“You didn’t have to dress up,” Jeffrey joked, but she could hear the tension in his voice.
“What is it?”
“I’m not sure, but I think there’s something hinky—” He stopped, looking back at the car. “You brought Tess?”
“It was on the way, and she wanted to come. . . .” Sara let her voice trail off, because there really was no explanation, other than that Sara’s goal in life at the moment was to keep Tessa happy—or, at the very least, to keep her from whining.
Jeffrey recognized the situation. “I guess arguing with her wasn’t worth it?”
“She promised to stay in the car,” Sara said, just as she heard the car door slam closed behind her. She tucked her hands into her hips as she turned around, but Tessa was already waving her off.
“I’ve gotta go,” Tessa said, pointing toward a line of trees in the distance.
Jeffrey asked, “She’s gonna walk home?”
“She’s going to the bathroom,” Sara explained, watching Tessa head up the hill toward the forest.
They both watched Tessa navigate the steep slope, her hands hooked under her belly as if she were carrying a basket. Jeffrey asked, “Are you gonna be mad at me if I laugh when she rolls back down that hill?”
Sara laughed with him instead of answering his question.
He asked, “You think she’ll be okay up there?”
“She’ll be fine,” Sara told him. “It won’t kill her to get some exercise.”
“Are you sure?” Jeffrey pressed, concerned.
“She’s fine,” Sara reassured, knowing that Jeffrey had never been around a pregnant woman for any length of time in his life. He was probably scared Tessa would go into labor before she got to the trees at the top of the hill. They should all be so lucky.
Sara started to walk toward the scene but stopped when he did not follow. She turned around, waiting for what she knew was coming.
He said, “You left pretty early this morning.”
“I figured you needed the sleep.” She walked back and took a pair of latex gloves out of his coat pocket, asking, “What’s hinky?”
“I wasn’t that tired,” he said, in the same suggestive tone he would have used this morning if she’d stuck around.
She fidgeted with the gloves, trying to think of something to say. “I had to let the dogs out.”
“You could start bringing them.”
Sara gave the police cruiser a pointed look. “Is that new?” she asked, feigning curiosity. Grant County was a small place. Sara had heard about the new patrol car before it was even parked in front of the station.
He said, “Got it a couple of days ago.”
“Lettering looks good,” she said, keeping her tone casual.
“How about that,” he said, an annoying phrase he had lately picked up when he did not know what else to say.