Stolen Course(70)

“Shit!” He begins cussing under his breath.

“I’m not doing this again. I’m not starting this cycle of hell all fucking over again.”

“She’s not Manda, Caleb,” he whispers, looking back to make sure her door is really closed.

“No. She’s carrying my child. It’s worse,” I say before putting the truck into reverse, forcing him to back away or get run over.





“SO YOU remember a few months ago when you two decided to get together and I said I didn’t want any part of it?” Brett says, climbing into the car.

“Not now. I called Jesse. I didn’t expect her to send you.”

“She had a class. But that’s not what I was going to say. I’m glad she called me. I can actually fix this situation.”

I bark out a laugh. It’s going to take way more than anything Brett can provide to fix this.

“I’m pretty sure there is no magic fix for this one. He left me. That is more than enough to secure his spot on my shit list. I had a bad feeling about today. I was scared something was going to be wrong with the baby. I’ve been sick about it all morning, and he knew it too. Yet he still got his panties in a bunch over something stupid that could have been discussed at home and walked out, leaving me to deal with my fears completely on my own.”

“Is everything okay? I mean, with the baby?” he asks, looking over with immediate concern.

It only intensifies the pain in my chest. Here is my ex-brother-in-law, worried about my baby, but Caleb didn’t even care enough to ask in the two sentences we exchanged in his truck.

“Yeah, he or she is fine. Everything looked good and measured right on track. I was nervous for no reason, but he shouldn’t have left me like that.”

“No, he shouldn’t have. That was a dick move. However, I heard he proposed.”

I begin to laugh manically. “Is that what he told you? That he proposed? Now that’s a fucking joke.”

“He said he proposed and you said no.” Brett looks over at me in confusion.

“Of course I said no. I’m not marrying him because he feels obligated because I’m pregnant. Oh, and let me tell you how he proposed.” I put on my best deep asshole voice to mimic his. “‘Emma, we really need to get married.’ In the middle of a fucking doctor’s office. It was so fucking romantic my heart almost exploded out of my chest,” I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

“Jesus Christ, Jones.” Brett drops his head back against the headrest.

“So, yeah. Damn straight I said no.”

“Would you have said yes if he’d done the whole one-knee-and-ring thing?”

“No! I’m sorry, but when I finally get married, I want the man to marry me, not because he feels like it’s his duty. ‘Oh, you knocked her up. Better put a ring on it.’ This isn’t 1950!” I scream, taking my frustration out on the completely wrong man.

“I hear you, Em. But I don’t think you have the full picture. Caleb is my best friend, but Jesus Christ, he can be a pouty asshole when he wants to be. Just ignore that part until you hear his reasons. Has he ever told you about his relationship with Manda?”

I roll my eyes. Of course Brett is going to take Caleb’s side. “I guess he’s mentioned her a time or two,” I say in a bitchy tone while looking anywhere but at Brett.

I wish he would just take me home already. Home. Do I even have one of those anymore? It used to be with Caleb, but I can’t go back there tonight.

“Do you know about the part where he proposed to her almost daily and she always said no?”

My head immediately swings over to face him. “What?” I ask in disbelief. “I thought they were engaged?”

“Yeah. Manda agreed to marry him, but she would never set a date. She just wouldn’t commit. It ate away him. Then the night of the accident, she agreed to talk about it and possibly even set a date, but he lost her before they had the chance.”

“Why wouldn’t she commit?” I whisper.

“Oh, I have no idea, and neither does Caleb.”

“Damn.” I lean back, feeling a twinge of guilt, but only a twinge. That sucks, but what he had with Manda is very different than what we have.

“Yeah, it did a number on him. He always wanted a wife and a family, that whole white-picket-fence thing, but Manda just wouldn’t settle down.”

“That’s not my fault though. I can’t be expected to marry him just because she wouldn’t. And I sure as hell am not going to accept him acting like a child at my expense either.” The anger bubbles back up. And whatever guilt I did feel all but disappears.