Semua Bab Diagnosis: Love: Bab 161 - Bab 170

NOAHI awoke the morning after the party to a cotton mouth, throbbing head, and a wrecked house. Well, it wasn't destroyed in the sense of what a home might look like after a high school all-night kegger, but there was trash in the kitchen and living room and on the front porch . . . dishes left all over, glasses and bottles everywhere, and a general sense of . . . mess.Yeah, it was a mess. Everything was a mess, including me. As I dropped down to sit at my kitchen table, reality crashed down over me, and it wasn't pretty. I'd spent the last months doing exactly what Coach Briars had said last night. I'd been throwing a temper tantrum, kicking and screaming against life because things hadn't gone my way. Now that I forced myself to really look at everything, I realized it wasn't just about losing football, either. It was . . . all of it. Angela being sick, Angela dying, being alone for so long . . . thinking that I could find my way back to normal with Emma and having those hopes

ALISON Anna and Jimmy Girard, Deacon's grandparents, lived on a large family farm a few miles outside of Harper Springs. Their property jutted against the land that Emma had bought when she moved down here, and now that Emma and Deacon were living in her cabin, I knew that they loved being closer to the older couple. I'd been to the farm often when I lived in Harper Springs because while we were building Emma's cabin, Anna and Jimmy had helped us and frequently fed us at their kitchen table, too. The old farmhouse was the most comfortable, most welcoming home I'd ever known. So I didn't feel the least bit uncomfortable to park on the side of the house and push open the kitchen door, calling as I did. "Hello! I'm here to volunteer as a taste-tester." "And just in time!" Drying her hands on her apron, Anna hustled over to me, drawing me into a tight hug. "Look at you. You're beautiful." She held my chin in her hand, smiling into my eyes. "You're practically glowing." My cheek

NOAHBut in the end, she leaned across the table and covered my hands with hers. "Of course, I want to be part of helping you find your new life, Noah. Like I said, I care for you. I know you've been struggling, but I thought if I stuck it out, eventually you'd see how good I can be for you." Her lips curved up. "And I can be so fucking good for you, Noah." "I know you can be. You are. I mean, I appreciate what you-how you-" God, I sounded lame. "But that's something else." I wasn't sure exactly how to say this and not sound like I was calling her something incredibly insulting. "We need to ease up on the sex, okay? Maybe slow down . . . take a break on . . . that." Juliet's eyebrows rose, and she tilted her head. "Excuse me? You want to try celibacy? Is that part of this next act in the life of Noah? Because I'm going to say it doesn't sound like fun to me." She smirked. "Wouldn't be fun for you, either. I don't think you'd last long before you'd be begging me to come back to y

NOAHI watched Alison's car disappear around the bend in my drive. I wanted to smash something, kick a wall-yell at the top of my lungs, maybe. I was furious, frustrated, terrified-and there was a chance I was still in shock. My lips were numb. And dammit, I hadn't been ready for Alison to leave yet. I had hours of questions left. She showed up, dropped a bombshell on my lap, and then scurried away when Juliet came out and scared her off. Juliet. Thinking of her reminded me that there was yet another woman who had a lot of explaining to do . . ."What the hell, Juliet? Alison showed up here, and you lied to her? You told her I wasn't at home? Do you know what a mess you've made?" She backed up to the edge of the porch and gripped the railing behind her. "You didn't want to see anyone. You kept telling me that. And you'd been ignoring her messages, so I figured you'd want me to just get rid of her that day. Showing up here without being invited was kind of ballsy, wasn't it?"

ALISONAlison"Hey, Dr. Wakely. Are you feeling okay?" I straightened from where I'd bent over a file drawer. It was only with the greatest of effort that I kept from rolling my eyes as my office manager called out her question.Earlier today, I'd had a brief meeting with my staff and announced my pregnancy. I knew it was time; so far, I'd avoided morning sickness, but the fatigue was definitely real, and I didn't want to have to make up excuses for why I'd be going home right after my last appointment of the day. Plus, of course, there was the fact that before too long, the bump that was beginning to emerge wouldn't be easily hidden under my clothes. To say that they were shocked was an understatement. Mariana, my office manager, Gina, the assistant manager, and Cathy, my new nurse practitioner, weren't quite sure what to say or ask first. I'd forestalled some obvious questions with a blanket statement. "As far as the baby's father-he's no one you know. He's not local. I'd