Irreplaceable
Chapter 7

Once again, she was trapped in Landstad North Dakota on Valentine's Day. The only thing positive about it was that it was her last one in this place. Next year, she would be in Grand Forks or maybe Fargo. Anywhere but here.

Also, once again, the café was serving meatloaf. Sure, it was shaped like a heart, but it was still meatloaf Same thing every year, yet people always ordered it and made comments like they had never seen meat shaped like a heart before in their lives. Since her café windows faced the town's only flower shop, or actually the drug store that sold flowers so she had spent the day watching men go in and come out from the place. Bouquets and bouquets of flowers walked out. She saw men she knew and men she had never seen before. But none of the flowers were for her, because once again, she had no one on the most romantic day of the year. This year, she hadn't even tried, though she wasn't going to tell that to her mom.

What she did have was the same old customers who came in every day. Sat at the same places and ordered the same thing. Bringing another order of the special from the kitchen, she straightened her red sweater and watched Anderson come in through the door. He wasn't wearing a coat, even though the temperatures were bitter today. But the walk across the street was short. "Happy Valentine's Day, Anderson. Do you have big plans for Ruth tonight?" Mia asked about her frien forget; it's Ruth."

s their first holiday as a couple. Her heart instantly sank at his surprised expression. "By that reaction, I see you have no plans. Did you forget? You can't

Ruth hadn't had a date on Valentine's Day for way longer than Mia. She was a little mad that Anderson had forgotten. Writing their orders down-she didn't have to ask with these two-she sent it to the kitchen for her cook and leaned on the counter. "I forgot," he admitted, sitting heavily on a stool.

"Anderson, it's your first Valentine's Day as a couple. This is big. Did you get her anything at all? Ordered something online maybe?" Mia asked.

"No," he said sheepishly.

Mia glared at him. "No card? No flowers? No nothing?"

"I forgot," he reminded her.

"What are we going to get her? In Landstad today?" Her mind ran through all the places he could get her something, but nothing seemed right for her friend. Not on the first one. flowers wouldn't cut it.

"I don't know. I messed up, again," he admitted, his eyes downcast and dejected.

"Again?" she pressed. This wasn't sounding good.

This morning when she had woken up, she had been happy to know that at least Ruth would have a g holiday altogether. It would be for the good of the town.

"I hurt her feelings this morning." He didn't really tell her anything.

"How about giving her a day off? She was saying she doesn't get a lot of alone time lately. I think she

lentine's Day. Now she was beginning to think nobody in this entire town was having a good Valentine's Day and that they should have just cancelled the

misses being alone. You can still see her in the evening, but she can spend the day doing what Ruth does," Mia said, getting a little excited as she talked.

Ruth had been a virtual hermit up until a few months ago. Whatever she had done to keep herself busy all that time, Mia didn't know. "I'll think about it. Thanks." He took the boxes containing their lunches.

Watching as he walked out the door and across the freezing cold street, she hoped he would figure something out to make Ruth's day special. The cook called her name, and she took the plates to the diners at the end of the room in the last booth. Regulars. Both excited about the meatloaf.

As she walked back to the front, the café door opened and Rafferty walked in, carrying a balloon and a brown paper bag. The balloon was red and said, "love" in big letters.

He sat down at the counter, and Mia went to him in annoyance, asking, "What can I get you, Rafferty?"

She needed him out of here as soon as possible. Him and his damn balloon. Her holiday was already bad, he was only going to make it worse.

"Nothing for me today, though the special is tempting." He licked his lips, and she had a sudden flashback to those very l!ps on her nipple. She had a love-hate relationship with those flashbacks.

"What are you doing here?" She crossed her arms and ignored the tingle that had shot straight to her core.

"I

I got you something for the holiday." He handed her the bag and the balloon.

Taking it, she looked at him skeptically. "Why?"

"Just being a good lover.. Thought you would need it," he said and winked at her.

Looking around, she lowered her voice and hissed, "What is it?"

Rafferty shook his head and whispered back, "Maybe you should open it at home. It's kind of private."

At his words, she slowly opened the bag and peered inside. It was a pregnancy test. Quickly closing the bag, she leaned close to him and whispered, "What the hell, Rafferty?"

"I was just thinking that it got a little heated last time, and we might have forgotten something important. I don't know if you remember; you were a little drunk." He was smiling as he said it, like it was no big deal that they kept having s*x when she was drunk. "You took advantage of me when I was drunk, again." Hissing quietly, she glared at him as she tried to make the bag as small as possible and hand it back to him.

