Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 43118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 216(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 216(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
“You’re going to have a little brother or sister, Billy boy,” Hunter says, bouncing our son on his hip as he holds me with the other hand. “What do you think of that?”
Billy thinks hard and then seems to summon all of his thinking power. “No,” he tells us with a determined voice.
I look at Hunter in shock and then back at Billy.
“Was that his first word?” I ask, barely able to believe it.
“I think it was,” Hunter replies, looking just as dazed as I am.
“Well, there’s a story you can get that new little one to tell in their best man or maid of honor speech at Billy’s wedding,” my Dad says, breaking out into laughter that soon has all of us all but rolling on the ground.
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
THREE YEARS LATER
Hunter
“I’m home,” I shout, calling out from the front door. Somewhere in the house, there’s a kind of hubbub rising up; I manage to interpret it as coming from the kitchen.
The closer I walk, the more I can identify it. There’s steam coming from something bubbling on the stove, a fan pulling away the steam above it. Jenna is cutting up something – probably vegetables – to add to the pot.
I can hear Billy, our four-year-old, chatting away about something he saw on his favorite show and the burbling sound of two-year-old Frankie trying to join in the conversation the only way she can manage just yet.
I enter the kitchen to the smell of something absolutely delicious wafting through the air, and Jenna turns to see me, waving the knife in the air with a grin. “You’re home!”
“I did call out,” I say, chuckling as Billy immediately runs over and grabs onto my legs. “I guess it’s a little too noisy in here.”
“Sorry about that,” Jenna says, making a face. “Frankie’s hungry, but her food is just cooling down.”
“I’ll take over feeding her,” I say, glad to make myself useful and, of course, to spend some time with my youngest love. “Pass it over, and I’ll blow on it until it’s cool enough.”
Jenna hands me a bowl of something steaming and creamy, some kind of blended version of our dinner. “How was your stakeout?” she asks.
I gesture toward the bag I’ve set down on the dining table containing my camera. “Got some good shots. The wife is going to be very happy. That’s enough to trigger their prenup for sure.”
“Why is your bag on the dining table?” Jenna asked in that even and measured tone, which tells me it definitely shouldn’t be there.
I clear my throat. “Billy, would you do daddy a favor and move his bag to the office, please?”
Billy giggles. “Daddy got in trouble.”
“Yes, well,” I say, stirring Frankie’s food guiltily. “Into the office?”
Billy grabs it and starts to run, earning a word of caution from both his mother and me, before he walks more sensibly out to the other room.
He’s a good boy, helpful and kind, and always trying to give his toys to his sister – even when he hasn’t finished playing with them yet. He’s cute, too, the perfect blend of his mother and me.
“How was your day?” I ask. “Did you get any progress on the fraud case?”
“Yes, I did,” Jenna says proudly, throwing the last vegetables into the pot and dusting off her hands before talking to me. “I managed to convince the woman who works in the booth opposite him to give me a witness statement. I’ve got it on camera. She saw him doctoring the reports – and he even joked about it on the phone while he thought no one else was listening. We have him dead to rights.”
“Everyone, that’s my wife,” I grin, spreading my arms wide to an imaginary audience. “I knew you’d get it.”
“All in a day’s work,” Jenna says demurely. I test the baby food on my tongue and find it cool enough, offering the spoonful to Frankie. She opens her mouth wide like a snake and gobbles it all down so fast it makes me laugh.
“You’d think I hadn’t fed her all day,” Jenna complains. She shakes her head in mock reproval, then tickles Frankie’s foot, where it hangs out of the high chair to make her laugh.
“I put it away, Daddy!” Billy says, running back in to show me what a good boy he is.
“Thank you, Billy,” I say. “Have you washed up your hands for dinner?”
“M-hmm,” Billy nods. “Look!” He holds up his hands to show me just how clean they are.
“Well done,” I praise him. “Mommy, how long is it until dinner?”
“Five minutes.” Jenna folds her arms. “I had a call from a potential new client today, too. Do you want to go over their profile after dinner? I have the meeting scheduled for tomorrow.”
“I will,” I smile. I don’t know how I got to be this lucky. A wife who supports me in my business, working so well with me it’s like we planned this from the start, helping me to expand my small private detective agency to gain more clients and more complex cases.