Triangles Read online

  He folded me into his arms. “Don’t worry, Autumn. We’ll work it out. She’s just upset, but everything will be fine. I won’t let anything happen to you, okay? Besides, I figured we would move in together when we got back, so it doesn’t really matter. Don’t you want to do that?”

  I stiffened. Live with him? At my age? There was no way I was moving in with him or anyone else in Jersey.

  And if Jessica kicked me out, it would be the last she’d ever see of me.

  I sighed. “Let’s not talk about this anymore. It’s ruining my day.”

  “No problem. Let’s go.”

  He took my hand and led me through security, releasing it only when he had to insert our cabin keycards into the ID system. We walked down the gangway and stepped onto the wooden dock.

  Toasted air lapped at my exposed skin. Somewhere off in the distance, steel drums played a calypso beat. The colors I’d witnessed through the window seemed to have suddenly become HD. Spread out in front of us was the most beautiful place I’d ever seen.

  The sun warmed the coconut-scented breeze that made the palm trees dance. A cloudless sky negated the saying on my shirt. The pastel-colored cottages now resembled rainbow sherbet. The ocean supporting our ship was crystal-clear and smooth as glass. I closed my eyes and paused, imprinting this memory on my brain. The smells, the sounds, the sensations—I opened myself up like a sponge to absorb it all.

  Joey wrapped his arm around my waist. “Hungry? I’m taking you out to lunch.”

  I looked up into his eyes. I wanted to keep him at a distance, but the newness of this side of Joey and his genuine happiness melted the ice wall I’d formed to shut him out.

  I decided to forget about Jessica for now and enjoy the day. For all I knew, it could be my last. “Where?”

  “It’s a surprise.” He reached around to the back of his pack and pulled out a slip of paper. “Got a map to a nice park nearby, too. Do you need anything before we go?”

  “Um, chocolate,” I said. “Oh, and I heard this island has pink sand. Can we look for some?”

  “Sure. Let’s get to the park. We can sit and eat, then check out the beach, okay?” He patted the backpack and winked at me. “Got the chocolate covered—M&M’s. No worries about melting in this tropical heat.”

  Geez, he really had thought of everything.

  I nodded and gestured for him to lead. He slid his hand into mine and led me a few blocks from the dock to a hidden park entrance. As we walked, we passed more colorful houses, local cops in Bermuda shorts, and couples being pulled around in horse-drawn carriages. The park didn’t look like much until we entered the grounds, but once inside, the nearly deserted place felt magical.

  Deep-green foliage surrounded bright white, pink, and red flowers. Wooden benches were tucked under huge trees. Birdsongs rang through the air. A round stone gate at the far corner of the park reminded me of something out of Hobbiton. It resembled a fat, inverted horseshoe overgrown with vibrant green vines. Tiny multicolored flowers dotted the vines like Christmas ornaments.

  I kicked off my flip-flops and let the strange grass taste my feet. The cool blades sucked the worry out of my warm feet and drained away my anxiety about the cruise and my life. I closed my eyes and breathed in a giant breath.

  “Do you like it?” Joey asked.

  “I love it. It’s the most amazing place I’ve ever seen. How did you find it?”

  He winked at me. “It’s a secret. Come on. See that gate over there?” He pointed to the Hobbit gate. “It’s called a Moongate. There’s a legend that says people who walk through one have good luck. Want to give it a try?”

  I nodded, dropped my beach bag, and made a beeline for the bringer of luck. When Joey started to follow, I put a hand up to stop him. “Um, do you mind if I go through it first? Maybe we will get twice the luck if we each go through separately.” I wanted to do this alone. I needed more luck than fifty trips through the gate could offer, and I didn’t want to risk him soaking up some of mine, selfish as that sounded.

  He stopped and motioned for me to continue.

  My pulse raced as I approached the flower-covered gate. I didn’t know why, but something seemed to be pulling me, beckoning me to get through the gate right this second. I paused at the mouth of the giant ring and peeked through.

