Page 33 of Keep Me Close

ChapterFourteen

Hallie

I sighed, swiping the heels of my palms across my cheeks before glancing down at the screen. My brother's name flashed.

I tapped the screen to answer. “Hey, Darren,” I said, hoping my tears weren't obvious in my voice.

“Hey, are you crying?” he asked immediately.

I rolled my eyes, grateful he couldn't see me. “No,” I lied. “I just came in. It's windy out.”

“Ah,” he replied. “Risa said you wanted to talk to me.”

I silently groaned. I’d asked Risa to let Darren know I wanted to chat. I was grateful she’d given him the pregnancy news to give him time to adjust. I hadn’t asked her to keep the news to herself because I doubted Risa could keep a secret like that from my brother.

“Yeah,” I said, thinking it was just going to be that kind of day. “Well, like Risa told you, I’m pregnant.”

The line went so quiet, I prompted, “Darren, are you there?”

“Yeah, I'm here,” he said, his tone sharp. “Risa told me. Is this good news or bad news?”

“It's good news.”

“Congratulations then,” he said.

I could practically picture my brother's face. He wouldn't know how to reply. He did know about my reproductive issues, so to speak. Risa had come to stay with me after my miscarriage, and they both knew about my surgeries.

“I'll just give you all the details,” I forged ahead. “No, I haven’t been in a serious relationship. This is completely unexpected. We used condoms. The father is stepping up. He wants to be involved, and I'm having the baby.”

Darren fell silent again. I thought he was probably clenching his teeth because I knew my brother well. He liked when things stayed neat and tidy in life. I was not neat and tidy, or rather, this situation wasn't. While he appreciated my photography, he didn't appreciate me working as a freelancer. He worried about my benefits, my stability, my income, and so on.

“You'll be glad to learn the father is a firefighter. He's a hotshot out of Willow Brook.”

“Okay?”

“Sheesh, I thought you’d be glad to hear that. Doesn’t that mean he's stable?”

“Well, no, not necessarily,” Darren countered.

“Why not? He's got a full-time job and I'm sure he has good benefits.”

“Probably. But hotshot firefighting isn’t the most stable career. It's pretty risky.”

“You do it,” I retorted.

While my brother was a police chief, he was also trained as a firefighter and helped out in a pinch with the crews down in Diamond Creek on occasion.

“Fair enough. I'm sorry if that came out a little judgmental.”

“Just a little,” I replied, my tone dry. I loved my brother, but he could play the stereotype like nobody else when it came to being a little overprotective.

“You have to admit this is a lot of news for me to absorb.”

“I will definitely agree with that.”

Darren chuckled, and I could hear Risa’s voice in the background. “What did Risa say? Did she tell you to be nice?” I teased.

“Yes,” he muttered, sounding chastised. “I thought you were about to schedule surgery.”

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