I was fairly sure I was about to pass out.

My head was swimming. Swimming because of his proximity, because my heart was racing the exact way it had been the night that I’d met him. Because I was both devastated and enthralled that he’d found me. But most of all, it was because he was staring at me with those same intense green eyes.

“What are you doing here?” He exclaimed, and before I could protest he’d wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in for a lung crushing hug.

Heart failure.

He released me, and I stumbled backwards so I was leaning on my truck. He put his arm on the door frame above my head. I was going to die. Here, at seventeen years old, I was going to die. I swallowed the lump in my throat and formed an intelligent sentence.

“I moved here.”

His eyebrows raised in surprise, and something told me that it wasn’t often that he was caught off guard. Sooner or later, he’d get the shock of his life. I was exactly three months pregnant with his child. His baby was inside of me. And here he was, standing in front of me with no idea.

“You moved here? To Paris?” Emmett asked, his southern accent just as thick as I remembered it. He tips his head back, looking up at the sky for a moment with a serious, yet amused look on his face. He looks back down to me. “Why?”

Just as I opened my mouth to stammer out an answer, a head popped out from the driver’s seat of an old Dodge by one of the gas pumps. He looks over at us and yells.

“Come on, Emmett, we got shit to do!”

The boy, who’s dark olive skin made and jet black hair made it quite obvious he was Native American, seemed to be about Emmett’s age - 19. Emmett cocked his head to look at the boy, and it gave me a good chance to look at him. Emmett was wearing dark blue jeans that fit him well, a button up black shirt that was tucked in with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows. On his feet were a pair of well worn, square toed cowboy boots. It was far from the beach gear I’d met him in.

God, did he look good though.

“Calm your damn horses, Nate. Have some patience for once in your life.”

“You’re one to talk!” This boy, Nate, yelled back before sticking his head back into the window. I was just able to gather my wits before Emmett turned back around to face me.

 “That would be my dumb ass of a best friend, Nathan Cromwell. He wasn’t able to come to Panama City Beach.”

And just like that, my wits were rescattered. Memories flooded my mind at the mention of the famous spring break destination.

“Anyway,” Emmett continues, rolling his eyes. “You were saying. What brings you here?”

Lie, lie, lie.

“I wasn’t getting along with my mother or my step father, so we’d thought it’d be the best idea for me to move in with my Aunt Lauren.”

“Lauren Thompson? The Deputy.”

I nodded.

Emmett laughed heartily. “I’ve certainly given her a fair share of trouble a few years ago. I reckon she likes me, though. Always let me off easy. How long have you been here?”

“About two weeks.” I answered.

“You been hiding from me, darlin?” He asked, his cocky smile showing off his dimples.

Yes.

“Of course not,” I answered, laughing nervously.

Nate stuck his hand out the window again.

“Emmett! Come on, man. You know your grand daddy going to be pissed if we don’t get that cattle in on time!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” He yelled back. he turned back to me. “Look, I’ve got to go before Nate’s head flies off of his shoulders. But listen, meet me at Sandy’s Diner tomorrow at 6, okay? I’ll see you then.”

And before I could respond, Emmett turned around and walked back towards the truck. He got in, and I could faintly hear his and Nate’s banter before the truck started up and drove away. I had just gone from completely avoiding him to meeting him for dinner in ten minutes.

“Great plan, Charlotte,” I muttered sarcastically to myself.

When I get back home, Aunt Lauren knows something happened as soon as I walked through the door. I wasn’t sure why she could read me so well, but she saw right through my ‘yeah, everything’s fine’ facade. The stress of it all seemed to overcome me, and I found myself sprouting tears as I told her the story.

I was lying on the couch with my head on her lap, looking at the TV and not watching. She was stroking my hair, which had always calmed me.

“What am I going to do?” I asked.

There was a long pause.

“Charlotte, I think you know what you have to do.”

She was right. I knew what I had to do. Emmett needed to know that I was pregnant. He needed to know the result of that night in Panama City Beach. He deserved to know. What he did afterwards….What he chose to do about it…

Now, that was up to him.

That was the scariest part. That was the thing that was stopping me. Not knowing how he was going to react to the news.

“How am I going to tell him?”

“I think you’ll figure out the right words.”

Wiping a few stray tears off of my face, my hand went to my stomach. I needed to do what was best for the baby. And giving Emmett a chance was the right thing.

“I’m scared, Aunt Lauren.”

“Of what?”

“Everything,” I whispered.

I stayed like that for a long time, with my head in her lap. I felt like a child, her comforting me this way. But that’s what I needed. I needed to be comforted, and I took no shame in relishing in her soothing me. 

“You’ll get through this, Charlotte. You’re going to be a great mother. I know you will. You will be able to do this, whether or not Emmett decides to be in the baby’s life.”

