LITMIR.BIZ

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discovered after the first one—her—that they weren’t cut out to be parents.

      Her father worked his eight-to-five job at the lumber mill and her mother as a file clerk at the courthouse. Once the two hit the door after work, they were right back out pursuing their own interests, keeping Beauties and the Beat as well as Joe’s Bar in business, traveling to flea markets and trade shows on the weekends. Her father bought and sold rare coins.

      Once Tuck had graduated, they’d bought an RV and hit the road. Brynna had always been the emotional stability for her siblings. She’d prepared their meals, washed their clothes and helped them with schoolwork.

      She didn’t want to be the solitary backbone of her own family as she had been for her birth family. She didn’t want a family without Dev’s help. She couldn’t bear to be alone in this marriage.

      Dev had more money to play with, but he was preoccupied with his own interests, just as her parents had been. She didn’t believe for a moment that he’d ever be unfaithful. She just didn’t think he knew how to commit. His reaction to her pregnancy confirmed that.

      Brynna had worked hard to get this far in her career. Focus and responsibility had brought her to this point. She’d done this on her own and she wasn’t going to give it up. But she wanted this baby, too. A family. She had a horrible feeling that she’d made a mistake in impulsively marrying a man she didn’t know well. It was a feeling she couldn’t shake.

      The next two evenings Brynna worked, and when she came home, Dev had been waiting for her with a light meal. They made small talk, though neither of them mentioned her pregnancy, and the subject hung between them like an invisible wall. Brynna’s defenses were more on alert than ever. Would Dev come around…or had this pushed him away?

      Would she come home some night to find him gone? His things missing? Preparing herself for that possibility, she distanced herself a little more each day.

      Friday evening after work, Brynna showered and dressed for her younger brother’s party, concerned because she hadn’t heard from Dev since that morning, and he hadn’t been here to greet her after her shift. She fixed her pager to the snug waistband of her slacks and tried calling Dev’s cell phone. She got his voice mail and left him a brief message, asking where he was.

      Glancing out at the hazy sky, she grabbed a light jacket and drove to Melanie and Frank’s comfortable ranch-style home. The acrid scent of smoke hung in the air, and Brynna scanned the horizon, spotting a dark cloud in the direction of Logan’s Hill. They hadn’t had rain for weeks on end, and the reports of sporadic fires were frightening. This one looked close.

      Her brother-in-law met her at his door.

      “Where’s the hunk?” Frank asked, glancing behind her. He’d teasingly referred to Dev as the hunk ever since hearing how the nurses at the clinic considered him eye candy.

      “I don’t know. I couldn’t get him on the phone. Where’s the birthday guy?”

      She had seen Tuck’s car in the drive.

      “Out back. Your sister is grilling, though I warn you, I am the master chef. So far, so good, though.”

      “Frank, did you see the sky to the northeast? There’s a fire.”

      “I’ll flip on my police scanner and listen. Go on out back.”

      Brynna made her way through the house and out the sliding doors from the dining room to a roomy deck where Tuck sat at a picnic table with his nephews, playing with plastic action figures.

      John, six, and Chandler, four, jumped down from their seats to run and greet their aunt. Brynna gave them hugs and kissed their cheeks. “It’s Unca Tuck’s boofday,” Chandler told her, his blue eyes wide with excitement.

      “I know,” Brynna replied. “Are we going to have cake after supper?”

      “Uh-huh. And we gots a supwise for him, too, but I’m not apposed to say it’s stuff for him to take at college.”

      “Well, don’t say it then,” Brynna replied with a grin.

      “It’s not toys,” John added without enthusiasm.

      “That’s probably a good thing,” Brynna replied, “because Tuck won’t have time to play with toys at college. At least I never did.”

      “I’m taking my Game Boy,” Tuck interjected. “I have to have something to do besides study.”

      “Can we play with your Game Boy now, Uncle Tuck?” John asked.

      “After supper,” Melanie replied from her position at the grill.

      John and Chandler jumped up and down in delighted anticipation. The steaks smelled incredible, and Brynna’s stomach growled.

      “Have you received all of your grant forms and finished all the paperwork?” Brynna asked her brother. He had been accepted into a west-coast college and had received a couple of small grants, which would help. Brynna had done as much as she could to help with tuition, especially since Dev had been paying her school loans—with the agreement that she’d pay him back.

      Her youngest brother nodded. “I got it all mailed.”

      “I suppose I need to arrange my schedule so we can drive out there and look at the dorms,” she said.

      “Dev is flying me out next week to look at an apartment and to find a part-time job,” he replied, the information catching her by surprise. “He is so cool.”

      She looked at him in surprise and concern. “Tuck, the dorms are more affordable than an apartment, especially in California.”

      Besides, she was worried about him being on his own, so far away from home. She’d feel better if he was living on campus.

      “I might find someone to share the rent with when we get there. There will be notices posted in the registration building. Where is Dev, anyway?”

      Brynna glanced at her watch. “I don’t know.”

      Just then a siren split the silence. Down the street, Rumor’s only fire truck could be heard leaving the station.

      Chandler jumped up and grabbed Tuck’s hand. “Let’s go see!”

      Chapter Five

      Melanie forked the steaks onto a platter. “I’ll take these in first, then join you out front.”

      Brynna followed the boys to the end of the driveway, where they could watch as the fire truck turned onto the dirt road leading toward Logan’s Hill. The sky in that direction was dark with smoke.

      “That looks really close,” Tuck observed, voicing Brynna’s own silent alarm.

      “We could sure use some rain,” Melanie said, coming to stand beside the others. “This drought is getting serious.”

      “News said there was a major storm front on the west coast, but it will probably blow out before it reaches us,” Frank said from the doorway, where he, too, studied the sky.

      A sleek, black sports car pulled into the drive behind Brynna’s, and her brother Kurt got out and joined them.

      Brynna gave him a hug. “I haven’t seen you for a while. Staying busy at the drugstore?”

      “Always. I’m taking an online class, too, so my time’s at a premium.”

      “What’s the class?”

      “Music appreciation.”

      Brynna smiled. Kurt was practical and had excelled at math, but he had a creative side and had composed music since he’d been in junior high. “Still play that guitar we found at the hock shop? You must have been in eighth grade.”

      Kurt grinned. “Nothing wrong with it.”

      Back inside, Frank took a bowl of salad greens from the refrigerator and

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