Preacher paused and turned toward his friend. He and Bear had always gotten on well. He considered him a friend, a close friend.

“She’s fine. Why don’t you go and ask her?”

“Here’s the thing, she’s keeping up appearances, and I haven’t gotten the chance to talk to her. To even say two words to her. Tell me how I’m supposed to fucking feel.”

“Again, I don’t have a fucking clue,” Preacher said. “You and Rebecca are welcome to come to my place any time to see her. I’m not holding her hostage. I’m dealing with damage control right now. You think I wanted this?”

“I don’t know what it is you want.”

“I’ve got a kid on the way. I know it’s with your kid, but I didn’t manipulate this shit. You can be pissed at me for a long time, but you’ve got to get over it. I have.”

“Do you like my kid?” Bear asked.

“I’m not a pervert, Bear.” Preacher burst out laughing. “You know, I look at Robin, and she is handling everything really fucking well, but there are times, a few, not a lot, where I feel so fucking sick to my stomach by what happened. Do you think this is easy for me? I can go in and out of my day without a single care in the world, is that what you think?”

“You tell me.”

“I asked about her, Bear. I didn’t even know who she was, but I thought about her. I talked to you about her and fuck! You think this is easy? It fucking sucks. My kid can’t even handle what the fuck is going on. He’s up and down. All over the place. One day soon, he’s going to snap, and I’ve got to be in the right place when it happens because if I’m not we’re all screwed.” He didn’t show weakness, but knowing Robin carried his kid, it was hard. So far, she hadn’t freaked out or tried to do something stupid. She was keeping her shit together.

Bishop wasn’t.

From the look on Bear’s face, he wasn’t.

“I’m sorry,” Bear said.

“You don’t owe me an apology.”