“Good genes. This red hair comes from my mother’s side. She’s Irish. She’s sixty-five and still only has a few strands of gray.”
“Well, you look great.” I had no idea what else to say.
He regarded his watch. “I have to go.” He took another sip of his coffee and then placed the lid on it. “I’m thrilled I ran into you. It will be nice to know someone around town. Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?”
I bit my lip. Dinner? Was he proposing a date? I wasn’t sure.
“We can talk about Grand Junction, Valleycrest, and anything else interesting around here.”
What would be the harm in that? “Sure, I’d like that. I’m done tonight by six. You want to meet somewhere?”
“Do you have your card handy with an address on it? I’ll just pick you up there.”
I pulled the card out of my laptop case and handed it to him. “Okay, if you’re sure you don’t mind. See you at six.”
He smiled, his eyes twinkling. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Chapter Seventeen
Jonah
I finally got a text from Bryce the next morning before lunch. It said only, “We’re home.”
I called. No answer.
So I drove over. Half an hour later, I arrived at the mayor’s house in Snow Creek. I knocked on the door.
Bryce’s mom, Evelyn Simpson, answered the door. “Oh, hello, Joe.”
“Hi, Evelyn. I came to see Bryce. Is Henry okay?”
Evelyn looked pale and fatigued. “He’s fine. Evidently he had a chill. Last night he was crying and crying, and his lips started to turn blue. We were worried that he was suffering from lack of oxygen, and it was after hours so we ran to Grand Junction to the emergency room. I’ve never been
so scared in my life.”
“So he’s okay?”
“By the time we got to the hospital, he was starting to look better. His temperature was below normal. Nobody seemed to know what caused it. The ER doctor said it was probably a virus. But that confuses me. I always thought viruses were supposed to make your temperature go up, not down.”
“I certainly don’t know.”
“He seems to be fine now. We stayed there a while, ended up being gone all night. Just got back a little while ago.”
“Where’s Bryce?”
Evelyn held the door open for me. “He and his dad are in with the baby. Come on in.”
His dad. My skin tightened around me. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see Tom Simpson.
I walked into the house, following the sound of the baby’s cries. “Bryce?” I said, standing in the door of what appeared to be a makeshift nursery.
Tom Simpson was holding little Henry, rocking him in a recliner. Bryce was putting medicine into a syringe.
“Hey, Joe.”
I cleared my throat, trying not to look at Tom. “I hear you guys had quite a night.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry I didn’t answer your calls or texts. I was freaked.”