Secrets by Leanne Davis Page A

baby in three months hadn’t just occurred. This perfectly illustrated how ill equipped a barely sixteen-year-old was to have the responsibility of a new life growing inside of her.
    Scott hesitated, glancing at Sarah. What would Sarah think? Then again, what did he care what she thought? He was Angie’s guardian, not her.
    “All right, tonight, with your mother.”
    “Okay, okay, with Mom. I’ll see you. Thanks, Uncle Scott.”
    She headed down the sidewalk and turned into the strip mall with arcades and a pizza parlor. That quick leaving him and Sarah alone, standing in front of the doctor’s clinic. They both stared after Angie. He cleared his throat and rubbed at the pain over his eye. “She just can’t quite grasp it, can she? That’s why she could so easily hide it from us, and even from herself. It all makes me need a drink.”
    “Want to?” Sarah asked suddenly.
    He lowered his hand and frowned. “Want to what?”
    “Get a drink?”
    “What? Me and you?”
    “Yes. Why not? We’re here, and it’s been a stressful afternoon. Something I know I’ve never done before is escort a teenager to a prenatal appointment.”
    “I guess we could.”
    She smiled and turned. “Want to drive?”
    “Yeah, whatever. My truck is behind the building.”
    “I know. I saw it.”
    Of course, she knew what he drove, and knew where he was parked, didn’t she know everything? So why did he care if she noticed he drove a beat up work truck? And of course, there was Cookie, which made him smile because she was going to hate Cookie.
    Cookie was waiting with her head hanging out the window. She snapped to attention when she saw him approaching.
    “So, who’s this?” Sarah asked, as she halted beside his truck. No surprise in her voice. She’d noticed Cookie before? She notices nothing at all about him, but she notices his damn dog?
    “That’s Cookie,” he said, as he went to the driver side and unlocked the door, no chivalry on his part. He got into the cab and waited to see what she’d do about his tag along dog. Cookie scooted to the center of the bench seat. Sarah got in. Her black slacks with matching black blouse, purple sweater and low heels were both feminine and expensive looking. And looked so wrong in the burgundy interior of the truck cab, he almost groaned. He hadn’t expected to be shuttling Sarah Langston anywhere.
    “Hi there, Cookie.”
    Sarah put her manicured hand over Cookie’s head and rubbed her ears. Cookie leaned toward Sarah in ecstasy. Traitor . The dog nearly fell off the seat in excitement. Who knew Sarah would willingly pet a dog?
    “She’s so adorable. I noticed her each evening, so patiently waiting for you. Is she a yellow Lab?”
    “Yeah. She showed up one day and never left. It wasn’t long before she was sneaking into the bed of my truck to go everywhere with me.”
    “She was a stray?”
    “Yeah. And I’m all hers now.”
    Sarah’s gaze was hot on the side of his face. Sarah kept her hand over Cookie’s ears and petted the dog as they drove.
    “Where are we going?”
    “The Oyster.”
    “Never been there.”
    “Big surprise.”
    “It’s not a surprise because I don’t go out much. I work a lot instead. So, what is it?”
    “A local hangout. I go there sometimes after work, play pool, drink, probably not your kind of place.”
    They pulled in to the local watering hole, not a dive, but nothing to match the classiness of Sarah. But hell, after the afternoon he’d had she could suck up her disdain of it and probably of him. Inside it was dim, the decor black and red, with low lighting, and windows curtained off. The crowd was thickening as it was now five-thirty and people were showing up after work.
    He snagged a booth. Sarah was right behind him. She bumped into him when he stopped. He wondered if she’d stuck so close because she was afraid of the bar. It made him laugh. There wasn’t one thing scary about the bustling crowd that he could see other than it was