Page 349 of On A Manhunt: Complete Series

MAC

Maverick and Bridget were having a get-together at their big house for baby Justine. We were invited. Me, Dad and Andy. Since I delivered the baby. Fortunately, I was officially off work. Unless catastrophe struck, I wasn’t getting called out. I even planned to have a beer and finish it.

Bridget answered the door when Andy rang the bell. It’d been ten days and he was still wearing the crown Georgia made for him. Some of the points were a little wilted, but he refused to take it off. Even slept with it next to his action figure on his pillow.

“Hey, little man,” Bridget said to him, holding her knuckles out for him to bump. She stepped back and let us in.

“Here.”

Andy held out a bottle of sparkling apple juice.

“What’s this?” Bridget asked, taking it from him.

She studied the bottle as he answered. “You’re supposed to bring a gift when you’re invited to dinner. That’s what Miss GG says, so this is for you.”

When Andy heard we were coming to dinner, he made me stop at the store and pick up the gift. It was good manners and I couldn’t fault him for being kind and thoughtful. But it definitely made me feel like an asshole because I hadn’t even considered it.

If GG were here, then–

“Thank you, Andy. That’s very thoughtful. Scout’s around here somewhere and would love to hang out with you.”

“Scout?” Andy asked as Bridget shut the door. He shrugged out of his coat and I took it.

“Our dog. He’s–”

There was a woof and then a short-legged dog ran down the hall and practically ran into Andy. He dropped to his butt and stared up at Andy as if waiting for him to pet him, feed him or play.

“There he is,” Bridget said, smiling. “Can you hang out with him? He’s a little jealous of the baby getting all the attention.”

Andy smiled–the first one I’d seen in a while–as he pet Scout. “Sure!”

“There are treats on the counter for him, too. But don’t give him too many.”

They ran off together.

“Thanks. I think he was afraid Mallory was going to give him some math work to do.”

She grinned, then looked to Dad. “How’s the foot, Mr. MacKenzie?”

“Getting there,” he replied, picking up his foot and shaking it as if he were doing the Hokey Pokey. “Another ten days.”

She turned to me. Smiled. “And Mac, you’re the man of the hour.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, Mr. Baby Deliverer. Come on in.” She led us through her big house and into a huge great room.

It was dark out, but I could only imagine the view out of the floor to ceiling windows.

There was a roaring fire and everyone was spread out between the huge sectional and the food spread on the kitchen island.

“Everyone wants to hear the real story of Justine’s birth,” she told me. “Dex is saying some things that can’t be true. Like he told you to stand back because if he could make a slapshot from the centerline, he could catch a baby.”

I couldn’t help but laugh because I remembered all too well how Dex wanted me to avoid looking at his wife’s pussy. As if I had any interest in that woman–baby being born or not–with Georgia in the same room.

“I did all the hard work, right, Mac?” Dex asked with a huge grin, coming over and shaking my hand.

“You did your part ten months ago,” Lindy called from the couch. I hadn’t seen her since the hospital, but she looked good, although maybe a little tired. Her blonde hair was pulled up in a bun and she had on a pale pink fleece top.

“Sugar, that’s just mean. But true.”

The four James brothers were here together with their significant others. Mav shook my hand, then Dad’s. Silas and Theo followed.

Dex passed me a beer. “For your help. You earned it.”

“All in a day’s work,” I said.

Eve, who owned Steaming Hotties and had tamed the billionaire CEO, Silas, pulled Dad into the kitchen with the lure of a barista-made cup of coffee. I was steered in the opposite direction to see the baby. Dex’s hand on my shoulder. He beamed like an idiot, but it looked good on new fathers.

I leaned over the back of the couch to study the newest James in Lindy’s arms. “Hold her,” she prompted, passing her over.

I took her and pulled her into a snug football hold. She was so light. So little. Even though I saw her when she just came out, literally brand new, she seemed extra tiny now.

“Hey! I thought I was next,” Silas muttered.

“He delivered her,” Lindy reminded her brother-in-law.

Justine was asleep, swaddled in a pale pink blanket. Her fair hair was wispy and almost invisible. Her little nose was like a button and her lips moved as if she was nursing.

So sweet. Had Andy ever been this small or this calm and quiet?

I smiled at Justine, then down at Lindy. “You did a good job.”

She grinned at me. Motherhood suited her. “Thank you for your help, and for putting up with this guy.” Her blue eyes shifted to Dex beside me. He leaned down and kissed her.

“We’re back to Denver tomorrow,” he said. “We didn’t want to miss saying thank you. If you weren’t there, well, I’d be getting a new car right now. I don’t think detailers would be able to get childbirth out.”

“I didn’t do it all myself,” I told him. “You helped.”

“Don’t build up his ego,” Lindy warned.

Andy tossed a ball for Scout and the dog ran across the room right behind us.

“Georgia helped, too,” I added. “You can thank her personally when you get back.”

They glanced at each other, then back at me. I couldn’t miss the confusion.

“In Denver? How can we thank Georgia?” Dex asked.

“She took a job with James Corp.”

“Hey, Mav!” Dex called, scratching his head. The baby didn’t even stir when her daddy shouted. Silas came over and I passed Justine off.

I turned to look at Mav, who was with Bridget making plates of food from the buffet.

Mav looked up.

“I thought you said Georgia turned down the job offer,” Dex said.

Mav held a chicken wing in one hand, a loaded plate in the other. “She did.”

WHAT?

I stalked across the room to stand on the far side of the huge island from Mav and Bridget. “What do you mean she turned down the job?”

He shrugged. He had on a Steaming Hotties t-shirt that was small enough to make him look like he was the Incredible Hulk.

Eve didn’t need a billboard for advertisement when she had him.

I had no idea what the deal was with him and that shirt.

“She said she had to pass, that Hunter Valley wasn’t the right place for her. She’s–”

“Hunter Valley?” I snapped back as if he punched me.

Dad and Eve turned at my tone.

My head was exploding. I hadn’t heard a thing about Georgia all week and now, now, I was finding out she didn’t take the job she’d been hoping for.

Mav nodded. “You okay? Don’t worry, she had the event night all organized before she left. You won’t have to buy kidney beans in bulk ever again.”

“What do you mean Hunter Valley?” I repeated, ignoring the part about the chili dinner.

“I offered her a job here as the PR director. Since Silas and I are up here full time, we’re growing the local office. I wanted her a part of it.”

“She turned you down?” I repeated, trying to understand. I ran a hand over my mouth, my mustache rasping my palm. Why would Georgia give up her dream job and move back to a town with her seemingly crazy mother and asshole ex? “What the hell?”