CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
~
True quickly scanned the area, looking for her mate and squirming with the realisation that he knew others knew about the baby before he did. Heath bounded around the corner of the bar, looking both surprised and a little miffed.
“Uh-oh!” Hope said, elbowing True again. “Lucy, you got some explaining to – whoa!” She shrieked as True elbowed her out of the way.
Heath rushed toward his mate and wrapped arms of steel around her. “Baby?” he demanded, breathless.
“I was going to mention that…” True said, her face squished up against the hard muscles of his chest. “Crushing!”
Heath let go and stepped back all at once, his hands out in front of him, unsure where to rub better first. “Didn’t mean it.”
Hope chuckled. “He looks like he’s waiting for the Whack-a-mole to appear.”
“Baby?” Heath said again with disbelief, eyeing True up and down, praying he didn’t damage her.
Hope grinned at his lack of alphaness. “That’s what they call those little crying, pooping, helpless humans, right?”
“Yes, it’s a baby,” Nana said. “I thought we had already established that.”
“Thanks to your loose tongue,” True admonished her.
Heath ran his hands through his hair, looking amazed and overjoyed at the news. “A baby!”
“That’s what happens when you have sex,” Nana said. “I’m sure I mentioned…”
“Okay,” Hope said, walking to Nana. “Let’s give them a minute.”
“Why?” Nana asked. “We have work to do.”
“We can handle it from here; she just needs to show up for whatever you’re planning,” Hope said, gently taking Nana’s arm and leading her toward the bar.
“Baby!” Heath said again, chuckling.
Nana grunted. “Why does he keep saying that?”
Hope leaned in and whispered. “Maybe he thought she was old enough that her eggs had all dried up…”
“I heard that!” True yelled, almost deafening her mate. He gritted his teeth but was still too stunned to slap his hands over his ears. “Oh, sorry!” she said, slapping her hands over his ears for him.
Heath reached up, grabbing her hands in his and yanking her forward towards him. “I don’t care,” he said, chuckling with enthusiasm. “We’re having a baby – anything you do is fine by me.”
~
“No, no, no, no, no!” Heath growled upon hearing Nana’s plan that had been hatched with Moira’s help at the guesthouse and conveyed to Hope, who informed the group of what they needed to do with Faith and maybe Jennifer.
True frowned. “But on the decking, you said, and I quote, anything you do is fine with me.”
Heath’s eyes moved, darting from side to side, but the rest of him stayed motionless. “It is!” he said, remembering their conversation when he found out she was pregnant.
“Well then,” True said, eyes wide as she motioned to the group.
“Except this!” Heath said, wildly motioning around the area to the witches gathered.
True lowered her chin and eyed him from beneath her long lashes. “There was no except this clause in there at the time.”
Heath pressed his lips together and glared at her as he tried to figure out a way out of the mess he’d gotten himself into. “Shock.”
“Would you two like a minute?” Dani asked, lifting the fryer basket and shaking the fries before replacing them.
“No!” True said.
“Yes!” Heath said, questioning his mate with a hard stare.
Amy chuckled. “That straightened that out.”
“Maybe some fresh air?” Dani said, walking to the backdoor and yanking it open. She jumped when she found Duffy standing there, blocking the light from outside as his frame filled the doorway. “Give a girl a clue!” she snapped, putting her hand over her heart.
“I just heard the news,” Duffy said.
“There’s so much of it, which news?” Amy asked.
“True’s baby!” Duffy said happily.
“Old news,” Amy replied. “They are just arguing over it now; you might want to pull up a seat.”
Heath turned to stare at Amy. “We are not arguing over the baby!”
“Sure we are,” True said, returning his attention to her.
“No, we’re not!” Heath said.
“You don’t want me to be me because I’m now we,” True replied.
Heath looked confused. “That’s not what…”
“You meant or said?” Amy asked.
“Hey!” Heath growled, pointing an accusing finger at Amy.
