I WAS HIDING out in the kitchen with a plate of scrambled eggs to avoid Leland’s probing questions about why Steve had joined the “meeting” going on in the corner.
Leland was a clever man. And since he was the one who called in the “murder” of his neighbor, I had no doubt that he could figure out that I had made today’s call.
I just wished the detective I had called would now do a little communicating of his own, because the suspense was killing me.
I was thinking that I might have to channel my nervous energy into baking (and eating) some cookies when I looked up and saw Steve striding in my direction.
“What’s happening out there?” I asked, envying his calm demeanor.
He stole a slice of cold toast from my plate and took a bite. “I’m going to take Paula and Gordon to the station for a chat.”
“They were pretty talkative right before I called you.”
Nodding, Steve swallowed. “I’m sure they were, but I think we all realized that this isn’t the private setting that our discussion will require.”
“Got it. I do want you to know that I called as soon as it became obvious that Paula was responsible for Naomi Easley’s death.”
Steve smiled, his gaze locked on mine. “I don’t know how you managed to get her talking the way you did. I probably don’t want to know. But you done good.”
“Wow.” I wanted to bask for a moment in his praise, my insides turning as gooey as a block of chocolate over a flame. “Thanks.”
Then he abruptly focused on some message on his cell phone. “It’s probably going to be a few hours before I can get to the hospital, so I’ll meet you there later if you’re itching to get going.”
If Steve had wanted to dole out some mental whiplash, he was doing a great job of it. “What?”
“Eddie texted fifteen minutes ago.” Steve grinned. “With some interesting spelling for ‘hospital,’ so Pop must’ve been pretty excited that it’s finally baby time.”
Holy smokes!
I checked my phone for messages. Nothing. Then it dinged with a text from Rox to both Donna and me.
Just checking in at hospital. No need to rush over, but it looks like Jr will be coming out to play today!
I leapt out of my seat and wrapped my arms around Steve. “It’s baby time!”
* * *
Four hours later, Steve found me pacing the corridor of the third-floor birthing center, the same thing I’d been doing since arriving at the hospital around noon.
The waiting area at the end of the hall had been crowded with Rox and Eddie’s family members as well as some nervous parents of a young mother who had been in labor since early this morning. In need of a private place to talk, I pulled Steve back into the empty elevator he had arrived on and punched the button for the first floor.
“How are you?” I asked after I gave him a proper kiss during the only moment of privacy we might be able to claim for the next few hours.
Steve put his arm around my shoulder. “Tired. If I’d known we were gonna have a confession and baby doubleheader today, I never would have agreed to finishing that movie last night.”
I elbowed him. “That was your idea.”
“Maybe,” he said, taking my hand as we stepped onto the first floor. “Where we going? Cafeteria?”
Not my destination of choice because I was hoping to go for a walk in the mid-afternoon sunshine, but since he was following the scent of burgers wafting from the cafeteria grill, I was up for another shot of caffeine.
Sitting at a table in the far corner away from some uniformed employees on break, I waited until Steve picked up his burger and fries and joined me to do a little grilling of my own.
“So?” I asked, stealing one of his shoestring fries while he added ketchup to his burger. “Did Paula Easley give you the whole story of what happened that day?”
“Yep. Probably one of the fastest confessions I ever got. Like she wanted to get it over with before her husband had another heart attack.”
“What’d you think of her confession?”
“That she’s in a lot of trouble.”
“Who’d you talk to in my department for charges?”
“Ben,” Steve said with his mouth full.
I waited for him to finish chewing. “And?”
Steve looked at me over his burger. “We’re charging her with murder one. Might be a little dicey to prove since there’s no conclusive evidence. But we got it in her own words how she helped her mother-in-law into the tub after crushing enough of those pills into her wine to make her pass out, so …”
“Sounds like a strong-enough case to me,” I said while he took another bite.
He locked on my gaze while he chewed. “Are you going to try the case as well as solve it?”
“No, smart ass. But I can put two and two together, and see when someone is desperate to hide something.”
“And I suppose this math occurred while you just happened to be helping out at Duke’s this morning.”
I stole another one of his fries. “Exactly.”
He smirked. “Uh-huh.”
“So what happens next?”
“That’s up to the judge at her arraignment. Won’t be until next week sometime.” Steve glanced at his watch. “She should be on her way to County by now. Shouldn’t this kid have happened by now, too?”
“You’re asking me? I don’t know any more about it than you do.”
I checked my phone for messages. Other than a frenzied text from Donna, who wouldn’t be able to get here until after her last appointment at five, nothing.
