Page 13 of Trouble Comes in Threes

“Would you think I was crazy if I said Chuck-N-Cluck? I’ve been craving their fried chicken and mashed potatoes.”

I laughed. “I did say anywhere.” And I happened to know it used to be her favorite fast-food restaurant. She’d moved on to a new chicken place in town—Let’s Cluck a Deal—and hardly ever ate at Chuck-N-Cluck anymore. But sometimes there was comfort to be had in old things.

She set the carved box aside, and we finished digging the base for the retaining wall. I grabbed two stakes and some string to start leveling the ground, but Bruce Wayne shooed us away, saying it was time for the professionals to take over. I could have been offended—I’d built my share of retaining walls before—but I had to admit I was distracted. Better to let Bruce Wayne and his crew finish.

Neely Kate and I washed our hands as best we could with the garden hose. Then she picked up the box and carried it to the trunk of her car. “After lunch, I’ll get started on the search.”

“You never should have told Jill we’d find the owner,” I said with a disapproving stare.

“Pleasssse,” she said with a groan. “All it’s gonna take is a call to the property department at the courthouse. I still know a few people there, and they’ll give me a history of who’s owned the house.”

She had a point. She’d worked in the courthouse for years, and she had a knack for getting people to help her, including me.

“Fine,” I said. “I suppose a few phone calls won’t hurt.” I snuck a glance at her, seeing how much she needed this. “Why don’t you go to the office and ask the property department for the names, and I’ll stop by Chuck-N-Cluck and get our order?”

She clapped her hands together with glee. “Perfect.”

After she told me what she wanted, I got in my car. But instead of driving straight to Chuck-N-Cluck, I headed to Carlisle Automotive.

I needed to have a little chat with Jed.

He didn’t seem surprised to see me when I walked through the open bay doors of the garage, but he didn’t say anything either.

“Hey, Rose,” Witt, Neely Kate’s close cousin, said, poking his head up from under the hood of a car. He’d worked for Jed since they’d opened their doors to their first customers over four years ago. “You havin’ car trouble?”

“Thankfully, no,” I said, continuing to the back of the garage. “I just need to have a little chat with Jed.”

Jed gave me a look that suggested he’d rather have a root canal, but he didn’t protest as I headed to the breakroom and sat at the dining table. He followed me in, shutting the door behind himself, and gave me a petulant stare.

“Look,” he finally said with a dramatic sigh. “I already know what you’re gonna say.”

“Do you?” I asked with raised brows. “What am I gonna say?”

“That I should have been happier when Neely Kate told me she was pregnant.”

“Actually,” I said, looking up at him. “That’s not what I was gonna say.”

His eyes widened, but then he quickly recovered. “So what are you here to say?”

“I was gonna say that you’re entitled to your feelings, Jed. I understand it was a shock. Sure, your reaction was a huge disappointment to Neely Kate, and I wouldn’t be lying if I said that I didn’t wish you would have covered your reaction, but what’s done is done.” I leaned my elbow on the table and propped my chin on my hand. “But what I don’t understand is why you didn’t at least acknowledge her pregnancy? Why did you just walk out on her like that?”

He sat down across from me, dragging his hand through his hair. I didn’t have the heart to tell him he now had a grease streak across his forehead. Unlike Neely Kate’s dirt smear, I wasn’t going to rub it off.

“Because,” he said, looking like he wanted to cry, “she knows I didn’t want her to get pregnant. She knew I wouldn’t see this as happy news, but she chose to pretend otherwise.”

“Jed,” I said, leaning closer. “I know you’re probably scared. The chances of her losing this baby are high. But don’t you see this as at least a little bit of happy news? She’s been trying to get pregnant for ages.”

“Yeah, she has, but obviously she didn’t tell you what the last two doctors said.”

“What?” I asked in confusion.

He held my gaze. “They told her if she got pregnant, it could potentially kill her.”

I stared at him in shock. “What?”

He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “I guess she didn’t tell you that part.”

“No.”

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