I fell asleep soon after, feeling rather exhausted. When I woke up, the light from the muted TV was the only light in the room. It was muted, playing some infomercial I didn’t care about. There was a blanket over me, and my phone’s clock read 1:30 in the morning.

Sitting up, the blanket fell to my waist. I stretched, yawning a little bit.

I grabbed the remote, turning off the TV and setting it down on the coffee table. I grabbed my blanket and my cell phone, and headed back up to my room.

Although my mind was restless, I found it pretty easy to fall back asleep. I pulled the covers up to my neck, rolled on to my side and passed out. Six hours later, I woke up to the birds chirping outside of my second floor bedroom.

I felt well rested, getting up and making my bed.

Pulling on a long sleeved shirt, I was little chilly and didn't feel like being in anything other than pajamas for the day until I didn’t had to wear real clothes. Like when I saw Emmett tonight. My heart raced at the thought, but I pushed it to the back of my mind. I had some time.

I grabbed a basket full of clothes and head downstairs to do laundry.

Aunt Lauren had today off, too but she said she’d be out of the house doing errands for most of the day. She invited me along, but I decided to decline. I did some cleaning up around the house, and watched a couple of lifetime movies.

By the time four thirty rolled around, I was getting really nervous.

So I drew a bath. Sinking down into the hot water, I closed my eyes and tried to relax. I was doing my best to work up the courage to tell him. The sooner I did it, the sooner it’d be out of the way. And then I’d just have to deal with his reaction.

What would I say to him?

How would I tell him. Should I just come outright and say it? I’m pregnant. Would he put two and two together?

“I can do this,” I said to myself, pulling the drain and standing up. I took a long, deep breath and repeated. “I can do this.”

I grabbed a pair of jeans and one of my favorite shirts. It was light blue, and just a little bit loose on me. I pulled it over my head and looked in the mirror.

“Shit!” I hissed, ripping off the shirt and tossing it into the closet.

For the first time, I looked pregnant with my clothes on. The bump was getting bigger by the day, even if it was fractional. To other people, it might look like a little pouch of fat. I might be able to pull it off. But some people might be able to see past that. To know.

I picked a different shirt, a black t-shirt that you couldn’t see the belly in. I let my hair fall down my back and put on a minimal amount of make up. At five forty, I told Aunt Lauren I was leaving and left the house.

It took me less than ten minutes to get to the restaurant.

“I’m not sure that I’ll ever get used to living in a small town,” I muttered, shutting the trucks door and starting towards the restaurant.

When I walked into Sandy’s Diner, I was greeted with a friendly looking waitress that appeared to be a few years older than me. She smiled at me warmly.

“Just you, baby?”

The terms of endearment in the South had caught me off guard at first. They used things like honey and baby very casually. It was a warm greeting. Polite and friendly.

“No, ma’am. There will be two of us.”

“A booth sound alright?”

“Perfect,” I answered, smiling.

My heart raced as the waitress - Mary - led me to a booth in a corner to the left. My pulse quickened as I sat down. He’d be here any moment.

Or maybe he wouldn’t show up at all. I swallowed hard.

I hadn’t thought about that.

“What would you like to drink?”

“Can I have some hot tea, please?” I asked, nervously

“Of course. I’ll bring that right out.”

She turned around and headed back towards the kitchen.  There was something I really liked about Mary. I had a strong feeling that we could be friends.

Mary brought the tea out, and I put the bag into the mug of hot water. After letting it set a moment, I added some sugar. I sipped it slowly. It was perfect.

The door on the bell rung as another customer entered.

Emmett stepped, looking just as devastatingly handsome as he did the day before. The same type of dark jeans and faded boots were paired with a blue and black flannel shirt. As he walked in, he took the camouflage ball cap he was wearing off of his head.

My breath caught into my throat. For a second, I couldn’t breathe. He knocked it right out of me.

His eyes swept the room for a second. I was too nervous to call out his name. His eyes met with mine, and he smiled.

“Charlotte,” He greeted, walking over to me.

He was broad shouldered, strong.

He slid into the booth, setting his hat on the booth’s bench seat next to him.

“How are you?” He asked, tilting his head to the side and looking at me.

“I’m well,” I answered, nodding. I need to change the subject. I don’t want to talk about me…Not yet. “Did you, uh…Did you get all those cattle in?”

I wasn’t sure if I was even saying it right. He’d probably laugh at me.

“We did. It was on my grandparents farm. I’ll inherit it. It’s going to storm bad in the next few day and they didn’t want the cows roaming around.”

I felt confused.

“The weather didn’t say anything about rain.”

