The rumble of the apartment building elevator proceeds the click of the front door opening and closing behind Jeremy.

Toenails rattle against the hardwood floor as Kahn, the massive dog we officially adopted just before our wedding ceremony, hurries to greet him.

“And how’s my good boy today?” I hear Jeremy ask the dog. In my mind’s eye I picture him bending low, engaging the massive dog the vet estimates to be about a year and a half old in a mild wrestling match, as is their custom every time Jeremy comes home. It is part of the evening’s natural patter now. Just the way it goes.

It’s strange. We’ve only been married three weeks, but already Jeremy and I have settled into an easy routine. Each morning we get up, shower together, and grab a quick breakfast before he heads out to Caldwell Industries and I go to my florist shop. I get home—it still seems strange to think of his apartment as my home—about a half hour before he does and start dinner. We spend the rest of the evening talking, watching television, and playing with Sasha and Kahn. It’s simple and wonderful. I love it.

Now I’m about to throw a huge monkey wrench into everything.

Nerves dancing, I make my way from the bedroom to the living room. Sure enough, Kahn and Jeremy are on the floor, each trying to get the other in a headlock – or a wet mouth lock, in Kahn’s case – neither caring that Jeremy’s expensive suit is now wrinkled and covered in dog hair. The dry cleaners are going to have a fit when they get the next batch.

Sasha sits on the couch, the tip of her tail flicking back and forth, an annoyed expression on her scarred face. Since Kahn’s come to live with us, she’s been acting put out. I believed her until the other day, when I came home and found her cuddled up beside him on his bed. She might not be thrilled about having to share her home and Jeremy, but she’s learning to adapt.

Sensing my presence, Jeremy looks up, his gaze capturing mine.

“Hey, you.” His warm voice never fails to make my heart melt just a little bit.

“Hey, yourself. Anything exciting happen to you today?” The question is another part of our little routine.

Some of the light in Jeremy’s eyes fades and his mouth flattens. He ruffles Kahn’s ears, causing the dog to happily kick out with both his hind feet, and slowly climbs to his feet. “I’ve had better days.”

“Uh oh. That sounds ominous.” I walk to the sideboard and pull down a shot glass and Jeremy’s favorite whiskey bottle. “One finger or two?”

“Two. It was definitely a two-finger kind of day.”

I finish pouring and hand the shot glass to him. “What happened?”

“Evan came into the office.”

That’s nothing new. Since he was released, Evan has been at Caldwell Industries every single day. Making sure that everyone knows he’s back and that he’s determined to be part of the operation again. When I spoke to my Aunt Janet the other day, she told me that even though Evan hasn’t actually done anything, he has had the entire place in an uproar, that he seems bent on going to one department after another and stirring the pot. She told me that Jeremy was spending more time soothing ruffled feathers than getting any actual work done.

“What did he do now?” I ask.

Blowing out a heavy sigh, Jeremy sits on the couch. I settle next to him, my head automatically falling against his shoulder as Khan lays on the floor by his feet. Sasha turns up her nose at all three of us.

“I have no idea. He was there before anyone else this morning, and as soon as the accounting department turned on their computers, everything went wrong. They’d been hit by some type of virus that wiped all of their hard drives. Luckily everything was backed up to a cloud server, but no one dares access them until we know what the hell happened to the computers in the first place.”

Jeremy’s head falls back against the couch and he closes his eyes. “I know damn good and well that Evan’s responsible for the whole disaster. I just don’t know how the hell he did it or why. Until I figure out the answer to those two questions, I’ve asked Ben, my head of security, to keep an even closer eye on him—not that I think it will do much good. Evan seems to have an uncanny ability for disappearing and reappearing in the most unlikely places.”

“Any word on his wife?” The last time I’d seen Sheila was at our wedding as Evan dragged her from the church. Two days later, Evan let us know that they’d flown to Las Vegas and had gotten married, but that was the last update. I can’t help wondering if she’s okay.

“I haven’t heard anything, but then I haven’t been asking any questions.”

For reasons I couldn’t learn, Jeremy, the sweetest, most generous guy I know, had taken a “she’s made her own bed” attitude toward Sheila.

Since the last thing I want to do is get in an argument with him, I decide to change the subject. “I have some news.”

He opens one eye. “Excellent. What is it?”

Biting the inside of my cheek to contain my smile, I reach under the couch and feel around for the item I hid under there earlier. My fingers curl around it and I slide it into view, pushing Kahn’s curious nose out of the way as I do so.

I hand the plastic wand to Jeremy. “This time, the test is positive. We’re having a baby.”