Chapter Twelve
"You still not feelin' well?" Isabella asked sympathetically when Tatum sat down in her favourite corner chair with a groan and curled up with her legs as close to her chest as she could manage without making herself feel nauseous again. The brunette had been watching TV with her boyfriend while her half-sister was throwing up in the bathroom again. "How long's it been?" she asked when the redhead shook her head.
"Couple of days," Tatum answered, feeling a little sorry for herself now. She couldn't remember the last time she'd thrown up this often in such a short time period.
"Maybe you should go to the doctor," her half-sister suggested carefully.
"I don't want to, it's probably just a tummy bug," the redhead whined, trying to get comfortable.
David finally looked up now to join this conversation. "If it was, we'd have it by now too," he pointed out and he was still feeling fine. Well, in terms of his stomach and not being sick, he was fine. He'd be better if his girlfriend didn't insist on working at the bar every day and leaving him stuck in the house all day. He didn't like how different that was from how they'd been at home. "Maybe you're pregnant," he teased with a chuckle.
"Don't be silly," his girlfriend dismissed, "Tatum hasn't got a boyfriend."
"Exactly," her half-sister agreed confidently, thinking there was no way she could be. You needed to have sex to be pregnant and she hadn't had any of that in about six or seven weeks. Oh, wait a minute... her brain interjected. She'd broken up with Kenny just before she'd come back to Little Grove and she'd been here a couple of weeks now. She'd been so busy with the news about her father passing away, planning the move and focusing on keeping the bar running successfully that she hadn't kept track of her monthly cycle. She couldn't remember when her last period had been, which couldn't be a good sign.
"She don't look too sure," David said in a singsong when he saw the puzzled look on the redhead's face.
"Could you be?" Isabella asked her half-sister now, worried for her sake as well as her own. She had no idea what David would turn out to be like if there was first a pregnant lady and then a crying baby around.
"I don't know..." Tatum said, a bewildered look appearing in her green eyes when she looked up at her half-sister. She looked at the brunette helplessly for a minute before hiding her face behind her hands with a groan. This was the last thing she needed right now. "Will you come with me to get tests?" she asked, trying to pull herself together. She needed to find out for definite first. She might not be. She knew stress could affect her cycle, so this could just be a false alarm. If it wasn't, then she needed to figure out what to do next as quickly as possible. The last thing she wanted was to have to go to the Planned Parenthood clinic, as folk around here weren't exactly supportive of a woman's right to decide over her own body. If she even decided to go down that route. She hadn't thought it a possibility during her relationship with Kenny, knowing all along really that their relationship was never the forever type, so she wasn't sure how to feel about potentially becoming a mother. And especially at this time in her life; 28, single, a new part-business owner.
"Of course I will," Isabella said, pulling her out of her heavy thoughts, reminding her she needed to still find out first. "Let's go now. You don't mind, right?" she encouraged her, but turning to her boyfriend to check. He gave her a look that she could read as not approving or being annoyed, but that just looked blank to her half-sister.
"Of course not, you should support Tatum," David said out loud as his fingers tightened around her wrist in warning. His girlfriend was well-practiced in not flinching as she lowered her gaze, trying not to appear too confrontational.
"Thanks baby," she replied in a low voice, giving him a kiss and hoping he wouldn't be too angry when they returned. The girls got up, ready to head out when Tatum suddenly turned very pale. She held her hand up to tell her sister to wait a moment before she rushed to the bathroom. Isabella could hear her sister retching and drawing heavy breaths as she waited next to the door. "Tatum, how about I go get them tests and you stay here?" she suggested, hearing the redhead sob before she reappeared from the bathroom.
"Would you do that?" she asked, feeling like she was close to a breakdown.
"Of course," the brunette answered. Her sister had no idea how glad she was to get away from David and all the stress she was feeling around him. She needed some time away from him to clear her head.
Just to keep the chance of rumours as small as possible, she took Tatum's car and drove out of town until she was somewhere she was sure no one would recognise her. If she had to be honest it was also a good excuse to drive a little longer and, to be away from the house longer than was strictly necessary, she decided to do some grocery shopping as well. She owed David a lot; he'd been there every time she needed help with her mother, he'd been so caring when they first met and she'd needed someone to once again drive her mother to the hospital, but he hadn't been that man for a while now and the more time they spent together the bigger the chance she'd do something to piss him off. He'd felt different from all the other men she'd met before him, he'd been so sweet. She had no idea how and when things had changed. She'd been hit so often she couldn't even remember the first time he'd put his hands on her, sure she wasn't even surprised. It seemed like she wasn't meant to have a normal relationship, since there hadn't been a single man that hadn't either hit her or abandoned her without explanation.
"Howdy beautiful," a familiar voice made her jump. "Y'alright there?" he asked with a caring smile on his face. His blue eyes sparkled and Isabella felt her heart flutter like she was eighteen again. Over the years, she'd imagined how meeting him again would go, pictured things that could've happened, thought about the way he'd kissed her in the fields while holding her like she was the only thing he cared about, somewhere hoping he someday would again. She'd imagined so many different moments, but never had she thought that he might not remember her. It seemed an impossible idea to her, because, even though he'd broken her heart in more ways than she could explain, he'd been part of the happiest moments in her life.
"Austin…" she gasped, unable to stop the blush from creeping on her face, quickly tossing some produce over the pregnancy tests so he wouldn't see those. He'd been the subject of most of her dreams since she'd returned to Little Grove, seeing him here gave her flashbacks to things she really shouldn't be thinking about, like how good it would feel to be in his arms again. "What are you doin' here?"
"Tryin' to get away from the Grove like you," he said with a chuckle that made her smile; he might have changed from a kid into a man, but his laugh still left him boyishly adorable.
"I ain't tryin' to…" she started but trailed off when he laughed, they both knew she was lying. "Okay, fine, but I have good reason to want to hide. Why are you hidin'?" she gave in, turning her attention to the apples when the look he gave her reminded her of the way he'd looked at her the night they met. She was imagining things, he was dating a Miller, there was no way he'd be interested in her.
"I ain't hidin'. Just, with you out of town, there ain't much keepin' me there," he teased, smiling to himself when he saw her bite her lips. He absolutely loved how his words affected her.
"So you've been followin' me. Ain't stalkin' illegal?" she asked, moving to the vegetables and fighting a smile when he followed her.
"It ain't stalkin' when you're the Sheriff. It's keepin' your citizens out of harm," he answered with a wink.
"What if the Sheriff's the one causin' harm?" she mumbled to herself before she could stop herself. Her eyes shot up at Austin's when he awkwardly cleared his throat; if she didn't know better she'd think he looked guilty as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, but then he looked at her and smiled and she pushed the thought out of her mind.
"This Sheriff ain't gonna cause you any harm," he said, and it almost sounded like a promise.