Shake The Frost (Crystal Lake #6) - Juliana Stone Page 0,21
Mr. Bugle is his name, I think.”
“I know him.” He nodded. “And?”
“Well, he told Leanne that you’d been to Emily’s and he heard raised voices the one day, and Leanne kept asking me questions and I didn’t know how to answer them, so I gave the table to Tiffany even though she already had seven on the go. It didn’t matter because Leanne and Paul kept looking at me all night like they knew I knew something. I couldn’t wait for them to leave.”
She looked so damn uncomfortable that on any other occasion, he might have enjoyed it. “They’re not mind readers, sis. Pretty sure you’re good.”
“I can’t lie, Ethan, I’m not good at it. Remember that year when you opened all our presents on Christmas Eve and we wrapped them up again and thought we wouldn’t get caught? We made a vow of secrecy, and you made me swear on the Bible not to tell? Dad asked me first thing, and all I had to do was play dumb, but I crumbled in five seconds flat.”
He smiled at the thought. She’d more than caved. Georgianna had jumped to her feet and pointed at him with a shaking finger and told their parents it was his idea. Which it wasn’t.
“We weren’t allowed to have our presents for a full month.”
“Right?” She nodded animatedly. “By the time I was allowed to play with my talking Chrissy doll, none of my friends were interested in her anymore. But this is different. This secret is a big one, like one of the biggest secrets I’ll ever know, and I hate that I have no one to talk to about it.” She glared at him. “And trust me, I want to talk about this. You need to tell Mom and Dad, and you need to tell them soon, because it’s not fair they’re going to be grandparents and have no clue. And tomorrow is Sunday dinner, and I can’t do it aloneWhat if they’ve heard about Emily and they ask me about the father and…” She ran out of breath at about the same time a strange expression crossed her face. “Oh my God. I’m going to be an auntie.” She made a weird noise. “And you’re going to be a dad.”
She crossed the room and enveloped him in a hug before he knew what was happening. “I’m so happy for you,” she whispered, pressing a kiss to his cheek before she took a step back.
“What?” he asked warily. She was looking at him strangely.
“You’ve changed already, you know that ,right?” She cocked her head to the side. “You’re not as dark and twisty as you normally are.”
“Thanks,” he replied. “I think.”
“And?” Her right eyebrow rose questioningly.
“And what?” He scowled and set down the half-empty can of beer. “I’ve got work to do, so whatever it is you want to say, just spit it the hell out.”
“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” She made a face at him. “I want to know when this big secret is going to be revealed because I can’t stand it anymore, and I’ve only known for less than forty-eight hours. What I’m getting at, brother of mine, is when are you and Emily going to tell everyone?”
His scowl deepened. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “We haven’t discussed the details yet.”
“You haven’t…” Her voice trailed off as confusion spread across her face. “But you were there Thursday and Friday.” Her tone was one of disbelief.
“It didn’t come up.”
“But how could it not? Isn’t that like an important detail? If not the most important? Don’t Mom and Dad have a right to know?” His sister moved closer and frowned. “You guys didn’t break up, did you?”
“Jesus, Georgie, you know we were never together.” Ethan sighed. “Look, our situation is complicated. There are a lot of moving parts, and with Jenkins there, it wasn’t exactly the right time to get into a deep discussion.”
“Jenkins?” Her expression changed. “Connor Jenkins?”
“The one and only.” He tried to keep his tone neutral, but wasn’t entirely successful. Not that Georgie noticed. She was chewing on her bottom lip like she hadn’t eaten in days. “I heard he was back in town and looking hot as hell.” She darted a look his way. “That’s the word on the street, anyway. Jess, another server at the Coach House, rang in his takeout a few nights ago. Apparently, he was a navy SEAL or something. Like, the guy is seriously ripped.”
“You’re not helping things.”
His sister made a face at that.