Page 34 of Keep Me Close

“Yeah, I was, and that's something to consider later. Right now, I'm pregnant, and the baby is healthy. Everything's going very well. I really want this to be okay, Darren.” Tears were salty in my throat.

“I know, and I know you're worried,” he said, his tone softening.

“My doctor is great, and I'm just going to hope it will be okay because that’s all I can do.”

“I hope so too. Do you mind giving me this guy's name?”

“Oh, my god, Darren. You can't look him up,” I ordered even though I'd been planning to ask my brother to look him up if I hadn't been able to track him down myself. “Come on, you know they did a background check on him. He's a hotshot firefighter.”

“How did you meet this guy, Hallie?”

There wasnoway in hell I was about to fess up to those details with my older brother.

“Look, I met him when I was out one night. One of his friends vouched for him,” I explained.

“And you know his friend well?” my suspicious brother pressed.

Okay, so I’d only met Delilah twice. Maybe I’d been in her presence for a half an hour, tops. I wasn't going to go into that with my brother. It made me feel small, ridiculous, and foolish. I didn’t need to tumble into a vortex of negative feelings. I was having this baby and hoped and prayed the universe had slipped me a good card after a few shitty ones in the deck of life.

I heard Darren take a deep breath and realized I hadn’t responded yet. “Darren, calm down. I'm not dating an alcoholic anymore,” I said flatly, well aware of how he’d felt about Brad and that disaster of a relationship.

“I guess that's a good point. But do you know this guy's not an alcoholic?”

I didn't, but I was pretty sure he wasn't. I was hyperaware of the signs of someone who drank too much. Chase hadn’t even missed a beat at his choice to abstain from alcohol while I did during my pregnancy. “I don't think so,” was all I could muster.

“What’s his name?”

I bit back a sigh. It wasn’t like I could hide this information from Darren. “Chase Mills. He’s from Willow Brook, Alaska. He grew up there. He has one sister, his mother passed away, and his father still lives in Willow Brook. As I said, he's a hotshot firefighter on one of the crews there.”

“That's enough information. I'll see what I can find out,” my brother replied.

“Don't do anything weird, Darren,” I ordered through gritted teeth.

“I'm not going to do anything weird. Just because he has a respectable job doesn't mean he's a respectable guy. Hell, I know plenty of cops who have their own records. Just let me check on him. You’re having a baby with this guy.”

“I am.” I wanted to feel confident and positive about this. I wanted to will this pregnancy to go well.

“I know Rex Masters up there. He's the police chief in Willow Brook. I'm going to give him a call. He'll give me the off-the-record scoop.”

“Fine,” I muttered, knowing I couldn’t stop my brother.

“When did you tell Risa?”

“Oh, my god! She told you, so why does it matter? I didn’t ask her to keep it a secret, so I’m guessing she told you right off.”

Darren's chuckle was warm. “She wants to talk to you, so I’ll hand the phone over. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“If I find out anything—”

I cut him off. “You'll tell me. Thanks for doing something I didn't even ask.”

He was grumbling as he passed the phone to Risa.

“Hey, girl,” she said as soon as she got on the line.

“Hey. How's he looking? Tense and worried?”

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