Page 51 of Before You Can Blink
Well, that answered the question as towhoWade married.
“Yeah . . .”
“He pointed it right at my balls when Caroline told him she was pregnant.”
I choked on my own damn spit. Hacking up a lung, my throat on fire, I managed to croak out, “Pregnant?”
“Uh-huh. About eight weeks.”
Dragging a hand down my face, I muttered, “Jesus, Wade.”
“Oh, I know you’re not sittin’ over there judging me when your little redheaded ‘whoopsie’ is running around this land.”
I gritted my teeth. “At least I was married first.”
“You won’t want to hear this, but I don’t see knocking up Caroline as a bad thing. No way would I have gotten her daddy’s permission had I asked outright.”
“Except that you jumped the gun on this whole thing, Wade. You said it yourself: you can’t bring your wife to live in the bunkhouse, and you certainly can’t raise a baby there.”
And because I knew exactly what Daisy would say when I told her all this, my head dropped back on a groan, knowing the choice had already been made for me. We’d be stuck living another year in that fucking cabin while I built a house for my best friend and his new family.
At this rate, we’d still be living there when Aspen graduated from high school.
October
Vaguely aware of tires kicking up gravel in the distance, I kept my focus on the nail gun as I rhythmically pulled the trigger, moving down the framework of what would eventually become a wall for the Atkinses’ house.
Wade was working opposite me, the two of us spending every free minute out here as we raced against the clock to make sure he had somewhere to bring his baby home from the hospital. It wasn’t set to be anything fancy, but it would be functional. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen—though the kitchen would take up most of the first floor and have extra appliances, as Caroline had agreed to bring hercooking skills to Sullivan Ranch and would handle feeding our crew going forward.
“Not sure why Murph is in such a rush,” Wade mumbled under his breath. “If I didn’t have to be out here, I wouldn’t.”
I shot him a glare. Did he honestly thinkIwanted to be out here when I could be at home with my girls? The fall chill was biting, and I would kill to be cuddled up beneath the covers, sharing body heat, while Daisy read a story until Aspen fell asleep in my arms.
The vehicle came to a stop behind us, and Murphy called out, “Jett!”
Shoving the protective goggles up so they rested atop my head, I craned my neck around to find he was still inside his truck, leaning out the open window.
“You gettin’ out to help or what?” More hands making less work was the only way this house would get finished on time.
Lips pulling into a thin line, he shook his head. “Doc Stevens’ office called me, knowing you’d be unreachable out here.”
Heart rate kicking into high gear, I was on my feet in a flash. “What happened?”
“Aspen’s hurt.”
Those words might as well have been a dagger plunged straight into my heart, the pain of it so sharp it stole my breath away.
“Get in. I’ll take you over there.”
Running down the already-constructed porch steps, I raced toward Murph’s truck, hauling myself into the passenger seat and yelling at him to start driving before I was even buckled.
Chest heaving, I demanded answers. “Hurt how?”
Murphy’s eyes remained fixed forward as he navigated over the open terrain. “Wouldn’t tell me. Said something about privacy laws.”
“Fuck.” I slammed my hand on the dash.
The whole drive, my mind went wild, imagining every possible scenario, each one more terrifying than the last.
