Jeremiah (Stud Ranch 5)

So when they’d hired a new guy on to take up some of the slack from Reece and Jeremiah leaving, apparently Liam decided it was time for one of his infamous pranks.

“He would not let up on this guy,” Mel continued. “Saran wrap across his door in the morning. Putting just enough stuffing in the toe of his boots so they didn’t fit right, but it wasn’t obvious. No one would fess up. So Blue, the new guy, is getting more and more pissed. But Liam’s not about to let up. And he’s also been pretending to be an American this whole time, like he’s not Irish.”

“And what does your husband say to all this?”

“Xavier stays out of it. As long as the guys put in their hours and don’t give him trouble, he leaves them be. But Blue did start noticing that our kids laughed whenever they were nearby and Liam spoke with an American accent. He thought it was another prank and it was, but he couldn’t figure it out. It was driving the poor guy nuts.”

“So what happened?” Charlie asked. “Did he ever get a clue?”

Mel’s grin was slow. “Oh yeah, I’d say he did. Since he didn’t know who was doing it all, he decided to take his revenge on all of them, all at once.”

“It started in the morning, with donuts. He brought a separate box for me and the kids, but the one for the guys? All jelly-filled donuts. Except they were special. He’d also piped some ketchup into them. Most of the guys spit them out, all except for Liam who ate all of his and said it was delicious.”

Olivia was laughing her ass off, hiccupping from the alcohol and the story.

I backed away from the table. “I’ll go get another round.”

“But you have to hear how the story finishes!” Olivia cried.

“I’ve grown up around men my whole life,” I said with a laugh. “I can imagine. So that’s two Fat Tires and a vodka soda, yeah?”

Mel and Olivia nodded but Charlie reached out and grabbed my forearm. “Just tell them mine is for the bride-to-be. They’ll know what I mean.”

I nodded but frowned after I turned away. What did she mean by that? I went to the bar and gave my order, repeating the words Charlie had told me to say. The bartender nodded knowingly and several minutes later gave me a little cardboard carrier with the drinks to carry back.

On impulse, after I’d turned back toward the table, I paused and looked down at the cup of vodka soda. I took one glance toward the table where the girls were sitting. They were all still laughing and fully absorbed. So I picked up the vodka and took a small sip.

There were the bubbles of the soda… but no vodka in the drink.

My head jerked back up to look at the table.

Oh shit.

No, no, no, I didn’t need to go jumping to conclusions. Maybe she just didn’t want to get smashed the night before the night before her wedding?

But I’d never seen Charlie hold back before.

Either way, I had to know. I was moving away, for God’s sake. And if there was some other reason…

I stalked back to the table, set the drink tray down on the table, and hooked my arm around Charlie’s as I leaned over to speak directly in her ear. “Why are you pretending to drink vodka when you aren’t really?”

I pulled back and looked in her face and I saw it there plain as day. “Oh my God, you’re pregnant,” I whispered, and then clapped a hand over my mouth.

Charlie’s eyes went wide as saucers and she shot back in her seat.

“You are?” Olivia squealed. “Oh my God, why didn’t you tell us? Congratulations!” She almost fell over herself as well as Mel, jumping up and leaning across the table to try to hug Charlie. All she managed to accomplish was tipping over the two very full beers I’d just put down.

“Jesus!” I swore and barely managed to grab the bottlenecks right as they started pouring brown liquid all over the table and Charlie was stepping back even more, shaking her head back and forth.

“No one’s supposed to know,” she said, so quietly I more read her lips than heard her above the loud music. “Not until after.”

Her hand went to her tummy, which was still flat as far as I could see.

I nodded. Having gotten to know her mom and how judgmental she was, I could get it. And maybe it was really early along, maybe they’d just found out—

“How far along?” Olivia asked excitedly, all but bouncing on her feet.

Charlie’s eyes bounced furtively among the group. “Three months.”

My mouth dropped open; I couldn’t help it. She was three months pregnant and she hadn’t told me? We lived together and were best friends. At least I thought we were.