Page 87 of Crashing the Altar
“Have a nice day, sir,” she chirped before hanging up.
Yeah, that flew out the window an hour ago.
Closing my eyes, I let my head fall back against the exterior of the motel.
This whole thing was bigger than us, and we needed help. Shoving Penny’s phone in my back pocket, I pulled out my own, dialing the only person I knew who could shed some light on our options.
The line didn’t ring more than once before Bex answered with a, “Happy Birthday!”
I tugged on the back of my neck. “Uh, thanks.”
“Why don’t you sound more excited? Did you not get the birthday special this morning from Penny?”
“Christ, Bex. Can we not?”
“I’ll take that as a no,” she teased.
In the background, I heard Tucker call out, “Is that Tripp?”
“Yeah,” Bex replied.
“Give me the phone,” he commanded.
Her voice rose in pitch. “What? Why?”
“Just give it to me.” There was a slight rustling before his voice came clear down the line. “Hey, everything okay?”
Outside of Jake—and now Ricky, who had witnessed the drama on the sidewalk—only Tucker, as her physician, knew Penny was pregnant.
A heavy sigh rattled my chest. “Not really, man.”
“What’s going on?”
“Appreciate the concern, but I’m gonna need you to put your wife back on. I need the legal mind right now, not the medical one.”
“Um, okay?” I couldn’t blame him for being confused. Penny and I were the last people you’d expect to wind up in legal trouble. Unless you counted that one time my wild girl convinced me to steal the keys to the school from my mom because she’d left a book in her locker that she needed to complete a term paper due the next day.
“Why are you guys acting weird?” Bex’s voice was filled with suspicion when she took the phone back from Tucker.
Rubbing a hand over my face, I blurted, “Penny’s pregnant.”
A thick swallow sounded on the other end of the line before a dazed, “Oh, wow.” She paused, and even without being able to see her, I could tell the gears were turning in her mind. “Tucker knows, I’m assuming?”
“Yeah,” I breathed out. “But it’s complicated.”
“Complicated,” she repeated the word slowly. “Complicated how?”
“With the timeline being a little muddy, Jake thinks it could be his baby.”
Bex sucked in a sharp breath. “Oh God.”
“He had her served today with a paternity test order. I know you’re not practicing anymore, but I called to see if you could shed some light on our legal rights.”
“Yeah, of course. Feel free to tell me it’s none of my business, but is there any possibility that he is the father?”
I’d convinced myself that the answer to that question was a resoundinghell no,but only because the alternative scared the living shit out of me.
“If there is, it’s slight. They, um—” My voice broke as it hit me in full force what it would mean for me and Penny if this baby turned out not to be mine. Would we be strong enough to survive this?