  On the other side, an expanse of bright green grass ended at the choppy ocean a mile into the distance. Several wooden benches lined a shady area to my left. Three long tables with a brunch buffet stood off to the right, and tables and chairs were set up near the food. About twenty people dressed in summer clothes milled about. Soft music played from speakers set at the edge of one of the buffet tables.

  Assuming I’d almost crashed someone’s party, I turned to go.

  “Autumn, honey,” a familiar female voice said from behind me. “Surprise! Come on in, don’t be shy.”

  I spun back around and searched for the source of the voice. Joey came up from behind and slid his arms around my waist. “Isn’t this great?”

  The woman who’d called me walked closer. I squinted to see who she was, but in the bright Bermuda sun, I could only make out the shape of a person. She stepped into the shade of a giant palm tree, making her features visible. My knees wobbled and my breath caught in my chest. Thankfully, Joey’s arms around me held me up. “Mom?” I whispered.

  Joey chuckled in my ear. “No, sweetie. It’s Aunt Christine. And look who she brought with her.” He pointed at my aunt’s arms, which held a moving bundle in a blanket.

  Aunt Christine’s tanned skin glowed against her white cotton summer dress, her light brown hair piled in loose curls on top of her head. Her warm brown eyes matched the shade of my mom’s eyes. People always said they could be twins.

  Today, I believed it.

  I offered a weak smile when she stopped in front of me. I didn’t know if my legs would continue to hold me up, but they worked so far. “Aunt Christine! Wow! What are you doing here?”

  She glanced at Joey and smiled.

  “I asked her to come to the island for the days our ship was in port. I knew you would miss her and would be thrilled to see them.” He squeezed my middle and kissed my neck.

  “Them?” I asked. “Who else is here?”

  The blanket in her arms moved again. I hooked a finger around the edge to peek inside. “What do you have in there, a puppy?”

  Joey and Aunt Christine laughed. Then, from the edge of the blanket, a tiny pink face peeked out, looked at me, and smiled.

  My mouth dropped to my knees. The moment froze in time. I could see what everyone around me was doing in slow motion. Aunt Christine bounced the baby up and down. Joey stroked my hair and spoke to me, but I had no idea what he was saying. The other people ate, drank, swayed to the music, and laughed like they didn’t have a care in the world.

  This child was my clone. Her face was a miniature version of mine, with eyes like…

  “Mommy’s here, Emmie! Say ‘hi,’” Aunt Christine said, making the baby wave with her pudgy hand. At me.

  “Um, Aunt Christine, where’s her mother?” I mean, she couldn’t possibly mean me. The kid looked like me, but still.

  Aunt Christine and Joey laughed. “Silly Mommy.” Joey nudged my shoulder with his. “That’s not how you play peek-a-boo.”

  Shock and fear crawled up my spine. This baby was mine?

  I had a freakin’ baby?

  I had no idea what her name was. I had no idea who the father was supposed to be. I had no idea what to do. I couldn’t take care of myself, so how was I supposed to take care of a tiny person? Thank God Aunt Christine had her, because that was exactly where she was staying.

  With someone who could handle the baby thing.

  And, oh, my God, suddenly what Jessica had said this morning made sense. Emmie and Joey were my family now. And when Joey had said find a place for the three of us, I thought maybe he meant me, him, and his mother.

  I was so wrong.

  “I’m so gla
d Joey thought of this. Where’s your sister?” Aunt Christine asked.

  “Uh…Jessica?”

  She pulled the rumpled blanket off the squirming baby and chuckled. “Yes, unless you have another sister that I’m unaware of.”

  Well, with the way things were going, I guess that was possible. “Um, she’s coming.”

  Here in the Triangle, many impossible things seemed possible. The evidence? The baby in front of me when I’d yet to have sex. I had come close, and had no problem fooling around, but I didn’t plan on giving all of me up until I was completely ready.

  I had yet to be ready.

  I looked down at my stomach. Smooth and flat. I lifted the edge of my shirt to check for stretch marks or some other hint that this baby had come from me. Nothing.

  The baby, now peeled from her cocoon, reached for me. “Ga, ga, ga,” she babbled in a little baby voice.

  I got that everything I was going through didn’t make sense, but each thing that changed caught me off guard. It was like waking up each day as a different person. I had to get used to who I was before I could function as the person du jour.

