her exhaustion. She placed a protective hand over her belly and sank farther into the bed.
A text alert barked from her phone. Audrey stilled and squeezed her eyes tight. She knew it was Luke, texting her good-night. She wouldn’t answer. Why change now? She’d let him think she was already asleep, like she had for the past five nights in a row.
The shock of it all overwhelmed her. She had a baby growing and thriving in her belly. She already loved the little thing.
Too bad the baby’s father was the last man on earth she wanted to speak to right now.
* * *
Instead of heading back to the Slade house after work the next day, Audrey waved goodbye to Hunter and Ward at the corral and strode in the opposite direction. A walk would help clear her mind. Her nerves frazzled, her bones weary, she needed to speak to a friend more than anything else. She moved with determined steps toward the cottage that Sophia shared with Logan. Maybe, if she got lucky, she’d catch Sophia alone so that they could talk.
She wasn’t five yards away from the barn when Jewel appeared and trotted in step beside her. “You feel like taking a walk with me?”
Jewel kept up with her strides, and she figured that was a resounding yes in cat talk. Jewel was astute. She knew something was up. Cats had that sixth sense about them.
When Audrey reached the cottage, she knocked on the door. The door opened slowly and little Edward appeared. Blackie jogged over amiably to rub against Edward’s legs but the second the dog spotted Jewel, his big chocolate eyes rounded and then it was commotion gone wild. Blackie put his nose to the ground, sticking his rear end up, his tail whipping furiously, and took off after the cat. Jewel’s back arched; poised like a big orange rainbow, she sent the dog a scathing hiss. She leaped in midair, jabbed at him with a combo of swats for all she was worth and then ran as fast as Audrey had ever seen her go.
Blackie seemed unfazed by her method of defense. He darted off after her and the merry chase was on.
Edward shouted at the dog, “Blackie, stop!”
The dog ignored him. Jewel raced over a neatly groomed bed of pansies and under hibiscus bushes. Blackie was no slacker. He followed her, barking enthusiastically until Jewel spotted an old oak tree. She climbed it in three seconds flat and by the time the dog reached the tree, it was game over. Blackie lifted up on hind legs, balancing his front paws against the base of the tree and ruff, ruff, ruffed his frustration.
Audrey had been betting on Jewel the entire time. The cat wouldn’t let a Border collie get the best of her. Jewel sat calmly on a branch ten feet in the air, looking down her nose at the outdistanced dog.
“S-sorry,” Edward said. “He’s not t-trying to hurt her. He’s only p-playing.”
“I know,” she replied to the apologetic boy. “I doubt Jewel likes his game, but she’ll get over it.”
After a few moments, Blackie walked off in defeat, glancing every so often at Jewel’s perch on the tree as he trotted away. No doubt, the dog wanted another crack at her. When the drama was over, Audrey turned back to the boy. “How are you, Edward?”
The boy shrugged. “I’m o-kay.”
“Are you having a good summer?”
He nodded. “I’m w-working.”
“You are?”
“I watch Blackie and t-today I’m watering S-Sophia’s plants. I brought in her m-mail, too.”
“Oh, that’s nice. So Sophia isn’t home, then?”
“Nope. Mr. Slade t-took her on a little trip. It was a s-surprise and he asked me to w-watch the house so Sophia wouldn’t worry about her plants. He g-gave me the key and everything. My grandma’s coming h-here to pick me up s-soon.”
Disappointment curled in her belly. Her shoulders slumped as the weight of her secret bore down on her. All the way over here, she’d thought about what she’d say to Sophia and how great it would be to unburden herself by telling her the truth. Sophia probably would’ve taken one look at her and guessed the truth. Oh, who was she kidding? Sophia had known. She’d given her the pregnancy test, recognizing the symptoms before Audrey had.
Now, Audrey longed for a pep talk and the moral support that Sophia would’ve given her. She needed a friend to lean on, a sympathetic ear and someone to convince her that her life wasn’t a total