Page 71 of Bad Seed

“You aren’t a pain at all, and I admire your loyalty to the people who support you. There’s not nearly enough of that in the world. I do want to ask about your brother, though. Alex, isn’t it? How is he doing since the wreck?”

Josie smiled, pleased that the woman remembered. “He’s doing great, but opted to stay in my bus. It has all the comforts of home and then some, and some of the guys in my band are going to look in on him. Home away from home, you know?”

“Wonderful news,” Liz said.

“Oh, one last thing. Will Brendan Pope be at work today?”

“Yes, he’s here.”

“Sometime during our event, I would like permission to have him come to the party so I can introduce him to my guests. They all know about Alex’s injuries and that a local man saved him, but I would like to honor him for his heroism.”

“I’ll make that happen,” Liz said. “I’ll be on-site for the event, so when you’re ready to do that, just let me know. I’ll bring him in.”

“It won’t upset him, will it?” Josie asked.

“Not at all. Brendan is a sweetheart,” Liz said.

“Perfect. Then I’ll see you later,” Josie said, and hung up.

Liz sighed. Now she needed to let Brendan know that Josie Fallin wanted to introduce him during the dinner. She knew he was too busy to interrupt in the kitchen, so she sent him a text instead.

He saw it, made a mental note, and slid another three pans of rolls into the ovens to bake.

***

Shirley Pope was on her way into Jubilee to run errands.

Amalie was working from home today, and the moment Shirley drove out of the yard, Sean and Amalie gathered in his office for a Zoom meeting with her dad, Wolfgang Outen.

Tomorrow was the family dinner when they’d make their baby announcement, but they didn’t want Wolf to be left out of the loop. They were sitting side by side when Wolf’s face popped up on the screen.

“My two favorite people! Good morning!” Wolf said. “This is a great way to start the day. What’s new with you two, and tell me what’s going on in Jubilee,” he said.

Amalie glanced at Sean.

“He’s your dad. You tell him.”

“Tell me what?” Wolf asked.

“That I’m pregnant with twins. You’re going to be a grandfather!” Amalie said.

The surprise on Wolf’s face was followed by an expression of pure delight. “Twins! Amalie! Sean! Thisis the best news ever! Congratulations twice. Oh wow. Grandpa. Grandfather. Naw…too formal. Papa! That’s it! I want them to call me Papa.”

Sean was grinning from ear to ear. “We can make that happen,” he said.

“I can’t wait. When’s the due date?” Wolf asked.

“I’m coming up on three months pregnant, so we have a way to go. They said the middle of September, but having twins can make the due date vary,” Amalie said.

“What’s Shirley think about this?” he asked.

“Oh, you’re the first to know,” Amalie said. “Shirley is making dinner for the family tomorrow. We’re making the announcement to them then.”

“Then I’ll keep quiet until later. This is wonderful. Just wonderful. I wish I was close. I missed all of your childhood. I would love to be near to watch them grown up.”

“I guess you could, if you wanted to live in Jubilee,” Sean said.

“What do you mean?” Wolf asked.

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