"You were all over me, Mia. It's not my fault you can't keep your hands off me." Holding up his hands and not taking the bag, he pushed away from the counter and headed to the door. Opening it, he turned, smiling and saying loudly, "Call me when you know." Seething with anger, she pulled the balloon down and, with her pen, popped it, which drew everyone's attention. Smiling at her customers, she wrapped the deflated balloon around the bag and threw it all in the garbage. He was such a liar. Nothing happened that night. She distinctly remembered falling asleep watching a movie. No way she woke up, had s*x, and fell back asleep and didn't remember it happening. There was no way.

Or was there a little way? She had been drinking, and she knew how she got when drunk. Horny. Would she have slept with Rafferty again? Wasn't one drunken hook-up enough?

Mia was contemplating giving up alcohol completely, cold turkey. Because lately, every time she drank, she slept with Rafferty, then couldn't remember a thing the next morning. Every. Stupid. Time.

Biting her l!p in annoyance, because she couldn't just go into the drug store and buy another one, not with every man for miles around buying flowers today, and now, she was questioning everything. She was about to grab the test from the garbage when Anderson ran into the café. "Have you seen Ruth?"

"No, she's probably at home." Mia forgot about the test and the possible pregnancy, suddenly thinking about her friend instead.

Anderson looked back out at the street at her apartment door. "I checked. She's not there."

"I haven't seen her mom come get her, she couldn't have gone far," Mia said, though she hadn't been paying attention to that. After all, she was all-consumed with her pregnancy scare right now. Ruth's whereabouts was the last thing on her mind. Her eyes darted to the garbage.

"Can you call me if you see her?" Anderson begged her.

"Did you do something? Did she realize you had forgotten about Valentine's Day?" She kicked the garbage out of her line of site. She needed to focus on Ruth right now.

"No, my ex called when I was getting lunch. Ruth answered. She said something, but I have no idea what." He looked so worried and concerned. If Mia hadn't known he was in love with Ruth before this, she knew now. Lucky Ruth; she got a good one. Not an annoying playboy like Rafferty!

"I'll call if I see her. She's most likely up there," Mia assured him, but he probably didn't hear her because he was out the door before she finished speaking. Shaking her head, she wondered what really happened. She knew she would replace out eventually, she always did.

After Anderson had left, she forced herself to walk away from the garbage and the test it contained, only to spend the rest of her shift thinking about the test in the garbage. Should she take it? Was she even late? By her calculations, she wasn't even late yet. But if they had unprotected s*x, maybe she should take it to make sure. Nosy Jackie at the drugstore wouldn't even have to know.

Better to know than not.

So as she left for the day, she grabbed the balloon-wrapped test from the garbage and hurried down two buildings to her apartment. Letting herself in she quickly, she discarded the balloon and paper bag. Taking it test straight into the bathroom, she read the directions. Staring, she realized she would have to take it in the morning. That was hours away.

Leaving it on the shelf in her bathroom, she threw herself on the couch. What was she going to do if she was carrying Rafferty's baby? First, she would beat him within an inch of his life; she didn't want a baby now, and she never wanted his baby. After changing into yoga pants and a sweatshirt, she spent the rest of the day and evening watching movies on TV. Most were from her high school years, so she loved them all. And they were able to take her mind off the test waiting in her bathroom for her to pass or fail in the morning just like high school. She hated tests.

As midnight neared, she knew she had to go to bed. It was never going to be morning if she didn't sleep. And worse, her day at the café would be awful with no sleep. Turning off the TV and the light in the living room, she looked out the window and saw Ruth's light on in her apartment, and she even saw movement. She grabbed her phone to text Anderson like she promised, but then decided no. If Ruth wanted alone time, she was going to let Ruth have her space. Anderson would replace her soon enough.

Climbing into bed, she snuggled into her covers and hoped morning would bring joy instead of terror. Her sleep was fitful and full of dreams of crying babies and disappointed parents. She woke up almost every hour from a nightmare, until at four, she finally just got up to take the test.

The small prayer to the lord above for a negative result was answered. She wasn't pregnant. And as penance, she decided that she would never drink again; unless Rafferty wasn't around, then she could drink like a fish. Cold-turkey seemed harsh after all.