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“Is this it?”
“I think so. She’s getting pains quite close, and from memory that plus the waters breaking means it’s a go.”
“Memory?”
And just like that, her face closed up on him.
“I was at a birth once.” She brushed off his question.
“Really? Here in Ryker, because you were young when you arrived here, right?”
“I was nine.” Her voice was cold and flat, but Ted also knew she wasn’t the type not to answer him. Evade, yes, outright ignore, no.
“Nine?” He whistled. “You take a wrong turn at hospital?”
“No.”
“What then?” Ted kept prodding.
“My dad’s neighbor. She had four kids and went into labor. I looked after them while she gave birth.”
“In the same room?”
“It happened fast. Now I have to go.”
Ted had a feeling there was way more to that story.
“We’re going to the hospital. I’ll call Aunt Jess from there,” Dylan said. “Thanks for calling me and Joe, Ted. And you too, Mandy.”
They walked them out to the car and watched them drive away, and Ted wondered what it would be like to have a child of his own. To watch his partner give birth to a baby they’d created. The thought was a disturbing one, as before today he’d never even considered it.
“I’m not hungry now, Ted, so I think I’ll just head back to Tea Total.”
“Sure.” Ted watched Mandy walk away from him and wondered why suddenly it felt like they were strangers again. It was as he reached Bas’s garage that he realized he’d never thanked her for telling him about Niki. The knowledge that it would give him another reason to see her shouldn’t have made him as happy as it did.
Chapter 15
Ted walked toward Joe and Bailey Trainer’s bar the next evening. Tonight was the final night of the Howling boys’ bachelor holiday.
They’d certainly packed plenty of adventure into their time here. Hiking, four-wheel driving, hunting; they hadn’t sat still for long.
Apple Sours, the bar was called. The initials A.S. were lit up with white bulbs as he approached the red brick front. Joe had set the place up to appeal to everyone. Tourists and locals flocked here year-round.
Entering, he heard the hum of voices and clink of glasses, the same background sounds that he heard in his restaurant at the lodge.
With polished wood floors and muted lighting, the bar area had plenty of seating or leaning spaces. One wall was brick, another held framed prints. Ted liked it here; it was relaxing and always a change from the lodge. There he was constantly on duty. Watching, checking things were running smoothly.
Approaching the bar, he acknowledged the man behind it.
“How’s Uncle Joe tonight?”
Dylan and Piper had given birth to a boy, who they called Blake. Gracie, he’d heard, had recovered from her disappointment that she didn’t get a sister, and was now totally in love with the baby.
“I’m good, bud. You?”
“Same. How’s Piper and Blake doing?”
“Home already, and happy with Aunt Jess and Bailey fussing over them. Dylan’s coming tonight at Piper’s insistence, as she said they both need a break from each other.”
