Best Friend’s Brother: Best Friend's Brother Romance Page 7

  “Couldn’t have turned your head away last second?” Jakob shot her a look from his rearview mirror.

  “I wasn’t aiming for her. It just sorta came. I think I had that yogurt too fast, or food poisoning.”

  “Food poisoning and you’d still be puking. How are you feeling?” Ryan had Lauryn cradled in his arms in the backseat.

  For the most part things had been ok. Carla’s scream was an understandable reaction, but she collected herself and dived into the lake to clean herself off. Her plastic smile was now through gritted teeth, but she politely asked how Lauryn was feeling before storming inside to change. She didn’t spend much time talking to any of them after that. Lauryn had to fling herself and the blanket into the lake too to get everything cleaned. It was embarrassing, but something deep down inside Lauryn thought it was more hilarious than anything else.

  They dropped Zooey off and said their goodbyes. The Savages had agreed to let Ryan stay with them that night since he had a flight early in the morning.

  “ZoZo!” Isaiah was jumping up and down on the couch. Kady was sitting on the floor close to where Isaiah was jumping. When Isaiah was feeling brave, he would jump from the couch and leap into her arms. Peter was in the kitchen. He was cooking and listening to jazz.

  Zooey waved at her family and stepped into the living room.

  “How was the lake?” Kady asked. She was fanning herself with an open coloring book. Markers and colored pencils were strewn across the carpet of the living room floor.

  “It was nice. Lauryn kinda threw up on the hostess.”

  “How did that happen? Is she sick?”

  “She seems better now. Ryan thinks she’ll be fine,” Zooey said.

  “Alrighty. How was your time with Jake?” Kady said in a sing-song voice. She gave Zooey the same smile she did when Zooey told her about her first crush in 2nd grade.

  “Jake as in Lauryn’s Jake?” Peter used a hand and expertly flipped the contents of the frying pan that he was holding. He was a former cruise ship chef, but he was now the owner of his own restaurant on the other side of town. Peter picked up a slim glass bottle of what looked like oil and poured a bit of it into the frying pan. A fire started in the pan, but Peter flipped it a few times to settle the flame.

  “Yep,” Kady said gleefully.

  “Isn’t he going back to Iraq?”

  “Nope.”

  “You and Jake huh? When did that happen?”

  “That’s exactly what I said,” Kady said. She winked up at Peter, who returned the wink with one of his own.

  “Hasn’t actually happened yet,” Zooey said. “Not yet.”

  *

  Zooey woke up to the faint sound of clicking on her bedroom window. It took her a while to focus on where the sound was coming from. Someone was throwing stones at her bedroom. Zooey stumbled out of bed and moved toward the window. She opened it and looked outside. Lauryn was on the lawn, and she looked upset.

  Zooey went down the stairs and opened the front door. She stepped out onto her porch. The wood was cold under her bare feet. The sun hadn’t come up yet, but it was still light outside. Zooey closed the door behind her, and walked over to Lauryn on the lawn.

  “What’s up, babe? Why didn’t you call?”

  “I forgot my phone at home,” Lauryn was sniffling, and her eyes were puffy. She had been crying. Zooey watched Lauryn as she paced around her. Lauryn was hugging herself, and she looked like she wasn’t fully aware of where she was.

  “I should have just called. I’m sorry,” Lauryn bit her lip to keep from crying again. She swallowed hard to regain composure.

  Zooey stopped Lauryn mid-pace and embraced her. Lauryn shook but didn’t cry.

  “I’m scared, Zoe.”

  “Let me help. I can help if I know what you’re talking about.”

  “Remember when I got sick a few weeks ago at Carla’s? And lately I’ve really been liking yogurt?...” Lauryn was still hugging herself, even when Zooey had her in her arms. Zooey pulled away and stared at Lauryn with wide eyes.

  “Are you…?”

  “Yep.”

  Zooey didn’t say anything for a second. It was taking her some time to process what was happening. She hadn’t been awake for more than ten minutes.

  “Does Ryan know?” she finally said.

  “No. The second I found out I just started crying and walking over here. I’ve been on autopilot for the last half hour. I don’t know how to tell him.”

  Lauryn put her face in her hands. She pushed her black bangs out of her face.

  “I should probably call him.”

  “Or surprise him. Wait til he comes back next week.”

  “Yeah, but what if he doesn’t want this?”

  “Do you?”

  Lauryn, fed up with pacing, collapsed onto the lawn. She lay flat on her back and looked up at the sky.

  “It’s not something I thought about. But I’m excited...but terrified… I don’t know if he wants this.”

  “I love you. So I’m here for whatever you need and whatever you decide,” Zooey sat down on the grass beside her. She ran a hand through the blades, collecting droplets of dew.

  “What do you think I should do?”

  “I think you should talk to Ryan. I think he’s going to be thrilled about this. And look at all the money you’ll save on your kid’s doctor bills. You won’t have to pay Ryan a thing.”

