Gerri Hill - Pelican's Landing

“I should have been here for you more,” Suzanne said.

Annie waved her apology away. “No, that’s not what I was implying. You and Aaron are friends with Derrick. I wouldn’t want to put you in the middle of that,” she said. “Derrick flipped out, like you said he would. And my mother is still out of the picture. She barely speaks to me.” She shrugged. “And every day, Jordan is there. She’s…steady. She makes me feel like everything is going to be okay. No matter what, she’s always…steady.” Annie looked back to the bay, watching as Jordan and Brandon made their way back up to the house.

“So where’s Britney?” she asked, changing the subject.

“Oh, Jessica took her. They’re inside watching TV.” Suzanne smiled at her. “Well, you look good, Annie. You look happy.”

Annie smiled too. “Thanks. I feel good. And I am happy.”

“You’re not wearing one of the new blouses we picked out,” Suzanne noted.

Annie looked at the oversized tank she had on over her bikini top. “I know. I’m going to tell everyone today. I can’t hide it much longer,” she said, touching her belly.

“Are you getting more excited?”

“Actually, I kinda am,” she admitted. “I might as well. It’s not like it’s going away,” she said with a laugh.

Jordan and Brandon came up on the deck, and Brandon pointed at her. “Are you ready to take a spin?”

Annie shook her head. “No way. Not after last year. You almost drowned me.”

Brandon laughed. “I rescued you right away.”

“Take Molly,” she suggested. Molly had been sitting at the other end of the deck reading a book. She looked up when she heard her name mentioned.

“You want to?” Brandon offered.

“I’ve never been on one before,” Molly said.

“I promise I’ll go slow,” Brandon said.

Annie laughed. “Don’t trust him,” she said. She turned to Jordan. “Suzanne brought Britney, her daughter. Maybe you could take her out later.”

“Of course,” Jordan said. “I’m going to check on Staci and see how the margarita machine is coming along. Suzanne, would you like one?”

“Sure. But I’ll come inside. I probably need to rescue Jessica.”

“Apple cider?” Jordan asked her.

“Just a bottle of water, thanks.”

Jordan nodded and touched Annie’s arm briefly as she passed by. Such a simple touch, yet Annie felt it all the way down to her toes.

She turned her gaze back to the bay, barely registering Brandon and Molly as they sped away from shore. Her thoughts were solely on Jordan—Jordan and these crazy feelings she was having. Crazy, yes. She was pregnant with Matt’s baby and she had a crush on his lesbian sister.

Just having a crush on someone—anyone—was unusual for her. But Jordan? A woman ?

Crazy.

* * *

Jordan hadn’t been too keen on the margarita machine, considering Molly and Steven were still in high school and Jessica hadn’t even reached her twentieth birthday yet. But Annie had talked her into it. Two of Brandon’s buddies were coming later, and Staci had brought her boyfriend. Still, she would limit it to only one batch. Maybe she was being paranoid, but she didn’t want anyone to overdo it.

“God, I’m getting old,” she murmured.

“Still worried about them drinking too much?”

Jordan turned, finding Annie watching her. She smiled at her. “Yeah. I need to relax, I know.”

“They’re all responsible. They’ll be fine. Besides, Staci is going to make up a pitcher of nonalcoholic margaritas for those under twenty-one.”

Jordan nodded. “Good. So did Brandon really leave a box of Fat Larry T-shirts out by the door?”

“He said since we were closing the store early, he wanted to leave something as a prize. He put out the ones with the old design on them,” Annie said. “He did ask me first. I hope it’s okay.”

“You’re the manager,” Jordan reminded her.

Annie bumped her shoulder with her own. “Yeah, but you’re the boss.”

Jordan touched the hem of Annie’s tank top and tugged on it. “You look nice,” she said. That was an understatement. Annie looked beautiful.

Annie’s eyes held hers. “Thank you.” Annie took her hand and squeezed it. “You look nice too,” she said quietly, her gaze drifting downward.

Jordan’s breath caught and she dared not speak. Annie smiled and dropped her hand, then left without another word. What the hell was going on with them? The touching? The looks between them? Now flirting ?

Jordan’s hand was trembling. She set her beer bottle down, escaping out to the deck. Molly was reading, sitting off by herself. Jordan didn’t interrupt her. She headed down the deck steps, needing some time alone. Brandon had taken Jessica out on the Jet Ski so she walked to the end of the pier and plopped down on the wooden bench.

So, okay, she liked Annie. As a friend . Nothing more. Well, maybe there was a tiny bit of attraction there, but nothing she couldn’t handle. But what she couldn’t handle was Annie flirting with her. Did Annie even know what she was doing? Of course not. Annie was just being Annie. She was affectionate. She liked to touch. She liked to hug. She liked to kiss Jordan on the cheek.

Jordan leaned back against the pier, staring out across the water. Yeah, and she liked all of those things now too.

“She’s pregnant with Matt’s baby,” she reminded herself. She couldn’t possibly be attracted to her. That would just be…crazy.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Annie was nervous as she looked around at everyone. But she couldn’t put it off any longer. Was it something to say over dinner though? She looked over at Jordan and found her watching. Jordan gave her a reassuring nod, chasing some of her nervousness away. She put down her half-eaten fajita and stood up.

“I have some news,” she said. Everyone stopped eating and looked at her. She decided the best thing to do was blurt it out. So she did just that. “I’m…I’m going to have a baby.”

It was a shocked silence that greeted her statement.

“You mean…like adopt?” Staci asked.

Annie touched her belly. “No…like I’m pregnant.”

“Oh, wow.”

“Yeah, wow,” Jessica said. “I didn’t even know you were dating anyone.”

Annie looked over at Jordan, who sported an amused expression. “I’m not dating anyone,” she said.

“Oh, my God,” Staci said. “Sperm bank?”

At that, Jordan laughed, and Annie nearly rolled her eyes. “No.”

“Well, then, what’s going on?” Jessica asked.

Annie blew out her breath. “Look, let’s just get it all out in the open, okay.” She again looked at Jordan. “Matt. Matt is the father.”

Again, silence. And again, Staci was the one to break it.

“You mean our Matt?”

Annie nodded. “Yes. Our Matt.”

Staci’s eyes widened. “You were dating Matt ?”

“No. We were not dating.”

“Oh, cool, Annie,” Jessica said. “You were fuck buddies? I would have never guessed that was your style.”

Annie stared at her, shocked. She felt a blush on her face and knew she’d turned beet red. “No…we were not… buddies of any sort.” God, whose idea was it to tell them? She shook her head. “Look, the whys and hows of it don’t matter,” she said. “I wanted you to know because I can’t hide it much longer.”

She lifted up the end of her tank, showing off the baby bump that her maternity shorts could not conceal.

“Well, I thought you’d gained weight,” Staci said bluntly.

Annie turned slowly, looking at Jordan with raised eyebrows as she let her tank top cover her again. Jordan smiled at her and said what she always said.