“But you’re always saying him and his and calling it the little guy. It’s pretty obvious you want a son, Kevin.”
He leaned in close and smiled. “I only say that because it flusters you. You roll your eyes and smile at me and it’s very cute.”
She pushed him back upright again as Randy set her burger down in front of her. “I think I want it to be a surprise.”
“Then we’ll tell the doc we don’t want to know.” He snuck one of her fries. “You might want to avoid the bar Sunday, by the way. I can have the kitchen send up a burger for dinner, but it’ll be rowdy as hell down here. And packed.”
She slapped his hand when he went for another fry. “Why? What’s going on Sunday?”
The look he gave her was a cross between horror and disbelief. “Seriously? It’s Superbowl Sunday. Only the single most important day in football.”
“Are the Patriots playing?”
“No, they got knocked out. But it’s still the Superbowl and people still want to watch it with other sports fans, so it’s a banner day for Jasper’s.”
When he went for yet another fry, she slid her plate to the right. He should be ashamed of himself, trying to steal fries from a pregnant woman like that. “Thanks for the warning. I’ll probably stay in and read.”
“There’s something else, too. We usually do this thing—Pop and Evan and my brothers and me—where we go up north for a long weekend of snowmobiling. Just the guys. Usually in the middle of February after the Superbowl’s over and things at the bar are calm, so not this Thursday, but the next. Leave Thursday, come home Monday.”
“Okay.”
“So…are you okay with that?”
She swallowed the bite of burger she’d taken and washed it down with some seltzer. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “There’s no cellphone reception up there, so you won’t be able to reach me.”
“Then I’ll call Paulie. Or one of the many other numbers you programmed into my phone. I swear, the only number you didn’t put in is the National Guard’s.”
“Okay.” Was he pouting? It looked like he was pouting. “Just wasn’t sure how you’d feel about me being gone that long.”
“Kevin, if you wanted a woman who’s helpless if she doesn’t have your strong shoulders to lean on, you should have slept with the redhead at your brother’s wedding.”
“There was a redhead there?” He gave her the look that never failed to make her feel all warm and squirmy inside. “Promise me you’ll call Paulie or Ma if you need something.”
She promised, then made a point of eating her cheeseburger so maybe the conversation could be over.
A four-day break would probably be good for them. He needed a vacation from hovering and she needed a vacation from being hovered over. And she could use a break from the tension that came from her body not being totally on the same page as her mind when it came to not sleeping with him.
“Will you miss me?” he asked, probably hoping to distract her from another French fry grab.
“Hey! You’re stealing food from your baby. You realize that, right?”
He laughed so loud he drowned out the television for a few seconds. “Honey, that baby’s not starving. At the rate you’re going through Jasper burgers, his—or her—first word will probably be ‘moo.’”
She picked up the hefty pregnancy book and whacked him in the arm with it. “Smartass. Just for that—no I’m not going to miss you.”
“Oh, I bet you’ll think about me once or twice.”
She shook her head, but when he winked and started walking his fingers toward her plate again, she thought he was probably right.
***
Paulie was working an excruciatingly slow Tuesday lunch shift when Kevin and Beth walked through the front door. Finally. She tossed her towel on the bar and beckoned them over. “Well?”
Beth beamed. “The ultrasound went really well. Everything’s perfect.”
“I’m happy to hear that.” She folded her arms and glared at Kevin. “Not that I worried a lot when you left for a test at eight in the morning and here it is one o’clock and I’d heard nothing. It’s not like I was afraid something had gone wrong or anything.”
The bastard flashed his dimples at her, as if he’d forgotten she was totally immune to them. “Sorry. We went out for breakfast after and then went to look at cribs and stuff and then it was almost time for lunch so—”
“Whatever. So did you find out what you’re having?”
Beth shook her head. “We want it to be a surprise.”
“Prepare to be overwhelmed with mint-green stuff, then. Or even worse, yellow. Oh, Kev, you’ve got that brewery rep coming in a half hour to go over his new product line.”
“I hope he’s bringing samples because I could use a beer. Who knew there were so many different kinds of cribs? And don’t even get me started on carseats and strollers. I’m going to need a spreadsheet. Or a pie chart.”