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At the sound of the reporter's name the dread he'd felt the day before returned. Something was up; there was no doubt about it. Not only had the reporter called him, but she contacted his family too. Not a good sign.
“No but she's called the office and my cell.” Jake paused, afraid to ask what the reporter wanted. Mentally he did an inventory of all his recent activities and relationships. Not a single thing stood out as being of any interest to this reporter. “What did she want?”
“Are you sitting down?” Callie asked her voice laced with concern.
Half a dozen curses went through Jake's head. He wasn't going to like whatever his sister had to say. “Spit it out Callie.”
Another sigh came through the phone, this one louder than before. “She wanted to know how the family felt about you becoming a father. And whether or not you and Blair were discussing wedding plans now that you’re expecting.”
Jake laughed aloud. His sister's statement was absurd. Anyone else and he'd think they were joking, but he knew Callie wouldn't joke about something like this.
“Is it true? Are you guys having a baby? I thought you broke things off with her.” Callie sounded confused.
“Hell no! I ended things with Blair more than two months ago. I broke up with her when I got back from London. Besides we always used protection.” When the reporter started calling he knew it meant trouble, but he'd never expected this. Sure Blair was upset when he ended things, and she had tried to convince him to give her another chance, but he hadn't pegged her as a vengeful woman. A little shallow and conceited perhaps but not someone capable of being malicious.
“What did you tell her?” He knew Callie wouldn't intentionally say anything to make the situation worse, but she was still learning how to handle the media vultures.
“The truth. I told her I didn't know what she was talking about. I'm not sure that she believed me though.”
It wasn't a matter of whether or not Marcy Blake believed Callie. Rather it was what story would sell the most magazines. A story about him becoming a father would sure be a hit. Damn it. He'd managed to avoid negative publicity for months and now this had to surface just days before his sister's wedding. “Has she called anyone else?” He didn't need a lecture from his father.
“I don't think so. Dylan's been in Japan, he's coming home tonight. I haven't heard from anyone else.”
Callie sounded worried and Jake could picture her nibbling on her bottom lip like she always did when something bothered her. With the wedding only a few days away she had enough to worry about. He didn't want her thinking about this too.
“Thanks for the heads up. I'll take care of it. Don't worry. Go straighten out whatever problem you've got with the flowers. I don't want to have to pick flowers from the garden for you on Saturday.”
“Honestly, I'm tempted to let your mother deal with it. I think the florist is afraid of her.”
Jake didn't doubt it. A good recommendation from Elizabeth Sherbrooke, and the florist's business would sky rocket. At the same time a bad one and his business could go down the proverbial drain.
“You won't do that and you know it.”
“You're right, but it is so tempting. She'd have everything straightened out in no time.”
“All done with the seating arrangement?”
Callie groaned on the other end. “Don't ask.”
“Then you won't mind adding one more guest. I'm coming with a date. Someone I met up here.” Jake told his sister a little about Charlie before hanging up. Once he was done with his conversation, Jake remained sitting and stared out the window.
What the hell was Blair up to? Was she really that pissed? Sure he'd known she was angry but this was going a bit far. And what did she hope to accomplish? If she was pregnant did she expect him to marry her? Maybe if it was his kid, he'd consider it but there was no way it could be. He'd broken up with her more than two months ago and before that he'd been in England for a solid month. Their final month together as a couple they'd hardly ever seen each other. She'd spent most of that month out in California visiting family and he'd been in Virginia. Between all that time apart and the fact that they always used protection he didn't believe it was possible for her to be pregnant with his child.
In the driveway below he saw Charlie walking towards her car. Dressed in a navy blue t-shirt and denim shorts that showed off her lean shapely legs, she walked with her head held high and her back perfectly straight. What were her plans this morning? He'd hoped to see her before he headed over to the town hall to check on repairs. It didn't look like that was going to happen now.
As he continued to watch, she climbed into her car and drove away. So much for his good mood. Jake watched as the car disappeared from sight. Suddenly reluctant to start his day, Jake came to his feet. He had people waiting for him and a new scandal brewing. This was not the time for sitting around.
***
Once again Charlie found herself volunteering to play babysitter at the shelter while homeowners worked to get their lives back together. Thankfully several families had already left the shelter. They'd either made arrangements with other family members or found places to stay outside of town so there were fewer children around today. Despite the reduced number, Charlie still felt as if she'd landed on an alien planet. She just wasn't used to being around this many children all at once. She hoped the children didn't know how uncomfortable she was. Who knew how they might take advantage of her if they did.
“Can you help me? The eyes won't stick,” a young girl with curly blond hair asked holding up a pair of googly eyes.
Somehow she'd been left to supervise the craft table again that morning. Charlie looked at the paper bird set out on the table and back at the young girl who looked familiar. Not wanting to disappoint the little girl, she picked up the glue bottle and prepared to tackle the problem.
“Try using regular glue instead.” Charlie squirted two drops of Elmer's onto the paper bird's face. “It might work better than those glue sticks.”
The little girl smiled up at her, reminding Charlie of an old classmate. “Is your dad Don Sullivan?”
