Love Comes in Small Packages

Chapter 1

Of course it was in the low nineties in early September. The broiling sun hung like a fiery ball in the cloudless afternoon sky. Ohio weather was always unpredictable, but usually by now the temps would be mid to high seventies.

No one wanted to shingle a roof in this heat, but after a destructive rainstorm, and with more rain in the forecast, it was now or never for the elderly customers who’d hired him. No way could he leave them with a leaking roof.

Thankfully, Knox Nial had a great crew. They weren’t complaining, so he couldn’t complain. Good thing they’d started early and the house was small.

He had his hammer raised when the phone in his back pocket buzzed.

Pausing, he fished it out to glance at the screen.

His friend Ford had recently married and was finally able to take his wife on a brief getaway.

Knox had volunteered to pet sit their two dogs—with the help of Ford’s new sister-in-law, which Knox considered a bonus.

It was the sister-in-law, Laylee Fairchild, calling him now. She knew he was roofing today, which made him worry there might be a problem with one of the dogs. He answered on the third ring. “What’s up? Everything okay?”

He didn’t realize he’d accidentally put her on speaker until she loudly wailed, “Knox, I think I’m pregnant!”

Several things happened at once.

The other three men went silent. Knox fumbled the phone, tried to grab it, and lost his footing. Both he and the phone tumbled right over the side of the roof, landing in ancient shrubbery.

For several seconds, Knox didn’t move. He was half in, half out of the bushes, which—maybe—had broken his fall. The other men were shouting, quickly descending the ladder, and he finally got it together enough to groan.

Laylee was still talking a mile a minute, so he grabbed for the phone, getting more scratches in the process, and said, “Give me just a sec.”

There was a brief hesitation, and she asked, “Why do you sound like that?” And then, with a touch of anger, “You aren’t the dad, Knox! We haven’t even had sex.”

The guys, who had been in the process of reaching for him, all grinned.

Knox said, “I fell off the roof.”

“You … what?”

“I’m fine.” He hoped. Accepting a hand, he scrambled to his feet, checked his body, and decided other than bloody scratches and a few likely bruises, he’d survived. “Hold on.” He held the phone against his thigh and drew a breath.

Pregnant. Okay, he hadn’t seen that one coming.

When he thought of Laylee, as he often did, it was the two of them together—which, admittedly, hadn’t happened yet, but he was working on it. Some other dude in the picture, though? Damn.

He glanced at the guys, saw them all waiting, and frowned. “I need to take this call.”

The three of them nodded.

Willie, the oldest at forty-seven, who’d started with Knox’s dad before Knox had taken over the construction company, gave a snort.

“You shouldn’t keep her waiting. She sounded upset.

” Nothing much bothered Willie, so he headed back up the ladder, calling over his shoulder, “You two. Get back to work.”

The two younger men lingered because they were snoops.

Knox knew they’d be ribbing him for weeks about this.

Pointing to his Silverado, which was parked on the street, he said, “I’m going to sit in the truck for privacy.

” Not for the air-conditioning, though he wouldn’t complain about that part. “You heard Willie. Back to work.”

As he walked away, he took the phone off speaker and put it to his ear. “Laylee?”

She screeched, “You fell off a roof?”

Wincing, he opened his truck door. A miserable blast of heat poured out. “Yeah.” He started the engine and turned the air on full blast. “But I’m fine.”

“Oh, my God, Knox, I’m so sorry. It’s my fault, isn’t it? I startled you.”

Startled him? She’d damn near stopped his heart. “Don’t worry about me. You said you’re pregnant?”

He heard two deep breaths, and then she whispered, “I think I might be.”

Which meant she also might not be. “Okay, one step at a time. Tell me why you think that.”

“Please know that I wouldn’t bother you with this, except Skye is away with Ford, and the last thing I want to do is bother her. Oh, Knox, she’s so happy right now.”

“So is Ford.” He smiled, and now that the truck had cooled, he closed the door and sat back.

“I take it you need someone to talk to?” Count him in.

Hell, even if there was a bun in the oven, he was still interested.

He liked kids. He more than liked Laylee and had from the first moment he’d seen her.

For months now, they’d been getting to know each other better.

His very first glimpse of her had snagged him because the woman was incredibly beautiful. Model-worthy, and in fact she did do local modeling and seemed successful. Plenty of reason for an insta-attraction there.

