THATSPECIALSOMEONE
LORI FOSTER
Special thanks to my Facebook followers, who always help out when I need a name—for a human or a pet.
When I asked on my page, reader Danielle Walther offered up the name “River” for a cat.It turned into theperfectname—especially for a cat that liked to steal the show.
CHAPTER1
Of course it was in the low nineties in early September.The broiling sun hung like a fiery ball in the cloudless afternoon sky.Ohio weather was always unpredictable, but usually by now the temps would be mid to high seventies.
No one wanted to shingle a roof in this heat, but after a destructive rainstorm, and with more rain in the forecast, it was now or never for the elderly customers who’d hired him.No way could he leave them with a leaking roof.
Thankfully, Knox Nial had a great crew.They weren’t complaining, so he couldn’t complain.Good thing they’d started early and the house was small.
He had his hammer raised when the phone in his back pocket buzzed.Pausing, he fished it out to glance at the screen.His friend Ford had recently married and was finally able to take his wife on a brief getaway.Knox had volunteered to pet sit their two dogs—with the help of Ford’s new sister-in-law, which Knox considered a bonus.
It was the sister-in-law, Laylee Fairchild, calling him now.She knew he was roofing today, which made him worry there might bea problem with one of the dogs.He answered on the third ring.“What’s up?Everything okay?”
He didn’t realize he’d accidentally put her on speaker until she loudly wailed, “Knox, I think I’m pregnant!”
Several things happened at once.
The other three men went silent.Knox fumbled the phone, tried to grab it, and lost his footing.Both he and the phone tumbled right over the side of the roof, landing in ancient shrubbery.
For several seconds, Knox didn’t move.He was half in, half out of the bushes, which—maybe—had broken his fall.The other men were shouting, quickly descending the ladder, and he finally got it together enough to groan.
Laylee was still talking a mile a minute, so he grabbed for the phone, getting more scratches in the process, and said, “Give me just a sec.”
There was a brief hesitation, and she asked, “Why do you sound like that?”And then, with a touch of anger, “You aren’t the dad, Knox!We haven’t even had sex.”
The guys, who had been in the process of reaching for him, all grinned.
Knox said, “I fell off the roof.”
“You …what?”
“I’m fine.”He hoped.Accepting a hand, he scrambled to his feet, checked his body, and decided other than bloody scratches and a few likely bruises, he’d survived.“Hold on.”He held the phone against his thigh and drew a breath.
Pregnant.Okay, he hadn’t seen that one coming.
When he thought of Laylee, as he often did, it was the two of them together—which, admittedly, hadn’t happened yet, but he was working on it.Some other dude in the picture, though?Damn.
He glanced at the guys, saw them all waiting, and frowned.“I need to take this call.”
The three of them nodded.
Willie, the oldest at forty-seven, who’d started with Knox’sdad before Knox had taken over the construction company, gave a snort.“You shouldn’t keep her waiting.She sounded upset.”Nothing much bothered Willie, so he headed back up the ladder, calling over his shoulder, “You two.Get back to work.”
The two younger men lingered because they were snoops.Knox knew they’d be ribbing him for weeks about this.Pointing to his Silverado, which was parked on the street, he said, “I’m going to sit in the truck for privacy.”Not for the air-conditioning, though he wouldn’t complain about that part.“You heard Willie.Back to work.”
As he walked away, he took the phone off speaker and put it to his ear.“Laylee?”
She screeched, “You fell off a roof?”
Wincing, he opened his truck door.A miserable blast of heat poured out.“Yeah.”He started the engine and turned the air on full blast.“But I’m fine.”
“Oh, my God, Knox, I’m so sorry.It’s my fault, isn’t it?I startled you.”
