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.He just wanted to ask his neighbor if everything was okay after the big fire.”“Obviously, this is someone who needs to read our Web site a little more carefully,” I noted.“Pigeon told the neighbor what was going on and the guy said he was absolutely certain it was Barry—but that he had dyed his hair.”“Worst dye job ever.”“Yeah, well, Pigeon was smart enough to realize this was a heck of a development but she didn’t know what to do with it,” Tina said.“I mean, a single source saying a dead guy is not dead.How do you handle that, right?”“Right.”“Anyhow, like a good little intern, she asked her editor what to do.And then her editor called me.At that point, I was already at your parents’ house and we were all wondering where you were.We had been trying to call your cell and it was going straight to voice mail.Your mother kept saying, ‘He’s never late, he’s never late, he’s never late.’ And I had a hunch that if Barry McAlister was on the loose—with some kind of bad disguise, no less—he was probably up to no good and that you might be in trouble.”“Good hunch,” I said.“But I still didn’t know what to do about it.It was actually that little offhand comment you made about Gary being a state trooper that saved you,” she said.“I called him up, told him what was going on.He was able to locate the TEAMS Unit and send them over to Newark to check out the building.And, of course, they found you there and…”She glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was paying too careful attention, then planted a kiss directly on my lips, followed by a full-body hug that made my toes curl.“Wow,” I said when she released me.“I really shouldn’t reward behavior like this on your part,” she said.“But I think a lot of stuff hit me afterward, when I thought about how close you came to not making it.I mean, if Pigeon hadn’t bumped into that guy, if she hadn’t made that phone call, if your sister weren’t marrying a state trooper … I thought about how easily I could have lost you and I—” She stopped herself.“I’m sorry,” she said in a raspy voice.“Would you just come out in the lobby with me for a second?”“Yeah, just let me check to make sure I don’t have to give this speech right now,” I said.I confirmed with my mother that I had at least five minutes until people would be seated for the toasts.I paused at the double doors to give the microphone guy the thumbs-up, so he would know I was heading out for a minute or two.He responded with his own thumbs-up and I slipped through the doors.Tina and I found a private corner just outside the room, out of earshot, where she half collapsed on me, leaning in and resting her head on my shoulder.“I just kept thinking about you and the baby,” she said.“I know I said I would raise this baby without you and that I didn’t want you to have anything to do with it.But then I started thinking about my child really growing up without a father and … Carter, this is your baby too.I get that.And I want you to be a part of this baby’s life, if that’s okay with you.”“Okay with me?” I said, feeling my throat constrict.“It’s the best thing you could say to me.Tina, I want to raise this baby with you more than anything.”And then, because I think we were both crying a little—and maybe both feeling a little silly about it all—we just held each other for a moment.Not that the moment lasted long.I was suddenly hearing all kinds of noise coming from the banquet hall.The doors had been opened and a small crowd was pouring out, led by my mother—looking as wide-eyed and wild as I had ever seen her.“Baby!” she screamed.“There’s going to be a baby!?”She rushed up to Tina and hugged her, more or less knocking me out of the way in the process.I was just watching the whole thing, bewildered by how my mother knew.I mean, sure, mothers have special powers and all, but I didn’t realize mine had suddenly been blessed with supersonic hearing.Then my brother walked up and clapped me on the shoulder.“Congratulations, Dad,” he said.“But how did you guys…”“We heard it over the speaker system, genius,” he said.“Speaker? But—”My brother mocked my voice: “I want to raise this baby with you more than anything!”And that’s when it occurred to me that when I had given the sound guy the thumbs-up, he had taken it as the signal to switch on my microphone.Every private word Tina and I had just shared had been broadcast to the entire room.Well.At least no one could complain they hadn’t been first to get the news.My father and sister had joined Tina.No one was paying much attention to me—something I supposed I was going to have to get used to—so Kira came up to me and gave me a quick hug and a peck on the cheek.“Congratulations.I’ll see you later,” she said, and started peeling away.“Wait, are you leaving?”“You have enough on your hands,” she said, in a way that felt friendly.“Don’t worry about me.I’ve still got time to make it to the Zombie Ball.”“Are you sure you’re okay?”“Oh, Carter.You’re sweet.But at this stage of my life, if it comes down to babies or zombies, I’ll go with the undead every time.”She waved and skipped out.I turned my attention back to Tina, who was still being mobbed by my family.There was all kinds of excited yelping and chirping—mostly from my mother—and it was making it difficult to hear.I remembered what Tina had said about needing me as a buffer, so I started trying to shuck Rosses off her.“Okay, break it up, break it up,” I said.No one was budging.So I just leaned in and kissed Tina on the cheek.“Love you,” I whispered in her ear.“Welcome to the family.”ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThere’s a shelf in my living room where I display the merry band of books I’ve published.The hardcovers are the front men, propped up on their own little stands.The paperback, large print, and audio versions of those same books are arranged behind, like background singers.I was wandering past the shelf the other day when I noticed it was starting to get a little crowded in there [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]