18. Dexter
DEXTER
Reg popped the tops off two beers and set one on the picnic table.
I thanked him absently and continued rubbing Tate’s belly while I read an incoming text from my mom.
I didn’t respond. I knew what she wanted, and I could feel my resolve slipping.
One weekend in Michigan couldn’t hurt. It would be nice to tell her the news in person.
Or not. I wasn’t sure.
I didn’t have to decide today. Doling out belly rubs to Reg’s insatiable dog was a perfect distraction. Golden retrievers were freaking love sponges. Tate would have happily lain at my side on the grass all day, soaking in love he paid back in slobbery kisses.
“You keep that up, and he’s gonna want to go home with you,” Reg warned, perching on the rail of his deck. “Not sure how Rhys and Gretch will feel about that.”
I chuckled as I rescued the beer, straddling the picnic bench to face my friend.
Reg was a big man who served DILF vibes with a badge.
He was a tall, fit dude in his midforties with salt-and-pepper hair and a quiet confidence and an unwavering sense of right and wrong that made you feel safe. Like anyone’s version of a decent cop.
We’d met eight years ago when he’d pulled me over for illegally passing a slow-as-fuck logging truck on Belvedere.
I’d been in Wood Hollow for all of twenty-four hours and couldn’t wait to make my escape to civilization.
The bleak air of the town had fit my mood a little too well.
An afternoon in Elmwood or Fallbrook or Pinecrest had been my goal.
Even then, I hadn’t been sorry I’d agreed to help Troy out at the high school. It had been exactly the right move after my divorce—get out of town and start anew. Wood Hollow was supposed to have been my short stop, not my end game.
But Reg had been instrumental in changing my mind. And no, not because he was police porn personified. In fact, we’d been friends-only for a good six years before loneliness and attraction persuaded us to give a sexual arrangement a try.
After he’d issued the ticket and finished lecturing me about safety and rules of the road in a logging community, Reg had asked if I was passing through or planning to stay for a while.
He’d seemed genuinely interested to meet the new assistant coach.
He’d played for Wood Hollow High back in the day and couldn’t believe Coach Wilburton hadn’t retired years ago.
He’d given me a few local recommendations.
The pizza at Mike and Sam’s was amazing, Log Cabin Diner served great pancakes, but if I was into finer dining I’d do best to check out Elmwood or Pinecrest.
By the time he’d tapped the hood of my car, I was out a hundred bucks yet somehow felt as if I’d met a new friend. Weird. That shit would never have happened in Detroit.
Fast forward almost a decade later, and I counted Reg as one of my best friends. We’d gone from casual acquaintances to buddies who’d navigated milestones, good and bad—like his divorce and foray into single parenthood, my new business and dealing with the fallout from my past.
The ex-lovers part was a bump in the road and probably a mistake, but it was nice to think we’d finally gotten through it.
“What time were you going to fire up the barbecue?” I asked, taking a pull of my beer.
Reg glanced at his watch. “Twenty minutes. Coop and Silas should be here soon. Hank and Denny might be late, and Troy—is he coming, or is he out with the Elmwood med student again?”
“I think he’ll be here.”
“Great. So…you’re early.” He flashed a wry smile. “What’s up? And don’t say nothing—you’re practically vibrating over there. I think I know what it is and if I’m right, I’m happy for you. I don’t know the guy at all, but Cooper does and he—”
“Whoa. What are you talking about?”
Reg rolled his eyes and flopped onto the bench opposite me. “You and Thor, the lumberjack. I know.”
My jaw dropped. “That’s not it, and how—how do you know what you think you know…? Which you don’t know, just so you know.”
“Wow.” He snickered. “This is kind of fun. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you turn that many shades of pink in less than ten seconds.”
“Ha. Ha. You’re wrong and—”
“I’m a cop, Dex. It’s my job to know what’s going on in this town.
Make that all four towns in the Four Forest area.
I swear I haven’t been spying on you, but patrol cars sweep the streets to make sure all is well, and…
your SUV has been spotted in the dead of night in the lumberjack’s driveway and his has been spotted—well…
usually across from and diagonally parked on your street.
Muldoon mentioned something about him parking his bike in your garage, too.
But before you get on a righteous soapbox about an infringement of privacy etcetera, etcetera, the officers who reported the info to me aren’t the type to blast it through town.
