The Time in Between

by Kristen Ashley

  He nodded again.

  “Good idea on Kath. And yeah, we are. Sending a deputy tonight. If the man’s not there, we’ll keep trying. We have nothing on them except the state of Midnight, so nothing is going to come of this. But that doesn’t mean we can’t put a little effort into scaring the shit out of them. The woman said they had no pets at this time, and I’m hoping scaring the shit out of them will make it so they don’t feel the need for canine company again. There’s nothing more to do but gotta say, I already feel better, seeing her face and leaving there making her think they’re screwed.”

  I had to admit, I felt better too.

  It wasn’t going to change the state of Midnight, what she had to deal with in her doggie brain because of whatever they’d done to her. But it could mean those people never did that to another dog.

  And that would be worth it.

  Coert kept talking.

  “Also had a chat with the folks at the shelter. They’re gonna be reporting any concerns of abuse directly to me in the future.”

  God, how I loved this man.

  “You’re amazing, honey,” I said softly.

  “Not all the citizens in my county vote, but all of them breathe. So the way I see it, it’s my job.”

  Coert thinking this way didn’t surprise me.

  But it did make me very happy.

  “Now are we agreed that we’ve got a moratorium on sharing about the baby with everyone?” he asked. “Because I think we should keep it under wraps all around. Including with Janie.”

  “Yes,” I agreed. “I’d like to have it just for ourselves for a little while but also give him time to get used to his new environs before we spread the news.”

  I took it Coert’s crooked grin at the “have it just for ourselves” part of that, and did it happily, but also did it continuing to speak.

  “That’s done, and kudos for scaring the shit out of some animal abusers, honey,” I said and that boyish grin stayed in place. “Now have you heard anything from Stone?”

  “Nope,” Coert answered with a shake of his head. “Told you he posted bail. His first offense with anything, it’s probably not gonna go too bad for him. The worst he’ll suffer is those follow-up articles coming out about him. But since it wasn’t really big news he drove drunk, that wasn’t a big splash, so it wasn’t a big hit for him to take. Still, he’s gone quiet. And I figure the reason behind that is that rumor has it the County Commission is getting close to finalizing the report on their investigation into the rezoning. And they shared a few things with Arnie who shared them with Jake who phoned me this morning.”

  He stopped talking when Marjorie arrived with our drinks.

  “And?” I prompted after she walked away.

  “Part of the application for a referendum for rezoning stated that, even within a new jurisdiction, those parklands would remain protected unless the governors of that unincorporated land could demonstrate a need for reclassification. And the Commissioners’ investigation uncovered what I uncovered, that Terry Baginski was making inquiries into applying for reclassification on behalf of two corporations that have no assets or operations, and she did this very close to the vote, which makes it a logical conclusion that this was what they were considering before the vote.”

  “What does all that mean?” I asked.

  “Arnie doesn’t know for certain,” he answered. “But he thinks that they’ve traced those shell corporations to one or more of the unincorporated land’s board of governors, including Stone. The rumor is, due to this conflict of interest and the evidence suggesting corruption in the form of members of that board colluding to reclassify the land before submitting the referendum to rezone it, and not divulging that prior to the vote, all of this for their personal gain, the Commissioners will ask them to resign. If not, they’ll be further investigated, this being something they’ll put on my desk, which could bring criminal charges. And with this information coming to light, the Commissioners feel the only fair way forward is to resubmit the referendum for a vote come November. Arnie thinks that referendum should be pressed to write stauncher protections into the zoning. He also thinks applications should be submitted on a state or federal level to protect that land. He’s going to call Jackie to get something going with that.”

  I stared at him, excited, but not quite believing this was actually going to work out the way that it should.

  Therefore, I sought confirmation.

  “So we’re going to win?”

  That got me another grin. “We’re gonna win.” He gave me that, let me enjoy it, but then his grin faded. “You hear from Caylen?”

  My joy at stopping Boston Stone and his buddies from destroying the look and feel of Magdalene slipped away and I shook my head.

  “Not since he told me Orson got through the transplant procedure okay,” I shared. “Now I don’t know what to do, Coert. We’re the definition of not close. I don’t actually even know him. But even if we were close, I wouldn’t know what to do. Do I call him and ask? Or is that a bother? Everyone will be asking them. How many times do you want to tell someone how your sick son is doing? And I can’t call Alice for the same reasons. She gave me her number but I barely know her at all.”

  “Just text him, honey. Tell him he’s on your mind, so is his family, and if he ever needs to talk, remember you’re there.”

  If our subject matter wasn’t what it was, I would have laughed at the look on Coert’s face because it was clear he didn’t want to say those words.

  He didn’t want Caylen any part of my life.

  But sometimes life didn’t give you a choice.

  And I’d learned to roll with it.

  Because in the end, more often than not, it worked out.

  And sitting across Coert, pregnant with his baby, I knew sometimes it worked out beautifully.

  But I had to admit, it was just good to know Coert was on board with all of that.

  “Good idea, I’ll text them both,” I agreed.

  “August,” Coert stated confusingly.

  “Sorry?” I asked.

