I spent a restless night tossing and turning in bed. My eyes were puffy in the morning from both the lack of sleep and all the crying. When I walked into Eck, Meck & Dreck for work, Annie noticed it from the back of the store. “You look like hell, Babe. Do you need the day off?”

“No, I need to work,” I answered her honestly as I picked up the Windex and paper towels. I wanted to attempt to wipe my shame away. My shower hadn’t worked, so maybe actual cleaning would help. I knew it was a long shot, but at least it would keep me busy.

Being her thoughtful self, Courtney had called Annie when we got home from the doctor’s office to fill her in on what we had learned, and to save me from having to relay the dreadful details. I wasn’t ready to talk about it.

We stayed steadily busy with customers throughout the day, which made the time go by quickly. I only threw up once, and it wasn’t in front of anyone, so that was an improvement. I was ready to celebrate any of my small successes at this point. It helped keep me from feeling so disgusted with my promiscuous behavior.

I certainly didn’t want to think about the consequences of that behavior or my current predicament. I couldn’t bring myself to tell the Davis twins about my pregnancy because I didn’t know which one of them was the father of my baby and which one was the uncle. This news was bound to wreak havoc on their relationship with each other, and I couldn’t handle any more guilt right now.

On the other hand, I would have to fess up eventually. Harbor Shores, Michigan was a quaint little town, and the Davises were a prominent family. I couldn’t avoid them for long. Soon I would be obviously pregnant. I needed to tell them before they found out another way.

I shook my head as I walked home from work, uncertain when or how I could tell Seth and Sam about this baby. It was a warm, sunny day. I should have been enjoying my walk along the lakeshore, but all I could think about was how I had already managed to mess up my baby’s life.