Reign of Night (Thorne Hill #7) - Emily Goodwin Page 0,16
death. It makes it hard to show up for my shifts, and I took myself off the schedule so I wouldn’t put anyone in a bind. Those who know me understand, and those who don’t won’t judge me too harshly if they think I took time away from work solely because I’m having a baby.
“Holy shit,” I mutter, sitting up. “What am I supposed to tell people?” I ask Scarlet. “My close friends know the truth, but other people know I’m married and they know I’m married to a vampire. I can’t exactly go around saying he was cursed and was able to get me pregnant.”
Rubbing my eyes, I get up and go to the bathroom. I fell asleep right after sex, which is something I try not to do. I don’t get sick easily, but my body is more human than ever right now, and a UTI is the last thing I need. I get myself cleaned up, wash my face, take a few drops of my morning sickness potion, and run a brush through my hair. Then I go into my closet, picking out black leggings, tall fuzzy socks, and an oversized black sweater for the day.
I go down the back stairs and smell bacon before I get into the kitchen. The counters are spotless, and there’s a note taped to the oven, letting me know my plate of food is in the warming drawer. There’s coffee in the pot—half decaf, half regular—and I grimace at myself for ruining a perfectly good cup of coffee with sugary creamer, but I just can’t stomach black coffee right now.
“Where is Lucas?” I ask Freya, who’s rubbing against my legs, hoping I’ll give her some of my bacon, which I will. She lets me know he’s in his office, and I take my food and coffee with me, walking to the front of the house. You don’t realize just how big this house is until you walk from one end to the other.
“Whatcha doing?” I ask when I get into the office. Lucas is sitting at his desk, and the blue glow of his computer screen illuminates his face. He’s wearing a white t-shirt and my favorite gray sweatpants.
“A property in Paradise Valley just came up for sale.”
“Are you going to buy it?” I sit on the window seat, admiring the snow for a second before going back to my food. Freya jumps up next to me, and I let her steal a bite of eggs from plate.
“We might,” he presses, insistent as always to remind me that I’m not only his wife but his partner in everything. “I need to do a bit of research on the area. They have a university, which I’m not familiar with, but it seems they have decent traffic through the downtown area, which would be good for a business.”
“It’s the Saturday after Thanksgiving. You shouldn’t be working,” I say and then take a bite of food.
“The last downtown property that went up for sale sold in two weeks. The market is hot right now, and if it’s a good investment, I don’t want to miss out.” He glances up from his computer. “We could go out tonight. You can get dinner and we can check out the area. It’s been a while since I took you out on a proper date.”
“I have heard about a pasta place in Paradise Valley that’s supposed to be to die for.”
“Have you been to Paradise Valley before?”
I nod since I just shoveled another piece of pancake into my mouth. “A few times,” I say once I’m done chewing. “They do have some good shops and places to eat. It has a small-town feel but is bigger than Thorne Hill since they do have that college. It’s a Catholic college, I think.”
“Yes, the website says it’s known for its nursing school, and it appears to be very selective and hard to get into.”
“I didn’t go to college in the traditional sense.”
“Neither did I.” Lucas grins and gets up from his desk. “Would you like to go out tonight? I did see there is a Christmas store that’s only open from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve.”
My eyes light up. “Really? We’re going. As soon as the sun sets.”
Lucas chuckles. “I still don’t understand your obsession with Christmas, but if it makes you happy, I’ll indulge you.”
“I’m aware it’s weird,” I admit. “Any psychologist would love to analyze the shit out of it. That feeling of safety got so ingrained in me,