Читать книгу The Pregnant Bride Wore White - Susan Crosby - Страница 7

A bell jangled as Keri Overton pushed open the diner door. Heat hit her first, a welcome break from the biting December cold, then came the distinctive aromas of grilling hamburgers, onions and strong coffee. None of it appealed to a stomach already filled to capacity with butterflies.

She stepped inside and gave the lunchtime crowd a quick inspection, seeking one person, coming up blank. Disappointment but also relief swamped her. After all, what would she say? Her head started echoing with the words she’d practiced. “Hi, Jake, remember me?” Scratch that. There was no way he would forget her. “Hello, Jake. There’s something you should know before the rest of the world finds out…” Right. That would go over well.

Keri sighed. She hadn’t really expected to find him so easily, but he’d told her about this town, his town, and this diner, so she’d hoped—and feared—he would be sitting in a booth, having the burger and fries he’d raved about.

The other patrons gave her curious looks without interrupting their conversations. Chance City was a small tourist town, accustomed to visitors, even the day after Christmas.

Keri took the last stool at the counter, the only one available. From there she had a good view of everyone, not just those seated at the counter, but the ones in the red-leatherette-and-chrome banquettes. She plucked a menu from behind a mini-jukebox, wondering if the townspeople would close ranks if she asked questions about one of their own.

A woman in jeans and black shirt approached, her salt-and-pepper braid disappearing down her back. “Welcome to the Lode. My name’s Honey. What can I get you?”

“Do you have ginger ale?”

“We do. Anything else?”

“That’ll do for now, thanks.”

“All our desserts are homemade daily,” Honey said, gesturing toward a glass case displaying pies and cakes like colorful pop art. “Our soup, too. Got chicken noodle today, and clam chowder. Warm you up from the inside out.”

Keri smiled at the woman’s enthusiasm. “Thank you. I’ll keep it in mind.” After a minute, Keri stuck the menu in its holder and scanned the room again, more slowly this time. She’d come with a purpose, after all. He had family here. Would any of them look enough like him that she could identify a relative she might speak to? Could she even remember his face well enough?

She tried to envision him. Blue eyes, dark brown hair, tall, fit, sexy. Yes, sexy, even under the circumstances in which they’d met. And lips that had created a firestorm inside her, deep, intense, and thrilling. She’d harbored fantasies about him ever since.

Honey set a glass of ginger ale on the counter as the overhead bell sounded. An elderly woman came in, escorted by two thirtysomething men—one tall, with black hair, the other a little shorter, his brown hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. Many of the customers greeted them. They smiled and said hello in return, but they didn’t seem relaxed, especially the man with the black hair, who carried what was no doubt the woman’s bright purple cane.

Wait. A man with a ponytail? Keri studied the three people further. They had to be Jake’s relatives. The man with the long hair would be his youngest brother, Joe. Which meant the black-haired man was Donovan. They had five sisters, too—a huge family.

Keri set her interest on the older woman. Their grandmother, probably, the woman they called Nana Mae? Keri had heard stories about Jake’s whole family for three days. She already felt as if she knew them.

“Oh, look,” the woman—Nana Mae—said, her steps small and shuffling. “There’s Laura and Dixie. Let’s go squeeze in the booth with them.”

Dixie? That name didn’t just ring in Keri’s head, it clanged. Jake had talked about her, too. And her broken engagement to Joe last fall.

Keri looked at the two women in the booth nearest to her as the others slid in, Donovan pulling up a chair to sit at the end. The women were both blonde but different from each other, one being curly haired and earthy, the other sleek and elegant.

“Any word?” the curly-haired blonde asked.

Joe shook his head. A long, uncomfortable silence followed.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Nana Mae said impatiently. “You can talk about it in front of me. I won’t have another stroke. Jake’s missing. He’s always come home for Christmas, except this year. And he hasn’t even called. It’s not like him. Something is wrong. We can say that out loud. We need to say it out loud.”

Missing? Keri grabbed the counter as her world tilted. Dread scattered the butterflies in her stomach, leaving a ball of ice behind. Her heart pounding deafeningly loud, she focused harder on their conversation, needing to hear what they were saying.

Everyone except Donovan was talking, stumbling over each other’s sentences.

“Stop,” he finally said, not loud, but forceful enough for the discussion to come to an abrupt halt. “Jake’s not missing. He’s on an assignment where he can’t call us until he’s done.”

Keri swallowed hard. Now what?

“You knew?” the elderly woman asked, her face gone pale. “Why didn’t you say something before?”

“I just got word myself. I would’ve told you after lunch. In private.”

Keri slid off the stool and made her way to the table. “Please excuse me, but are you Jake McCoy’s brothers, Joe and Donovan?” she asked through the lump in her throat. “And you’re his grandmother, Nana Mae?”

“Yes, dear. Who are you?”

“My name is Keri Overton. I…know Jake. I came all the way from Venezuela to see him.” She looked at Donovan, deciding he was the one she needed to convince she was telling the truth. “You really don’t know how to get in touch with him?”

“No.”

Desperately, she said, “Aren’t you a big-time journalist or something? Someone with contacts and connections?” Her heart picked up speed again at his icy expression. As if he hated her or something…

Which meant Jake had told his brother about her. About their circumstances. About her being responsible for what had happened to Jake in Venezuela.

“Donny, get the girl a chair,” Nana Mae said.

He didn’t, but he did stand and offer his.

The room started to swirl a little. She should probably sit and put her head between her knees.

Strong hands grabbed her as she reeled, helping to lower her to the chair. Keri lifted her head to thank him, but he was out of focus.

Nana Mae’s voice reached her, however. “You’re pregnant.”

Keri nodded, which made the room tilt.

“And you’re looking for Jake. So I’ll take a stab in the dark and say you’re carrying Jake’s baby.”

She needed him, and he wasn’t there. Her vision narrowed to one bright point. Sound barely penetrated her deadening world. “Yes,” she said finally, right before everything went black.