Sniffling, she croaked, “No.”
Taking her hand in both of mine, I rubbed it. “What happened with Dante?”
Her face distorted in a wave of pain. “I broke up with him for good.”
Grabbing tissue from her bedside, I wiped her face with it. “You’re hurting, but so is he.”
“He’s probably happy the baby is dead. It’s what he wanted.”
“I don’t think so. He looked really upset when he left earlier.”
“Good,” she said viciously.
I’d never seen Cece like this. The friend I knew normally had a kind heart. “I’m sorry about your baby,” I whispered. “It’ll get better.”
“I was scared at first,” she stuttered through sobs. “But then I was happy about it. Even though I knew my parents would be upset, I wanted the baby. I think I would’ve been a good mom.”
Brushing the curls away from her face, I said, “You’re still going to be a good mom someday.”
“What if this happens again?”
“It probably won’t.”
“Caleb is really awesome,” she said, surprising me. “He would be happy if he got you pregnant, he’d be excited.”
“Maybe, but I’d be the one who was scared,” I confessed. “And Caleb would forgive me for it.”
“I can’t ever forgive Dante,” Cece asserted stubbornly. “Are you going to forgive Caleb for the paintings?”
I smiled for the first time since the restaurant. “Do you think Caleb will give me the option to not forgive him?”
“No, he has stalker tendencies,” she joked, taking the tissue out of my hand and wiping her nose.
My best friend was beautiful, smart and talented. I liked Dante and hoped he could win her back, but she was also stubborn and held a mean grudge. But she’d always be loved because she gave an abundance of it in return.
“I’m sorry I’ll miss my shift as a bodyguard tomorrow,” she said.
“That’s okay. I’ll have Caleb bring me to your house to visit you.”
“You should make him take you to a chick flick as payback for hurting you.”
“He’d probably try to get frisky in the theater.”
Cece’s attempt at a smile fell. “I’m tired. Will you tell my parents I’m going to sleep?”
Caressing her face, I said, “Yes, see you tomorrow.”
“Bye, Gianna.”
Jared and I went through a fast food drive-thru on our way to my house and sat eating our food in the parking lot. I finally got my burrito, but barely tasted it.
“I’m going to kick his ass,” he said, tossing his half-eaten food into the paper bag.
“I think he’s beating up himself enough over it, Jared. He doesn’t need you pounding on him."
My words didn’t help to calm him down. “I’m glad she dumped him. I know for a fact she was a virgin before she met him and he couldn’t even protect her from getting knocked up.”
“Everyone knew she was,” I reminded him. “Her boyfriend before Dante complained enough about it.”
“She should have waited until after high school.”
“Because you did?” I teased him, knowing exactly when he’d started having sex with an ex-girlfriend a couple years ago.
He gave me a dirty look. “Are you and Caleb back together?”
I shrugged. “Sort of.”
He started his car. “You and Cece should both think about waiting until marriage from now on.”
“Whatever you say, Jared,” I said, rolling my eyes at him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Sad things happen. They do. But we don’t need to live sad forever.”
-Mattie Stepanek
GIANNA
“Where are we going?” I asked as we left Cece’s house and Caleb didn’t head toward the mall like I’d expected.
“It’s a surprise,” he said. He didn’t seem in the least bit excited. In fact, he appeared tense and slightly nervous.
“A good surprise?” I asked, not in the mood for anything less.
“Hopefully,” he answered vaguely.
Cece was still devastated about losing her baby and her parents worried she’d become depressed. Jared had taken me aside, asking for the name of my therapist. I’d supplied it, embarrassed but wanting to help Cece.
When Caleb had come over this morning, he’d filled me in on how Dante was taking things. Basically, not good. He blamed himself, felt like his not wanting the baby had caused the miscarriage. He loved Cece, but Caleb wasn’t sure he’d fight for her because of his guilt.
I wasn’t positive Cece wanted him to bother trying.