“True that,” Cubby agreed. “So?” He looked at Newman, who said nothing.
“Here we are,” Branna said, coming back out onto the deck.
Hope was nibbling a cracker. Her eyes went to Newman, and away again. Newman looked at Branna, who offered him a gentle smile.
He sighed. There was really not much else he could think of doing right at that moment. This was Howling after all; not much got by anyone.
“So, how you feeling, Hope?”
She shot Jake a look, then Cubby. Both gave her a gentle smile. The men around here did that with pregnant woman. Newman had once had a conversation with his friends about this very matter. Granted, they were a few beers under on poker night, but still, he remembered it.
“You smile at pregnant woman gentler,”Cubby had said.“You never know how they’re handling it you see. Some like being pregnant, others, not so much. So the smile is always the best option.”
“Sit, you look green,” Newman said, getting to his feet and lowering her into a seat. “It’s my guess, Branna was onto you?”
Hope nodded.
“So was the doctor, and Cubby a close second.”
Hope groaned and lowered her head to her knees. After admiring her agility, because he wasn’t sure he was that supple, he rested a hand on her neck and rubbed the tension.
“We just found out a few days ago, and are trying to get a handle on it, so let’s keep it to ourselves for now, okay?”
His friends nodded.
“Our parents don’t know yet.”
“I think we need to get Hope checked out,” Jake said.
“Congratulations,” Cubby said, getting to his feet. Hope was now upright, so he hugged her, then pumped Newman’s hand. “Got to head home now, before I fall asleep here. I’ll be in touch, Hope.”
“Okay.”
Jake talked to Hope about a few things she needed to know about what her body was going through. Newman listened, and was pleased he was a man. They then made an appointment for her at the clinic.
“You doing okay?”
Newman was driving her home. She was quiet, and looked pale and tired.
“Yes. It’s a lot to take in, but the baby thing aside, this business with Wildlife isn’t going away, is it, Newman?”
“They have no proof, Hope. So we’ll just deal with what comes along, okay?”
She didn’t nod, or look at him again, just sat staring out the window, leaving Newman to wonder what the hell was going to happen to them next.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Hope told her mother the next day. Soon the book club would arrive, and she wanted to be gone by then, because while singly those women were all nice people, together they were a force of nature she wanted no part of. She’d made her mother promise with a threat of death, that she hadn’t put Hope’s name forward for membership, but her mother hadn’t responded.
“And the child is Paul Newman’s?”
Hope nodded. They were sitting outside in the garden, with iced tea in tall glasses, and the sun warming the flowers, sending a lovely aroma into the air.
“I did not want this for you, Hope. This is what happened to me.”
“But I thought you and my father got married and then had Ryan and me.”
“No, I fell pregnant with Ryan, and your father decided we should marry. After you came along, he realized that living here and family life were not for him, and left.”
