Abbi Glines - Never Too Far

“These are mine?” I asked, looking down at the pictures of my baby.

“Of course they are,” she replied with an amused tone.

“Thank you,” I said as I looked at each one and found the small pea I knew was alive inside me.

“You’re welcome.” She patted my knee. “You can get dressed now. Everything looks great.”

I nodded and wiped away another tear that had broken free and was rolling down my face.

Rush

“Where is she, Bethy?” I demanded walking out of Blaire’s bedroom holding her cell phone. She’d left it here.

Bethy snarled at me and slammed a kitchen cabinet door. “The fact your sorry ass doesn’t know where she is only makes me hate you more.”

What the fuck was wrong with her? I’d had a day from hell. Telling my mom she had to get another house and then telling them I was going to ask Blaire to marry me had sent them all into a wild rage. Well, not all of them. Blaire’s father had seemed fine with it. Nan and my mother had gone ballistic. We’d spent several hours yelling at each other and I’d made threats I intended to keep. Nan was supposed to leave to go back to school on Monday. She’d be gone until winter break and I was sure she’d end up in Vail with friends then. It was what she did every year. Normally I went too but not this year.

“I’ve had to deal with my mother and sister for the past four hours. Kicking Georgianna out of the house and informing her and Nan I intend to ask Blaire to marry me isn’t exactly an easy battle. So forgive me if I need a little help remembering where Blaire is!”

Bethy thumped the bottle of water down on the bar and her angry snarl became more of a disgusted frown. I’d thought once she heard I was going to propose to Blaire that she’d be happy. Apparently not.

“I hope you didn’t buy a ring,” was her only response.

I was tired of her games. “Tell me where she is,” I roared.

Bethy put both her hands on the bar and leaned forward giving me a furious scowl I didn’t know the girl was capable of. “Go. To. Hell.”

Fuck. What had I done?

The door opened and Blaire came walking in smiling until her eyes met mine. Then her smile faltered. She was mad at me too. Not good.

“Blaire,” I said as I walked toward her and she started backing up.

“Don’t,” she replied, holding up both her hands to stop me from coming closer.

She was holding something. It looked like pictures. What the hell did she have pictures of? Was it something from my past? Was she pissed about some girl I’d done something with once?

“Is that what I think it is?” Bethy asked pushing past me and running to Blaire.

Blaire nodded and handed her the pictures. Bethy covered her mouth. “Oh my God. Did you hear the heartbeat?”

At the words “heartbeat” my chest felt as if it had just been ripped wide open. Understanding dawned on me. Today was Thursday. It was Blaire’s doctor’s appointment. She’d called to remind me and I’d hung up on her.

“Blaire, shit baby, I am so sorry. I was dealing with my—”

“Your family. I know. Nan told me when I called back. I don’t want to hear your excuses. I just want you to leave.” Her voice was flat. There was no emotion in it.

She turned her attention back to the pictures and pointed to something. “Right there. Can you believe that’s inside me?”

Bethy turned her hateful scowl from me to the picture and a soft smile touched her face. “It’s amazing.”

They were standing there looking at pictures of my baby. Blaire had heard his heartbeat today. Alone. Without me.

“Can I see?” I asked, scared she’d tell me no or worse, ignore me.

Instead, she took the pictures from Bethy and handed them to me. “The little thing that looks like a pea. That’s… our baby,” she finished. She had been reluctant to call it our baby. I couldn’t blame her.

“Was its heart okay? I mean, did it beat properly and everything?” I asked, staring down at the picture in my hand.

“Yes. They said everything was perfect,” she replied. “If you want it you can keep that one. I have three. But I’d like for you to leave now.”

I wasn’t leaving. Bethy standing guard wasn’t going to stop me either. I would say all this in front of Bethy if I had to but I refused to leave this condo.

“My mother and your father showed up unannounced today. Nan leaves for college Monday. Mom thought I’d be leaving too so she was back to move in for the year. I informed her I wasn’t leaving and she’d need to find another home. I also informed them that I was staying until you decided you wanted us to move somewhere else. That I intended to ask you to marry me,” I paused and watched as her face paled. Not the reaction I was hoping for. “It didn’t go over well. There was a lot of yelling. Hours of screaming and threats. When you called me I had just announced to the three of them that I was going to marry you. All hell had broken loose. I was going to call you back once I had my mother and Abe back in their car and headed out of town. I didn’t want you to have to face either of them. But my mother doesn’t go down without a fight. Nan packed up and left for school this evening. She is refusing to ever speak to me again.” I stopped and took a breath.

“I can never tell you how sorry I am. The fact I forgot about today’s appointment is unforgivable. I keep having to apologize to you. I wish I could stop fucking everything up.”

“You weren’t going to have lunch with your family?” she asked.

“My family? What? No!”

The rigid stance of her posture relaxed. “Oh,” she said in a sigh.

“Why did you think I’d go to lunch with them? I wouldn’t hang up on you to go spend time with them.”

“Nan,” she replied with a sad smile.

“Nan? When the hell did you talk to Nan?” I’d been with Nan all morning.

“When I called you back. Nan answered and said you didn’t have time for me because you were going to eat with your family.”

My lying little sister better be glad her ass was headed back to the east coast because I’d go ring her neck if I could get my hands on her.

“You went to that appointment thinking I’d blown you and our baby off for them? Fuck!” I pushed past Bethy and pulled Blaire into my arms. “You’re my family, Blaire. You and this baby. Do you understand me? I missed something today I will never forgive myself for. I wanted to be there and hear the heartbeat. I wanted to be holding your hand when you saw him for the first time.”

Blaire tilted her head back and smiled up at me. “You know it could be a girl.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Then stop calling our baby a ‘him’,” she replied.

I was calling the baby a him. Smiling, I kissed her forehead. “Can we go back to your room and you tell me about the appointment. I want to know everything.”

She nodded and glanced over at Bethy. “Are you going to continue scowling at him or are you going to forgive him?”

Bethy shrugged. “Not sure yet.”

Blaire

School was back in session. Vacationers and summer people had gone home. The club had a lot less traffic and because of this tips were down. The biggest thing was that Rush hadn’t mentioned the proposing thing again since the night at the condo when he’d said that was what he’d told his mother and sister and my father. He never even mentioned them again. I wondered sometimes if he’d changed his mind or if I’d imagined it.

If it wasn’t for Bethy asking me weekly if Rush had brought it up again I would think it had been a figment of my imagination. Every time I told her no he hadn’t she got more and more agitated. Not to mention my heart hurt a little more. I was afraid he’d thought it through and decided it was a mistake. Before he’d mentioned it that night I hadn’t even let myself believe he’d want to marry me. I figured we’d raise the baby from two different homes. If my thoughts went to the future I would block it out. It wasn’t something I wanted to hope for.