Page 218 of Show Me

For a second, neither of us says anything. Then it hits me. Really hits me. “I’m going to have a baby.”

Dad reaches across the console and squeezes my hand. “Yeah, sweetheart. You are.”

My eyes burn. “I’m happy.” It feels important to say that out loud. “Scared. Completely overwhelmed. But happy.”

“Sounds about right.”

I laugh and wipe beneath one eye.

We’re several miles down the highway before he glances over. “You still planning to start those vet tech classes?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

I look at him. “That's it?”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I don't know. Maybe point out that having a baby and starting school at the same time could be a stupid decision?”

“You've been taking care of animals since you were old enough to chase them. You'll figure it out.”

The certainty in his voice loosens something inside me. I watch the fields pass for another mile.

I settle against the seat, one hand resting over my stomach. Nine weeks. Healthy so far. Classes starting soon. Xavier.

My smile fades. I have to tell him. Sooner rather than later. He deserves to know.

Chapter One Hundred Fifteen

Xavier

By the next afternoon, I’ve scared off another receptionist. Dad informs me the second I walk into the office. “She quit at lunch.”

I stop in the middle of the room while dragging off my coat. “Why?”

His brow rises as he leans back in his chair, causing it to squeak. “Apparently, you made her nervous.”

“I barely talked to her.”

“That was part of the problem.”

I drag a hand down my face. Maybe I shouldn’t have glared at the woman every time I walked by because she wasn’t Ruby.

The office feels wrong without her behind the desk. Nobody humming while she works. Nobody stealing Dad’s coffee or bitching when I track mud across the floor.

Just fucking silence.

Fucking wrong.

I toss my coat onto the empty receptionist’s desk, not like anyone’s using it now.

“You look like hell.”

“Thanks.”

He crosses his arms. “You’re also making everybody around you miserable.”