After we got everything moved, Nate went across the street to Maggie and Asher’s house. He and Asher are still working on songs for their collaboration, but he made me promise I’d call if I needed anything.
I dry off and dress in maternity jeans and a sweater before walking across the street. It’s dusk, and my breath freezes as it hits the air. I knock and no one answers, so I let myself in. The house is quiet, and I assume everyone’s downstairs. I head in that direction and find a tall, blond man standing in front of the stairs. It takes a minute before I remember how I know him. Fabio…er…Drake. Vivian’s bodyguard.
Before I can ask where they are, I hear Vivian’s voice floating up the stairs. “Please reconsider. I’ll do anything to make this work.”
Murmurs. Nate’s voice. But I can’t make out his words.
Drake crosses his arms over his broad chest and gives me a look that tells me what he thinks of my presence. “I thought you were marrying the other boy.” His voice has the low, gravelly rasp of a pack-a-day smoker, and I think it’s the first time I’ve heard him talk.
I frown. “When did I say that?”
He shrugs. “Last time I visited, you were wearing his ring.”
“You ever think she got pregnant on purpose?” Vivian asks in the basement.
I gasp, and Drake says, “That’s a private conversation.”
“Right,” I whisper. Then I turn to the door and hurry across the street to my new house.
Less than half an hour later, Nate finds me in the kitchen. I’m sipping a cup of herbal tea and trying to figure out what to do about what I overheard.
He grabs a beer from the freshly stocked fridge, pops the top off with a bottle opener, and joins me at the table. He looks stressed and frazzled.
“Rough night?” I ask softly.
“You could say that.” He takes a long pull of his beer. “Collin told his mom that you’re pregnant. She isn’t handling the news very well.”
“Oh.” I didn’t really expect him to tell me about his conversation with Vivian, but I like that he is. “What did you say?”
“That it wouldn’t change my relationship with Collin. That I owe as much to these babies as I do to him.” He picks at the label on his beer. “She didn’t care, though. It’s my fault she’s reacting like this. I shouldn’t have let her find out like that. I just wasn’t sure how to tell her.”
We sit in silence for a minute. I’m unsure of what to say. Nate’s picking at his beer label, aggravation rolling off him in waves.
I clear my throat and nod to his beer. “You know they say that people who pick at their labels are sexually frustrated.”
My attempt to clear the tension falls flat when he lifts his eyes to mine. There is so much longing and heat and desire in them that it nearly bowls me over.
“They have no f**king idea.” His chair scrapes across the floor as he stands. “Goodnight, Hanna.”
“It’s a nice house,” Janelle says, scanning the living room. “You seem at home here.”
Hanna’s out with the girls, and Collin’s asleep with his head on my lap, his chest rising and falling with the steady breath of sleep. I brush his hair out of his eyes and study his face. He stayed with his mom in a hotel last night, but he’ll spend the next week at Hanna’s new house with me. With Hanna. Then I’ll take him back to LA, where he’ll stay for a few weeks before Janelle brings him out to visit again. And so begins our new life.
“How’s Hanna?”
“She’s okay. Exhausted from the move.” I shift Collin in my arms and stand. “Let’s get him to bed.” I take him to his bedroom, Janelle walking ahead of me to draw back the covers.
We head back out to the kitchen, and I pull a beer out of the fridge for myself and pour a glass of wine for Elle.
“Max is letting me buy him out,” she announces.
I raise a brow. “You didn’t have to do that.”
She snorts. “Are you kidding? That woman works magic in the kitchen. This is the best investment I’ve made in years.”
“I have to agree. She’s amazing. So, are you planning to move here to be her business partner?”
“Me? In Middle of Nowhere, Indiana?” She shrugs. “God, sounds nice, doesn’t it? But no. I’m a silent partner. I don’t imagine I’ll be around much more than I would have been otherwise.”
“Vivian found out about the pregnancy,” I say.
She sucks in air through her teeth. “And how’d that go? I’m half surprised she left Collin here with you. I’d expect her to get all Münchausen-by-proxy kind of psycho after that.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She rolls her eyes. “Seriously? The woman would do anything to keep you to herself.”
“I think you’re wrong.”
She gulps her wine and shakes her head. “And I think you are blind.”
16
EVERY CELL in my body is exhausted. I never would have thought it was possible to be exhausted on the cellular level, but after making Christmas cakes and pastries for every freaking family in New Hope, I have zero energy left and every intention of peeling off my clothes and climbing into bed. When I step into the bathroom to brush my teeth, that gorgeous soaker tub stares back at me, calling my name.