But at twenty-five, he’d known his fair share of attractive women. It was everything else about Laylee that made him think in terms of a relationship—her love for her sister, her boldness mixed with her occasional uncertainty, and the easy way she’d fit in with his group of close friends.

“They’re perfect for each other,” she said. “And yes, I bought a pregnancy test but now I’m afraid to do it.”

Alone. She was afraid to do it alone, and that’s where he could step in. “So how about I finish up here and head your way? We’ll do it together.”

She choked.

“I don’t plan to pee on the thing,” he teased. “I just meant I’d be there with you.”

Her voice softened, losing its edge. “You know how to do a pregnancy test, Knox?”

“I have a little sis, so yeah, I know.” Then he thought to add, “She’s two years younger and wants a family, just not yet. It was negative, by the way.”

“I didn’t know you had a sister.”

They were getting off topic, but she was definitely calmer now, so he didn’t mind. “Sis recently turned twenty-four and my brother is now twenty-one. You’ll like them. You’ll like Mom and Dad, too.”

There was a long pause before she asked, “I’ll be meeting them?”

“Whenever you want.” He looked forward to introducing her to his family.

Laylee cleared her throat. “Okay, cool. I’d like that. Anytime is fine by me.”

“We’ll figure it out. But for now, how about that test? You want to wait for me?”

“You’re working. I mean, I knew that, but I’d forgotten when I called. I got home with the test kit, took it out of the bag, and then a wave of panic hit me. I might have freaked out Maybelline and Tank.”

The two dogs, both rescued from a shelter, were closely bonded yet as different as night from day.

Maybelline was enormous, and whether Ford wanted to admit it or not, she was pretty damned homely.

Sweet as could be, sure, but not a pretty sight.

Tank was an itty-bitty thing who lacked Maybelline’s gentle nature.

He was a feisty one, always ready to rumble, but once you won him over, he could be a sweetheart.

“The dogs will be fine,” he assured Laylee. “They feel secure now and they know they’re loved. They can handle you getting a little stressed.”

“Stressed and terrified.”

Yeah, he could hear the anxiety in her voice. “So, does the guy know you might be—”

“God, no. It was just a … desperate quickie?” She made a disgusted sound.

“He wasn’t even that attractive, Knox! What was I thinking?

” On a roll, she sneered, “But oh, I was feeling sorry for myself—a bad habit, for real—and he was a mistake that happened. I mean, not that he was icky or anything. I do have some standards.”

“I understand.” If only she’d come to him instead. “You only saw him once?” Not that he wanted details, God no, but if she was still involved with the guy, it mattered.

“One and done,” she promised. “Anyway, it dawned on me that things were … off. Then I wondered why and the big pregnancy scare hit. I want to be sure before I even think of talking to a guy.”

Damn it, he was a guy. Or hadn’t she even noticed? “Good decision.” If Knox had anything to say about it—not that he did yet, obviously—all other guys could take a hike. “We’ll work it out, okay?”

“Knox,” she breathed softly. “You’re the best friend a girl ever had.”

He barely kept his groan contained. Stuck in the friend zone. Hell, it was better than being shut out completely, but it wasn’t even close to where he wanted to be.

“No need to cut your day short,” she said. “Just telling someone else helped.”

“Sure, but you told me, right? Not just anyone, so why not wait until I’m with you?” Then, if it wasn’t the news she wanted, or even if it was, he’d be there for her.

“Thank you, I will. I meant that you don’t have to rush. You can finish up your day.”

“What will you do?”

“Wait for you.”

That sounded nice. “You promise?”

“You were planning to come by anyway, right? So we could walk the dogs?”

It was as good an excuse as any to spend time with her. “That’s the plan. I’ll only be a few more hours if you’re sure you don’t mind waiting.”

“I’m sure. Now that I know I don’t have to do this alone, I can handle it.”

She was more than okay. She was exceptional in every way. Tonight, he’d convince her of that.

After upsetting the dogs with her freak-out, Laylee spent some time in the backyard playing with them. They were great at chasing a ball. Maybelline always brought it back, but Tank tried to eat it. They were such awesome furry goofs.

She loved that she lived side by side with her sister. When Skye had married Ford, her next-door neighbor, she’d moved into his house, leaving her own empty.

Laylee wasn’t one to let a prime opportunity pass, so she’d quickly talked Skye into selling her the house and now had access to her twin every day. Well, except for now, while Skye and Ford were on a much-deserved getaway.

Without Skye, Laylee knew she’d spend most of her time utterly lost.