“See, farmers know when its going to rain before they do. The clouds moved through quickly yesterday, but you can feel it in the air. It air seems more wet. And it’s a bit more windy. You didn’t notice?”

I shook my head.

“Be here for a few months, and you’ll notice it.”

“I’m not used to living in a small town,” I admitted.

He gave me a half smile.

“You’ll fit in fine. Don’t worry.”

Mary brought over another drink, setting it down in front of Emmett.

“Mountain Dew, as usual, Emmett,” Mary teased.

But it wasn’t in a flirty tease sort of way. Mary looked at him fondly, but it was in a brotherly sort of way. It was very obvious she harbored no feelings for him.

“Thank you, Mary. How’s that boyfriend of yours doing?”

“Oh, we’re just fine. Thanks for asking. Do ya’ll need a moment to look over the menu?”

“I don’t,” Emmett shrugged, and looked at me. “Do you?”

 I shook my head.

“I’ll have a bowl of the grilled cheese and creamy tomato soup, with the side of french fries please.”

“I’ll have a bacon cheeseburger, with the onion rings on the side.”

We handed Mary our menus and she walked away.

There was idle small talk between the time we ordered and the time that we received our food. I was very nervous, but tried to make it seem like I wasn’t. I wasn’t sure how well I was pulling it off, but Emmett didn’t point it out.

“There’s something I wanted to tell you, Emmett,” I said, swallowing hard as I put down a lone french fry.

“What’s that?” 

I took a long, deep breath. I could do this. I needed to do this. Before I lost the courage.

The bell above the door tinged again, and in walked Madison.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I muttered to myself.

“What was that?” Emmett asked.

“Oh, nothing,” I said.

Madison noticed us then, her smiled growing and that familiar glint in her eyes showing up. There was something else there, though. Jealousy, perhaps?

“Charlotte. Warming up to the locals already?” She asked, raising her eyebrows at me in a condescending way. God, did I hate her. But before I could respond, she looked at Emmett. “Long time, no see.”

Now she wanted him.

It really was jealousy that she’d looked at me with.

“Hi, Madison,” Emmett said flatly. He wasn’t interested in her.

A smirk grew on my face. Two can play the bitchy girl game.

“We were just having dinner, Madison. A private conversation. Surely you don’t mind?” I asked, my sickly sweet voice matching her own.

Her eyes narrowed, disdain in her expression. But it was gone in a second.

“Of course,” She said. Her eyes flickered to Emmett, a promise in her voice. “I’ll see you later.”

Emmett shook his head as she walked to the counter to pick up some take out.

“I can’t stand that girl,” He said, shaking his head. “She ain’t got respect for herself or anybody.”

“She’s been rude to me since the moment I got here,” I said honestly.

“Ignore her. She’ll be happy if she knows she’s getting to you.”

“She’s not.”

“Good. Now, what were you-”

We were interrupted again when Emmett’s phone rang. He looked at it and rolled his eyes.

“Hold on, darlin. It’s Nate, I gotta take this.”

I smiled at him, nodding.

“Go ahead,” I said.

Emmett picked up the phone and pressed answer.

“What?” He asked.

Nate talked for a quick moment, and Emmett pause.d

“Alright, alright. I’ll be there in a few.”

He hung up and set his phone down.

“One of the cows is calving.”

“Huh?” I asked.

“Having a baby.”

Duh. That was obvious.

“You guys have to help the cow?”

“Yeah, she’s an old one. She’ll need some help.”

Mary sensed that we needed to go, and brought over the check. I reached for it, but Emmett snatched it up before I could.

“Don’t even think about it,” He warned.

“Why?” I asked.

Emmett raised his eyebrows at me, an amused smirk on his face.

“Darlin, I don’t know how ya’ll do it in the big city but here in the South, you let a woman pay and that don’t make much of a man out of you.”

I sat back, throwing my hands up in defeat. I had a feeling that I wouldn’t win this argument if I tried.

He threw some bills down on the counter and I stood up.

“I’ll walk you to your truck.”

I complied, following him outside. He opened the trucks door for me, and I climbed in. As I strapped the seatbelt, he closed the door for me.

“Thanks for dinner,” I said to him.

“Of course. My pleasure, Charlotte. Sorry I had to cut it short.”

“Duty calls.”

“I’ll see you later?” He asked.

I nodded.

He turned around and walked away, but paused and looked back at me.

“Charlotte, I’m glad you’re here.”

Not for long.

Author's Note: (I changed Char's bedroom from the attic to a large second floor bedroom. Same layout as the attic bedroom) What do you think? How do you think Emmett will find out/react to Charlotte's pregnancy? Brooke? Madison? Also, please go check out "Finding Anastasia." It's a very new story for me and I hope you guys will like it. It would mean A LOT to me!!