its pants. Kind of hard to sweep something like that under the rug.”
“I don’t plan to sweep it under the rug. In fact,” Patti said with more confidence than she felt, “since Jon invited me over tomorrow, I’m going to tell him then.”
Rolling on to her side, Jules propped her head in her hand and smiled brightly. “You know what you should do? You should totally pick up something that will make this surprise bigger and better.”
Patti’s brows pinched together. “Like a present or something?”
“Well, yeah. Get him something that says, hey, you, guess what? You’re going to be a dad! Then, when you’re thinking about backing out of the deal, because I know you and you totally will—” she leveled Patti with a knowing look, “—then you can just pop out the prezi and drop it in his hand.”
Patti thought about it and knew it was an option that she could definitely exploit if she found herself getting cold feet. “And then what do I do, walk away?”
“If you’re a complete chicken shit, sure. But at least he’ll know he has a kid on the way.”
Sitting up, Patti sucked in a breath and propped her fists on her hips, feeling empowered, like superwoman…or a mom. “I hope you’ll be fine here tonight, because it looks like I have some shopping to do.”
24
It was early. Like roll out of bed and stumble around for a cup of coffee early. Patti had already had three, so she was both peppy and jittery as she parked her car in front of Jon’s condo.
A brief look around revealed his car was missing. Pulling out her phone, she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and bit down. He’d said to come by when she got the time. She had the time now.
Looking down, she eyed the little cream-colored box resting in her lap. When she’d left her house last night, she’d driven around the city trying to think of the perfect gift. She burned nearly a quarter tank of gas before she came up with the perfect place and the perfect idea. Now it was burning a hole through her pant leg.
She wanted desperately to see Jon and give him the present. She wanted to see the look in his eyes when he opened it and everything clicked into place. It was a little early to say everything that needed to be said, but she hadn’t slept all night, as she was too eager to see him. She’d almost driven over in the middle of the night, but that would have made her seem crazy, and even though she felt like she might lose her mind from the anticipation eating a hole through her, she wanted to do everything right. She had a plan. Unfortunately, she’d already broken the first part of her plan, which was to wait until noon, then offer to make him lunch. The groceries were even sitting in the back seat, but she’d just have to settle for making him breakfast, because she was too wound up to wait another minute.
Pulling out her phone, Patti dialed his. On the third ring, it went to voice mail. “Hey, Jon, it’s me.” She paused. “Um, you said to come by when I was ready. I’m ready. I’m in front of your place, but I don’t see your car. Call me when you get this message.”
Ending the call, Patti tucked the box inside her purse, steeled herself, and opened the door. Just because he hadn’t answered his phone, and just because his car wasn’t there, didn’t mean that he wasn’t home. He could have lent the car to a friend. He might still be sleeping, as any sane person would be this early on a weekend. She had to be sure.