Rooted in Murder

by Emily James

  “Elise.” He smiled. “Elise tried to answer as many questions as she could.”

  I reached blindly for Mark’s hand again. This was starting to sound like I had some pre-existing condition that they hadn’t known about that would now cause complications.

  “She didn’t think you two were trying, and so she said she didn’t think you were pregnant. But given you’d experienced a head trauma and might have needed surgery or strong antibiotics, we always have to be cautious. We drew some blood to test to be on the safe side.”

  They must have tested my blood for other things at the same time as they did the pregnancy test. Maybe they thought…actually, I couldn’t think of anything else they would have needed to test my blood for. It wasn’t like they could be concerned about my sugar levels or something. I hadn’t passed out. I’d been hit in the head with a shovel.

  Mark had a glazed over look on his face like he’d been the one with the head injury.

  Wait a minute. “I thought you said that something came up in the course of my scans.”

  “It did. When you went for your scan today, you told the diagnostician that you weren’t pregnant.”

  It was a standard question. They asked it every time I had to have an x-ray or some other procedure where radiation was involved. The woman who did all my CT scans since the attack hadn’t seemed to believe my answers, though, because she’d practically swathed me like a mummy in protective gear. “That’s right.”

  “That’s why I asked to speak with you. When your answers didn’t match what she saw in your patient records, she pulled me aside. She thought you might not know.”

  Mark was grinning now, in a dopey I-think-you-just-said-I-won-a-million-dollars way.

  The pieces finally slotted into place in my injured brain. And I wasn’t sure whether to feel grateful that I wasn’t dying or a tiny bit panicked. We did want a family someday, but Elise was right. We hadn’t been trying yet. “You’re telling me that I’m having a baby, not a brain bleed?”

  My doctor looked like it took all his professional composure not to laugh. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m telling you. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Cavanaugh. You’re going to be parents.”

  Letter from the Author

  One of the things that so many of you said to me after End of the Line was that you felt there were more stories left for Nicole, Mark, and the others to live. I hope you liked this latest installment in that journey, especially the surprise at the end. Nicole and Mark have always done things faster than normal, so it felt right that they’d also move quickly into this next stage of their lives together.

  The next book, Guilty or Knot, will be coming out this summer. If you haven’t yet signed up for my newsletter, please do. I announce new releases there first. I share recipes and other exclusives. And I give my newsletter subscribers a free ebook copy of Sapped, a Maple Syrup Mysteries prequel.

  You can sign up at www.smarturl.it/emilyjames.

  In the meantime, if you’re looking for more to read, make sure you’ve picked up a copy of Slay Bells Ringing. Nicole and Mark’s honeymoon is anything but average with a missing person and a mysterious illness.

  Love,

  Emily

  About the Author

  Emily James grew up watching TV shows like Matlock, Monk, and Murder She Wrote. (It’s pure coincidence that they all begin with an M.) It was no surprise to anyone when she turned into a mystery writer.

  Alongside being a writer, she’s also a wife, an animal lover, and a new artist. She likes coffee and painting and drinking coffee while painting. She also enjoys cooking. She tries not to do that while painting because, well, you shouldn’t eat paint.

  Emily and her husband share their home with a blue Great Dane, seven cats (all rescues), and a budgie (who is both the littlest and the loudest).

  If you’d like to know as soon as Emily’s next mystery releases, please join her newsletter list at www.smarturl.it/emilyjames.