A soak in Asher’s hot tub would feel amazing right about now, but since that’s off-limits with the pregnancy, a warm bath is as good as it’s gonna get for me.
I dry off and dress in maternity jeans and a sweater before walking across the street. It’s dusk, and my breath freezes as it hits the air. I knock and no one answers, so I let myself in. The house is quiet, and I assume everyone’s downstairs. I head in that direction and find a tall, blond man standing in front of the stairs. It takes a minute before I remember how I know him. Fabio…er…Drake. Vivian’s bodyguard.
Before I can ask where they are, I hear Vivian’s voice floating up the stairs. “Please reconsider. I’ll do anything to make this work.”
Murmurs. Nate’s voice. But I can’t make out his words.
Drake crosses his arms over his broad chest and gives me a look that tells me what he thinks of my presence. “I thought you were marrying the other boy.” His voice has the low, gravelly rasp of a pack-a-day smoker, and I think it’s the first time I’ve heard him talk.
I frown. “When did I say that?”
He shrugs. “Last time I visited, you were wearing his ring.”
“You ever think she got pregnant on purpose?” Vivian asks in the basement.
I gasp, and Drake says, “That’s a private conversation.”
“Right,” I whisper. Then I turn to the door and hurry across the street to my new house.
Less than half an hour later, Nate finds me in the kitchen. I’m sipping a cup of herbal tea and trying to figure out what to do about what I overheard.
He grabs a beer from the freshly stocked fridge, pops the top off with a bottle opener, and joins me at the table. He looks stressed and frazzled.
“Rough night?” I ask softly.
“You could say that.” He takes a long pull of his beer. “Collin told his mom that you’re pregnant. She isn’t handling the news very well.”
“Oh.” I didn’t really expect him to tell me about his conversation with Vivian, but I like that he is. “What did you say?”
“That it wouldn’t change my relationship with Collin. That I owe as much to these babies as I do to him.” He picks at the label on his beer. “She didn’t care, though. It’s my fault she’s reacting like this. I shouldn’t have let her find out like that. I just wasn’t sure how to tell her.”
We sit in silence for a minute. I’m unsure of what to say. Nate’s picking at his beer label, aggravation rolling off him in waves.
I clear my throat and nod to his beer. “You know they say that people who pick at their labels are sexually frustrated.”
My attempt to clear the tension falls flat when he lifts his eyes to mine. There is so much longing and heat and desire in them that it nearly bowls me over.
“They have no f**king idea.” His chair scrapes across the floor as he stands. “Goodnight, Hanna.”
“It’s a nice house,” Janelle says, scanning the living room. “You seem at home here.”
Hanna’s out with the girls, and Collin’s asleep with his head on my lap, his chest rising and falling with the steady breath of sleep. I brush his hair out of his eyes and study his face. He stayed with his mom in a hotel last night, but he’ll spend the next week at Hanna’s new house with me. With Hanna. Then I’ll take him back to LA, where he’ll stay for a few weeks before Janelle brings him out to visit again. And so begins our new life.
“How’s Hanna?”
“She’s okay. Exhausted from the move.” I shift Collin in my arms and stand. “Let’s get him to bed.” I take him to his bedroom, Janelle walking ahead of me to draw back the covers.
We head back out to the kitchen, and I pull a beer out of the fridge for myself and pour a glass of wine for Elle.
“Max is letting me buy him out,” she announces.
I raise a brow. “You didn’t have to do that.”
She snorts. “Are you kidding? That woman works magic in the kitchen. This is the best investment I’ve made in years.”
“I have to agree. She’s amazing. So, are you planning to move here to be her business partner?”
“Me? In Middle of Nowhere, Indiana?” She shrugs. “God, sounds nice, doesn’t it? But no. I’m a silent partner. I don’t imagine I’ll be around much more than I would have been otherwise.”
“Vivian found out about the pregnancy,” I say.
She sucks in air through her teeth. “And how’d that go? I’m half surprised she left Collin here with you. I’d expect her to get all Münchausen-by-proxy kind of psycho after that.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She rolls her eyes. “Seriously? The woman would do anything to keep you to herself.”
“I think you’re wrong.”
She gulps her wine and shakes her head. “And I think you are blind.”
16
EVERY CELL in my body is exhausted. I never would have thought it was possible to be exhausted on the cellular level, but after making Christmas cakes and pastries for every freaking family in New Hope, I have zero energy left and every intention of peeling off my clothes and climbing into bed. When I step into the bathroom to brush my teeth, that gorgeous soaker tub stares back at me, calling my name.
A soak in Asher’s hot tub would feel amazing right about now, but since that’s off-limits with the pregnancy, a warm bath is as good as it’s gonna get for me.
