Firebrand by DelSheree Gladden

Author:DelSheree Gladden
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, adventure, mystery, humor, amateur sleuth, female sleuth, cozy mystery, humorous mystery, funny mystery, new adult
Publisher: DelSheree Gladden

22: A Million Things

I watched Baxter as he swayed back and forth the tiniest bit to keep Elliot happy in his arms. A deep sense of sadness I didn’t want to think about too hard settled in my gut. “You’ll be a great dad.”

“No,” he said with a sigh, “I won’t.”

“But…”

Before I could continue, he interrupted with, “It’s not mine.”

I tried to figure out how to respond to that but came up empty. I was afraid to say anything, ask anything, for fear of realizing I misheard him or didn’t understand.

“Can we sit down and talk?” Baxter asked. “Elliot’s heavier than he looks.”

It took me a moment to nod, and then another one to actually take the first step. Baxter was sitting down, shifting the sleeping baby to the crook of his arm, before I made it to the couch. I hesitated before sitting, not sure I wanted to know the story anymore. Tired of waiting on me, Baxter reached up for my hand and pulled me down next to him.

“Megan and I got married the summer after we graduated college. We’d been together a year, and we had a plan. Law school for me, big time marketing firm for her. Everything went exactly as it was supposed to, except for the actual marriage part.” Baxter’s gaze dropped to Elliot. “I don’t think either of us thought it would be hard. We got along great when we were dating, but we hadn’t been living together. Making decisions together consisted of where to eat or what movie to see. Two strong personalities both trying to get what they wanted didn’t work out very well. Especially not when paired with living in this ridiculous building, me trying to get through law school, and Megan having a high stress job.”

I knew full well how forceful Baxter could be when he wanted something a certain way or wanted someone to listen to him. I also knew that he could be kind and compassionate. Megan I didn’t know more than a few nasty encounters. She was one of those people you didn’t need to know very well to be sure of the type of person they were. While Baxter could bend when he had to, I doubted Megan even knew the meaning of the word.

“We started having problems almost immediately,” Baxter continued. “She hated her job and complained constantly about her dick boss and having to answer to him when she knew she was smarter and had better ideas. I wasn’t sympathetic because I was drowning in my first year of law school and couldn’t deal with her work problems too. It got to the point we either weren’t talking to each other or we were yelling at each other.”

“Why didn’t you just split up?” I asked.

Baxter closed his eyes, hiding the shame there. “The apartment, which I know is a stupid reason to stay together, but neither one of us would give it up. I couldn’t afford anything else while I was in law school.

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