Free Saved by Kelly Elliott Page A

just
have to wait until the baby is born, and then we can find out for
sure.”
    Jeff looked like he wanted
to say something, but he stopped himself. I was sure that he was
about to ask what would happen if the baby was his. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, please don’t even say
it, Jeff, or I’ll puke . I tried to smile,
but I was sure that it was a bad attempt at looking
happy.
    “I love you, Ari. I love you
and only you. I always have, and no matter what happens, I always
will. We’re moving out to the property in a few weeks, so it’ll
just be you and me, baby. You and
me .”
    He pulled me into him, and I did everything I
could not to cry. I pulled away, smiling, I reached up to kiss him
again.
    “It’s going to be alright, Jeff. Don’t worry.
I really have to run. I love you. Try to have a good day and…well,
good luck with your lunch.”
    Jeff kissed me with such sweetness that it
was all I could do to get out the front door. I jumped into my Jeep
and backed out of the driveway as fast as I could.
    After I got a block away, I pulled over and
cried my eyes out. I had a very bad feeling that things were not
going to turn out how I so desperately wanted them to.
    After I dried my tears, I head over
Halcyon.
    ***
    As I was walking up to the coffee shop, I saw
Amanda was waiting outside for me.
    We hugged, and Amanda held me tightly for
just a few more seconds than usual.
    Then, she whispered in my ear,
    “Don’t worry. We’ll kick her fucking ass the
moment the baby is out.”
    I had to laugh. I missed Ellie. My heart
started to ache from thinking about it all. All this shit was going
on, and my best friend was thousands of miles away. She called last
night, but I acted like everything was perfect. Perfect engagement,
perfect life, perfect everything. Pesh.
    The moment we walked through the door, my
eyes caught Crysti’s. Her smile faded instantly, and I felt a bit
of excitement, knowing that I was the last person she expected to
see this morning. My morning was working for me, she was working
the counter. Amanda and I walked up to her, and I acted surprised
to see her. She seemed much more shocked to see me, and I noticed
when she looked down at my engagement ring.
    “Crysti right? You’re Rebecca’s friend,
aren’t you?” Amanda asked.
    Crysti pulled her eyes away from me. She
smiled at Amanda nodding her head.
    “Ah, yeah. You’re, um, Jeff and Gunner’s
friends right?”
    Oh Jesus. I wanted to laugh at that one.
    “Well, I’m a friend of both yes, Ari’s
engaged to Jeff,” Amanda said smiling as big as she could.
    “Engaged? Didn’t you get married this
weekend?” Crysti asked, clearly confused.
    This just got very interesting.
    “What made you think that I was getting
married this weekend?” I asked.
    “Oh, well… I mean one of the guys from the
football team was here last week, and he mentioned a wedding. I
heard your name and Jeff’s, so I guess I just assumed y’all were
getting married.”
    I was so going to have fun
with this. “Nope, that was Gunner and Ellie who got married. Jeff
asked me to marry him Saturday night after the wedding.” Ah! Chew on that, you little stupid blonde
bitch.
    “Wait. What ? Gunner got married? Oh, wow… I
mean, I guess I just never thought he was the kind to settle
down.”
    “Yep, well, when you meet the love of your
life, you tend to change your ways,” Amanda said. “By the way, can
I get a salted caramel mocha frapp?”
    Yeah… well, I guess so. Wait a minute. Did
you say that Jeff asked you to marry him on Saturday night? Even
after he knew about the baby, he still…” Crysti trailed off, no
finishing her though.
    Oh. My. God. That lying bitch. Rebecca thought Jeff was getting
married, so she decided to pull out the last-ditch
attempt.
    I always thought that Crysti wasn’t the
brightest one of the group, and she certainly didn’t let me down.
Unfortunately, she realized her mistake before she finished telling
us about Rebecca and the