Chapter One
All Sheriff Seth Reilly wanted was an ice cold beer, his recliner, and a kiss from his beautiful wife Presley. It had been a long day of dealing with people – a few calm and easygoing but most pissed off and ornery. Seth generally didn’t see people on the best day of their lives and that meant that his days were filled with anger, angst, and even tears.
It didn’t help that the weather was unseasonably hot and he’d sweated through a white t-shirt and his beige cotton uniform button-down. The heat also seemed to have an effect on the folks in Harper and the most even-tempered residents had turned into irritable demons. By six o’clock he’d had quite enough of his fellow human beings and was ready to be welcomed back into the bosom of his family.
“Honey, I’m home,” he called as he stomped in the front door and kicked off his heavy boots. “And I’m starving.”
The living room looked like a toy tornado had hit it. Blocks scattered across the floor threatening to break an ankle. Train parts strewn on the coffee table. Action figures mingled with a herd of teddy bears who lay face down on the carpet as if victims in a horrible bear homicide. Seth had to fight the urge to wrap bright yellow crime scene tape around the room. He had a roll in the SUV but perhaps he needed to store it in the house.
Instead of a warm armful of woman greeting him at the door with a smile, Seth heard a screech from the general direction of the kitchen and hurried to see if anyone had been hurt. He found Presley trying to wrestle their two-year-old Lulu out of the pan cabinet while their oldest, Ben, chased their black Labrador Fergus around the kitchen in circles.
“Bennett Elvis Reilly, stop that this minute,” Presley said firmly. “Or you will sit on the naughty step. Lorelei Priscilla, please let go of Mommy’s frying pan.”
His wife managed to extricate the handle of the pan from the toddler’s death grip but Lulu, who was in full tilt toddler mode these days, decided that now was a dandy time to throw a tantrum. The scream she let out made the screech he’d heard earlier sound positively melodious. Then she hurtled her tiny little body to the ground and proceeded to cry while pounded her fists against the tile. It was a new experience, as Ben hadn’t been the tantrum type.
It was at this point that Presley appeared to notice he’d arrived home, and her expression turned to one of relief. “I’m so glad you’re home.”
Seth had to speak loudly to be heard over the sobbing, but he stepped forward to wrap his arms around his wife. He didn’t get that far. “Me too, hon–”
“Can get your son to stop terrorizing the dog and then please get the clothes out of the dryer before they wrinkle? Thanks.”
Presley was trying to take care of their two children all while starting her own business. She and Eliza were opening the first coffee shop in Harper and she’d been working some long hours to get it set up. She was probably exhausted and he hadn’t been much help lately since they’d had a rash of deputies out with the flu. However, his guys were all back to one hundred percent so from now on he was going to be pulling his weight around here. He’d been relying on Presley way too much and she needed a back rub.
His fingers massaged the tight muscles of her shoulders as they were serenaded by Lulu’s bellows of injustice. “Rough day?”
Slumping against the stove, Presley groaned. “You have no idea. I’m sorry I didn’t say hello. I am glad you’re home and not just because of the laundry.”
“I’m on it, honey. Super Seth to the rescue.” He looked down to the floor where Lulu was winding up her tantrum. “Are we still ignoring her when she does this or are we intervening?”
“The other moms say that giving her any attention is only rewarding the behavior. They are obviously stronger people than I am.”
Lulu had finished screaming and crying and she was now trying to get another pan from the open cabinet. Seth scooped her up into his arms and give her a big kiss on her cheek.
“How’s my ladybug?”
Lulu replied but only a few of the words were recognizable due to the sniffles from her earlier sobs.
Dog. Cookie. Kiss.
So Seth gave her another kiss on the other cheek.
“No cookies, ladybug. We’re going to have dinner in a few minutes.”
Ben had finally finished chasing Fergus around the house and had paused in the kitchen, deciding to give his father some attention. Finally. He used to run to meet Seth at the door but now toys and cartoons were more important.
“She had two cookies earlier at the coffee shop,” Ben said. “Mom gave them to her.”
Seth’s son was in the tattling stage and he didn’t care who he told on. He’d told Presley that Seth had snuck a beer while working on the deck. He’d told Seth’s mother that Presley said a bad word while driving. He’d told them Fergus had stolen a sandwich right off the kitchen counter. But Lulu was his favorite person to tell on.
