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If Alexa decided to give the go-ahead for that investigation.
“I’m not really ready to talk about it yet,” he said to Julia. “But thanks for the offer.”
“It’s a woman, isn’t it?” The corners of her lips turned up into a smile.
“It is,” he admitted, “but it’s complicated.”
She turned toward him, lifting her sunglasses and meeting his gaze, her brown eyes shimmering with amber in the sunlight. “Isn’t it always?”
He knew she was thinking about her and Ronan, about Elise’s disappearance and the horror of it, about the fact that Julia and Elise had had a rough childhood that hadn’t exactly set them up for healthy romantic relationships.
He nodded and she lowered her sunglasses and turned her face to the sun, touching her back and grimacing as she got comfortable again.
Down the beach, Elise laughed. Nick followed the sound, watching as Declan chased Chief into the water for the frisbee. Chief had been a military canine, and she waded in up to her shoulders, forcing Dec in after her, cursing up a blue streak.
Nick smiled. Ronan could have put a stop to it with one command. He and Chief were a unit. Like all military dogs, she outranked him as her handler, but she still listened when Ronan gave a command.
Nick saw the wave before Dec did, watched it roll toward him as he tried to coax the frisbee from Chief’s mouth. His back was to the surf, Elise and Ronan both watching as it came closer.
Nick almost felt bad for the laugh that escaped his throat when it knocked Dec on his ass. He fought against the current for a couple of seconds before getting to his feet, his clothes soaked.
“Hey, Nick?” Julia said next to him.
“Yeah?” Declan was dragging himself out of the water, Chief happily trotting onto dry land well ahead of him, the frisbee still in her mouth.
“I think… I think I’m in labor.”
It took him a few seconds to register the words, the slightly breathless quality of Julia’s breath.
He jumped to his feet. “You’re in labor? Are you sure?”
She blew out through her mouth and nodded. “I think so. I thought maybe it was Braxton-Hicks at first, but they’re pretty regular.”
He had no idea what she was saying, but if she said she was in labor, she was in labor.
He held out his hands. “Wait here. I’ll go get Ronan.” He started to walk away, then came back. “Can you be alone? Should I wait with you? I can just yell…”
She smiled. “I’m fine. It’s going to be hours yet. Go get Ronan. I’ll wait.”
He started toward Ronan, then started back toward Julia, then started back toward Ronan.
Behind him, Julia laughed.
14
Alexa stayed near the edge of the crowd, her eyes on the stage in front of the Civil War monument at the center of Cambridge Common. The stone monument rose over the crowd, as if the Civil War soldier at its top was standing guard over the event. Above them a cloudless June sky stretched in every direction.
The rally was packed, with more people arriving every second. Parents stood with children on their shoulders waving miniature flags that had been handed out by the event staff, their faces shiny with sunscreen. There were a handful of couples peering at the stage, and Alexa wondered how many of them had wandered into the event because they’d happened to be passing through the park.
The accessible area that had been set up for people who required seats was full, some people sitting in the chairs that had been arranged behind the ropes while others sat in wheelchairs. A few people attempted to talk, leaning in to be heard over the music blaring from the speakers near the stage and behind the crowd, but for the most part everyone seemed to be soaking it in, happy to be out in the sun after the long winter and wet spring.
Alexa watched as several people took seats onstage. The music faded into the background, and a woman wearing a tailored red dress stepped up to the microphone.
“Hello, Cambridge!” she said, smiling at the crowd. Her blond hair was styled in soft waves around her face, made-up enough to look polished but not overdone.
The crowd clapped, a few “woo-hoos” sounding from somewhere in the throng.
The woman onstage introduced herself as Leland Walker’s campaign manager, continuing with a story about how she’d been working for the woman who’d been his challenger early in the race when Leland had approached her to work for him.
