He shrugged. “Not many.”
“Tell me.” I whacked his arm lightly.
Head dipped, he murmured, “Seven.”
“Gus!” I shouted. “You’ve only known about the baby for three weeks.”
“Two were on audio.”
I tipped my head back and huffed. “They count! It’s all reading.”
“I have a lot to learn, okay?” he said, looking sheepish. “And it’s not just pregnancy books. I picked up a few about newborns, and infant brain development too. Oh, and one about sleep. Sleep is huge for babies. Did you know if you exclusively breastfeed, you should supplement with vitamin D?”
What? Between the heartbeat scare, seeing my baby for the first time, and hearing Gus talk about the swaddling technique, my head was spinning.
I was also a bit turned on, not that I was willing to admit it.
Chapter 24Gus
At the shrill ring of my phone, I groaned and opened one eye. It was still dark, and I’d been up late working on a new piece. I’d never considered myself a creative type, but I’d been making chainsaw art for the last ten years. Mostly for fun, but I’d sold a few pieces and gifted several more.
It was an escape.
Wielding a powerful piece of machinery near my face required complete and total concentration.
Every stroke had to be precise. And with my noise-canceling ear protection and the vibrations of the chainsaw, when I was working, I was truly in another world.
Last night, after the ultrasound, I’d been twitchy. Restless.
My heart was bursting with love for this child, along with fear and anxiety about its mom. Where did we stand? Was she staying? Leaving? How could we make this work when she was pushing me farther away every day?
The town rumor mill had come through for me yesterday, but I’d been so close to missing that moment.
How could I prove to her that I was trustworthy? That I was the kind of man who would be there through every high and low?
If she didn’t want me as a partner, I’d have to accept that. But I’d be there as a father, and nothing would stop me.
Since I’d been so on edge, I’d headed out to my shop and had gotten to work on a gorgeous piece of cottonwood. I still wasn’t sure what it would be in the end, but focusing on it meant getting myself into the zone and out of my head.
While my focus was fixed on my art, I couldn’t obsess about Chloe and every single word we’d exchanged. How good she’d smelled, how easy it had been being close to her, the way she looked at me when our baby was on that screen. The way she’d leaned on me when things were scary for a moment.
Nope, I needed to block it out.
And I had. Afterward, I’d fallen into bed, exhausted and filthy.
I slapped a hand on the nightstand, blindly searching for my phone. When I finally found it, I brought it to my ear. “Yeah?”
“Gus?”
It was Chloe, and she sounded panicked.
I bolted upright, now fully awake. “Are you okay? What’s wrong? Is the baby okay?”
“Yes,” she said. Her voice was so small I could barely hear it over the road noise reverberating through the phone. From the sound of it, she was driving. “I just got a call from the police. There was a fire.”
My stomach dropped and my lungs seized. “A fire? Where?”
“In the machine shop.”
I swung my legs over the side of the mattress and hauled myself out of bed. “What the fucking fuck? Did Sam leave something on? Was there an accident?” None of this made sense.
“They aren’t sure,” she said, sniffling. “I’m headed there now. The fire department is on site.”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
I was shoving my feet into my boots when we hung up. Then I spun in a circle, searching for my keys. Clem picked her head up from her bed and regarded me.
“It’s okay, girl,” I said, keeping my tone gentle. “I gotta go out. You go back to bed.”
She laid her head back down, not remotely concerned about why I was running out at two a.m.
God, this was the last thing we needed. We’d brought in so many critical pieces of equipment for summer maintenance. My hands shook as I gripped the wheel. Someone could have been hurt, or worse. After the random break-ins and vandalism, this was a huge escalation.
As I pulled into the parking lot, several police cars and both of our town fire trucks came into view.
I jumped out and jogged over to Chloe, who was standing with Chief Souza.
