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“I like Pocket Plus—Vanessa,” I corrected, “a lot. It just seems crazy you can’t date someone in this town without worrying some town curse is going to strike the chick’s uterus.”
Okay, so when you didn’t use a condom with a woman of childbearing age, I supposed a curse wasn’t needed. But that wasn’t the point.
“Yet you still forged on. One has to commend your bravery in the face of such obstacles.”
“Can I flip off my boss and not get fired?” I wondered aloud.
“In this case, if it makes you feel better, go ahead.”
“Not worth it.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Look, I know I messed up. Not just because this town is woo-curious or woo-leaning or just wooed-out, but because you shouldn’t treat a woman so callously.”
“I don’t believe you’d do that.”
“Oh, I have. I didn’t take her out, I just took her up to the Lookout—”
“Christian told you about catching Bee and I up there.”
“I kind of blocked it out. But if you talk about it again, it’s going to take root, so I implore you to take pity on my brain.”
He laughed. “Fine. No details on either side. But Bee didn’t feel like I mistreated her by taking her up there without benefit of a six-course meal and a string quartet beforehand.”
The Chief was making my theory overly simplistic, but still. “How can you be sure?”
“She willingly stayed with me the last couple of years, she says she wants to be my wife, and we actively tried to have this baby. So what do you think?”
“I think you’re a lucky bastard. Bee is awesome.”
“She is and I am.” He cocked his head. “Maybe you’ll get just as lucky.”
“Nah. Bee isn’t that fond of me—” I laughed at his narrow-eyed expression. “Sorry.”
“Vanessa is the only person who has ever vexed Christian. She stands up to him like no one else. She might be pint-sized, but there’s so much spirit inside her. An unbreakable one.”
“Yeah. She’s incredible. She makes me laugh like no one else ever has. Like right in the middle—anyway,” I cleared my throat, “I just like being around her. For the longest time, I thought she was the biggest pain in the ass. Now I can’t get enough of her.”
“Fate is a wily mistress.”
“Oh, here we go.” I tipped back my head and prayed for patience. “Maybe it doesn’t have to be that complicated.”
“And maybe it’s about to get very complicated. Maybe it’s supposed to. Did you ever think of that? Now and then, the things we view as our biggest mistakes are actually what lead us where we’re supposed to go.”
Jared’s words stuck with me throughout the rest of the day. I couldn’t shake them, just like the dull ache at the base of my skull. The rogue ducks that shut down Main Street at lunch time didn’t help, but I dealt with crowd control while the cars patiently waited for the mama duck to shepherd her charges across to the lake side of the street.
Even the ducks in this town didn’t use protection.
The tiniest one at the back of the herd was pretty dang cute. He or she kept looking back at me as I shooed them and the rest of the ducks across the street, and I had to stop myself from picking up the baby to—what?
Carry him to safety with his family? Abscond with the duck? Give him a stern lecture like everyone seemed intent on giving me, except his would be geared toward vehicular safety?
Clearly, I was spending too much time with people growing babies. I was turning into parenting material before my very eyes.
I was too damn young to be a dad. So was Brady, but he didn’t seem to know it. Even he’d had a few more years to sow his oats than I had.
My oats were dying on the vine, one by one.
I left the duck alone, though I didn’t leave the street until he was safely on the grass closest to the lake. Feeling accomplished, I turned back to cross the street to head over to the cop shop when a headful of chaotic red curls caught my eye.
She was coming out of the craft store with her arms full of an assortment of yarn in bright colors, and she was laughing as she walked with her friend AJ who worked there. AJ was carrying even more yarn in just as many colors as her wildly dyed hair. This week seemed to be teal and orange. Somehow it worked for her.
