Try

Part 6 of 8

Later that night, as was planned, the five of them all occupy a table on the bar side of the restaurant from the night before. It was a usual hangout for Morgan and Matilda, and neither complained about having extra people in on their fun. Responsibly, Amber is not drinking, and Cooper and Matilda vow to only have one drink socially. Morgan and Jackson, however, seem more than happy to fill in the gap. Amber and Matilda are currently sitting at the table, while the three men play a game of cutthroat pool. While Cooper and Morgan are laughing and jesting each other, Jackson is quite occupied with flirting with Kelly, the bartender, and owner. The two women are having quite a fun time watching Jackson make a complete fool of himself while trying to use his big-city charm on a small-town woman who can see right through it. Still, Kelly looks amused none-the-less and knows Amber and Matilda are watching them.

"So, Amber..." Matilda starts while leaning on the table a bit closer to her best friend. "I want details. You and my brother, spill it." She laughs and Amber blushes slightly. "But not too many details, he is still my brother." Matilda shutters, knowing how in detail she would get it if were not Morgan.

Matilda can tell that Amber is relieved that she is not mad. "Well, I mean it wasn't much of a thing for quite a while. I was just your friend to him, and nothing more than a kid." She shrugs her shoulders slightly and sips her water. "But then he was in town one day and we ran into each other. He bought me dinner, claiming I was a starving college student, and he couldn't let his sister's best friend starve." Matilda lets out a hearty laugh. She knows that Morgan knows that Amber was not a starving college student. Even though she lived with her mom, her mom remarried to a fairly wealthy businessman, who showered Amber with everything she wanted. It intrigues Matilda though, that Morgan insisted upon buying Amber dinner. "It wasn't a date. It did not feel like a date anyway. We just laughed and talked about the old days and joked around. Then we started texting and emailing."

"Which explains why Morgan was running for his phone every five minutes." Matilda quips with a smirk to her best friend.

"Sorry." Amber shrugs sheepishly. "We got into talking. It felt normal. When he came back to town, he asked me out to dinner, for real that time, as an actual date. It just went on from there. He visited any chance he could get, and he would even bring me flowers."

"What?" Matilda laughs at the ridiculous thought. "Who knew he could be so romantic?"

"Right?" Amber laughs while leaning in closer to her. "I mean, I always knew that I liked him, but I never thought anything would come from it."

"Now you are carrying his baby," Matilda adds with a wink.

"Yeah, it is still processing in my mind." Amber sighs. "I was worried when I found out. I thought he would be mad. I thought he would dump me, or insist we get married, but he has been so great. You should have seen how excited he was when I told him. He cried."

"No." Matilda drags out that one word in shock as she looks to her brother, laughing with his brothers-in-law.

"I know, right?" Amber laughs softly, but Matilda looks back to see that she feels genuinely emotional about it all. "I know we should have told you, and I wanted to, but I was afraid of Don finding out. I didn't want him to use this as an opportunity to ruin you all."

Matilda reaches out and grabs Amber's hand in a comforting way. "It is alright. I understand. Do your parents know?" Matilda knows that Amber does not see Don Abilene as her father anymore, not since her stepfather adopted her when she was eighteen.

"Yeah, they know, and they love Morgan and all of you," Amber admits. "I am worried about what your parents will think of me."

Matilda deadpans a look back at Amber. "Are you kidding me? You are a daughter to them, and you are keeping their son in line, and you are giving them the grandchild they always wanted." Matilda shakes her head slowly. "You should have seen how disappointed they were when they realized I wasn't pregnant."