Page 41 of Can't Win 'Em All
She laughed at my confusion, relieving a great deal of the tension that had been flying around the garage. “Life will find a way. That was the general gist of the conversation when they said all the dinosaurs were supposed to be female, right?”
“Oh.” I considered it. “That’s true.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Dad insisted. “The baby is coming. Ruby seems excited about it.”
“Yeah. That took me by surprise, too.” I gnawed on my bottom lip. “She keeps saying she’s thirty-five and this might be her only shot. When she told me, she was pretty matter of fact about the whole thing. She knew what she was going to do, and she wanted me to decide what I was going to do.”
“Ruby has always had a good head on her shoulders,” Mom said. “They all have really. None of those girls do impulsive things. I would follow Ruby’s lead. Although … where is she going to live? You might need to consider getting a place close to wherever she settles so you can help with the baby.”
“She’s staying here. At least to start,” I added quickly when Mom frowned. “She wants a house eventually, but she says for the first year or so—maybe two years—the baby will be fine here. She doesn’t want to jump into anything without thinking it through.”
“See, that’s smart too.” Mom grinned. “I think she’ll be good for you in more ways than one.”
I wasn’t certain how to take that statement. “Um … what do you mean?”
“Ruby is a planner. You’re a flitter. You flit from one thing to the other. I thought, eventually, you would settle down. Now you’re not going to have a choice but to settle down.”
“I just told you that Ruby and I weren’t going to get involved,” I protested.
“Not that, although it might be time to give your dating preferences some thought.” Mom shook her head. “Ruby thinks things through. You should start doing the same. As you guys get into this and start figuring things out—from doctors’ appointments to living arrangements to shopping for things the baby needs—then I believe maturity will be part of the deal.” She glanced at Dad. “Or maybe I’m just hoping that.”
Dad chuckled. “He’ll be okay.” His smile warmed me. “Just … if you start panicking, don’t tell Ruby you’re panicking, okay? Come to us. We’ll talk you off the ledge.”
“You guys are being way more agreeable about this than I thought you would be,” I admitted.
Mom shrugged. “We always knew you would do something like this.”
“How did you know that?”
“It’s simply who you are.” She leaned in and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “We’ll expect regular updates. I’m going to get together with Cora and plan a shower for Ruby.”
“That’s her deal. I mean … showers are for women.”
Mom’s eyes narrowed. “I really hope you have a boy. Your antiquated views on women and relationships—something this town has unfortunately reinforced—will not be conducive to you being a good girl dad.”
I frowned. “I would be an excellent girl dad.”
“Yes, we’ll just see about that.”
I EXPECTED TO RETURN TO RUBY’Ssuite when my parents left. I wanted to make sure that Ryder wasn’t still hanging around being a general nuisance. Plus, well, I wanted to break things down with her and get her opinion on how things had gone. The second I saw Zach loitering by the elevators, I knew that plan was going to be delayed.
“Let me have it,” I said as I stepped up to him, bracing myself for the punch. “I deserve it.”
Zach didn’t start throwing wild haymakers. Instead, he narrowed his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
That was not the tack I expected him to take. “Oh, well … I don’t know.” I squirmed under his steady glare. “I was embarrassed … and worried … and scared to the point of leaving skid marks in my underwear.”
Zach rolled his eyes. “Thanks forthatgross image.”
I laughed because I couldn’t help myself. “Sorry. I just … I was in shock when she told me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you guys hooked up after the engagement party?”
He had to be joking. “I should think that’s self-explanatory. Why didn’t you tell me when you started hooking up with my sister?”
“I didn’t want to tell you I had real feelings for Olivia because I knew it was going somewhere. Even if I didn’t know what the end destination was going to look like, I understood deep down that I wanted to keep her forever. Are you saying that’s what’s going on with my sister?”
I balked. “Of course not.” Even as I denied it, there was a small voice niggling in the back of my brain giving me doubts. Could Ruby and I be more? We’d always gotten along. She had an easygoing nature that I appreciated. She laughed easily, wasn’t high maintenance, and often teased me about my exploits. She never judged.
