Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
A wicked smile spread across his face. “You and me alone for a few days…”
“A few days? I’m going to be carrying this baby for nine months! I think I deserve at least a week.”
Gavin tossed his head back in laughter. “Seven days it is.”
Gavin
New Year’s Eve was always all hands on deck, even in Moose Village. It was one of the holidays that you knew you were working. And with the small police force that we had, we were all okay with it. Mayor Browning always brought in dinner for us at city hall. We swung by when we got the chance, each of us rotating in shifts to eat. Someone was always there to chat and get us anything we needed. Most of the time it was the mayor himself. He even had Batter Up Bakery make special desserts for each of us as a thank you, just for doing our jobs. We never expected it, but it was nice, nonetheless.
“How’s Brystol feeling?” Declan asked as we stood back and watched the crowds gathering at The Green for the fireworks display.
“She’s doing good. Her morning sickness has settled down a lot, which is awesome. She’s craving the oddest foods, though. The other night, she wished we had a Thai restaurant in town. Then said no when I asked if she’s ever even had Thai food.”
Declan laughed.
“I bought a plant for her counter at the toy store, and she walked by it yesterday and said the dirt smelled good enough to eat. I had to call Mom on that one, asked her if that was normal. She just laughed. Come to think of it, she never answered me.”
Clapping me on the back, Declan said, “It’s normal. It must be about something they’re lacking while pregnant, because one of the guys I served with said his wife craved dirt. Like, legit, she wanted to eat dirt.”
I slowly shook my head. “Jesus, what do the babies do to them?”
Declan shrugged. “Don’t know. What I do know is, a man could never, ever be pregnant. We wouldn’t be able to handle it all.”
“I’ll agree with you on that one. She has the cutest baby bump, though. We’ve talked about heading to Boston and meeting up with Lauryn, Cadie’s friend. She told Brystol she would take her to some maternity shops.”
“When do you find out the sex?”
“I think they scheduled it for when she’s almost twenty-one weeks. It was Evelyn and Denny’s only free time, what with court cases and such. I tell ya, I don’t know how they’re going to do it when the baby comes. They go to Boston every other week, I swear. Sometimes they’re up there for a few weeks at a time, depending on the case that’s being tried.”
“Maybe they’ll cut back once the baby arrives.”
I nodded. “Maybe.”
Declan glanced around. “I didn’t see Brystol with the girls. Is she skipping the fireworks?”
“Yeah,” I said, as I homed in on a few kids who looked like they could be up to something. Their parents must have thought the same thing because whatever they were about to do, several adults interrupted.
“What was going on over there?” Declan asked as we started to make our way around the perimeter of The Green.
“Looked like some kids were about to have their own fireworks show, but their parents put a stop to it.”
“Glad to see some parents are watching their kids,” a familiar voice said from behind us.
We both turned to see my brother James approaching. He wore a deep scowl, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “What happened?”
He shook his head. “Little bastards were trying to break into the vet’s office. They wanted to see the kittens that were born the other day. Too bad for them, Dr. Wilson lives above the clinic, so they were met with the very angry vet and his wife—both of whom were holding baseball bats.”
Declan and I both laughed.
“Did you hear what happened to Remey?” James asked, a sudden smile on his face.
“No,” Declan and I said at the same time.
“Out-of-towner, drunk out of her mind, thought her friends hired him for her and she tried to undress him. When that didn’t work, she grabbed his dick so hard, he said he’s pretty sure he’ll never be able to have kids or hit the high notes in church ever again.”
Now Declan and I lost it, doubled over with laughter.
“Better him than me!” I said with a wink in James’s direction.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s been so long since I’ve had any kind of action, I’d take a good dick-grabbing right about now.”
At that moment, we saw Remey walking toward us—or at least, he was trying to walk.
“Never mind,” James quickly added.
As we laughed again, my name came through my shoulder mic. “Gavin—I mean, Officer Quinn?”
It was Jane, our communications center manager. She wasn’t at the 9-1-1 center tonight, and when I realized she was reaching out to me personally, an instant pit formed in my stomach.