Pit Stop: Baby! (Crescent Cove 4)

Through my tears, I choked out a laugh. “What?”

“I always thought you’d been born without tear ducts.”

That was the impression I liked to give off. So much for that right now. “Surprise.”

Kelsey made a soft noise of distress and waddled around the table to stroke my hair. I’d braided it to get it out of my face, so she couldn’t do much more than pat, but even that helped. “I heard about the job. Don’t fret. Kathy is a stone-cold bitch.”

It was my turn to goggle. My sister never said stuff like that about people. She was the sweet one. I was the…not sweet one. “How did you find out?”

Kelsey waved off the question. “Small town. You know how it is.”

Even considering where I’d grown up, Crescent Cove was its own kind of beast. I was learning the hard way.

“But you can find something else. They’re always looking for people down at the school. Oh!” She clapped her hands as if she was bringing her classroom to order. “Just last week, the receptionist gave her notice. You’re great with filing.”

“My nails?”

“No, silly. You’ve had secretarial jobs before.”

I had, but not many and not for long. Though that covered my job history in full. I was out almost as fast as I was in. “Yes. But at a school? Especially a Catholic school? I’m not the poster child for clean living.”

Kelsey frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean? You haven’t fallen into a bad crowd since moving here, have you, Ry?”

I had to laugh. “Is there even such a thing in Crescent Cove?”

“Of course there is. This a small town, but there’s still a criminal element and shady characters.”

“Where? I’ve never seen one. And I gotta say, you sound so adorably prim and proper right now. This kid is going to be very well-mannered or else lose his mind and join a rock band.” I patted her beach ball belly as she gasped.

“A rock band? Those heathens?” But she was grinning, which I suspected was as much for my benefit as out of real amusement.

Forget her reaction to her kid being in a rock band. I’d prefer to see Dare’s. He’d probably ground him for life—even after he was of age. Dungeon, anyone?

“You don’t have to worry. I’m not doing anything dangerous. I definitely couldn’t now, even if I wanted to.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Today is supposed to be about you and your little dude. Not me and my…issues.” Though saying it that way felt wrong. My kid might be scaring the holy hell out of me, but he or she wasn’t a problem. I refused to see my baby that way. The last thing I wanted to do was traumatize the child before he or she was even born.

Besides, Gage seemed totally on-board with the idea. So weird. Why wasn’t he having panic attacks like most men who knocked up a random stranger would be? We were family, sort of, but that was an accident of…well, procreation too when it came right down to it. Who knew if Kelsey and Dare would’ve gotten married if she hadn’t been pregnant? I mean, they were completely gonzo over each other—anyone could see that—but the baby had certainly pushed them together.

Just like you and Gage.

Hmm. Yeah, no. Not the same at all. Gage wouldn’t be proposing anytime soon.

I didn’t think.

Would he?

I fought back a shiver and looked up at my sister, who was staring at me. “Rylee, you better spill. Pronto.”

“You should sit down.”

“That good, huh?” But she followed my directive and eased herself into the chair beside me.

I fiddled with the donkey’s tail on the salt shaker. “You can’t tell Mom or Dad yet. I will. Soon. Probably soon.”

Kelsey just waited.