I smiled across the table at Steve. “It’s kind of exciting though, isn’t it? The big day is finally here.”
Stuffing his face, he nodded, focusing on his food.
Okay, maybe that was a typical guy reaction. Given his recent editorial comments about the downside of parenthood, maybe I should have expected as much.
I probably had enough of a flutter of excitement in my gut for the two of us despite the coffee acid bath I was giving those restless butterflies.
After he finished his burger, I noticed Steve searching my face. “What?” I asked.
“Are you doing okay?”
“It’s just been a long, weird day, and it’s not over yet.”
He took my hand and we headed back upstairs to the waiting area, where a beaming Eddie was in the hallway with both sets of parents and some siblings outside of Rox’s room.
I rushed to join them. “Do we have a baby?”
Eddie grinned. “We have a baby. Alexander David. Seven pounds, eight ounces. Twenty inches long. And with a set of lungs on him that you wouldn’t believe.”
Steve shook his hand. “Congratulations, Pop. How’s Rox?”
“Great. Tired but absolutely great,” Eddie said, opening the door to her room. “And she’s ready to have you come in if you’d like to meet our little guy.”
Standing at the foot of Rox’s bed, I waved to my best friend while everyone washed their hands to take a turn holding the baby. “Considering you just pushed a little human out of your body, you look awesome.”
Her room had low light with the curtains drawn, but Rox glowed with joy as she watched her mother holding her first grandbaby. “Char, you’re a wonderful liar. Now, wash up so that you can hold him.”
Those butterflies in my tummy took a swan dive as I stepped to the sink behind me and turned on the hot water.
What was my problem? I’d been looking forward to holding this baby since the first day I found out I was going to be an auntie. But the closer the sleeping little bundle being passed from arm to arm got to me, the faster my heart pounded.
“Are you ready?” Erica, Rox’s younger sister, asked, carefully supporting the baby’s head to make the transfer.
Hot tears seared my eye sockets as I took Alexander David Fiske into my arms. “Hello, Alex. I’m your auntie Char.” And you feel so impossibly good. “Want to meet Uncle Steve?” I asked, passing the baby to the great guy on my left who was supposed to be immune to the charm of little babies, but he had a sappy grin on his face.
Then I completely lost it when Alex latched onto Steve’s finger. “Excuse me a minute,” I blubbered, escaping into the hallway with the ache in my heart bubbling north to lodge in my throat.
“What’s wrong with you?” Steve asked when he wrapped his arms around me seconds later. “You’ve been waiting to hold that baby for months.”
“You don’t want a baby,” I sobbed into the shoulder seam of his black polo shirt.
“Who said?”
He started to stroke my back, and I pushed him away. “You did!”
Steve leveled his gaze at me. “I never said that.”
“You said as much on numerous occasions.” Okay. Maybe two, but I felt indignant about having to wipe my nose on my shirtsleeve and wasn’t in the mood to provide him an entirely accurate count.
He ducked into the public restroom behind him and handed me some tissue. “I may have pointed out the sleepless hours that Eddie and Rox have ahead of them, but I never would have said that I don’t want a baby.”
Walking away from him to salvage a little of my dignity, I blew my nose.
Steve stepped up behind me, radiating so much heat as he pulled me close that the cork I’d used to bottle my tears melted.
He gently turned me and wiped away my tears with the pad of his thumb. “We haven’t really talked about this, but it kinda seems like now’s the right time for it, if you’re ready.”
Was Steve asking me if I was ready to have THE TALK about having children together?
Oh, heck no!
Steve laced his fingers with mine. “Would you like to have a baby?”
Yes. “Someday.”
He pulled me a little closer. “Maybe when you meet the right guy?”
I nodded while I desperately prayed I wouldn’t start ugly crying.
“Maybe with someone who couldn’t love you more even though you make me crazy sometimes.”
Staring into a sea of molten chocolate, I wondered if my brain was short-circuiting because I seemed to have lost my ability to speak.
Steve cocked his head. “It’s your turn to say something.”
I cleared the clog of emotion from my throat. “So tell me again. Do you want a baby?”
“I do.”
“With me, I mean.”
He grimaced. “Who else would I mean?”
I threw my arms around his neck. “I love you too.”
THE END
Thank you for reading Crazy, Stupid, Dead. I hope you enjoyed spending time with Char, Steve, and the Duke’s Cafe gang. To help other readers discover this book, I’d be very grateful if you’d post a short review at the site where you bought the book.
Thanks so much for your support!