  “Early August, weather’s still good, kids are still out of school.”

  “Yes, that’s what early August is,” I confirmed when he didn’t continue.

  “For our wedding, Cady.”

  I stared at him again, something funny (in a good way) spiraling in my belly.

  “Since we definitely have to have it at the lighthouse, would have preferred to do it when the tulips were out but I’m not waiting that long,” he said.

  Definitely have to have it at the lighthouse.

  That spiral swirled out of control.

  That said, there were some things Coert was willing to give into, and looking into his eyes I saw there were some things he was just not.

  Even so.

  “I’ll be, I don’t know, close to six months pregnant then,” I shared.

  “Perfect,” he decreed.

  I’d quit dreaming about what I wanted from life a long time ago.

  But I’d never dreamed of being a pregnant bride.

  “Coert—” I began.

  “Wedding pictures with you, me, Janie and the baby. All of us there even if one of us isn’t breathing on her own yet. It’ll be perfect. No one left out.”

  No one left out.

  And that was it. Suddenly it was what Coert said it would be.

  Perfect.

  “Do not make me cry in my patty melt,” I whispered, seeing his handsome face start to wobble.

  His fingers still around mine tightened. “Your patty melt hasn’t been served yet, baby.”

  To fight back the tears, I declared, “I want Janie to be my flower girl.”

  His face went soft before he said quietly, “I think that can be arranged.”

  “I might need to have three matrons of honor,” I warned.

  “I don’t care if you have ten of them,” he returned.

  “That means you’ll need three best men,” I told him.


  “The guy’s got one job, to look after the ring. That kinda thing means a lot more to women than it does to men so you can have as many matrons of honor as you want, but one best man is enough.”

  “They have to make a speech too,” I reminded him.

  “Then one of them is definitely enough. I’m not listening to three men try to crack jokes as they spill all my secrets when it’ll be torture enough to listen to one of them do that shit.”

  “Do you have any secrets, Coert Yeager?” I asked through soft laughter.

  “Yeah. Once I fucked this gorgeous redhead in the bathroom of the Adam and Eve but she’d later become my wife, so if anyone said dick about that I’d have to punch them in the throat. Though that’s not a worry since no one knows about that except the redhead who’s gonna be my wife.”

  At his words, I reached to my drink and took a sip.

  “Cady?” he called.

  “Mm?” I asked, putting my glass down and watching myself do this in an effort not to lift my gaze to his.

  I heard him sigh before he asked, “Who’d you tell?”

  I finally looked at him in order to admit, “I may have told Kath.”

  “May or did?” he asked, studying me closely.

  I minimally lifted a shoulder.

  “Right,” he muttered, reading the shoulder lift. “And she definitely told Pat. Anyone else?”

  I looked to the thermal at his throat this time.

  “Shit,” he mumbled and shook my hand so I lifted my eyes again. “Please don’t say Alyssa.”

  “I’d had two martinis. You know I get chatty when I drink,” I defended myself.

  “So Josie and Amy were there,” he noted.

  He was right. They were.

  I bit my lip.

  “Which means Jake, Mick and Junior know,” he declared.

  Women talked to their men, so I guessed he was right about that too.

  I pressed my lips together.

  “Which means, since my brother is going to be my best man, I have to sequester him so none of those guys can get to him so he won’t share that shit during our wedding reception, necessitating me punching my own flesh and blood in the throat. I don’t give a shit people know I had sex in the bathroom at the Adam and Eve. But it’s nobody’s business I had sex with my wife in the bathroom at the Adam and Eve.”

  “Is there a statute of limitations on public indecency?” I queried.

  “Don’t be cute,” he retorted, and that time I tried not to laugh.

  Instead I told him, “Honestly, I had to. We were all tipsy. Alyssa was bragging about her and Junior’s exploits. Amy piped in with something really good that happened in the back cab of the fire truck. And Josie’s too classy to bare all, but Alyssa has no problem doing it for her. So she told us it’s known widely that Josie and Jake do it in the locker room after practically every one of his fights. I had to protect your reputation by sharing you could be creative with location. It was a matter of pride.”

  “Your pride or my pride?” he asked.

  Totally my pride. I knew Coert couldn’t care less.

  But in this case it was my tipsy pride.

  “Honestly, the fire truck thing sounded fabulous. And Alyssa and Junior could write a very thick handbook on how to keep the sex in your marriage fresh over the years. Not to mention, Amy chimed in that fight night is fabulous, since Mickey’s a fighter too and apparently things get pretty heated. But ours was the best.”

  That got me back his crooked grin.

  “Yeah?” he asked.

  I nodded, grinning back. “Absolutely.”

  “If I didn’t know those women were some of the best women I’d ever met, I’d worry about you making them your Magdalene posse.”

  “You’ve got nothing to worry about,” I assured.

  “I know,” he replied.

  “I’m wearing white,” I proclaimed.

  His face changed instantly, his gaze grew intent, but his lips moved to say, “Wear what you want. You always look beautiful. The only important thing to me is that you show up.”

