Chapter 48
"I hate to say I told you so…"
"Then don't," Tatum cut her off, sounding hurt and mad, and a little desperate. Isabella had been asleep when she'd gotten home from Bellum the night before, and it had taken her a lot of strength not to wake her sister up; she needed to talk through what had happened with Aaron and Sean at the bar with her sister. She'd barely slept, and leapt out of bed the second she heard Isabella emerge from the shower the next morning. She started rambling as soon as she saw her. And, while Isabella was of course horrified and upset on her behalf, she couldn't help pointing out that Aaron couldn't have done this if Tatum had told his brother about her pregnancy herself, on her terms.
"I'm sorry," her sister recognised and pulled her in for a big hug on the sofa.
"How did he even know?" the redhead asked, not expecting an answer but it was one of many questions that she hadn't been able to shake since leaving Bellum.
"I don't know, babe," Isabella said with a sigh, rocking her sister a little. She had her suspicions; it could've been when he'd come by the other day, who knew how long he'd been in the house for before he'd woken her up? But he could've known a lot longer; after all, David had been friends with him since the week he'd arrived in town. Her ex could have told him any number of occasions, but whether on purpose or by accident, there was no way of knowing. "What are you gonna do?" she asked softly after a few minutes, feeling her shiver for a moment.
"Well, obviously, I'm gonna have to talk to Sean… somehow…" Tatum said, sounding like she was being asked to climb a mountain; it had been hard enough to consider telling him when he didn't know, it felt almost harder talking to him now he already knew. He'd looked so hurt; how was she ever going to get him to talk to her again?
They both jumped when they heard a single loud knock on the door. Isabella instantly felt nervous, as she did lately when she didn't expect anyone. "Who's there?" she called when nothing else happened.
"It's me…" she heard from the other side of the door. "Austin." The sisters shared frowns as they went to open the front door. Isabella had gotten into the habit of using the deadbolt whenever the two of them were at home, so no one could surprise them by just walking in.
Austin waited, hearing several locks open before his eyes met the Colombian's. "I thought it'd be nice to hang out," he said when she looked at him questioningly, obviously scared he came with news about David. Relief washed over him when she cracked a smile, even if it was just a small one.
"Are you asking my sis out on a date, Sheriff?" Tatum interjected, chuckling when her sister suddenly looked at Austin wide-eyed. She laughed when even the muscular man stood in front of them seemed lost for words for a moment.
"I eh… thought she'd like to leave the house, but maybe didn't want to go alone," he finally said, trying not to mention that he knew she was probably too scared to leave alone, and definitely not willing to name the asshole that had made her feel this way. He turned to the brunette for confirmation, glad she gave him a small nod. "Good, I've got a whole day planned, I know a place you'll like," he grinned, finding his confidence again when she smiled back.
"You remember this place?" Isabella gasped, taking in the view as her heart skipped a beat. She hadn't seen this bar in years, since that one summer with the man that had comfortably wrapped his muscular arm around her shoulder. She was surprised it was still standing and open this early.
"Like I'd ever forget," he said, winking at her before he pulled her inside. He'd been thinking about this for a couple of days, wondering how he was going to make her feel better, remind her of the girl she used to be. The strong and intelligent girl that he'd expected to grow into a confident woman. He knew she didn't believe it, but somewhere in that shell was the woman she was supposed to be. What better place to remind her of who she was than the bar where she'd beat nearly everyone at pool, the bar where her self-assured smile had caught his attention before she'd even seen him standing against the wall. "Let's see how good those skills of yours still are," he dared her, handing her a cue and chuckling when she rolled her eyes at him. He hadn't seen her so relaxed in a long time.
Isabella was still getting used to having a relaxed conversation with the tall man but being back at the dive bar where they'd met somehow made it easier. The bar hadn't changed a bit, it was still dingy; the floor sticky and it smelled like beer and spilled wine. It was perfect. "Prepare for an ass-kicking," she warned him, making him laugh, clearly thinking she was joking. She wasn't.
Tatum nervously looked at her phone. She'd been trying to get over herself and text or call Sean to apologise since his brother had told him about her pregnancy yesterday, but every time she got close she chickened out again. Even if she did still have a lot of questions about their situation, she needed to talk to him about her baby first and know that he was okay with it before she could entertain a future for them. "Come on Tatum, this is your own doing. You should've told him earlier yourself," she told herself sternly, still playing with her phone. She took a couple of deep breaths and dialled his number. It rang once before she heard his voicemail. She closed her eyes, trying not to overthink this.
"Hey Sean, it's me… I'm sorry about… yesterday," she started. "Can we talk… about things?" she asked. "Give me a call. Or not, if you decide you don't… want… to," she trailed off, realising it was most likely going to the latter option. "I'm sorry. I hope we can talk," Tatum said a little more hopeful. "Oh, I have call waitin'," she said surprised and looked at her phone. "From you, never mind. 'bye," she told the voicemail and quickly picked up the call. "Hey, Sean," she tried to sound natural.
"Hey…" he said slowly. He wasn't entirely sure how to go on from here and he could hear she was holding her breath, waiting for his response. "I'm not sure…" Sean said now, not sure if he could have this conversation on the phone. But he could tell from the sob she tried fighting back that she thought he meant whatever had started between them or whether he could forgive her. "Can we talk, face to face?" he quickly said, surprising her.
"Of course," she breathed relieved.
"I'll come pick you up in half an hour," he told her.
"Okay," Tatum nodded.
"See you then," he promised before hanging up.