Parts of Trix’s confession came back to him. Jeff did his best to keep them compartmentalized in the back of his mind, not to let them intrude on this joyous moment. “How early?”
“Nine weeks.” Joe blew out a breath. “But Sarah’s thirty-two, and it’s her first pregnancy, and she’s high-risk because of her diabetes, so she’s kind of freaking out.”
Translation—Sarah was fine; Joe was freaking out. “Oh man. That’s got to be hard, with you touring. I guess she probably didn’t want to come with, though, huh?”
“She can barely sleep in our own bed,” he said ruefully. “I got a text at three her time because I wasn’t there to use as a body pillow.”
“Rough.” But this didn’t seem to be the whole story. “So—is that it? Not that a baby isn’t a lot, it’s amazing, it’s huge, but I sort of got the feeling you weren’t done.”
“That’s the other reason I wanted to talk to you first. I know you’re on the same page. I need to stick around Toronto for a while when this is done. At least ’til the baby is born, maybe longer.”
Ah. “No tour,” Jeff said.
“I’m gonna be a father,” Joe said, and there was something fierce and happy in his voice. “I don’t want to miss it. Sarah will have some mat leave, but she wants to go back to work after. Her job is important to her.”
Jeff heard what he didn’t say loud and clear. Sarah’s job was important to her… and that was important to Joe, maybe more so than his own job. “The band will still be here after the baby’s born. When they’re in school and stuff.” They were already talking about finding a way to ditch Big Moose. That meant they could ax the grueling tour schedule too.
Theoretically.
Or they could be stuck doing the tour without Joe.
He wanted to be reassuring, but he wasn’t sure that was what Joe was after.
“Will it?” He gave Jeff a searching look. “We both know things have been rough for a while. You need a break. Max—”
A toilet flushed, and he broke off. “Carter didn’t come back yet, did he?”
Swallowing his dread, Jeff gave a slow shake of his head. “No.” Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen Max leave. He’d just assumed he’d sneaked out when Trix had.
But that was stupid. His guitar case was still over by the door. Which meant—
Water ran in the sink. Then the bathroom door opened and Max came out. “Hey. Did Trix leave?”
Shit.Jeff hoped he hadn’t overheard anything. “Yeah man, she said she wanted a shower before sound check.”
“Cool. I’m going to head out too. If I’m lucky I can catch a nap.” He paused to collect his guitar and looked at Joe. “You coming too? If we don’t clear out, I don’t know how Jeff’ll get laid again before the show.”
“Hey,” Jeff protested weakly.
Joe grinned and bumped his fist. “Get it, brother. I’ll see you downstairs, yeah?”
Carter came in a few minutes after they’d left, just as Jeff was climbing out of the shower and into bed for a quick nap of his own.
“Jeff?”
“In the bedroom,” Jeff called as he burrowed into the sheets.
Carter wheeled into the bedroom. “Productive day?”
“Mm-hmm,” Jeff said. He wanted to tell Carter Joe’s news, but if he went into it, he’d never get any sleep. “Talk later? You want to lie down with me?” After a beat he added, “No funny stuff, mister. I need my beauty sleep. Come cuddle me.”
With a snort, Carter sat down on the bed. A moment later, after removing his shoe, he curled awkwardly around Jeff. “Better?”
“Mm-hmm.” The weight of Carter’s arm across his waist settled something inside him. Suddenly his eyelids were heavy. “Wake me up at four thirty?”
Carter pressed a kiss to the edge of his jaw. “Okay.”
Chapter Fourteen