  I twisted our hands so that my thumb was hooked around his, my fingers tight around the side of his hand. “And my bouquet is going to be huge. Gigantic. I’ve always wanted an extravagant bouquet. Everything else can be low key. But I’m carrying an enormous bouquet.”

  “Whatever you want, baby,” he said softly.

  “Is there anything that you want?” I asked.

  “You to show up,” he answered.

  “You said that, and that will definitely happen. But anything else?”

  “I have everything I want already so not really. Though food like sliders and street tacos, a ton of it on a table people can go to and pig out, is a lot better than making people sit with people they don’t know and share a meal. It should be a party. We have a lot to celebrate. And I’d want people comfortable doing it.”

  “That works for me,” I told him.

  “Sure?” he asked.

  I nodded then stated, “We’re planning our wedding.”

  His hand released mine, but only so he could slide it up and curl his fingers around my wrist.

  So I did the same with his.

  We did this as he whispered, “Yeah.”

  “I’m going to be Cady Yeager.”

  His fingers pulsed deep into my flesh and his expression changed again, the intensity turning to fierceness, and he repeated, “Yeah.”

  “We need to ask your parents to come out and arrange to go visit your brother and his family. I don’t want to meet them at the wedding.”

  “I’ll give them calls after lunch.”

  “I want Pat to give me away,” I carried on.

  “That’s your call, honey, but I think he’ll be over the moon if you ask.”

  He would.

  Pat would love that.

  “But at the father-daughter dance, I’m going to dance with all three of them. I don’t know how I’ll manage that, but I’m going to do it.”

  “That’s good, baby. It’s important not to leave Mike and Daly out.”

  I held fast to his wrist, like I was hanging over the side of a building and Coert was saving me from falling to the ground.

  It trembled when I repeated, “We’re planning our wedding.”

  “Yeah, Cady.”

  “We’re pregnant and we’re planning our wedding.”

  Coert said nothing, just held on and stared into my eyes.

  “Beer from a keg,” I whispered.

  He grinned. It was gentle as were his eyes.

  “Perfect,” he whispered back.

  “Love you,” I said.

  “Love you most,” he said.

  “Yeah,” I replied, and there was a wealth of meaning in that word.

  Because he absolutely didn’t.

  But he also completely did.

  So . . .

  Yeah.

  Coert

  After he finished with the phone call, Coert moved from his beer and ballgame toward the kitchen.

  But he stopped in the doorway.

  He leaned against the jamb and took in the mess before him, doing it needing a second because he felt his throat close and he had to concentrate on clearing the blockage so he could breathe.

  The place was a mess.

  Cady was at the island and had her back to him. It looked like she was beating something in a bowl.

  Janie was on her knees on one of the stools, a pastry bag in her hands, her tongue sticking out, and she was (poorly) piping brightly colored icing on top of a cupcake.

  Midnight was lounged flat out on the floor at the foot of Janie’s stool. And their pup was so in her zone, she didn’t even lift her head when Coert came into the vicinity.

  In fact, they were all so in the zone neither of his two girls knew he was there.

  “It’s time to tint,” Cady declared. “What color next, Janie?”

  Janie looked from her cupcake to Cady and shouted, “Green!”

&n
bsp; From what Coert could tell, they’d run the gamut. There were pink, yellow, blue and purple topped cupcakes all over every surface. Surfaces that were also coated in flour, smeared with icing, dotted with sprinkles and littered with unused cupcake papers.

  “You want to add the color or do you trust me with it?” Cady asked.

  “I trust you with it, Cady,” Janie answered, turning back to piping her cupcake only to blow out an air bubble that sent a messy glob of icing all over the cupcake.

  This did not cause distress.

  This caused both his girls to burst out laughing.

  Right here, watching my girls making cupcakes, Coert thought.

  Another version of paradise.

  “Daddy!” Janie cried and he looked from her ruined cupcake to her. “Look!” She picked up a cupcake with a wodge of purple icing swirled on top and falling down the side. “Cady taught me how to pipe!”

  “Gorgeous, baby,” he murmured his lie, sliding his gaze to Cady who had turned to the side to give her attention to him.

  She was showing now, barely, just a little baby bump. She was late into her fourth month.

  And just last night, they’d felt the first kick.

  She smiled at him. He returned it. And then he walked in, moving to his daughter first to give her a kiss on the side of the head then moving behind Cady to wrap an arm around her, hand to her bump, and he kissed the side of her neck.

  “Tell me again what this thing is we’re doing tonight,” he ordered.

  “It’s a spread-out party!” Janie exclaimed excitedly.

  “Progressive,” Cady told him. “We start at Amy and Mickey’s and they’re doing appetizers. Then we go to Jake and Josie’s, and they’re doing dinner. And then they all come here.”

  “For cupcakes!” Janie declared.

  “Yeah, I got at least that part,” Coert told his girl with a grin.

  “Ethan’s making dinner and he makes yummy food,” Janie proclaimed. “And Con and Sofie are home. And Miss Amy says all her kids will be there. It’s gonna be great!”

  “I’ll drive,” Cady told him quietly. “That way you can drink.”

  “I’ll drive,” he replied. “I don’t need to drink.”