Page 61 of The Broken Hearts Club

Miller held up his phone, showing me the timer on his screen as he said, “The contractions are three minutes apart.”

“I’m so mad at Brad right now,” I snapped. “He should be there! You shouldn’t have to go through this alone, Jeannie.”

“She’s not alone,” Dwight chimed in, before telling Jeannie, “I’ll go in with you and hold your hand if you want me to. I’ll sit up by your head, so I can’t see… well, you know. And I promise I’ll stay with you as long as you want me to.”

She asked, “Would you really do that?”

“Of course.”

They smiled at each other, and Miller said, “Dwight saves the day.”

“I’d better go,” Jeannie told me. “I can see the city limits up ahead, so we’ll be at the hospital in a couple of minutes. I’ll check in as soon as I can, Collie. I love you.”

“I love you too, Jeannie. You’ve got this!”

“Yeah, I do.”

I’d been pacing back and forth, and once the call ended, I took a seat and hugged a throw pillow to my chest. Miller sat down beside me and asked, “Does Jeannie have any relatives nearby?”

“Just her husband’s family. Her dad got transferred two years after we graduated from high school, so her parents and younger sister moved to New Mexico.”

After a pause, he asked, “Do you think Brad is really cheating on her?”

“I wouldn’t put it past him. I wish I knew for sure, though.” I remembered something just then and told him, “You should be getting ready for your meeting. You don’t want to be late.”

“Maybe I should postpone it, so I can stay with you while you wait to hear back from Jeannie.”

“That’s sweet, but you worked really hard on that presentation, and you and I are both dying to hear what your team thinks about the new concept. Besides, you’ll be back in a couple of hours. She’ll probably still be in labor.”

“Well, if you’re sure…”

“I am.”

He hesitated, but then he said, “Okay,” and went to get ready.

When Miller joined me in the kitchen, where I’d resumed my pacing, he’d changed into a nice pair of jeans and a dark blue button-down shirt. As he rolled back his sleeves, he asked me again, “Are you sure you’re going to be okay on your own?”

“I’ll be fine. Please don’t worry about me.”

“Alright. I’ll see you soon.”

I called, “Good luck,” as he headed down the stairs. Then I took a seat at the kitchen island and stared at my phone. I knew it was going to be a while before I heard from Jeannie. I just really wished I could do something for her in the meantime.

A few moments later, the cat jumped up onto the island and stared at me. I told her, “We need to know for sure if Brad’s having an affair. If he is, Jeannie’s never going to forgive him.”

Just then, I had an idea. I did a quick internet search and found the number for Brad’s employer. The company was owned by a man named Hank “The Tank” Turkowski. He and Brad were two of a kind—big, burly meatheads who were still clinging to their glory days as former high school football stars.

I dialed the number and pretended to be a customer, and Hank’s secretary put me through to him. He answered with, “Hank the Tank here. What can I do for you?”

I went with a total bluff. “How could you cover for Brad while he was cheating on his wife?”

“Who is this?”

“I’m a friend of Jeannie’s. She’s in labor right now, and she’s all alone, because he’s off on a romantic getaway with his girlfriend!” Okay, so she wasn’t actually alone, but he didn’t need to know that. And I was just guessing about the rest of it, but I said it with conviction. For good measure, I added, “You should be ashamed of yourself for helping him deceive the sweet, innocent mother of his children!”

“Look, I can’t control what Brad does. He’s a grown man.”

“Come on. You’re a mentor and a father figure to Brad! You could have talked some sense into him, instead of aiding and abetting an adulterer.”