A Baby for Dry Creek and A Dry Creek Christmas. Janet Tronstad

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СКАЧАТЬ idea to offer a shaker of salt substitute on the table along with the regular salt and pepper.

      “Come in.”

      Pete was probably grateful that she was concerned about his customers’ health, Chrissy told herself as she took a deep breath.

      “Please sit,” Pete said as he looked up from some papers. Pete had been a semipro football player before he bought the diner thirty years ago and, even with the gray hairs on his balding head, Chrissy thought he still looked as if he would be more comfortable on a football field than behind a desk.

      “You wanted to see me?” Chrissy sat down on the folding chair opposite Pete’s desk.

      Pete nodded and then swallowed. He opened his mouth and then closed it again.

      “Is it about the salt substitute?” Chrissy asked. She couldn’t stand the silence. Please, let it be the salt substitute. “I haven’t heard any customers complain. Except for Mr. Jenkins. But he thought it was sugar and put it in his tea.”

      “Oh, yes, the salt substitute.” Pete looked relieved. “It’s never too early to pay attention to good health. I should have thought of offering a salt substitute years ago. Someone mentioned it to the dietitian at the retirement home down the street, and she recommended us to some of the residents who’d never been here before.”

      “So business is good.” Chrissy was starting to feel better.

      “It’s never been better. That’s sort of what I wanted to talk to you about. You see, I—”

      Chrissy’s cell phone chose this moment to ring. She told herself to ignore it. But she’d gotten the phone only so that Mrs. Velarde could call her. Mrs. Velarde lived across the street from Chrissy’s mother and was baby-sitting little Justin temporarily. Chrissy was having as much trouble keeping baby-sitters as she was keeping jobs. She knew the call was about Justin.

      “Excuse me,” Chrissy said finally as she reached around to unclip the phone from her belt. “I need to get this.”

      She turned her shoulder slightly and said a low hello into the cell phone.

      “There’s a man,” Mrs. Velarde almost shrieked into the cell phone. “You told me to watch out for a man prowling around, and he’s here!”

      “Jared’s there?” Chrissy was shocked. When she had warned Mrs. Velarde to watch out for Jared, she had never expected him to make the drive down from Las Vegas to see Justin. The bond that had held her and Jared together in high school was no longer even a thread.

      Jared had learned that money could buy friends since he’d gotten access to his trust fund, and he no longer needed Chrissy. With his new friends, his life had unraveled even further in the months since Chrissy had left him. He’d told her he was glad she was gone, because now he could date women who really knew how to party.

      Chrissy had told him that he was a fool and she was sorry he was the father of her baby.

      No matter how isolated Chrissy had felt in high school, she had never turned to the drug crowd for friends. Jared was using drugs, and he had made it very clear he wasn’t interested in being a husband and or a father.

      But as much as Jared wanted to avoid the baby, Jared’s mother was adamant in her desire to know more about Justin. She had given up on Jared ever entering the family business, but she obviously had hopes she could start over and train a baby to be a more obedient heir. So far Jared had refused to tell his mother that Justin was his son, but if Mrs. Bard offered Jared enough money, he might decide to confirm what his mother already suspected and help her try to claim custody of Justin. “You’re sure it’s him?”

      “Well, I don’t know what Jared looks like, but there’s a man parked in front of my house who keeps looking over at your house. He even went up and rang the bell once, but no one answered, of course, with you and your mom both at work.”

      “You’re sure he isn’t a deliveryman or something?”

      “There’s no uniform. Besides, he’s young and good-looking. No one else comes to your house who is young and good-looking.”

      “I guess it could be Jared. Or someone else his mother has hired.”

      Mrs. Bard made Chrissy nervous. Mrs. Velarde had already told her that a private investigator had been asking questions about Chrissy in the neighborhood. It had to be someone working for Jared’s mother.

      “You want me to call the police?” Mrs. Velarde asked.

      “He hasn’t done anything yet, has he?”

      “He sits out there.”

      “Does he look like someone on drugs?”

      “No. He just sits.”

      “That’s probably not Jared, then. Maybe he’s a salesman and will go away in a minute or two. Just keep Justin inside until I get home.”

      Mrs. Velarde grunted. “I’ll keep my baseball bat by the door, too. Nobody comes to see our Justin without his mama here.”

      “Call if you need me.” Chrissy said goodbye and flipped her cell phone shut before she saw the concerned frown on Pete’s face.

      “Trouble at home?” Pete asked.

      Chrissy didn’t bother to deny it. He knew that much already. And the trouble would only get worse. Mrs. Velarde was scheduled to leave for Florida next week to move in with her daughter, and so far Chrissy had not found someone else to take care of Justin while she worked.

      “My neighbor who is watching Justin is worried. I may need to leave for a few minutes and go home if she calls again.”

      “You’re welcome to use the delivery car to drive home. Take as much time as you need.” Pete rubbed his hands over his head. “I’ve never been able to offer the best salaries in the business, but I’ve always tried to be flexible.”

      “I appreciate that.”

      “I’ve always looked at the staff as family, which is why it’s so hard to—”

      Chrissy wanted to put her hands over her ears. She didn’t want to hear what was coming next. “But business has been good.”

      “Business has never been better,” Pete agreed. “And your idea with the salt substitute is one of the reasons.”

      Chrissy decided she didn’t need her hands over her ears after all. Maybe the reason Pete had called her into his office was to thank her for the suggestion.

      “It was a simple idea,” Chrissy said.

      Pete nodded. “But it has made all the difference. That’s why I wanted you to be the first to know the news.”

      Chrissy felt a sudden unease. A thank-you would be nice, but it wasn’t actually news. “Are we changing the menu again?”

      Pete chuckled. “I don’t think I’d live long enough to do that even if I weren’t moving to Arizona.”

      “What?”

      Pete СКАЧАТЬ