Page 66 of Worth the Chase

“We’re pregnant,” she announced. “We’ve known for a while, but I wanted to wait to make sure.”

“Clara calls the baby Little Miss Goo,” Thomas said with a neutral expression.

“I’m sure that will change at some point.” I laughed. “Congratulations. You two do not waste any time.”

I gave them each a hug. I was happy for them, but I wondered if Thomas was nervous or scared. His first wife had died while giving birth, and there was no way that thought hadn’t entered his mind now. I figured if he freaked during the next handful of months, he’d talk about it. Or explode. And I’d be there for him.

“Couldn’t be happier for you both. Give me all the grandbabies,” Dad said with the biggest grin.

Our old man loved being a grandpa.

Couldn’t blame him though. He was damn good at it.

Patrick and Clara reappeared. They’d barely been gone five minutes.

“What’d I miss?” Patrick asked.

“Brooklyn’s pregnant,” Thomas said again.

Patrick’s face lit right up. “That’s awesome. Congratulations.”

Clara grinned and clapped her hands together. “Little Miss Goo is the size of a pea,” she announced, and we all started laughing like that was the funniest thing ever. “What? She is. Mama Waffles said so.”

Clara looked a little confused by our laughter as she moved to hide behind Brooklyn’s leg, and Brooklyn wrapped her arms around her.

“You’re going to be the best big sister ever.”

“Maybe,” Clara answered honestly, per usual.

“Maybe?” I gave my little niece a questioning look, and she shrugged.

“Well, Allison from school says her little sister cries all the time, and that doesn’t sound very fun. And Rachel says her little brother hits her. With toys sometimes.” Clara sounded absolutely offended and shocked by this behavior.

“That does sound awful,” I agreed, and Brooklyn smacked my shoulder. “What?”

Brooklyn dropped to her knees so she could be eye level with Clara. “It’s going to be great. The baby might cry at first, but that’s just what babies do. And if you have a little brother, we’ll do our best to make sure he doesn’t hit you, okay?”

Clara seemed to contemplate Brooklyn’s words before she threw her arms around her neck and hugged her tight. “Okay, Mama. Thanks.” She pulled away and smooshed Brooklyn’s cheeks together. “If it’s a girl, I’m going to share my shoes with her so we can wear the same different ones at the same time.”

Then, she started giggling, let go of Brooklyn’s face, and spun in a circle. And just like that, our favorite girl was happy again. It honestly happened that quickly—her little mood swings. Everyone continued eating pizza and clearing out the few sodas I’d brought over from the condo when my dad stepped next to me.

“Wanna chat for a second?” he asked, his voice low.

I swung my head to look at him, feeling like I was a teenager all over again.

“Am I in trouble?”

He let out a gruff laugh. “No, son. At least, not that I’m aware of.”

He nodded toward the oversize room, and we both walked that way before he opened one of the sliding glass doors and stepped onto the balcony.

I followed him out before closing the door behind us. “What’s going on?” I asked, growing a little bit concerned.

“Nothing bad. Nothing’s wrong.” He waved me off to calm me down. “Your brother talked to me about the GM position and let me know he wasn’t interested. I think, in the back of my mind, I always knew that position wasn’t for him.”

My heart started racing. I wasn’t sure why I was so nervous, but maybe there was a small part of me that thought my dad would tell me that I wasn’t good enough. Or that I didn’t deserve such a large role in the family business.

“He mentioned that you were interested. And he thought that you’d be the best fit.”

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