Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 55305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Heads turn when we walk in.
News travels fast in Rockwell Ridge, and a pregnant woman flanked by both Fletcher brothers is prime gossip. I see the glances. The tilted heads. The whispered comments behind coffee cups.
Once, that might have sent heat crawling up my neck.
Today, I slide into the booth with Mason on one side and Brookes on the other, and I don’t care at all.
Let them look. I'm loved. I’m so happy I might burst, and that’s before I stuff myself with delicious fried goodness.
Mason rests his arm along the back of the booth behind me. Brookes takes my hand under the table, his thumb brushing over my ringless finger as if silently promising that rings or no rings, ceremony or no ceremony, what we have is real.
When the waitress comes over, she looks at all three of us with a curious smile.
“What can I get you folks?”
“Burgers,” Mason says.
“Three?” she asks.
“Four,” I say.
Both men turn to look at me.
I lift my chin. “One is for later.”
Brookes’s mouth twitches. “Smart woman.”
“And extra pickles,” I add. “Fries, onion rings, and the biggest strawberry milkshake you can legally serve me.”
The waitress laughs. “Coming right up.”
When the milkshake arrives, dense and pink and topped with whipped cream, I take one sip and moan before I can stop myself.
Mason’s hand stills on the back of the booth.
Brookes closes his eyes. “Janey.”
“What?”
“Public place,” he mutters.
Mason leans closer, his voice low enough that only we can hear. “Keep making noises like that, sweetheart, and you’re going to make me forget we’re in a diner.”
I smile sweetly. “I’m pretty sure we’re past the point of you putting another baby in me.”
His eyes darken. “Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t enjoy trying.”
Brookes groans. “Less sex talk in the diner. It’s a family establishment.”
I sip my milkshake again, slower this time, just to watch both of them suffer.
“You two are very easy to torment.”
“You’re lucky you’re pregnant,” Brookes says.
I blink innocently. “Am I?”
His gaze drops to my mouth. “Extremely. Hearing you make those sounds puts us both in mind of breeding you all over again.”
The diner door chimes again, and I look up, half-expecting another judgmental stare from a local. Instead, Brandy walks in, still wearing her signature colorful scrubs from the care home. She spots us, and her eyes light up as she makes her way over to our booth, her expression warm and professional.
“Janey! I didn't expect to see y’all here so soon,” she says, her gaze flickering between Mason and Brookes with a questioning tilt to her head.
“Celebratory burgers,” I say, patting my stomach and offering her a genuine smile. “We just came from the imaging center.”
Brandy leans against the edge of the booth, her smile turning curious as she takes in the way Mason’s arm is draped over the back of the seat behind me. “You look wonderful, Janey. Honestly. There’s a light in you.” She shifts her focus to the brothers. “Which one of you is on daddy duty in a few months?”
“Both of us,” Mason and Brookes say in unison.
“Alrighty,” she smiles. “You two take good care of her? I’ll be checking in with Angela, so don’t think you can slack off.”
“With everything we have,” Brookes says, his voice dropping into that serious, gravelly tone that always makes me feel like the center of the universe.
Brandy laughs, a warm, rich sound that cuts through the hum of the diner. “Lord, I don't know how you handle two of them. One rugged cowboy is too much trouble for me,” she adds with a wink.
“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it,” I say, wiggling my eyebrows.
She shakes her head. “My life is complicated enough. Enjoy that milkshake. You’ve earned it.”
As she walks toward the counter to place a to-go order, a sharp thump hits the window beside us.
Brookes nearly jumps out of his skin.
Wade grins through the glass, palm still pressed to the window. Beside him, Joelle is laughing, with one hand resting on her small bump while Caleb holds Little C against his shoulder.
Little C waves both hands wildly.
I wave back, laughing.
A minute later, the diner door opens, and my bestie’s family spills inside.
“Well, well,” Joelle says as she reaches the booth. “Look at you three. Glowing after the ultrasound?”
I immediately pull the pictures from my purse. “Look.”
Her face softens at once. “Oh, Janey.”
She slides into the booth across from me, and Wade and Caleb settle beside her. Little C hovers impatiently until Mason lifts him onto the edge of the booth.
“That the baby?” he asks, pointing at the picture.
“That’s the baby,” I say.
He squints. “Looks like a bean.”
Brookes laughs. “That’s what I said.”
“You did not,” I say.
“I thought it.”
Mason taps the picture gently. “That’s the best-looking bean I’ve ever seen.”
Joelle wipes at the corner of her eye. “I can’t believe this is happening. Both of us.”