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“I’m a very good helper,” Wes said with a big smile.
“Yeah, you are, buddy.” Dare looked over his head at me and mouthed, “Thank you.”
Just maybe this would work.
First, we’d handle pancakes, and then we’d tackle marriage and having a baby.
No sweat.
Eighteen
I paced the hallway outside the small room the courthouse used as a dressing room. The door opened and I whirled around.
“What are you doing here?” Sage whispered in an exasperated tone. She maneuvered herself through the door and kept bobbing and weaving to block me. “You can’t see her.”
I feigned left and almost got around her. “I just need to talk to her for a second.”
She pushed me back, leading with her belly. I jumped back with a growl. “Um, that’s a no can do. You can’t talk to her or see her until the wedding.”
“Who said?”
Sage blinked at me. “Stuff and people. And wedding things. I don’t know, but it’s bad luck and that’s all you need to know, buddy.”
I wiped my palm down the leg of my suit pants. “Do you want a chair or something?” Sage was about a second away from popping, for God’s sake. Should she be walking around so much?
“Stop looking so nervous. Besides, this is your future, pal.” She patted her belly. “It’s natural, I swear. Minus an extra pint of Ben and Jerry’s or two.”
I rolled my eyes. “I know.” I held up my hands. “Not about the ice cream part.”
“Another thing you better get used to. Maybe not ice cream, but something will strike her fancy and require a midnight trip to the all-night supermarket in Laurel.”
I could barely remember what Katherine had craved other than beer. She told me that one every day. Also that me and the baby stopped her from living. That being with me was about as fun as watching paint dry. I had to drive three states away the week before she was due to haul her back home.
We’d been fighting the whole pregnancy and she’d taken to disappearing so she wouldn’t have to listen to me ask about sonograms and doctor’s appointments. In fact, I’d actually had to beg her to marry me. The minute I’d asked, I’d known it was a mistake.
A week after we got married, I’d spun out and hit the wall. Not only was she pissed about carrying my kid, but now she was married to a race car driver with no car and no team. Luckily, I hadn’t been hurt, but the car was beyond repair. I’d just started making a name for myself in the circuit, but not enough for a major endorsement yet.
My career had been over before I’d been more than an up and comer.
Another strike against me.
Another reason for Katherine to hate me. From almost famous to a mechanic in the time it took to get through half of her pregnancy. Part of me wished she hadn’t taken me up on the offer, then I wouldn’t be so damn anxious about it a second time around.
Then it would be Kelsey who took my name the one and only time.
I fisted my hands.
I hadn’t seen Kelsey in two days and I was going fucking crazy.
She wouldn’t change her mind. She couldn’t.
“It’s bad enough you rushed her into doing this in less than a week. I had no time to prepare or even throw her a shower. I barely got her parents here. Who you’re supposed to be entertaining.” Sage straightened her dress over the beach ball she was carting around. The color was something between a fall leaf and a sunset.
I cleared my throat. “You look nice.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Man, you really are nervous.”
I frowned. “Why? Because I said you look nice?”