  Automatically, my hands reached out to take her. She lunged at me without hesitation and hugged my neck with surprising force for such a tiny thing.

  “Uh, hi, sweetheart. Are you having fun with Aunt Christine?”

  She ignored my question and wrapped her fingers around my hair. Her wide, brown eyes took in the sights all around us.

  I’d seen those dark brown eyes before.

  Oh, shit on a shingle.

  Joey came around to stand in front of me and rubbed the baby’s back. “Happy to see Mommy, Emmie? I knew she would love this surprise!” His eyes beamed as he held my gaze.

  She squealed and reached for him.

  “Hiya, Emmie Wemmie!” He tickled her chin and grinned. “Want to come to Daddy?”

  That was it. My arms went limp and down the baby went. Joey snatched her tiny body before she hit the ground, thank God. My knees gave out and before I realized what was happening, my butt smacked into the grassy hill.

  “Autumn! Are you all right?” He handed the baby to Aunt Christine and knelt beside me, lifting my head into his lap. I gulped in some air and slammed my eyes shut for a second.

  “Autumn, honey!” Aunt Christine said, clutching the baby to her chest. “What’s the matter? Holy crap, you almost dropped the baby!” The panic in her eyes increased my own. What would have happened to that child if I’d dropped her on her head?

  I rubbed my eyes and tried to stop the spinning in my brain. “I’m fine, Joey. Thanks. I think…I think the sun is getting to me. Is Emmie all right?” He helped me stand and held me as I tested my ability to remain upright.

  “She’s fine. Joey caught her just in time.” Aunt Christine tickled Emmie’s chin. “Daddy’s the best, isn’t he?”

  Joey kept his grasp on me. “You sure you’re okay?”

  I nodded. “I’m good. Yeah. I’ll be okay. Thanks.”

  “Come on. Maybe some food will help.” Aunt Christine walked us over to the buffet and helped me fill my plate with exotic fruit, fresh vegetables, and grilled chicken and shrimp, all the while bouncing Emmie on her hip.

  I would never be able to do that. I wasn’t even a real mother and I had already failed at motherhood.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “A luncheon set up by a local pub. Don’t worry, I already paid for all of our meals. Help yourself to anything.” She picked up a celery stick off my plate and chomped down. “Want me to take Emmie while you and Joey eat? Or do you miss the little chubber too much to part with her now?”

  I looked at the baby in her arms. I couldn’t even tell how old she was, because I knew nothing about babies. “Um, please hold her for me. It’ll, um, make eating easier. Thanks a lot.”

  Aunt Christine smiled and cooed, and Emmie did the same. At least they seemed to like each other.

  “Autumn, there’s an empty table over there.” Joey took my plate and led me to the table. When I sat down, he set the food in front of us. “I’ll go get us some drinks.”

  Joey headed to the drink table with confidence in his stride. He stopped where Aunt Christine and Emmie were playing on the grass and squeezed the little girl’s cheek. She beamed at him, kicking her little feet and reaching out to him. He leaned down and kissed her head before getting us two glasses of Coke and returning to the table.

  “I can’t believe Emmie’s six months old already. Where does the time go?” He shook his head as he watched my aunt blow bubbles at the baby. “So, good surprise?”

  I forced my best smile out. “Yes, thank you, Joey. The best. How did you set this up?”

  “When we planned the trip, I called Christine about meeting us since she would be watching the baby. She thought it was a great idea, so here she is. But she’s only staying on the island for two nights. I knew you would miss Emmie, so this worked out perfectly.”

  I stared at him. His face held the contentment of a kitten full of warm milk. Since he was Emmie’s father, I guess we’d already…

  The thought of Joey and me sleeping together set my face on fire. Holy shit.

  And here I was blaming Marcus for being the horndog.

  My eyes flashed down to his crotch, which only increased the redness filling up my cheeks.

  He glanced at me and frowned. “You okay? You’re all flushed. I guess the heat really is getting to you.” He placed his hand on my forehead.

  I nodded. “I’m fine. Thanks for asking.” His expression relaxed, and he resumed munching.

