Read Danville Horror: A Pat Wyatt Novel (The Pat Wyatt Series Book 3) for Free Online

noticed that his olive skin looked a little gray. He was starting to worry me. “Pops, seriously, what’s wrong? You look like hell, and you’re frightening me.”
    He shook his head. “You are so much like your mother. You always know when something’s wrong.” He took a deep breath, looking up at me. “Baby girl, I got something to tell you, and I don’t wantcha to get how you get.”
    I understood what he meant, he didn’t want me to judge him. “I won’t, I promise. Now what’s wrong?”
    “Well,” he paused for a second and then he dropped the bomb on me—
    “What?” I blurted, and he shushed me.
    “You promised.”
    I took a deep breath and processed the news for a minute. “So, let me just wrap my head around this,” I paused, trying to keep calm. “Cindy is pregnant.” Those words set my teeth on edge, and I felt queasy for a second, but it passed. At that moment, a nervous breakdown sounded like the next logical step. “That’s…” easy, Pat , “great, Pops.”
    “Really?” he sounded confused. “I’m not so sure.”
    “Pops,” now it was my turn to sound confused, “how can you say that?”
    He shook his head. “I’m old, Patricia. Too old to have a baby running around the house again. Besides, you and Jess will be old enough to be its mother. I don’t know if I can do it again, baby girl.”
    I shook my head. I couldn’t imagine Jessica Lynn Wyatt, my sister, the fakest woman alive and my ex-husband’s lover, as a mother. “You’re not old, Pops,” I told him, placing my hand on his shoulder. “You can do it. You’re made of tough stuff. There’s pure iron in those veins.” I repeated the words he used to say to me when I would come home crying from middle school after a bully called me fat.
    “More like rust,” he laughed, patting my cheek.
    “Nope, it’s still iron,” I contradicted him firmly.
    He shrugged. “If you say so.”
    “I say so.”
    “Okay, baby girl,” he finally agreed with a bright smile. We sat there for a minute in silence, me thinking about being a big sister, and Pops thinking about something else. I could see the wheels turning in his head. Then he took a deep breath and said, “What happened with that Mike person.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Pops.”
    “What?”
    “Don’t call him ‘that’ Mike person. His name is Michael Wolf, all right?”
    “All right,” he conceded. “What happened with Michael Wolf?”
    “Nothing,” I sighed.
    “Bullshit,” he laughed a little too loud, and it was my turn to hush him. “Sorry,” he whispered. “But what happened? I wanna know.”
    I shrugged. “We just need some time off from each other. That’s all.”
    Pops nodded. “And the baby?” he asked solemnly. “Michael told me that you were…” his voice faded away.
    I frowned, looking down at my cooling coffee. “I was. But not anymore,” my voice cracked, but I took a deep breath to settle myself. “It just wasn’t meant to be,” I repeated what my mother’s spirit told me when I met her in limbo. I had only died for about two minutes or so, but it seemed like an eternity. And knowing that my mother was somewhere happy made feel glad that she was somewhere on my side. She had died of an aneurism four years ago, and since then I was a little lost. But after I saw her, I felt a little better about it all. Except, my heart still hurt about the baby I had lost. I don’t think anyone gets over a thing like that, and I was no exception.
    “Baby girl,” Pops said, pulling me out of my stupor, “it’s gonna be all right. It may not seem like that now, but it will be.”
    “I know,” I sighed. “But it’s taking it sweet time.”
    “Life does that,” he agreed, leaning over and kissing me on the forehead. Pops got up and dumped the rest of his coffee in the sink. “Well, baby girl, I gotta run. Will you be okay here with Cindy?” I glared up at him. “Sorry,” he chuckled, “stupid question.”
    “Have a good day at work,