and shifted all of her attention to you,” Bricker pointed out, and then glanced at Decker when his pocket began to buzz, and he pulled out his phone.
“It’s Dani,” Decker announced. A grin curving his lips, he answered and said, “Hi, beautiful. Hang on just a minute.” Pressing the phone to his chest, he stood, saying, “I’m going to take this outside. If the waitress returns before I do, order me the steak, rare, with fries.”
When they all nodded agreement, he returned the phone to his ear and walked away talking into it.
“Dani’s Decker’s wife,” Bricker announced as they watched him push his way through the glass doors to head outside.
CJ merely nodded as she turned back to the table. She’d gathered as much, but it was good to have it verified that the guy wasn’t a douchebag who would talk openly with his girlfriend in front of others.
“My wife’s name is Holly,” Bricker added, and then continued, “Mac’s single though. What about you?”
CJ stiffened, but answered, “Divorced and completely off men.”
“Well, that sucks,” Bricker commented, his expression going solemn for the first time since she’d met him that morning. The man had been teasing and laughing throughout the shopping trip and the drive in the car. Now his face was grim as he said, “He must have been a real douche to turn you off men.”
CJ just shrugged, not willing to be drawn into a conversation on that topic. Fortunately, the waitress arrived then with their drinks and the subject was dropped as they gave their orders, including Decker, who returned before they’d finished and was able to give his own.
“Dani good?” Mac asked as the waitress left them.
“Good,” Decker said with a nod, and then took a drink of his iced tea before adding, “But she’s got a serious case of baby fever. Which reminds me, Mac, she wanted me to ask how your research is going. Whether you’re getting close or we should consider a surrogate.”
CJ’s eyebrows rose at that. “I thought your area was blood, Mac. What’s that got to do with infertility?”
She didn’t miss the glances exchanged between the men. It seemed to be some kind of silent communication. Whatever it was that passed between them, Mac narrowed his eyes, shook his head slightly at the other men, and then turned to her and explained, “Decker’s wife has a pathogen in her blood that could be passed on to her child.”
“A pathogen?” CJ asked slowly.
“A pathogen is a bacterium or microorganism.”
“I know what a pathogen is,” CJ assured him. “But what—?”
“Holly’s got baby fever too,” Bricker announced. “I blame it on the Port Henry babies. They see them, hold them, and want them.”
CJ bit her lip briefly as it occurred to her that asking what pathogen Decker’s wife had would have been rude. It was really none of her business and she supposed she was lucky Bricker had spoken up before she could finish putting her foot in her mouth. Now, she said, “What exactly are Port Henry babies? I mean, I know Port Henry is where Mac’s sister lives, but—”
“It is just the babies born in Port Henry,” Mac said simply. “Except that several members of our . . . family and friends there had children around the same time five years ago or so, and another group had babies again just recently. My sister was in the group that had them five years ago. There were three or four children born weeks apart. That round of kids is now in kindergarten. The latest group was just a couple months ago.” He shrugged slightly. “They call them the Port Henry babies because they’re having them there in groups instead of one or two.”
“Hmm,” CJ murmured, and just shook her head. She didn’t really understand why three or four kids born weeks apart would be worthy of such a distinction like “Port Henry babies.” Surely there were children born in Port Henry every year, maybe even every month or week depending on the size of the town.
“So, CJ,” Bricker said suddenly. “Mac mentioned you used to work for CSIS?”
CJ glanced at him and nodded mildly. “For three years before switching to the SIU.”
“That’s like what?” Bricker asked. “The Canadian version of the CIA or something? You were a spy?”
CJ’s mouth twitched with amusement at his eager expression and voice, but she said, “It’s like any other job, not nearly as exciting as it sounds. I mean, anything gets to be boring and commonplace when you