Chapter 13: Her Due Date

Ruby's POV

On Sunday at noon I walked into the Rust Kings clubhouse with a convicted man beside me and my bag on my shoulder.

Rhett had put on a clean black shirt, and he held the door for me.

None of the patches in that room had seen his face in eight years.

The long table was full, and the old men along the wall stopped talking one at a time.

A chair scraped.

"That's Rhett," someone said, low. "That's Rhett Chitwood."

Floyd sat at the head of the table with his cane across his knees, and he did not look surprised.

Cade sat at his right hand, and Tawny stood behind his chair in a white dress, both hands on her stomach.

"Sit," Floyd said.

"I'll stand," Rhett said.

"Then stand." Floyd rapped the cane on the floor. "This is church. The vote on the heir, and nothing else."

Cade got to his feet.

He had slept badly, and I was glad to see it.

"Before anyone votes," he said, "you all know Tawny is carrying my child. She has the proof, and it's in my hand."

He held up the long envelope.

"May I ask her a question first?" I said.

The room turned to me.

"This isn't your table," Cade said.

"It's the club's table, and the club is asking about a baby." I looked down the row. "I'm a vet tech. I do this for a living."

Somebody near the back laughed, short and surprised.

"Tawny," I said, "what's your due date?"

She blinked at me.

"Soon enough."

"Which month?"

"February."

"Which day in February?"

"I don't know yet. It's early."

"Six weeks is early," I said. "But your scan says eleven."

A murmur went down the table.

"That's a different machine," she said.

"What did the doctor say you were having?"

"I haven't gone back."

"Then who gave you the scan?"

"A clinic in Tulsa."

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