Amy held up her hands in mock surrender. “Don’t look at me; I’m Switzerland, staying out of it.”
“Sure, you are,” Heath grumbled.
“Well, someone has to stick up for your mate,” Hope said, stirring the pot.
Duffy leaned his upper body toward his mate and whispered. “I’m confused. Are we not happy about the baby?”
“Oh course, we are happy about the baby!” Heath growled.
“Dude, hostility,” Duffy said, bringing his shoulders up to his ears and expanding his arms at his sides in a helpless mode that his mate found sweet.
Dani leaned into Duffy. “Baby good, the alpha just has a bee in his bonnet…”
“Bonnet?” Heath growled, running a hand through his already tousled hair and scanning the room. “I’m just saying…”
“That she can’t do what she wants to do because you said so,” Amy said, shrugging.
Heath grumbled a growl. “Thought you were staying out of it?”
“I am,” Amy said, raising her voice while questioning his sanity with a look. “Switzerland.”
“Doesn’t sound like it to me,” Heath replied.
“That’s because you have a bee in your bonnet,” Amy said, pointing to Dani. “She said it, not me; I’m staying out of it.”
Hope couldn’t help but chuckle. The alpha looked frazzled, and she wondered if his head might explode. “Heath, it’s just a little magic…”
“And the Others,” Heath said, shaking his head with bemusement. “And apparently, they squat.”
“Squat?” Duffy asked.
Dani shook her head. “Just a little problem we’re having…”
“Little problem?” Heath said, turning toward her. “Now tell your mate what’s really going on.”
Duffy straightened with a deep frown as his mate grimaced. “Dani?”
“Just a little housekeeping issue,” Dani replied. “Like who is living where.”
Heath grunted, and Duffy frowned harder. He could scent a lie in the air, and he didn’t think the alpha would be sending him down the wrong path to the truth. “Dani?”
Dani gulped in a breath, turned to her mate, and manhandled him out the backdoor. “Let’s talk outside,” she said, slamming the door behind her with her magic before flinging it open again. “Take the fries out!” she snapped before slamming the door closed.
Hope snatched the pan from the hot oil and left it on the hook to drain. Heath raised his arm and pointed to the closed door. “See!” he snapped.
“A closed door,” Amy said. “Is that the smoking gun?”
Heath drew in a breath and tried to stop his brain from overheating. “Staying out of it, huh?”
“Yep,” Amy said with an emphatic nod.
“Okay, stop,” True said, trying to calm matters down. “The fact remains, Faith and maybe Jennifer need my help, and I am a witch; it’s who I am, it’s what I do – sometimes reluctantly, but still, I do it, and I’m going to keep doing it.” She placed her hands on her hips and challenged the alpha with a hard stare.
Heath stared back. His lips were moving, but he was chewing the inside of his mouth and biding his time as he considered how to handle it.
“I think he needs a reboot,” Amy said, shrugging.
“I think we need to leave,” Hope said.
“It’s a kitchen; who is cooking the food?” Amy asked.
“I’ll do it,” True said.
“Nooooo,” Hope said, shaking her head.
“Not this side of food poisoning,” Amy replied, shaking her head.
True sighed. “Fine.”
“Oh, this you can be told not to do,” Heath said, tossing up his hands.
Hope chuckled. “This is a matter of burning the place down and poisoning our customers.”
“Thanks,” True grumbled, turning to her mate. “But they are right; I can’t cook.”
“I know,” Heath said.
True pulled her head back on her neck and eyed him with contempt. “But I will if I want to, and I’ll make you eat it!”
Heath groaned, turning away. “I will speak to you when you calm down.”
“Good luck waiting for that to happen!” True yelled after him as he stormed out of the kitchen. The door swung back and forth behind him, and a long moment of awkward silence hung in the air.
“That went well,” Amy said, clapping her hands together. “Now, who is the unlucky customer who wanted fries with their order?”