The Baby Truce Read Online Free

siblings hadn’t kept many secrets from one another while growing up. They’d been in the odd position of practically raising each other while their long-haul trucker father had been on the road, after their mother’s death. Oh, Justin had tried to hold secrets, but the neighborhood grapevine was quite effective at keeping Reggie and Eden up to date on his activities.
    But this time it wasn’t Justin who was in hot water. Nope. Tables turned.
    Reggie walked the short distance from the back door into the office as if nothing was wrong, put away herpurse, smoothed her hair, tied on an apron. When she left the office, Justin was right where he’d been when she’d entered the building, leaning against the stainless steel counter, gripping the metal on either side of him. His usually warm expression was cold. Was he ticked because this had happened to her after all the lectures she’d given him?
    â€œBeen talking to Eden?” Reggie asked, giving him an opening so they could get this discussion over with fast.
    â€œYeah.” Still cold. Still closed off.
    â€œWell.” Reggie shrugged, less than comfortable discussing this matter with her younger brother. The one she’d threatened with annihilation as a teen if he wasn’t sexually responsible. “I don’t know what to say.”
    He nodded as he regarded her. “Have you…made any plans?”
    â€œLike…?”
    â€œKeeping the baby?”
    Reggie raised her eyebrows. “I’m keeping the baby.” Of course she was keeping the baby. She wasn’t a pregnant teen. The thought of giving it up hadn’t even crossed her mind.
    Her brother’s face relaxed an iota, but his voice was still stern when he asked, “Told Tom yet?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œYou gotta do that.”
    Reggie frowned. “I will.” Justin appeared as if he was on a mission. But what mission? She hadn’t a clue. “I’m going to phone him.”
    Her brother glanced down at his feet. He was wearing flat skateboard shoes. He hadn’t changed yet, which meant talking to her had been his first order of business. “I can be there when you make the call.”
    Justin was returning to protective form—a good sign.
    â€œI’ll handle it.” It wasn’t a conversation she wanted anyone to hear. She met her brother’s blue eyes. “If I need propping up afterwards, I’ll hunt you down.”
    He smiled slightly. “Just…don’t put it off too long. All right?”
    â€œAll right.” Reggie smoothed her hands down the sides of her apron. “Well, I guess I’d better get going on the chops for the dinner tonight.” She started for the cooler, then glanced back over her shoulder. “Will you be here for the interviews this afternoon?”
    â€œI got called in to the lake early.” His mouth tightened. “Sorry about that.”
    â€œNo, I understand.” Justin’s job at Lake Tahoe brought in a lot of contacts and potential business. “Eden and I will be fine.”
    â€œDon’t settle,” he said. “Because, well, there’s a chance whoever we hire might end up full time for a while. You know?”
    Reggie knew.
    Â 
    T OM GAVE P ETE A WEEK TO COOL off, then phoned. Pete was out of the office. The next time he called, a day later, Pete was once again unavailable. By the third call Tom understood that he was never going to be available. Tom was on his own.
    And that sucked, because while he could cook, he knew squat about business.
    He’d already called everyone he knew in the city, tried to pull in a few favors, but so far no luck. Even people who said they wanted to help indicated they couldn’t. Not right now. Lower-end restaurants were more than willing to take a chance on him, hoping his notoriety would bring in business, but that wasn’t a career move Tom was ready to take. He wasn’t into