“I’ve got most of it out of my system, I think, so tell me what’s going on.”
“Just between you and me, for now,” his brother said, looking him in the eye. “It’s important and it’s big, but for right now, it’s just between us. I mean it.”
“Just between us,” he promised. “What’s up?”
Considering the circumstances, Danny was surprised when Brian broke into a grin. “Siobhan’s pregnant.”
“No shit!” He pushed to his feet and went to his brother, who stood to receive his embrace and slap on the back. “Congratulations.”
Sitting again, Brian nodded. “We weren’t actively trying, but we weren’t actively tryingnotto, if you know what I mean. We’re still wrapping our heads around it.”
“And Siobhan’s okay?”
“She’s fine, but I’m—I wouldn’t say I’m a wreck, but I’m kind of a blend of over-the-moon excited and low-key terrified at all times.”
“I don’t know a lot about it, but I think that’s how you’re supposed to feel.”
While Brian and Siobhan shared a child—Oliver, who was the spitting image of the Kowalski brothers—they’d both be experiencing pregnancy for the first time. Last summer, when Siobhan visited the campground to be Steph Kowalski’s maid of honor, they’d all found out Brian was the biological father of the child she’d adopted from her sister—Brian’s ex-wife.
It had been a mess, but a mess with a happy ending because Brian and Siobhan fell in love. Their wedding over the winter had been small, just the parents and siblings, and they’d all gotten a little choked up.
“Again, it’swaytoo early to be telling anybody,” Brian said. “But I’ve got a problem, and looping you in on the news is the only way I can see out of it.”
“Siobhan and Oliver can’t go north to the campground with you, and you don’t want to leave her alone that long this early in the pregnancy.” When Brian’s shoulders dropped in a long exhale, Danny knew he’d nailed it. “And Joey’s got a new baby, plus Nora’s in school until late June, so he can’t go up.”
“I know when I tell Rob and Hannah, they’ll tell me they can handle it. And I know they can, but it doesn’t feel right to ask them to, you know? Even if it’s only until we get through her first trimester.”
I’d be able to see Kenzie again.
The thought filled him with a buzzing anticipation, but he tried to ignore it, focusing on the issue at hand. Sure, he’d turned in the manuscript, but there would be editorial notes bouncing back to him any day, since he’d put them behind schedule. There was a lot of work left to do in turning that manuscript into a book. To say nothing of all the marketing and admin stuff he’d let slide. And he should already be making notes to run by his editor for his next manuscript.
“When is she out of her first trimester?”
Brian winced. “Memorial Day weekend.”
“Oh, wow. You couldn’t have planned this any worse if you’d tried,” Danny said, and they both laughed.
The campground opened to their seasonal campers at the beginning of May. But at the end of May, they opened to all campers and the ATV trails opened. Along with the Fourth of July and Labor Day, they were the busiest days of the year for the campground. Indigenous Peoples’ Day in October was close, thanks to the long weekend and fall foliage, but it was more about the physical labor in making sure the campground was ready for campers. And there was wood to cut and bundle for reselling in the store. Roads to fix. ATV trails to work on. Hannah was a huge help in the office, but Brian not being around to help Rob for the entire month of May would be brutal.
“I know it’s a big ask,” Brian said. “You being up there wasn’t part of the—”
“I’ll go.” It wasn’t even a question, really. “Of course I’ll go. Can I take Stella?”
The Lab lifted her head, tongue hanging out, but Brian shook his head. “No. Get your own dog.”
He’d thought about it more than once, but he’d never gotten around to doing the work of researching which mix of breeds he should scour the shelters for.
And then his annoyingly predictable brain brought Kenzie back into the mix, wondering if she liked dogs.
Chapter Nine
Danny didn’t deliberately time his arrival at his parents’ house for the dinner hour, but he didn’tnotplan it that way.
“Who told you your mother made a lasagna?” his dad asked as soon as he walked through the front door.
He laughed. “Mom always makes a big meal on her day off.”
Mike and Lisa Kowalski weren’t exactly creatures of habit—having four sons kept any routine from settling in—but some things never changed.
