Page 108 of It Runs in the Family

“Let’s just say I want to keep it with me as insurance for now.”

“Insurance for what?” he asked, bewildered.

I wasn’t about to tell him I was worried he’d ditch me once he had what he needed. No sense in giving him ideas. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll take it with me and be out as soon as I put the baby down.”

“No” he barked. “That jacket’s not leaving my sight.’

“And it’s not leaving mine,” I said, lifting my chin. “You don’t even know what’s in it.”

“Exactly.”

I jutted my hip out while I tried to reason this out. “Since we’ve reached a stalemate, come inside with me while I put the baby down.”

“You want me to watch you put a baby in its crib?”

“No, I want you to watch the jacket I’ll be holding when I put the baby in his crib. Then we’ll put the boxes back and take the jacket somewhere together.

His eyes hardened. “You know, I could rip this jacket from you and leave you here.”

So, he had considered that as an option. Damn him for suggesting it.

I gave him a defiant glare. “If you try to snatch it from me, you risk hurting this poor innocent baby. Besides”—I lifted my chin with a haughty air—“I have more information about Selena I haven’t told you yet. Which could pertain to what I found in this jacket.”

He studied me like he was trying to talk himself out of locking me up in the garage.

“Fine,” he said with a grunt. “You can hold the jacket. I’ll walk in with you. We’ll put the jacket on the driveway while we both put the boxes back, then we’ll go somewhere and examine it together.”

“You swear?” I asked, holding his gaze.

“Do you?” he countered.

Fair.

“I swear,” I said solemnly.

“I swear too,” he said. “Do we spit now or hook our pinkie fingers?” The slight mischievous glint in his eyes filled me with relief. He was pissed but not irrevocably so.

“Gross. Neither. But I know where we can go to look it over.” I tugged the jacket free from his hold and started to bunch it up to my side so I didn’t trip over it.

“Where do you want to go?” he asked, sounding like he already regretted agreeing to the terms. He picked up the iPad.

“That,” I said in a stern tone, “is one of many things I know and haven’t told you about.” Then I walked through the thankfully unlocked door into Rita’s kitchen and let him follow.

I knew plenty of things. The real question was, how much was I going to tell him?

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Rita was on the living room sofa, a basket of baby clothes on the coffee table, some already folded next to her. She was leaning back, her eyes closed and her face tilted up. A soft snore escaped her partially open mouth.

I glanced back at Boone mouthing “shh,” then carefully made my way to the nursery, the first room on the left when we reached the hall. Glancing at Boone, I set the jacket down next to the crib before I got Baby JJ settled. Thankfully, the baby stayed asleep.

Once I was done, I picked the jacket back up, and Boone and I headed out to the garage.

As agreed, I set the jacket down on the driveway in front of the truck before we got to work on the boxes, and Boone set the iPad down next to it. I nearly joked that he could take the stuffed possum, and I wouldn’t tell a soul, but we’d lost our earlier familiarity.

I’d brought that on myself, and part of me regretted the rift I’d caused.

When we finished in the garage, Boone shut the door, and we got into the truck.