  Lauryn laughed at Zooey’s joke.

  “Thank you, Zoe.”

  “No problem. It’s what I’m here for.

  Chapter Eight

  Lauryn didn’t call Ryan. She said it was because she thought it was better to wait to tell him face to face. The only other person she had the courage to tell about her pregnancy was Jakob. Jakob was of course supportive, but asked Lauryn to consider telling their parents. She told him that she would wait for when Ryan was back. He was in upstate New York at a new clinic. He had been offered a job, and he was there early to get acquainted with everything. He already asked Lauryn to come with him once everything was settled. She agreed to join him at the start of the next year.

  Zooey was considering moving to New York as well. Her mother had 2 younger sisters who lived in New York. Moving would be a chance to work on her music, and to maybe kick start her career. Being close enough to her best friend to be able to visit, or help out with the baby would be an added bonus. She had some experience when her brother was born. She was still sometimes responsible for him.

  “What about NYU?” Jakob was looking through a brochure online. He, Lauryn, and Zooey were at the Savage house. Zooey was helping Jakob look at schools. He wanted to finish his last 3 years. NYU would be more fast paced than the college he originally went to, but being a war veteran, he could handle that kind of pressure. Lauryn had her heart set on Columbia. She figured since a scene from Ghostbusters was filmed there, it gave Columbia a significant advantage over any of the other schools in New York.

  “NYU looks good,” Zooey looked over his shoulder at the screen of the tablet he had in his hand. He skimmed through with his finger, and Zooey followed with her eyes. She noticed he had only been looking at colleges in New York, but she didn’t make mention of it.

  “I still say Columbia,” Lauryn perused perfunctorily through a tablet of her own. She wanted to look productive, but she was actually on Pinterest looking at baby nursery ideas. She didn’t want to admit that she was more excited than she realized. She was still afraid, but whatever Ryan decided, she knew where it was she stood and what she would do if things didn’t turn out her way.

  “It’s probably not gonna be Columbia,” Jakob said honestly. Lauryn held up one hand in surrender. She said she wouldn’t make the suggestion again. Zooey and Jakob breathed simultaneous sighs of relief and thanked her. She squinted her eyes in a glare, and Zooey had to look away so Lauryn couldn’t see she was laughing.

  “I’ll have you know that Julianne Moore’s in a movie where she’s a professor at Columbia. There’s
Oscar buzz because of it,” Lauryn was putting her film history and pop culture knowledge to good use.

  “I really don’t care much about Julianne Moore,” Jakob said, unimpressed.

  “Funny. I could have sworn you had a thing for redheads,” she flashed Zooey a smile and winked at her brother. He nodded and leaned forward to shake her hand.

  “Touché.”

  They were the strangest siblings on earth. Zooey looked back and forth at them and rolled her eyes just as the doorbell rang. Jakob got up to go answer it.

  “Hey man! You’re back early,” Zooey and Lauryn could hear Jakob. Lauryn looked terrified. A large anchor had sunk to the bottom of her stomach, and she tried her best to look like she was still afloat.

  Sure enough it was Ryan, back almost a week early from his trip. He got permission to, but only if he came a month early to start work. He had agreed. He stopped at the hotel to drop off his bags, but was at the house to surprise Lauryn with an impromptu dinner date. It was sweet.

  Lauryn collected her nerves and went upstairs to get changed. Jakob and Zooey stayed downstairs with Ryan. The two of them were about as good at lying and keeping secrets as they were at attempting to make birthday cake. Zooey started sweating immediately, and Jakob scrolled through hundreds of useless pages on his tablet. He didn’t even know what site he was on; he just wanted to keep busy to avoid any questions from Ryan.

  “How’s it been you two?” Ryan walked over and sat beside Zooey. He wrapped an arm around her for a quick hug.

  “Swell,” Jakob’s eyes were glued to the screen in his hand. Zooey didn’t have an escape. All she could do was smile and nod.

  “Zooey, what are you up to tonight?” Jakob looked at her. Zooey furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

  “This,” she said.

  “Sounds fun. Would you maybe wanna do this on a picnic somewhere?”

  “You mean now?”

  “I mean like a date, and yes like now,” Jakob chuckled. It was a strange way to be invited on a date, but Jakob had strange ways of doing most things. Zooey’s face lit up, and she nodded.

  This was going to be her first official date with the man of her dreams.

  *

  “So you’ll never guess what happened to me last night,” Lauryn called Zooey early the next morning. The sun was up at least, but the phone call still woke Zooey up.

  “I can sure try. But only if you guess about my night too,” Zooey croaked sleepily.

  “Ryan said you and Jake snuck off on a date.”

  “We didn’t sneak. But yes, it was an official date.”

  Jakob took her to the edge of town. There was a bridge to cross in order to get over the border and into the next town, but Jakob made a sharp turn before the bridge, and drove in the middle of the woods for a while until they reached a clearing. The moon was almost full, and the natural satellite illuminated their path.

