“I’d be happy to make a list of donations you could make as they come to mind, but I will not go to dinner with you. Tonight, or ever.”
Debbie’s eyes narrowed to slits as she raised her chin.
Just as he’d thought. It had all been an act. She’d almost had him convinced.
His cell phone vibrated on the desk, and relief shot through Robert. Saved by the bell. Jake’s face popped up on the screen, and he snatched it up before Debbie could see it wasn’t an official call. “Sorry, I need to take this.”
She huffed as she stood and walked out of his office with her heels clacking on the floor.
He closed the door behind her.Good riddance.
* * *
“Sheriff Winters,”Robert answered with his official title, in case Debbie was still close enough to hear. He kicked back in his chair and put his feet on the corner of his desk when his brother’s cheerful greeting came through the line. “Hey, Jake. What’s up?”
“I have some news to share with you.” Jake said, his voice a little higher than normal.
“Sounds like good news from the sound of your voice.”
“Emily’s pregnant. You’re going to be an uncle.” The pride in Jake’s voice brought a smile to Robert’s face.
“Congratulations. But that’s not news to me.”
He’d noticed Emily’s struggle not to give in to the nausea the other night, just like Amy had been doing the past couple of months. When Emily placed her hand on her lower abdomen—like Amy always did—it was a dead giveaway.
“Who told you? I haven’t even told Mom yet.”
“Good thing, unless you want the entire town to know.”
Robert loved his mother, but she was about as big of a gossip as they came,andshe was eager to be a grandma.
“No one told me, bro. Emily looked as green around the gills as Amy did the other night at dinner.”
“When is Emily due?”
“About a month after Amy,” Jake said.
That meant late January. Ben and Amy were expecting in December, and Robert couldn’t be happier for them.
“Congratulations, Jake. I’m happy for you both.”
“Thanks. Uh...hey, don’t tell Mom yet, will you? I don’t think we’re ready for the entire town to know yet.”
“You got it.”
The call ended a short time later, and Robert planted his elbows on his desk.An Uncle.
He already felt like an uncle to Ben and Amy’s daughters. Kallie and Cassey were the cutest three-year-olds.
Now, Jake and Emily, who had only been married five months, were expecting a baby this winter as well.
A heaviness filled his chest. This wasn’t how things were supposed to turn out. As the oldest, he should have become a father before he became an uncle.
If anyone had asked him five years ago where he saw himself at thirty-one, without hesitation, he would have responded, “Married with a couple kids.” Back then, he knew exactly who the mother would be.
But things hadn’t turned out like he’d planned. This one-horse town was too small for the only woman he’d ever loved. Jessie needed more. More than he could give her.
His head shot up at a knock on his office door. He gripped the cell phone he still held. If Debbie had come back, he might do or say something that could hurt his chances for re-election.
