CHAPTER 9
“She’s being very…Jessie,” Dawson pointed out as if that brought a definition or justification to her crude behavior.
“You mean, deflecting,” Morgan added, rubbing her belly. “Is there something we should know, Blake? I mean, you wouldn’t sit outside her house if it was nothing. And this is the first any of us has heard of it – she’s not talking. Odd.”
Appreciating her intact detective skills, Blake was happy to hear that someone else had caught on, too. “I don’t know. Trying to figure it out, and she doesn’t make it easy.”
“Which means it is
something,” Morgan added, letting out a deep sigh.
“If there is something to worry about, I’ll let you all know.”
“She’s been a little extra…bitchy,” Meg said, whispering bitchy
as it wasn’t a typical choice of words for the prim and proper. “I wondered if something was wrong.”
Meg and Jessie were polar opposites. Meg was kind, sweet, and proper where Jessie was rude, loud, and…rude
. They balanced each other out, though, and had become the closest in the group.
With a shrug, Blake looked at the people around the table and offered, “Time will tell, I guess.” He hoped that time
would hurry the hell up and she would show all her cards before anyone at that table, including Jessie and the kids inside, was hurt.
“It’s McKenzie Ridge…we don’t have break-ins and odd crime,” Sam added.
“No, we just have psychopaths and crime bosses every so often.” Everly snickered. She had been kidnapped by a local man, who lived off the grid, the previous fall, immediately followed by history repeating itself when the son of a previous threat made his way to McKenzie for revenge.
“Touché!” Sam snorted.
It was a small sweet town, typically, but it did have its share of odd instances that seemed to surround this group. Each had made their way to McKenzie to escape something, and that something managed to follow several of them at some point – each instance being resolved with each other’s help.
“You all know Jessie’s a tough one. She ain’t spillin’ the beans ’less there’s reason. So, even if somethin’ is wrong, she’ll keep it to herself and handle it alone. It’s what she does,” Lou offered.
“What could she be dealing with that we wouldn’t already know?” Meg asked, genuinely curious. They were all so close, it didn’t feel as if there were secrets between any of them. But of course, there were plenty.
“Oh honey,” Lou said to Meg but aimed her stare at Blake, “I think we all still have a few secrets. Parts of our lives we aren’t willing to share for one reason or another.”
Blake handed the baby to Everly, knowing Lou was speaking of him as much as Jessie, and holding that baby, as comfortably and naturally as he was, may as well have been a big neon sign that he wasn’t interested in discussing.
“I think he’s hungry or needs a diaper change or…something,” Blake told her.
Noticing his odd demeanor, Everly whispered in his ear as she took the baby, “You good?”
“Yeah, I’m good. He just needs you because you have…his…food.”
Jessie followed the kids back outside and made them sit at the edge of the deck with their ice cream.
“What’d I miss?” Jessie asked, looking at Blake while taking a long taunting lick up the length of her ice cream.
“Nothing really, but I’m going to have to ditch this party early,” Morgan answered for Blake.
“Um, it’s your house,” Jessie pointed out, her face crossed in confusion.
Still sitting in her chair, pushed up against the large table, Morgan huffed, “Oh! Then, no one will care that my water just broke all over the place.”
“Oh, my God!” was said in unison as the group began to scramble in excitement.
Morgan’s husband, Beck, went from low key and laid back to insta-frenzy. “I’ll grab the hospital bag!”
He ran into the house, only to run right back out. “Where’s the bag? Do we still have a bag? I left it…somewhere!”
While he looked around the deck as if he left Morgan’s hospital bag outside, she calmly turned and said with a laugh, “It’s by the front door. I knew he would do this.”
“Looks like I’m driving,” Blake offered. “If he can’t find the bag – he probably won’t find the hospital, either.”
“I’ll ride with you! Benefit of having nurse friends,” Everly said, handing the baby to Doc.
Morgan smiled sweetly at the offer but had other ideas. “But you have RJ, and he needs you to eat…like always
.”
Rolling her eyes, Jessie stepped in. “Cool it. The only pregnant chick going is the one in labor. You all have kids to tend to.”
