Page 84 of Calamity Rayne Knocked Up

“What happened?” Hale asked, suddenly suspicious of his little friend. “Did I miss something?”

“You’re wife’s a hustler. She just won a grand off of me.”

Hale frowned. “You bet a thousand dollars?”

I shrugged. “What, you’re allowed to gamble, but I’m not?”

“No, but for someone willing to wake up at the butt crack of dawn to save forty percent at the Pick-N-Save, a thousand dollars is a lot to lose.”

“First of all, the Pick-N-Save isn’t even around anymore, Hale. We will be hittingrespectable retail outlets like Wally World andTarjay.Second, I’ve been hurling diapers in trashcans since Elara was born. I didn’t plan on losing.”

“You won a thousand dollars by throwing a diaper?”

“Paper towel, but same difference. A little less weight, but I’m also well versed in the wipey toss.” I slapped my wad of winnings against Hale’s chest. “Anyway, my arms are about to fall off, so I’m going to take my winnings and lay Elara down. I’m due for a little pre-dinnernappetizermyself.”

“Here, I can take her,” Hale said and Elara whined when he jostled her out of my arms.

“I’m right behind you, babe.” I shook my numb arm, trying to get the blood to flow into my fingers again, so I could steal a cookie before heading upstairs.

Xander watched Hale leave then smiled at me. What was his deal?

Tired of guessing, I figured I’d just come out and ask. “Do you not have family to eat with today?”

He laughed at my bluntness. “You don’t wantme here?”

“No, I?—”

“It’s okay.” He chuckled. “I’m not everybody’s cup of tea. But to answer your question, I don’t spend holidays with family.”

Did he mean he didn’t have family, or that they just weren’t around today? I decided to be a little nicer to him. “Well, then you came to the right place. The Davenports make enough food to feed an army.”

“Damn it, Barrett!” Phina snapped. I looked back at the table just as she smashed whatever Barret was sculpting out of dough. “Now yours is ruined too.”

“Oh, boy,” Xander mumbled. “We’ve got a sibling rivalry.”

Phina growled and gave up on the pie. “I’m done.”

McKinsley entered the kitchen, and Hugo once again grumbled in Dutch about the foot traffic. She immediately started whining in a pitch that would make a basset hound cry. How the hell was Barrett tolerating her?

Maybe he wasn’t, because after about thirty seconds of that needy whining he snapped and told her to wait for him in the other room. That quickly, his entire mood changed as he irritably washed his hands.

“Xander, do you want to get some air?”Phina asked as she removed her apron and fluffed her hair.

“Uh, sure.” He glanced back to me and smiled. “Nice chatting with you…Rayne.”

Right there! That was the look!

As they left the kitchen, my stare crossed with Barrett’s and he frowned. scrunching his nose. “What the hell was that?”

“Did you see it?”

“Yeah, I saw it. Has Hale?”

I scuttled to his side, careful to keep my voice down. “Sort of,” I whispered. “Well, I told him about it. I’m getting such a weird vibe from that guy. I can’t figure him out.”

Barrett looked out the window in the direction Xander had gone with his sister. “Why is he here?”

“Hale invited him after I told him he gave me the ipps!”

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