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Kate hated that she was right, but she took the test and stepped into the bathroom. It was now or never, and she didn’t live her life avoiding answers. She liked to be ready and prepared for anything, and that was exactly what she was going to do now. She was going to be prepared for absolutely everything.

****

Moseley had called Cruz and given him the good news. He happened to be in town, so he dropped in to settle any outstanding bill.

According to Moseley, there was no bill. He made sure he didn’t charge Kate for his services, and only when he was satisfied did he make his way out. That was when he saw Jaxson coming out of one of the florist businesses with a scowl on his face. He looked up toward him, and Cruz held his hand up in acknowledgement.

“You heard the news?” Jaxson asked. “Is that why you’re in town?”

“What news?”

“My wife buying a pregnancy test.”

This made Cruz frown. “Why the fuck would Tillie buy a pregnancy test? Is the bump messing with her head?”

Jaxson glared at him, and he held his hands up.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, it’s odd that a pregnant lady would buy a freaking test.”

“I know! Are you fucking stupid or something?” Jaxson asked.

“I’m being polite here,” Cruz said, feeling his anger starting to build, because he didn’t want to, nor did he need to be nice to this asshole. He was doing so because of Kate. She was friends with the man’s wife. From what he knew, Kate and Tillie had been friends a lot longer than he or Kate, or Jaxson and Tillie.

“Kate might be pregnant and seeing as you’re the only man she has been with, what are you doing to do about it?”

“Are you jealous?” Cruz asked.

“Fuck you, I’m not jealous but someone needs to look out for her. She doesn’t have a whole lot of people if you didn’t already realize that immediately.” Jaxson shook his head.

“Kate has me!”

“Yeah, and what are you going to do if she is pregnant? Will you stick around or are you just going to leave her to pick up the pieces?”

He was this close to wanting to beat the shit right out of Jaxson. He didn’t know why the bastard was trying to rile him up, but it was working.

Rather than stay and argue with Jaxson about Kate, he was going to the source. He made his way through the fucking town, and he knew Jaxson was following him, but he ignored him, and instead made it to Kate’s Fabric Shop, only to find the door fucking closed. This pissed him off, and he banged on the door. He didn’t like that he didn’t see her, but then Belle came to the door, and he bent down.

“Hey, little girl, will you tell your mommy and Auntie Kate that I’m here?” Cruz asked.

“Wow, fuck me, you can speak nice, but it is to a fucking dog,” Jaxson said.

“Fuck off,” Cruz said.

“How much do you want to hit me right now?”

“You have no idea how much.” He wanted to tell Jaxson to shut the fuck up.

Belle was a good girl as her barking did alert Tillie, who came to the door. Her eyes were wide as she took in the sight of him, and then toward Jaxson.

She reached for the lock and opened the door. “Wow, that was fast.”

“What was fast?”

“I think it was less than an hour ago that I went to pick up the test, and you’re already here. That has to be a world record.”

“Cruz thinks you’re stupid,” Jaxson said.

“I don’t think you’re stupid. Where is she?” Cruz asked. He didn’t have time to stroke anyone’s ego. There was only one person he wanted to see, and that was Kate.