“Good idea. You ride in back with me because I’m pretty sure this guy’s going to take a minute to get it together,” Morgan said, tossing a thumb at her pacing husband, bag in hand.
“Hell, no! Not happening. I will not be on the receiving end of that!”
Jessie informed, pointing to Morgan’s pregnant belly. “And I’m definitely not trying to get to know your hoohah.”
With a bewildered look and perhaps irritation, Morgan questioned, “My what?”
“Hoohah, cooter, Beck’s love hugger…ya follow?” Jessie turned her attention from Morgan’s anatomy lesson to Carly, who had been sitting by quietly. “You! Blondie! You’re riding at the show end in back with this one. I’m riding shot gun because, well…I don’t want to be stuck here, and Blake’s my ride.”
“There you go, thinking of everyone but yourself again. NOT!” Meg said in a sharp scolding tone.
Jessie slowly turned to Meg, surprised by her response. “Excuse me?”
“Oooh, no. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. It was the…the…contraction. They make me…mean,” Meg replied, finishing in a grunt.
“Contraction?” said everyone in unison.
“Oh, no. No, no, no, no…not you too, Fancy Pants!” Jessie panicked.
Lou clapped her hands and laughed. “Well, hot damn! Looks like we’re havin’ a whole mess of babies today!”
“Shit!” Jessie replied, to which the crowd of mom’s shouted, “Ears!
”
“They’re about to hear and see
worse if we don’t get you all out of here. Change of plans!” Jessie charged as the self-appointed birthing organizer.
“Logan is…yours, Fancy Pants! He’ll drive you and baby daddy.”
“Colton. My name is Colton,” Colton fired back.
“Whatever, Colton
. Sam, you’re up. You’re pregnant, and you’ve done this shit before. You’ll have to ride in back with them because this one has a baby permanently attached to her boobs,” Jessie announced, nodding to Everly, who shrugged and smiled.
“Jesus, who put you
in charge – you’re like the fucking
birth patrol!” Meg hollered through gritted teeth while leaning over the back of a chair with a white-knuckle grip. “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry!”
“Another contraction? Already?” Carly said, eyeing her watch, to which Meg nodded. “We need to get this one out of here!”
“I can ride with whoever since I need a ride, too,” Sam said calmly with a giggle. “I thought it was just Braxton Hicks, but…”
“You’re in labor? Are you sure?” Jessie questioned, earning herself a side-eye glance.
“Pretty sure I stopped wetting my pants when I was like four,” Sam chided.
“Ahh, shhit!” Jessie said, running her hands through her hair. “I know, I know…ears
!”
Carigan chimed in, offering some reason. “I’ll ride with Sam and Meg. They’ve both done this before, and Colton and Dawson are first responders…they look pretty cool to drive. Carly, hon, you ride with Morgie and those twins she’s carrying. You’ll also have Jessie with you, not that I think she’ll be much help, but…she knows what to do, too.”
Jessie wasn’t sure if Carigan was offering a compliment or slam, so she flipped her off for good measure.
Meg leaned over her chair again, “The kidssss, the frickin’ kidssss…”
“Oh, geez! Let’s roll before that one has hers in one of the barns,” Jessie said, scrambling.
“Screw you, Jessie!” Meg said in a knee jerk reaction before her face softened. “Oh, my gosh…”
“I know, I know…you’re sorry,” Jessie said, beating her to the punch.
“You all go on ahead. Stone and I will keep the little one’s here until we hear from you all,” Lou offered with tear filled eyes.
“And I’ll come back to help after I drop them off. We’ll have a big sleepover while we wait for babies! Dad’s, you just make sure to keep us posted so we know when big sisters and brother should come meet their new little person.” Carigan, filled with emotion, kissed her husband goodbye as she went off to help get everyone where they needed to be.
Standing around the vehicles, getting the ladies loaded up for the quick trip, hugs and waves were exchanged.
“I called ahead so they know you’re coming!” Doc added to the chatter.
Everly, with baby RJ nursing yet again, offered, “We’ll go grab your bags and meet you up there. Something tells me that sharing the same doctor with such close due dates wasn’t the best idea. You may need Doc.”
As the cars drove off, cheers of excitement filled the air. Their family of friends was about to grow by four.