  I focused on the baby, trying to see a resemblance to him. As I stared at her sweet face, his features came into sharp focus. The dark eyes, the dark hair, the same chin.

  Joey was my baby’s father.

  The food I’d eaten wanted to come back up. “Joey, I think I ate too much. I’m gonna lie back on the grass and close my eyes for a few, okay?”

  He stroked my cheek. “Sure, baby. I’ll keep an eye on things.”

  I found a soft patch of grass under a huge tree and reclined. Within minutes, I let the sleep take me away from what was the strangest vacation of my life.

  “Autumn? You okay?”

  I opened my eyes to see Joey’s face inches from mine. Concern crossed his features.

  I blinked a few times. The sun had changed position, but I had no idea what time it was. Most of the people who had been in the park were gone, and I glanced around but didn’t see Aunt Christine or Emmie. I leaned forward to get up and grabbed my head. “Whoa, head rush. I need to get back to the ship.”

  “Sure, sweetie. Come on, I’ll grab your bag.”

  “Where’d everyone go?”

  He chuckled as he helped me up and brushed the dirt off my butt. “Emmie got cranky, so Christine took her back to the hotel. I told her we’d check in later.”

  Ugh, I didn’t know what to do now. Wouldn’t I seem like a terrible mother if I didn’t ask to see the kid some more? Then again, I had never been a mother, so what did I know? “Okay. As long as she’s being, um, taken care of, I guess I’m ready to go.” We headed back to the ship, my mind reeling as I tried to figure out just what was going on.

  When we got back to my room, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but Joey deserved a little love for setting up such a great surprise. “Thank you for today, and for thinking of that. Bringing them here…it was just amazing. No one has ever done anything like that for me.” As I spoke the words, I realized how true they were. His answering smile showed off his happiness.

  “You’re welcome. You would have done…oh, wait. I have something else for you.” He turned and reached into his backpack. “I thought you might want this, so you won’t miss her too much.” Joey handed me what I assumed was one of Emmie’s stuffed bears. “I’ll be right back,” he said as he deposited me on the bed and went to find his grandparents to let them know we had gotten back okay.

  Sitting alone on my bed, I stared at the
wall as I wondered what it would really be like to be a teen mom. I didn’t know anyone yet who’d had a kid, and none of my cousins were babies, so this was totally foreign territory. My eyes found the bear sitting on the counter by the door. I hoped the baby would stay with Christine on the island, because there was no way I could fake taking care of her.

  Joey must’ve hunted down Jessica for me because she ran into the room, slamming the door behind her.

  “Autumn, what happened? Joey said something happened to you in the park.” She knelt in front of me and took my hands in hers.

  I stared at her, the words in my brain failing to make their way to my mouth.

  She shook my hands. “Speak, Autumn! What happened?”

  “I just…I just…um, I fell asleep in the park. I have a headache.”

  She gave my hands back to me and stood up. “That’s it? A headache? You leave the baby with Aunt Christine and run back to the cabin for a damn headache?” She threw herself down on the couch. “You need to grow up, Autumn. You’re a mother now. Put your kid first and stop acting like a baby yourself.”

  I sighed and stood up. “Jessica, I’m not trying to upset you. I didn’t know Joey went looking for you. I’m okay. I probably just got too much sun.” I touched her back, but she ignored me.

  “Where’s Emmie now?”

  “Aunt Christine took her back to the hotel when I fell asleep.”

  Jessica threw her hands up in the air. “That’s nice. Way to take care of your child. Just dump her off on Aunt Christine. As usual.”

  “Oh, yeah? Well then, what about you? Huh? You just told me this morning you were kicking me out. Way to take care of me, right?” My hands shook as I realized it wasn’t just me she didn’t want anymore. “And what about Emmie? Does she get to go to this group home place, too? Where God knows what could happen to her?” I sucked in a breath. “You know what? It doesn’t matter, because we’ll be moving in with Joey when we get back anyway. Emmie will be just fine with us.”

  She refused to look at me. “No, she won’t, Autumn. I planned on adopting her. You guys are too young to care for a baby. You can’t even take care of yourself.”