Chapter 15

Moving to California was something she never thought she would do. Heck, moving out of Georgia wasn’t something she really thought would happen. Money and resources were always tight. She didn’t know how to escape the area where she’d grown up. Even with Atlanta close, she couldn’t get together everything she needed to move to the north side of the city.

Being in California was like a dream come true. When Peach drove out of the parking garage, she gasped. "They really have palm trees here?"

Peach chuckled. “Yeah. Have you ever been to California?”

She shook her head as she looked around, trying to take it all in. “No. I’ve never even seen the ocean. I spent my whole life near Atlanta.”

"So even with all the coastline of Georgia, you've never seen the ocean?"

“No. I went to Savannah one time, but we didn’t make it to the ocean.” She grew quiet, wondering if Peach would think she was too ignorant and send her home .

“Hey, you went quiet. Everything okay?”

She drew in a slow breath. "I'm overwhelmed. I'm here in San Diego. I didn't really think about what it meant when I said I would come out here. But I sound like a hick, and I'm uncultured. I'm a mess, and I'm afraid your friends are going to tell you to get rid of me."

His hand landed on her leg, and he squeezed. "Trust me, no one will say that. I know it can be hard meeting new people, but they are all really nice."

“That was the first time I’ve ever flown, and I’m glad you were there because if you hadn’t been there with me, I don’t think I would have made it onto the plane.”

“I didn’t realize you’d never flown before. You did great.”

“I was so scared when we took off.”

“You hid it well.”

They were moving fast. She turned to look out the window and gasped. “I see water. Is that the ocean?”

"No, it's the bay. We'll go out to the ocean later. We might be able to go out this afternoon. However, we do need to stop by Wild and Ava's house. I don't have a regular mattress for you yet, so you'll have to use the air mattress for a while until we can get you one."

“Oh, I don’t need anything special.”

"Listen, you can't do the air mattress long term. Eventually, you'll have a baby, and we need to figure out what to do. I mean, the room isn't that big, so I'm not sure how it will all work together."

Tears filled her eyes, and she didn’t want to cry, but Peach had done so much for her. “I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

“You don’t have to. Trust me, we’ll figure it out and make sure it all works out.”

“I can’t thank you enough. You’ve changed everything for me. I can’t even begin to tell you how much this means.”

He squeezed her leg again, then took an exit. They made a few turns and were in a neighborhood. All the houses were closer out here, and there was very little green space. The trees were short, except for the palm trees, but even those were shorter than the tall pines in Georgia.

“The sky is blue.”

“The air is cleaner out here because of the breeze off the ocean.”

“I’m amazed. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve this, but I can’t believe it.”

“Well, Haisley, believe it. I mean, moving to a new location can be scary, so give yourself time. And we’ll get you set up so you feel like you belong. I have to go back to work in the morning, so you’ll be stuck here, but we’ll make sure you learn how to use the bus system.”

Fear crept up, but she pushed it away. She needed to be strong and not a pain in the ass. They stopped in front of a house, and the door opened. A big man with dark hair and a dark beard stepped out. She was meeting his friends, and she hoped she didn't do anything stupid. The last thing she wanted was to leave a bad impression. They probably already thought badly of her because of what she'd been through.

Peach stepped out of the car and came around to open the door for her. A woman stepped out behind the big guy, and she was followed by two girls. This family looked picture perfect, and here she was, a knocked up woman not even knowing who the father of her child was. Maybe she should have stayed in Georgia. Everyone there knew she was trailer trash, out here it would be obvious the second she opened her mouth.

Haisley stepped around the front of the vehicle, holding out her hand for them to shake it right when a huge bird flew over and dropped a turd that landed smack dab on her hand, splashing all the way up to her arm.

The day, travel, and now the bird shit was too much, and she turned to the side and vomited everything she’d eaten on the plane on the nearly pristine driveway. She couldn’t have made a worse first impression if she’d tried.