Unbreak My Heart (Strawberry Inn Book #4)

Chapter 32

ELIZABETH

Kelsey was the only one from the girl group that wasn’t there when I first showed up. She arrived shortly after and it didn’t take more than one look at her flushed cheeks to know why she was a little late. I wasn’t as close to Kelsey as I was to the others, but anybody with two eyeballs could see that Chaz was obsessed with her in more ways than one. We received the invitation to their wedding earlier this week. I imagined that it would only be a matter of time before she was expecting as well. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if any of these women told me they were expecting. 

It would be a lie to say there wasn’t a hint of jealousy thinking about them growing their families. Even though Dalton and I are getting serious, I’m too old to think about having another baby. Plus, Dalton didn’t come alone, I have Katie in my life too. I’ll never try to replace her mom, but I get to be there for all the important events in her life too. That is a blessing in and of itself.

Everybody brought some goodies that were spread out on Emory’s dining room table. Blair made sure to get her sister-in-law a plate and we all sat down in the living room to chat. Baby Callum was asleep on Emory’s chest after finishing his own dinner. He was so cute, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on him sometime this evening.

“How’s everything going, Emory?” I finally asked the new mom.

“Do you want the actual answer or the answer I have to give all the Book Club ladies when they come to visit?”

I smiled, understanding the difference, “The real answer, what are we here for if not to commiserate?”

“It’s so hard,” she admits with an exasperated sigh. “Not that I thought this was going to be easy or anything, but it is harder than I even imagined.”

Blair frowned, reaching over and squeezing Emory’s shoulder, “Is he still not sleeping? Your mom said she would come over and take a night shift if you needed it.”

“I know,” Emory tried to blink back some tears, but it was too late. “The doctor thinks he might have colic, but there isn’t anything that can really be done about that. He’ll sleep okay during the day, but at night he just seems to do nothing but cry.”

“Indie did that a lot too,” Angel said from beside me. “We had success using gap drops, have you tried those?”

She looks towards her sister-in-law, “That’s the first thing Blair suggested. I use them for my pumped feedings twice a day, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference at night. At this point, I think I’m just going to have to learn to live with it. He’ll grow out of it, right?”

“I’m sure he will, Em,” Blair agreed, “But please, don’t try and do this all on your own. If you need a couple of hours to take a nap or get out of the house, you can call any of us.”

We all nod our heads. Perhaps better than the rest of them, I understand what Emory is going through. She didn’t get pregnant by herself on purpose, but we both made choices at some point to be single mothers. There is a sense of pride that is deep-seated in that choice. I didn’t have a lot of people around me that were willing to help, but I also refused to admit that I needed help. We got through those early years with a lot of tears, but we did it.

“No offense to Blair or Angela, but I have a little bit more experience with the single mom thing, Emory. You might be feeling some pride right now and not want to ask for help, but if I could go back and save myself, and Eva, some tears. I would have. Just know that we’re here for you.”

She wipes the tears from her face and sniffles, “I really hate these damn hormones. Hasn’t it been long enough?”

The three of us who are moms laughed in response. It wasn’t the answer she wanted, but it was enough to at least get a smile from her.

“Thanks, Elizabeth. You might be right about the pride thing, but there is also part of me that feels almost like a deserve to have a hard time, you know?”

“Why would you say that?” Kelsey asked.

“I love Callum so much, but I did so much wrong in the last ten months. Not only did I stupidly get pregnant by a one-night stand with no way of contacting him, but then I ran off and hid my pregnancy because I was kind of ashamed. What if having a rough baby is karma’s way of getting back at me?”

“Oh Em,” Blair is trying to hold back too tears now, “I refuse to believe that is how karma would work. There is nothing wrong with having a one-night stand and you have no obligation to share your personal news with anybody until you’re ready.”

Angela moves from her seat next to me to the arm of the couch next to Emory. She carefully hugs her, making sure not to wake up Callum. “We love you, Emory. Nobody was mad at you for not sharing that you were pregnant. We were just surprised.”

“Cody was mad,” she sniffles.

“Cody wasn’t mad, Emory. He was just confused.” Blair moved closer to Emory to hug her as well. “He went through his own emotions and it was hard for him to wrap his head around not knowing everything about you, but he wasn’t mad.”

Emory rolled her eyes, “The things he said though…”

“I know, he was an asshole, and trust me, he got an earful from me. He should have never said anything snippy or sarcastic about your situation. You owed nobody an explanation.”

It broke my heart to see Emory cry. This may have been the first time she felt okay to be vulnerable and honest about her feelings. Even moms who aren’t single moms, try to hold everything in and be strong. This is what we need close friends for, to feel safe enough to share our deepest darkest secrets. Callum started to squirm and let out a few whines. Emory tried to put that mask back on to care for her son, but before she had the chance, I swooped him up and started walking around the room with him. She needed time to feel the love from Angela and Blair.

“Look at those big eyes of yours,” I cooed at the small infant as he looked up at me. “He’s so precious, Emory.”

She sniffled, “He has big eyes like his dad. I just wish he knew, you know?”

“Do you think he’ll come back this year?” Kelsey asked. Emory met Callum’s father at the first annual Strawberry Music Festival that was held at the end of Strawberry Fest. I wasn’t here for it, but for the last three months, the signs gearing up for the next event in two months have been popping up. It was Emory’s idea and she did the bulk of the planning, but Kelsey was by her side assisting in the planning. Since Emory was pregnant and now learning how to live with a newborn, Kelsey was taken more of a planning role of it this year. I’m looking forward to the event. One of my favorite country stars is the headliner.

“I would be surprised if he was. The group of guys were college buddies on some sort of bachelor party trip. The music festival was their final stop. I doubt he’d come back again. Then again, we didn’t spend a lot of time talking.”

“I remember them,” Kelsey stated. “This is borderline stalkerish, but have you considered pulling ticket sales to find out who they were? They had really good seats.”

“Or if they stayed at the hotels,” Angela chimed in.

Emory shook her head, “They stayed at a short-term rental and I’m embarrassed to admit that I already pulled sales records. I didn’t see anybody named Glenn. I didn’t get a last name.”

“Bummer,” Angela frowned. “No matter what, we’ve got your back, Emory. Sweet Callum isn’t going to miss out on any love growing up, I promise.”

I looked down at the bundle in my arms and made the same silent promise. I may not be related to him by blood, but he was the newest member of this little group that took me in when I needed a family. He was going to be just fine surrounded by all of this love.