Holding On (22 page)

“I just think it’s such a shame,” Jemma pressed on. “I mean, from what Tabby said it’s been years. All of that time wasted. And each of you secretly lusting after the other?” She sighed dramatically.

“You’re worse than Carly!” Quinn exclaimed. This was not why she’d finally confided in her friends, so that they could tease her about Luke.

Jemma perked up at
that. “You told Carly! But you didn’t tell us?”

“She’s my sister,” Quinn pointed out.

“We’re your best friends,” Jemma reminded her.

“Honestly? I just really didn’t want to talk about it
,” Quinn admitted. She hoped that Jemma would take the hint. She hadn’t wanted to talk about it before. She still didn’t want to talk about it now.

Her friend looked like she was ready to jump back in with more protests. Or teasing. Or both. Quinn was glad when Lily spoke up, cutting her off.

“I’m sorry. That has to be hard,” Lily empathized. “You and Luke used to be so close.”

“Yeah, we did,” Quinn said with a sigh.

“And then you married his
brother
,” Jemma pointed out.

“Jemma!” Lily cried.

“Sorry,” Jemma said as she cringed. “It’s just that life…it just never goes how you expect it to go. Does it?”

“No,” Quinn agreed with a sigh. “It really doesn’t. Now
can we please talk about something else? Anything else? Jemma, how’s your love life?” she asked sweetly.

Jemma hit her with a pillow and Quinn laughed.

“How about if we plan your baby shower instead?” Jemma suggested.

Quinn’s phone buzzed on the coffee table. It was a text from Jake. She
mentally rolled her eyes at his impatience. Luke had gone in to pay for gas so Jake had shot off a quick text. Quinn couldn’t believe they’d actually become one of
those
couples. The kind of couple that just couldn’t go without some kind of interaction. She smiled nonetheless as she sent a quick text back, answering his question and telling him that yes, everything was fine!

“You two are kind of sickening,” Jemma said as she scrunched up her fac
e. “I always thought Lily and Nate were bad…”

“Hey!” Lily interjected but Jemma ignored her.

“But you and Jake, you’re worse,” she told Quinn

Quinn grinned at her
and winked at Lily. “I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

“You would,” Jemma said as she rolled her eyes at her friend.

16

Mmmm
, he hummed the sound next to her ear. “I missed you so much. Two days without you was too much.”

She laughed
even as she leaned into him. “Come on, Jake, two days wasn’t
that
long.”

“What? Are you saying you didn’t miss me as much as I missed you?”
he wondered. He pulled away to give her an offended look.

“Or course I did. But you’ve been home all week,” she teased. “Haven’t you had your fill of me by now?”

He shook his head. “Not even close,” he moved back in to nuzzle her neck. She let him for a few minutes but then jumped up from the couch.

“Jake, it’s Friday night. We should go do something,” Quinn said. She was dangerously close to pouting.

“What do you want to do?” he asked. He had just gotten home from work. He was ready to just chill on the
couch all night.

“
I don’t know. Nate and Lily have plans for the weekend. Carly has to work tonight. Jemma’s got a date with some new guy and didn’t sound the least bit interested in making it a double date.” Quinn took a breath. She’d called each of them earlier in the day, hoping to make plans with one of them. They were all busy and she was not looking forward to spending any more time at home. “I’m just so bored!”

Jake tried not to laugh at her distress.

She’d never had this much free time before. While the idea of not working was great…the reality…well, it was
boring
.

“
Carly had to work all week,” Quinn stated. She was sure her sister had asked for extra hours, as a distraction. “She couldn’t even get away for lunch. I think she’s already given up on the cooking lessons.” Quinn had a hunch that this had a whole lot to do with things not working out with Jesse. “Lily’s too far away to ever do anything with anymore. Jemma can almost
never
get away for lunch. Do you know what I did for fun today? I pulled every single item out of the kitchen cupboards so I could wipe them down. Then I put everything back. That’s what I did today.”

Jake frowned. “Were they that dirty?”

“No,” Quinn said. “I was just
that
bored. I miss getting out of the house,” she admitted. “Maybe I shouldn’t have quit work so soon. Maybe I should go back.”

“Can’t you just join a book club or something? A gardening club? A cooking club?” he suggested. “I’m sure you can find something to do. Something besides going back to work.” He was sure she wasn’t serious about it. She was getting too close to her due date to think about going back at this point.

She sighed. She knew she shouldn’t be bringing this up again. She should be grateful that she had this opportunity. She should be grateful that Jake had a good, stable, high paying job. She should be grateful that she didn’t
need
to work. She knew all of this. But she was having a hard time dealing with feeling so restless.

“You’re bored, huh?” Jake asked. A
mischievous look had just settled onto his face. “Maybe I can take care of that.”

He
got up and unexpectedly took off, leaving Quinn pouting in the living room. After a few seconds, she decided to scurry after him. She followed him down the hallway to their bedroom. She assumed she knew what he was thinking. What idea he had for curing her boredom.

But she was wrong.