And neither am I. Your secret is safe.” He cocked his head curiously. “Is it a secret?”
Shit. I should have known.
“I guess not,” I huffed irritably.
“Hey, what’s the big deal? You and me…we’re fine.”
“I know, I know. Yes, I like Viggo and we’re…yeah. But that isn’t my news.”
Reg lifted a brow. “Oh?”
I closed my eyes for a beat and took another drink. “Remember the surrogate I told you about?”
“The Swedish artist?”
“Her name is Freya. She’s pregnant…due at the beginning of December.”
“Congratulations!” Reg whooped. “You’re gonna be a dad!”
“Yeah. I am.”
He jumped up, pulled me to my feet, and hugged me. “I’m happy for you, Dex. Very happy.”
“Thanks, I’m…thrilled.”
“You should be. Tell me everything.”
I gave Reg a basic rundown of events and apologized for not letting him know sooner. “I just had to be sure this was real.”
“I get it. Are you sharing this news widely?”
“Well, I figured I’d start by telling the guys tonight. And I’ll let Janey and the crew at the donut shop know.”
Reg snorted. “And Janey will tell Layla, and everyone in town will know by tomorrow.”
“I think I’m okay with that.”
“Good.” He perched on the table. “Does your lumberjack know?”
I wrinkled my nose. “He’s—we’re not…it’s just sex, Reg. Great sex, but just sex.”
“Got it. Well…?”
“Yeah, Viggo knows. We met through Freya.”
“Ah! That makes sense.”
“I don’t know about that, but…it’s good. We understand each other. Neither of us is interested in anything serious. The baby is my only focus, and once he or she is here…that’s it for me.”
“Life doesn’t end when you have kids, Dex,” Reg said soberly.
“I know, but I also know that I can’t do anything by halves.”
“Hmm. What about your family? Does your mom know?”
“Not yet.” I didn’t want to talk about my mother or anything that might dim my joy. Not today.
“Well, you know you can count on me for anything. I still remember how to hold a baby and wrap ’em up like a burrito. Hell, I can even change a diaper in a pinch.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I laughed. “Thank you.”
“Sure thing. And just so you know, I’m going full cop mode on the Swede. If the guy’s got any skeletons, I’m gonna know them.”
“No, you’re not. You’re going to let me have fun with a nice guy for a couple of months in peace. That’s all this is—fun. Don’t make it into something it’s not. And don’t say anything to anyone else. I’d rather they think it’s a mutual friend connection. Got it?”
Reg sighed. “Got it.”
“Got what? Beer, I hope, but I’d take a shot of tequila instead,” Troy announced, holding a family-sized bag of chips.
“Me too,” Silas called as he and Cooper stepped onto the deck.
Silas grabbed a tennis ball and chucked it across the lawn for Tate before greeting us with fist bumps.
He was six four with dark-blond hair, a chiseled jawline, and the godlike body one associated with professional athletes.
He was also a nice guy whose participation in flag football had elevated the program across the Four Forest area.
Football fans traveled from far and wide for the season opening games and the championships.
Everyone agreed his star power was good for the town, but we were all still surprised at the sheer number of folks who were willing to brave the winding roads for a glimpse of the football hero and the famous friends he’d recruited to join the summer league.
Cooper smiled in greeting and set a grocery bag on the picnic table. “We brought fresh corn from the farmer’s market in Elmwood. The kids insisted and of course, we bought too much, so…you’re welcome.”
Coop was closer to my height, but was thickly muscled like…
well, like a lumberjack. He was Viggo’s boss at the mill.
And he also happened to be Reg’s best friend since junior high.
Hank, the guy who owned the mill, and his NHL superstar husband, Denny, were part of this crew, too.
They led big lives, dealing with multimillion-dollar contracts and hobnobbing with celebrities and policy makers.
Hell, Troy was impressive, too. A college star with famous friends in the league who’d kickstarted a dying forest town’s football pride and joy to life.
Later, as I nursed my third beer and soaked in the feel-good vibes that came with sharing life-altering joyful news, I realized how lucky I’d been to land in Wood Hollow.
These were good men, good people.
They knew about my mother’s big important job, my trust fund, and the uglier details of my health issues, and they didn’t hold those things against me. This was a safe place with found family, and I knew without a doubt they’d support me.
And my child, too.