Monkey Wrench (Cheap Thrills 8)

“Woman, don’t make me put you in the cell.”

This was their thing. They’d met under a mistaken arrest, which he’d then used to extort a date out of her—I say extort, more like, coerced a date out of her with it, which was kind of romantic when Tabby told the story herself. Since then, it’d become a form of foreplay and was just their ‘thing.’ Every couple had their own thing, be it a saying, a pet name, a place, whatever, and him putting her in ‘the cell’ was theirs.

Tabby gaped at her husband. “You’d put me in the cell while I was in labor?”

Remembering her sister Jose was in my house, I turned to see her reaction. Instead of looking pissed, she was chuckling and shaking her head. I guess if anyone knew and understood the true dynamics of Tabby and Dave’s relationship outside of them, it was her.

“No!” Dave sounded horrified at the prospect, getting my attention back on them. “Of course I wouldn’t. I meant— I just— I…” he trailed off, the muscle in his jaw ticking. “Damn it, fireball.”

A cough came from behind me, poorly covering up the word “sucker.”

Softening his expression to the point he looked like a puppy, he said, “If you’re in pain, the cramps come back, or you feel any different, will you call me, baby? Please?”

“Okay, honey. I promise I’ll do that. Now, you be safe at work, okay?”

And like that, the problem was over, and he was carrying her into my house and gently placing her on my couch.

“The same goes for all of you,” he told us sternly. “If Tabby looks uncomfortable or anything changes, call me. Nothing’s more important than what’s going on with her, so my phone will be on me all day.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” Jacinda said, standing up and saluting him. “If her vagina starts to evict the little critter, believe me when I say I’ll be calling you. I don’t do the whole birth thing as a rule, so there’s no way I’m going near it.”

“Best place for her is the hospital if anything happens,” Jose added, smiling at her brother-in-law. “That’s where the drugs are, so I’ll call you the second anything changes.”

Sighing, he shot us all a strained smile and then kissed Tabby goodbye. My boss may be the sheriff, but he was a good man who adored his wife, daughter, and their unborn baby. He was also good to everyone in town and treated them all equally, so he had a lot of respect and was well-liked by the whole population of Piersville.

Just as my front door closed behind him, Heidi appeared, carrying a tray with coffee, mugs, milk, and sugar on it. Oh, and there was cake, proving Ebru’s white box had held magic in it.

“You’re probably wondering why we’re here,” she said, placing it down on the coffee table.

“You could say that.” I mean, my boss hadn’t even told me I had to come into work. He’d just walked out, obviously knowing Shanti wasn’t home when the reason I wasn’t doing my job was to look after her.

Sitting down next to me, she reached out for my hand. “Please don’t be angry with him, but Carter told the ladies about Jeremy.”

I’d already spoken to Heidi and Jacinda about my problem—the people I was closest to—and I wasn’t angry at him for telling the others, I was just confused by his choice of women.

Ebru cleared her throat. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but I lost my sister to Sudden Death Syndrome. It was an arrhythmia problem that went undiagnosed, and she passed away in her sleep.”

My heart broke hearing that. “I-I had no idea,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

Her smile was strained. “Thank you. The reason I’m telling you is because I’m trying to show you that I get what you’ve gone through.”

Shit, Callum. Sometimes it helped knowing people had experienced what you’d gone through, so they understood the feelings associated with whatever it was, but loss was never one of those instances. Knowing someone carried the same grief I did, didn’t help at all, and it made me hurt badly for her.

“I found out my best friend had been murdered a couple of years ago,” Maya added, leaning forward as Ebru reached out for her hand, holding it tightly. “It isn’t the same as losing a sibling, but we were as close as sisters, so I understand yours and Ebru’s pain.”

“DNA doesn’t make family, love does,” I choked out.

“As you know, me and Tabby didn’t know each other existed until we did those Ancestry DNA tests,” Jose said softly. “We had no idea we’d end up saving each other by doing those tests, but that’s what happened.”

This part I knew. Tabby’s mom had been dying when she’d found Jose. After it, she’d moved from Jersey to Piersville, finding a new beginning and a new outlook on life in general. Jose had been pregnant and married to an abusive asshole with a toxic mom on top of it. She’d walked in on him cheating with Dave’s stepsister at the time, and Tabby had been the one to help her through it all and was there when she’d given birth to her daughter, Olivia. She’d since met her husband, Ellis, who worshipped her.