Chapter 24
She laughed, cried, and felt cloaked in a warm blanket of love from the outpouring of emotion in the Gnat.
Blue had spent time with all these women over the years, but since her move to New York, only fleetingly. But today she realized how wonderful they were. Friends who cared. People she thought she wasn’t close to, but due to their connection, she actually was.
Strange how she hadn’t understood that until now.
JD had changed champagne to coffee the second the emotions ran too high and the tears started. He’d then ordered food like the seasoned small-town crisis manager he was.
“Someone order pizza?”
“Bradford!” everyone chorused as the local lab tech, part-time Uber Eats driver, dog sitter, and general Lyntacky utility man wandered in, laden down with boxes.
Birdie—lightweight when it came to alcohol—cupped his cheeks and planted a loud kiss on him.
Bradford, used to the women of Lyntacky, rolled with it. “I accept payment in affection,” he said with a gentle smile.
“So, Blue,” her tall, lanky childhood friend then said while everyone else fell on the pizzas like crazed people who hadn’t eaten in days, “I hear congratulations are in order, seeing as we can officially talk about it now.”
“Thanks, Bradford.” Blue lunged for a slice of double-cheese pepperoni pizza before they vanished.
“And Jay—who knew?”
“Guy’s hot, though, Bradford, even you have to admit that, right?” Jonathan said, words muffled around a mouthful of crust. His slicked-back hair gleamed, and a patch of red skin between his brows marked where waxing had clearly taken place.
“Very,” Bradford agreed solemnly, taking the soda JD handed him and leaping onto one of the counters.
“I’m sure you just broke twenty health regulations doing that.” JD sighed.
Deidra leapt up and settled on Bradford’s lap.
“Cats always know the calmest people,” Nina said, working lotion into Leah’s foot. “She won’t sit on me.”
“That’s because you’re never still,” Cill said. “Have kids. You learn to be still when you get a moment. I can fall asleep in under five seconds now. Sitting upright.”
“Something to look forward to, then,” Zoe said dryly.
JD winked at her.
Love, Blue thought, watching the casual touches and familiar glances between them.
She’d never really thought of herself as a forever-after kind of girl. And that was possibly because she’d met no one who made her want to be one.
Blue wondered if the feelings stirring inside her for Jay were because she carried his child, or if there was something more genuine there. Something that had been growing quietly in the past few days. Could you form a bond with someone that fast? But then again, she had known him for years.
Or would another man take her heart one day and raise their child as his own? The thought sat heavily on her.
“Hey, where did you go?” Leah asked.
They hadn’t been tight growing up. Leah Reynolds had always been closer to Birdie. Blue and Leah had circled each other more than connected—two strong personalities, both defensive in different ways.
“Just thinking,” Blue said. “I never got a chance to tell you how happy I am for you and Dan. And Hudson, of course.”
Leah smiled.
It wasn’t the old smile—the one that barely reached her eyes and matched her hard-ass exterior. This one was softer and exuded genuine happiness.
“I recommend falling in love, Blue,” Leah said. “You think that could be on the cards for you and Jay?”
The silence that followed was absolute. Every head in the room turned.
“Real subtle, guys,” Leah muttered.
“Jay’s one of the good guys,” Nina said.
Blue hesitated. “Did he ever talk to any of you about his childhood?”
She didn’t ask to be nosy. She needed to understand what made that man tick, and while she knew his parents had been terrible to him, Blue wanted to know more. She was also still mulling over what to do about his half sister.
“Dan told me Jay’s not big on sharing things that are going on in his life, or about his childhood,” Leah said.
“Which has to be hard if you’re a Duke, seeing as they share everything,” Bradford added.
JD acknowledged that statement by raising his coffee mug.
“I tell you one thing,” Birdie added. “I think Jay’s past was hell, but I also see him watching the Duke siblings all together sometimes. There’s a longing in his eyes.”
Blue agreed, but she said nothing about Hazel. It wasn’t her story to tell.
“What do you think Jay actually does?” Phoebe asked.
Blue had been wondering that too.
“I think he’s a spy,” Nina said.
“Stripper?” Cill asked.