“Jake!” Quinn laughed. He had pulled their suitcases out of the closet. He started rummaging through his drawers, pulling things out seemingly at random. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“I had an idea
last weekend,” he admitted. “You like the cabin don’t you?”

Quinn knew he was talking about his grandparents
’ cabin. The one where he’d apparently decided she was the girl for him.

“Yes,” she said suspiciously. “Why?”

He grinned at her. “The other day I was thinking that we don’t have to go up there just to go fishing. I mean, yeah, it’s why Luke and I go. But there are other things to do in the area. You know my grandparents don’t go up there nearly as much as they used to. So it occurred to me that maybe you and I should go up there sometime. You know, just to get away for the weekend.”

Quinn smiled, pleased with where she assumed this conversation was headed.

“I hadn’t actually thought to do it this weekend, but why not?” he asked. He dropped a pair of jeans onto the bed as he walked up to her. He skimmed his hands over her hips and pulled her as close to him as her bump would allow. “It occurred to me today that it would be perfect for a weekend away. Just you…and me.”

Quinn grinned back. “Keep talking.”

“Well,” he said, “I happen to know they won’t be using it this weekend. I called Gramma earlier in the week to ask if they would mind if we used it sometime. She said they don’t plan on using it again for a while. I didn’t mention it when I got home because I thought this weekend might be too soon. But maybe it’s not?”

“It’s not,” Quinn agreed. “It’s perfect.” She wiggled out of Jake’s grip and he laughed. Her suitcase was on the bed next to his. “I didn’t start dinner because I thought we could go out. But this is so much better!” she said. She was already rifling through her dresser.

Jake laughed at her. “If I knew you’d be this excited, I would’ve planned this weeks ago. If we get moving, we can make a stop somewhere along the way for a nice dinner and still get there at a reasonable hour.”

“Sound
s perfect!” Quinn said with a huge smile.

*~*~*

“This weekend is seriously one of the best ideas you have ever had,” Quinn told Jake.

It was pure coincidence that the small town of River’s Bend, where the cabin was located, was holding a fall festival down at the riverfront.

“You’re only saying that because you love funnel cakes,” Jake said with a laugh.

They’d found a bench on the river’s edge and they were each enjoying their own powdered-sugar sprinkled pastry.

“I’m saying it because it’s been an amazing day,” Quinn honestly told him. “Everything has been so perfect.”

The ride up to River’s Bend
the night before had been beautiful. The leaves were beginning to change so it was the perfect time of year for a long drive. They’d stopped for a nice dinner and had gotten to the cabin at a decent enough hour. They’d gone for a boat ride earlier in the morning.

“It’s lucky we came through town last night,” Jake said, “instead of going around.” There had been banners everywhere, advertising the event.

Quinn glanced over her shoulder, checking out the crowd. There were vending booths set up all along the riverbank. Dozens of them with their handmade crafts. Everything from blown glass, chain saw sculptures, handmade jewelry and creatively crafted items Quinn had never seen before. Live music was floating through the air from somewhere. They’d been there most of the afternoon, shopping and snacking and walking along the river’s edge. The crowd was just starting to thin out.

“You know,” Jake said as he glanced up toward the sky, “maybe we should think about heading out.”

Quinn was surprised to see that black clouds were quickly spilling out across the sky. Almost immediately she noticed a sharp drop in temperature. “I suppose we should,” she said. She popped her last bite into her mouth.

Jake stood and pulled Quinn to her feet. Right into his arms. He leaned over and kissed her forehead as she wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug.

“Looks like the perfect day is about to end,” he admitted. He released her but took her hand firmly in his. He swerved through the crowds at the edge of the booths, trying to find the quickest path to the truck. They were already well on their way before other people started to notice a change in the weather. When they did, the crowd started to thicken.

“I don’t think we’re going to make it,” Quinn said as they reached the sidewalk.
She was looking up at the sky. It was nearly black and she couldn’t believe the speed with which the clouds had rolled in. Jake’s truck was parked several blocks down. It had just started to sprinkle. She held her free hand out to catch a few drops.

Jake grinned at her as a crowd rushed by.
He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her waist instead. “You don’t want to make a run for it?”

“Um, no,” she said with a decisive laugh. She was in no condition to run. “A little bit of water never hurt anyone.”

As though she were tempting fate with her words, the rain seemed to dump from the sky at that moment. She simply laughed as she and Jake hurried along, splashing through puddles as they rushed through the deluge. Jake kept his arm firmly around her, guiding her along.

They were drenched by the time they reached his truck. He opened the passenger door for her and she scrambled inside.

“Are you okay?” he asked Quinn after he hoisted himself inside.

She shrugged
and she was smiling. “Yeah, I’m fine. I love a good storm.”

She said she was fine but Jake noticed h
er teeth were starting to chatter. He turned the heat on high.

“I knew we were in for some rain but they said it would be a lot later tonight,” he told her. “I’m sorry about the music.”

“It’s fine Jake,” Quinn said. She had asked if they could stay to listen to the music playing under the tents. But now that they were drenched, that was obviously not an appealing option. “I’m ready to get back to the cabin.”