Try, that was the key word. He didn’tpromise to return, he promised totry.
Payson took over the shop for the rest of theafternoon after shooing Laura and Cara out the door, insisting shewas fine. Sitting on her favorite stool at the register, she sippedher tea. The slow, measured movement helped center her. Ronan’sabsence was making her downright ill-tempered. She was turning intosurly Ronan.
24
The next morning, Maddy walked into the shop,carrying piping hot mochas for the two of them and a bag of warm,gooey muffins from across the street. “It’s not going to work,”Payson teased with a shake of her head.
Maddy shrugged, “What? I’m just bringing overbreakfast for my best friend.”
Payson eyed her suspiciously as Maddy headedfor the back room and set the food on the neat and tidy worktable.Pulling up a stool across the table, Payson tore off a bite ofmuffin. “You only use mochas and muffins when you’re trying tobribe me for something, what is it this time?”
“I’m really not bribing you, just visiting. Ithought we’d make our plans for tomorrow. I’ll drive you to theairport; we’ll have to get an early start.” Staring at her friendmeaningfully, Maddy insisted, “Drink your mocha.”
Frowning, Payson was still suspicious. Shepicked up her mocha and took a big gulp. Was it rancid? Again? Whatkind of crap was she pulling? She tried to fight the wave ofnausea, but it was too late. She ran to the small bathroom andpuked.
“Ha, I knew it,” Maddy cheered from her stoolin the storeroom.
“Knew what? That apparently mochas don’tagree with me anymore?” Payson washed away the clamminess andrinsed her mouth. She eventually managed to eat a few bites ofmuffin, but she couldn’t even look at the mocha.
“Cara said you puked up the mocha she’dbrought you. Gilly at the coffee shop said you ordered tea the lastfew times you’ve been in.” Maddy had a smug grin pasted to herface. What was her deal?
“So? I like tea.”
Shaking her head and mocking her friend,Maddy asked, “When was your last period?”
Payson stopped and calculated. Having no luckrecalling, she pulled out her phone and checked her app. Shit. Noperiod for well over a month. That might explain a thing ortwo.
Maddy reached into her purse and pulled out ahome pregnancy test. Without a word, Payson grabbed the test fromher waiting hand and raced for the bathroom. Her heart was beatingout of her chest. Longest three minutes of her life, waiting forthe stupid test to process.
They’d used condoms. She hadn’t gotten aroundto regular birth control. She hadn’t anticipated falling for him sofast; she was stupid for not following her normalwait-a-damn-long-time-for-sex rule. Her last prescription ran outabout six months ago, and she just hadn’t gotten around to renewingit.
Glancing down at the strip, a little blueplus sign appeared. “Shit. Shit, shit, shit. What kind of faultycondoms do they sell these days?”
Payson wracked her brain, Maddy watched herwith bated breath.
Finally, like a bolt of lightning hitting herstraight between the eyes, she realized her faux pas. “Uh oh. Thattime in the shower…”
The moment she knew she was head over heelsin love with him. Before he was the elusive spy. Not that she lovedhim any less when she’d found out, she was just scared. Regardless,she’d apparently given him much more than her heart in thatmoment.
How could she have been so stupid? Sheregretted all the judgmental thoughts she’d had for girls whofoolishly got knocked up when they’d been caught up in themoment.
Maddy squealed with delight and danced aroundthe table, pulling a very stunned Payson off her stool and threwher arms around her. “I’m going to be an aunty. I was planning onconvincing Chase we need to get started making babies, like in ayear or two, but you beat me to it. I’ll have to toss out my birthcontrol so we can have babies together.”
Breath coming in shallow, frantic pants,Payson sat back down before she passed out. Pregnant. By thatfilthy bastard that ditched her. He should be here going throughthis panic with her.
“I can’t be pregnant. Your brother is gone.He’s not coming back. I don’t want to have a baby all alone…without him.” Payson broke down in tears, totally unable to holdback the waterworks. “Not again,” she complained, grabbing the lastempty box of tissue and chucking it across the room. Heading intothe bathroom, she pulled a length of toilet paper off the roll andblew her nose like a lonely trumpeter swan.
Furious, she stormed back into the front andstarted meticulously dusting and polishing before she broke downagain.
~
Glowing sidewalks, lit brightly by the fullmoon, made for terrible cover. Not that he was having much luckanyway. He’d talked to dozens of his old contacts in the past fewweeks. No one knew who the damn mole was.
Rumors of the missing weapons were rampant,but no one seemed to know anything. Sara had told him to keep hisnose clean. But he wasn’t about to be this far from Payson, fromhis life, without doing everything in his power to get backhome.
Connor Young was totally off the grid. Ronanhad managed to find one of his team, well, former team, as they’ddisbanded with all the attention and Peter’s arrest. Said he knewabout the weapons, knew the deal was shady, but the Young brothershad been secretive. Some risky trade deal they didn’t want the fullcrew involved with.
Their old crew mate had been pissed to not beincluded in what was promised to be a huge payoff, but he hadn’ttrusted the cagy seller. When the deal had gone sour, the Youngbrothers took off. Couldn’t verify anything, but he suspected theYoung brothers backed out of the deal.
