To Be a Dad. Kate Kelly

pea soup?”

      “Oh, gag. Don’t remind me.” Adam had discovered pea soup, and in his enthusiasm had made far more than any living soul could consume in a lifetime. Every time she turned around, pea soup kept showing up as the lunch special. “Truth is, I did throw it out.”

      “No way. He thinks it got eaten. He even said he thought he should make another batch.”

      Teressa laughed. “I know. I didn’t want to tell him I raided the freezer and chucked the last twenty gallons out, but I may have to if he insists on making more.”

      Dusty leaned back in his seat. “You two work together well, don’t you?”

      The waitress brought the water and coffee Dusty had ordered, and Teressa ordered a garden salad.

      “Yes, we do,” she answered when the waitress left. “I like Adam a lot. Your sister is a lucky woman.”

      “Yeah.” He looked out the window as if the cars driving by were far more interesting than anything she had to say. No surprise he found her a boring dinner date. She spent most of her time divided between barking out orders in the café kitchen and playing with her kids.

      “I have one more store I need to go to before we do the grocery shopping.”

      “Sure. Anything you need.”

      The food arrived, and they busied themselves with filling their plates and eating the first piece of pizza without talking. The longer Dusty remained silent, the more Teressa fidgeted. It had always been so easy to talk to him before. She’d never have imagined they’d run out of things to talk about.

      Desperately, she searched for something they could discuss. “We need to figure out the bedrooms. I guess we can put the kids together for a while longer, and I’ll take the smallest bedroom. My bed should fit into it.”

      His face closed down even more. “If that’s what you want.”

      “I need to get the kids settled as soon as possible,” she explained. “They need to have their toys and books and things around them.”

      “We can clean out one of the bedrooms tonight and set it up for them,” he offered.

      “We’ll put all the stuff from that room into the small bedroom. I’ll sleep on the couch in the living room, and you can have your bed back.”

      When he got a stubborn look on his face, she put up her hand. “You’re fishing, Dusty. You need your sleep.”

      “You’re working at the café and looking after your children. You need yours.”

      “Fine.” She picked a green pepper off her pizza. “When you get up, I’ll crawl into your bed and catch another few hours of sleep.” She shivered, thinking of how delicious it would feel to crawl into Dusty’s still-warm bed.

      “We’ll get that second bedroom cleaned out as soon as we can. Most of the stuff is from the kitchen and living room because we were going to tackle those rooms first.”

      “I still think that’s a good idea. We need a common living area.”

      He took another piece of pizza. “Starting tomorrow Josh is going to be working on the house during the day. I thought he should begin with the flooring, but if you need him to work on something else, just let him know when he arrives.”

      “I think the flooring is as good a place as any to start.” She bit her tongue. She made his place sound like a total disaster area. Which it was, but still... “I need to find a babysitter for the kids after school.”

      She watched as Dusty’s eyes followed a waitress who was carrying a tray full of glasses of beer. Right. Not hard to tell what his priorities were.

      “I’m sorry.” He turned to her. “What did you say?”

      “I need a babysitter for the children after school,” she snapped. “Linda used to pick them up from school and watch them until I finished work.”

      “I usually get in around four, but I’m going to be pretty busy working on the house.”

      Tears ambushed her for the hundredth time that day. She didn’t remember feeling this emotional when she was pregnant with Sarah or Brendon, and heaven knew her life had been a mess then, too, but for different reasons. She wasn’t turning into a drama queen, was she?

      Feeling suddenly overwhelmed with the amount of details she had to sort out, she tossed her napkin on the table. “Let’s go.”

      Dusty frowned. “But...we haven’t finished eating.”

      “I want to go home.”

      He sucked in his lips and signaled the waitress. What was it about him that undermined her defenses? She was a reasonably nice person to most people, but with Dusty she’d never been able to hide her feelings.

      He leaned across the table. “Did I do something wrong?”

      “No,” she wailed. “I’m sorry. Blame it on my unstable hormones.”

      “Oh.” He sat back. “So, do those hormones flip around like that for the whole pregnancy?”

      “Yes.”

      “Right.” He sighed and looked toward the table that had ordered all the beer. “Carmen’s home. She called the other day. She’s looking for something to do while she’s here. She’d be good with the kids.”

      Carmen Sheldrick. She’d always had a crush on Dusty. She was what? Twenty-five now? Tall, slender and firm of body likely. God, Teressa thought to herself. She was turning into a bitch. She had no right to be jealous.

      “What’s she doing home?”

      “I dunno. Didn’t she study something to do with working with kids? Early child...something or other. She told me, but I forget. You should give her a call.” He pulled out his cell phone and started scrolling. “I’ve got her cell number somewhere.”

      Of course he did. Carmen would make sure he had her number. Teressa dug in her wallet for her only twenty and laid it on the table. When Dusty handed her his phone, she concentrated on what she’d say to Carmen, thankful that Dusty decided to go to the men’s room at the same time.

      “Dusty! I knew you’d call.”

      Teressa made a face at the phone. Did Carmen have to sound so smug? “Actually, it’s Teressa Wilder.”

      She could almost hear Carmen shifting gears. “Oh. Dusty’s name came up on the call display.”

      “That’s because I’m using his phone.” Carmen would have gotten there sooner or later, but Teressa wanted to get the call over with before Dusty returned. “I wanted to run something by you.”

      Carmen was delighted to look after Sarah and Brendon for the few weeks she planned to be home, but she warned Teressa as soon as she got a proper job in the city she’d be leaving. She was not quite as enthusiastic when she learned Teressa was living at Dusty’s.

      What Dusty and Carmen got up to was none of Teressa’s business. Or was it? Certainly, no one would fault her for complaining if Dusty started flirting with another woman. Strange. She’d never felt territorial about Dusty before, probably because there hadn’t been much point. She’d been stuck in baby-land, and he’d always looked as if he was enjoying the full benefits of bachelorhood.

      Everyone would soon know the only reason they were together was because she was pregnant. And if she wasn’t pregnant, they wouldn’t be together, right? Or would they? Things had certainly heated up between them in the past couple of months, and they’d been enjoying each other’s company more frequently, almost as if they were a couple. It would have been interesting to see where their relationship would have gone if she hadn’t gotten pregnant.

      Hoping to outrun her stupid thoughts, she stood and strode to the door to wait for Dusty. A minute later, he appeared by