“If your mother gave her cookies, then it’s okay,” Seth sighed. “Come here and give your old man a hug and then tell me what you did today.”
Ben glommed onto Seth’s leg and didn’t let go which made grabbing the laundry a challenge. With Lulu sitting on the top of the dryer and Ben hanging off of his thigh the two kids chattered away about their day. Highlights included cookies, Grandma, Aunt Eliza, and seeing a deer.
“Sounds like you had a big day, but we need to get you fed and in the tub. It’s going to be your bedtime soon.”
The kids wound down as the evening progressed. Somehow they all four managed to eat dinner without any major catastrophes and he gave the kids their bath while Presley cleaned up the kitchen. He’d offered to do the dishes but she’d just smiled and said this was his time with Ben and Lulu.
This was Seth’s favorite time of day.
After making sure the kids were squeaky clean, he lounged in the bathroom while Ben and Lulu played in the water, splashing and giggling. At some point, Presley would poke her head in and see if he needed any help but he enjoyed getting them into their jammies and tucking them into bed. It was his night to read them a story and Lulu chose a book about naughty dinosaurs who didn’t listen to their human parents. Presley joined them and read a second book about a bunny who misbehaved too. There was a theme among these books.
The usual hugs and kisses concluded and then Seth turned out the lights with an exhausted sigh. He loved his children but they could really kick his ass.
Presley elbowed him gently in the ribs. “Why don’t you go take a shower and I’ll get you a beer?”
Seth leaned down and pressed a long kiss to his wife’s full lips. “I’ll take that deal all day long, baby. Thank you.”
“It’s just one of the many services we offer here, Sheriff.”
There was promise in that tone. Seth was a lucky man to have a woman like Presley and he tried to never take her for granted.
“Don’t be too long,” he said as she bounded down the stairs. He turned and headed into the master bedroom only to groan at the sight before him. Fergus was lying on the bed with a guilty look on his face and it was easy to see why. He’d dragged all of the trash out of the bathroom garbage can and taken the time to shred every single tissue. Luckily it had been trash day this morning so there hadn’t been much in it to begin with.
“Bad dog,” Seth said to the reclining Labrador who just whined in response. “Very bad dog.”
Picking up the trail of tissues that led into the bathroom, Seth stopped short when he saw another item that had been dragged out of the trash can. Gingerly picking up the plastic stick, Seth’s heart stopped beating in his chest for a long moment before kickstarting painfully direct to a gallop. It couldn’t be. But there it was. He couldn’t deny what was in in his own hand and in front of his own two eyes.
A pregnancy test.
A positive pregnancy test.
Presley was pregnant.
As in a baby. They were going to have another child.
Sitting down on the cold tile, he stared at the plus sign on the test. He didn’t need to check the directions on the box. This wasn’t the first time he’d seen this and he knew what it meant.
We weren’t going to have any more children.
About a year after weaning Lulu off the bottle they’d sat down and talked it out. The pros and cons of a third child and they’d both agreed. No more kids. He’d even agreed to get a vasectomy, except that he hadn’t quite got around to it all this time later. He’d kept putting it off and making excuses, despite his physician’s assurances that it was a simple procedure. Snip, snip.
The pill made Presley nauseous so they’d been using condoms. They were pretty good about it but there were times…
A baby.
Was Presley happy about it? She’d had problems with her pregnancy with Lulu and had to be put on bedrest. Here she was in the middle of opening up her coffee shop and now a baby on top of it. This was her dream and dammit, Seth wanted her to have it. But he also couldn’t help but think about how it might be to have another baby in the house. Another little body to cuddle. That amazing baby smell. Sure, there were sleepless nights and spit up, dirty diapers and colic, but there was so much love too. Another baby that was a product of his adoration for Presley.
A smile curved his lips as he tucked everything back into the trash can. They were going to have a baby and Seth was thrilled. Already he was wondering if it was a boy or a girl. Would it favor him or Presley?
The better question was when she was planning to tell him the big news? Seth could simply wait for her to come to bed and then tell her he had found the test stick but it would be more fun to wait and see how she did it. With Ben she’d made a game out of it and then with Lulu she’d taken him on a special weekend trip to Denver, just the two of them. Knowing Presley, she was already planning on how she would tell him and he didn’t want to ruin it for her. He’d wait even if it killed him.
They were having another baby.