“Nah. Jay would never do that. Dan, however? I bet he could be coerced,” Nina said.
“No one is coercing my man into taking off his clothes but me,” Leah added. “I know Jay does something with national security, from what Dan told me.”
“I doubt we will ever really know. But if anyone has a shot at discovering that, it’s Blue,” Nina said.
“Nope. He’s pretty secretive about his work, and mainly does it from his office outside,” Blue said.
“What the hell is that noise?” Birdie frowned.
They all went still. Then the music swelled through the open doorway.
“Oh no,” Phoebe groaned. “My frosted tips.”
Laughing, they all headed outside. Blue, with her sheet wrapped tight around her like a toga. She hoped it didn’t fall off, but then who in Lyntacky would be shocked if it did? Most of the locals were unshockable.
The topic of Jay Haddon was shelved, and no new information was gained.
One secret she would not be sharing with anyone was about his half sister. He could disclose that if and when he wanted to. She hoped that would be soon.
When they stepped outside, Blue spotted Dan and the Duke brothers across the street.
“Why are they in running gear? None of them like running,” she said. “You told me training for the Lynpicks nearly killed them.”
“Apparently they’re not getting any younger.” Birdie shrugged.
“I think there is more to it,” Phoebe added. “Like a bet or something, but Brody is not talking.”
The women drifted toward their men.
Blue watched the reunions even though they’d likely had breakfast together. Leah practically glowed when Dan wrapped his arms around her and kissed her like he’d been gone for a year instead of a few hours.
“It makes you throw up a little in your mouth, right?” Nina whispered. “Mind you, I wouldn’t mind if Finch kissed me the way Dan is kissing Leah.”
“Ew, that’s gross,” Blue protested.
“He’s hot.”
“He’s my brother!”
“So?” Nina flicked her hair and moved forward.
Blue found herself standing near Dan and Leah as the music shifted into the familiar beat of the Grapevine Twist, and without thinking, the town began moving—left, cross, twist, clap.
A ripple of laughter followed as someone tripped over someone else’s foot.
Dan stepped beside Blue, deliberately taking her hand and pulling her into the pattern.
“Hey, Blue, nice sheet.”
“Hi, Dan. Are you going to interrogate me now?”
“Not interrogate,” he corrected. “Casually question.”
“Did your run go well?” she asked.
“It was hell,” he said honestly. “Sawyer bitching about old bones. Brody moaning about sore feet. When did my brothers get so old?” he shouted.
“You’ll get yours!” Sawyer yelled back, nearly colliding with Miss Jonas, the local vet and current girlfriend to Sheriff Dans, even though no one was confirming or denying it.
Dan’s attention shifted back to Blue. “So, how is he?” he asked softly
“I don’t know him that well,” she admitted. “But he seems good. Even though I’m carrying his child, we’ve never been close, Dan.”
“Sure, and I get that, but he would not have you in his house if he didn’t like and respect you, Blue.”
She liked those words. They made her feel better about living in Jay’s house.
“One thing you need to know about my friend,” Dan said, eyes sharp even while he danced, “is that he knows how to hide his emotions, Blue. I’m his best friend, and I still don’t know half of what goes on in his head.”
She thought about his childhood, and the half sister again. Jay should talk to Dan about that. It wasn’t her place to do so, she understood that, but he should talk to someone.
“I need you to push him, Blue, if you think there could be something between you. Because he needs that, or he’ll keep himself locked away. If you think he’s worth fighting for, then fight.”
“I promise, but I don’t know where Jay and I are headed yet,” she said, unsure what she actually wanted with Jay Haddon. “I know he didn’t tell you about the baby and me moving in, but don’t be angry with him, Dan. He needs you too.”
Dan stilled for half a beat before catching the rhythm again. His cop stare locked on her. “Is there another reason he needs me now, Blue? Not just the baby?”
She held his gaze. “Maybe you should ask him.”
Dan’s jaw ticked. “Maybe I will.”
The music stopped, and everyone moved to carry on with what they’d been doing before it started. Life resumed.
Blue followed her friends back inside the Gnat with Dan’s words running through her head.
If you think he’s worth fighting for, then fight.