The Cold Breakfast Bride novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: Six Weeks

"No," I said. "And he's not going to."

The doctor looked at me for a long moment.

Behind us the pack was shifting.

Bones cracked, and the first howl went up off the water.

My wolf flinched at the sound and curled up small.

She hadn't been able to since he said the words.

"You know the law," the doctor said. "An Alpha's heir is pack business."

"I know the law."

"If anyone reads my files..."

"Then don't let them."

She pressed her lips together.

"My file cabinet locks. My office locks. That's all I can promise."

"That's more than anyone else here has promised me in a while."

"You fed my kids for four months, Jess. Every night. You never sent a bill."

"Ham and beans aren't billable."

"They were to me."

She put her hand on my arm, quick, and let go.

"Eat protein. Sleep. Don't lift the stock pots by yourself."

"I'm a cook."

"Then get somebody to lift them."

She walked back toward the fire, and a gray wolf ran past her into the trees.

I got in the truck.

The night cook drove me back up the pass and didn't ask me a single question.

At the top he said, "Huckleberry pie, huh?"

"Hatty's recipe."

"Good," he said. "I'll pick."

I told Hatty in the morning.

Friday, before the rush, when the diner was just us and the coffee and the hum of the pie case.

I said it standing at the grill with my back to her, because it was easier that way.

"I'm pregnant."

The spatula in my hand scraped all the way across the flat-top before she said anything.

"How far?"

"Six weeks."

"His?"

"Whose else?"

"Does he know?"

"No."

I turned around.

She was sitting on her stool by the register, her reading glasses swinging on their beaded chain, both hands over her mouth.

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