  “Did you guys hook up?” Lauryn asked. She cringed as she waited for a response. She closed her eyes and gripped the phone tightly in her hand.

  “Maybe…” Zooey said. Lauryn could picture Zooey’s face getting hot.

  “You little tramp. On the first date eh?” Lauryn joked. Zooey shushed her, but Lauryn giggled. She knew what that meant.

  “What about you? Did you tell Ryan?” Zooey avoided the question.

  “I did.”

  “What the hell, Laur? Why was that not the first thing you said?”

  “Cuz I wanted to know how you and my brother were doing,” Zooey knew that it was more for the sake of being nosy. She laughed and asked Lauryn to keep going about her date from the night before.

  Ryan had surprised Lauryn with a date at a 4-star restaurant. Nerves had gotten the better of her. She acted like a mess the whole night.

  “Everything was so awkward. I tried not to get all crazy, but I looked guilty as hell. He kept asking me if I was ok. I finally broke down and told him everything…”

  “And?” Zooey asked as she held her breath. Lauryn paused for dramatic effect.

  “He didn’t say anything at first. He just stared at me. Then he laughed and took this little box out of his pocket,” Lauryn said. Zooey gasped, but waited for Lauryn to continue before speaking again. “He was like ‘looks like we both have some big news for each other’, and he got down on one knee. He had been planning to propose from the barbecue, he was just working up the nerve. Can you believe it Zoe?”

  “Again, how was this not the very first thing you said to me today? But wow, Laur, that’s amazing. Congratulations! Does that mean he’s excited about the baby?”

  “He’s over the moon about the baby,” Lauryn laughed into the phone. It was such a good sound to hear. She had been fretting for so long that she hadn’t been laughing or joking like she normally did.

  “I’m so happy for you. Have you decided on any plans?”

  “All I have so far are who the godmother and Maid of Honor at the wedding will be.”

  “If that’s a hint and you’re asking me, then absolutely. I can’t get over this. My best friend is getting married, and having a baby.”

  “And not necessarily in that order,” Lauryn cackled over the phone.

  “What about your parents?” Zooey asked.

  “See, I was prepared to tell my parents about the baby. I would have even been ready to tell them about being engaged. But to tell them both of those things… You know my parents. My dad is gonna lecture me, and ask me why I need to be involved in a shotgun wedding. My mother may just cling to her rosary and faint on the spot.”

  “Let’s not freak out too much just yet. You were scared about what Ryan would have to say, and look how that turned out. If you need me, I’ll be there with you when you tell them.”

  “You’re right. I need to not be a chicken. I’ll try to tell them tonight. I’ll have Ryan with me, and hopefully things will be ok.”

  Zooey couldn’t believe how fast life was going. For one minute she was 12. She was thinking of her second year of middle school and how she would be able to adapt and try to fit in with the kids in her new town. Then in the blink of an eye she was ten years older and wiser, and her best friend was getting ready to get married and start a family.

  When did everything change?

  *

  “Congratulations Uncle Jakob.”

  “Why thank you godmother to my future niece or nephew,” Jake was taking Zooey out on a formal date. She looked spectacular. She wore a dark turquoise dress that made her hair color pop. She tucked her hair behind her ears and used a patterned cloth bandoo to keep it in place. Jakob looked so effortlessly good with a long sleeved shirt. He also had on suspenders.

  Zooey had never seen Jakob look so nice before. He had worn a suit to his graduation, but Zooey never saw him without the traditional cap and gown on. She also never got a chance to see any photos of him from his prom.

  Jakob took Zooey to a beautiful Japanese restaurant. There weren’t a lot of people, but that made for better energy. It was easier to be at ease when there were less people in their faces.

  “You beat me for that Maid of Honor spot by the way. I’m just a regular groomsman.”

  “Aw,” Zooey sat across from him at a small table tucked away in a dimly lit area of the open space. “Who’s Best Man then?”

  “Ryan’s got 4 other siblings, and only one of them is a girl. So I’m assuming it’ll be one of his brothers.”

  “I bet his sister would make the best Best Man.”

  Jakob chuckled and took a sip of water. They had already ordered and were now waiting for their Miso soup and edamame to start.

  “I wonder where it’ll be, and how many people will be there,” Zooey’s eyes were full of excitement and wonder.

  “You already know more than I do. Snow is still waiting to tell the folks.”

  Their server had arrived with their appetizers. Jakob took a large spoon and moved it around in his soup. He took a bit of soy sauce and poured it in. Zooey picked up the p
eas she had and sucked on one of the pods.

  “Who’s your date for the wedding?” Zooey said. She took the pod out of her mouth, and put the empty shell into a small white bowl.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t been asked yet,” Jakob tried not to smile, but he was finding it difficult. Zooey smiled and nodded, but said nothing more. There was a baby due in less than 7 months, and they probably had a long time to wait for the wedding. Knowing Lauryn, she would wait til after the baby was born.