From Dare To Due Date. Christy Jeffries

he frowned when he realized one of the cuff links was missing. Had he left it in the room? He looked back at the bank of elevators and wondered if it was worth the risk of having the maid call security on him. He remembered taking them out of his pocket last night as he and the woman had been drinking. But before they’d left, he clearly recalled her handing the box back to him. She must have known that he wasn’t the kind of guy who would throw away something so personal and expensive, even if he didn’t understand his father’s purpose in presenting him with such a questionable gift.

      He also remembered picking up both his jacket and the cuff link case off the elevator floor last night, then smiled at the memory of how those items had gotten there in the first place. He walked back over to the elevators and wasted several minutes looking into each one for the missing cuff link. But like the woman from last night, it was long gone.

      So then what happened to it?

      And what had happened to her?

      The front desk was busy and Garrett quickly dismissed the thought of asking the clerk for a guest’s information. The cleaning lady upstairs had eyeballed him as if he was a criminal. So what was he supposed to ask the college-age-looking kid behind the desk? Excuse me, but can you tell me the name of the woman who was staying in room eight oh four? I spent the night with her, but I never thought to ask her myself.

      Please. Maybe if this was some no-tell motel, he could bribe the employee. But he doubted that a high-quality establishment, which had most likely already been put on notice by his mystery caller this morning, would be willing to bend the rules.

      And did he really want it leaked to the press who was asking? He’d be lucky if he didn’t appear on some sleazy tabloid show for this stunt.

      His thoughts were circling around like the whirling blades of a Huey helicopter, and he couldn’t decide on a course of action.

      Or inaction for that matter. Maybe he’d just dodged a bullet. It wasn’t as though he was in the market for a relationship anyway, so he really didn’t need the extra chaos that this situation might cause. Especially during this transitional time in his life. It was best to get the woman and this whole experience out of his mind.

      Leaving the hotel, he walked down the busy Boise street to where he’d left his car, doing a double take at any woman with long dark hair to see if it was her. His cell phone vibrated in his pocket and when he pulled it out, he saw Matt Cooper’s name on the screen. A year ago, the chief of police for Sugar Falls had been one of Garrett’s more stubborn patients. But the former marine had also become a friend and had been instrumental in talking him into opening a specialized clinic in the small Idaho town.

      Cooper had sold him on the concept that where there was a tourist trade that catered to extreme sports such as downhill skiing, river rafting and hiking, there was a need for orthopedic surgeons. It wasn’t a hard sell since not only was the town unpretentious and as far removed from the limelight as Garrett could get, it also desperately needed a physician who could actually serve the local community for the better.

      “What’s happening, Coop?” Garrett said by way of greeting.

      “I just got off the phone with Mayor Johnston and the city approved the zoning for converting that old lumber mill you bought into medical offices. My wife’s friend has a brother who is doing some contracting and thinks he can have a crew start construction tomorrow.”

      “Is he any good?”

      “As far as I can tell. But now that you’re going to be living in a small town, it’s best to realize that’s how they do things here.” Cooper was a transplant himself, first from Detroit and then the military, and during a previous conversation he’d confided that he was still adapting to the slower-paced life. “Everyone knows somebody who is related to someone else who can get things done for you. It took me a while to get used to it, but the system can be beneficial.”

      “Okay. Have him email me an estimate and a contract. As long as people up there know how to mind their own business, then I’ll hire whoever they want.”

      Coop laughed. “Now, I didn’t say they know how to mind their own business. But the community as a whole is a tight-knit group, and if they like you well enough, they wouldn’t sell you out to some big-city paparazzi. How did that talk with your old man go, by the way?”

      Cooper was one of the few people who knew Garrett was related to the famous television producer. But that’s because the guy would investigate the depth lines on a ship’s anchor if he felt like it. And when he’d been hospitalized with two consecutive knee surgeries and nothing else to look forward to, the marine had been bored enough to investigate his surgeon.

      “It went as expected. He wanted what he always wants, which is for me to return to California and start filming alongside him. I told him about my new plans. He said there’s no reason for me to go into private practice in some—no offense—Podunk town where my patients will only be able to pay for my services in taxidermy animals and squirrel meat casserole.”

      “Ouch. Although, that’s what I expected, too, before I actually visited Sugar Falls.”

      “Well, let’s hope for everyone’s sake that my dad and his entourage of cameras never decide to visit.” Garrett thought about his former patient’s family history and realized he might sound like a spoiled, ungrateful child. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the man. But I should’ve known better than to meet him last night. If it weren’t for that stupid dinner, I never would’ve gotten so pissed off and...”

      What? He never would’ve walked to the hotel bar and experienced the most magical evening in his life?

      Of course, he couldn’t say any of that to Cooper. Even though the two men’s relationship was moving into friendship territory, Garrett wasn’t ready to confess to anyone that his unsinkable heart had nearly been caught in a rip current.

      He climbed into his late-model truck and dropped his head to the leather-covered steering wheel. He was too embarrassed to say anything to anyone and didn’t need a bored police chief to start asking too many questions.

      Wait a second. Having Cooper asking questions on Garrett’s behalf might be another thing altogether. The idea of having his friend assist him in finding the mystery lady was ridiculous, but that wouldn’t stop him from exploring the possibility of it later. When he didn’t already have eight hundred things to do before the big move.

      “Anyway.” Garrett started his engine. “Speaking of expectations, tell me more about some of these small-town neighbors I’m going to be meeting in Sugar Falls.”

       Chapter Three

      Eight weeks later, while her two best friends sat in her living room for their regular Thursday night dinner together, Mia came out of the bathroom holding the small plastic stick in her hand.

      “That was quick,” Kylie Gregson said, looking down at the empty box. “It says that you needed to wait three minutes for the results.”

      “I know. But I didn’t want to wait in there alone to find out. Here.” Mia set the pregnancy test on a paper towel on the kitchen counter then rushed back to the couch and pulled her favorite throw blanket up to her chin. “It probably needs about two more minutes. I can’t look. You guys tell me what it says.”

      Maxine Cooper walked over to the counter and looked at the stick. “Well, I don’t think we need to wait that long. The second blue line is pretty clear already.”

      “What do two blue lines mean again?”

      “It means positive,” Kylie said, checking the instructions.

      “Let’s give it a little more time,” Mia whispered. “Maybe the other blue line will go away.” But she was a smart woman with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts. She knew none of this was going away.

      She was pregnant. Single and pregnant.