She’s the middle of sisters in Cate and Drew’s brood and my relentless admirer. Drew exits onto the deck with the rest of the clan, Ethan, Emma and Caitlin.
“Can we play?” the other two girls ask.
“Yeah, sure.”
We’d rented a moon bounce to keep the kids occupied, and they tear off for it.
“Hey, Ethan,” I greet.
“Hey,” he says, not looking at all interested in the moon bounce or his sisters or us adults.
“I’ve got the new Madden downstairs.” His eyes perk up. “Yeah, I’ve got a bunch of new games if you want to check it out.”
He glances up at his dad for approval. “Sure, but don’t forget to come up for dinner.”
Ethan races off, and Drew shakes his head. “If he has his way, he won’t see us for the rest of the night.”
We laugh. “Uncle Brandon,” Maddy says, still in my arms, as she tugs on my shirt. I give her my full attention. “Daddy says we can’t get married.”
“Really,” I say, then glance at Drew, looking for a little help.
Chuckling a little, he doesn’t offer any.
“Well, I’m already married to your Aunt Jenna.”
My princess sounds more like she’s thirty than three and half when she speaks next.
“She’s not really my aunt, and you’re not my uncle. So it’s allowed.”
How can I argue with her logic?
“Who will she marry if I marry you?”
She shrugs with an expression that everything makes perfect sense. “She can find her own prince.”
I laugh, then kiss her cheek.
“This prince needs to cook dinner, otherwise we’ll all starve. Why don’t you go play with your sisters?”
When I set her down on the ground, she stares up at me. “I will. But you’ll sit next to me at dinner, right?”
I nod and she sets off, announcing to anyone in hearing distance that she’s going to marry me.
“Sorry about that,” Drew says.
“It’s okay. You guys have a great family.”
He looks thoughtful, and I know what’s coming. “Have you guys seen that specialist I talked to you about?”
It wasn’t quite the conversation I wanted to have at our house-warming.
“We have,” I admit.
Gratefully, Ben and Sam walk in with their daughter. Sam comes over. She, too, is pregnant, though not as far along as Cate. Everyone greets each other with Sam doling out cheek kisses and handshakes between the guys.
Jenna, being the trooper she is, swore she could handle seeing everyone with their families growing while ours is at a standstill.
“Congratulations, if I haven’t said it before,” I say to my brother-in-law and his wife.
More compassionate smiles and I feel my own is waning.
“I should probably go find Jenna before I get started cooking.” To Ben’s daughter, Julie, I say, “You should go play in the moon bounce.”
Shyly, she glances up at her father whose hand she hasn’t let go of. “Daddy, will you take me?”
“Absolutely, darling.” He scoops her up, and the pair of them head down the deck stairs.
I go through the French doors and head up the back stairs. Through a cracked master bedroom door, I hear Cate and Jenna talking. I push forward, and Cate looks up.
“I’ll leave the two of you alone,” she says and pats my arm again as she leaves.
“Hey, babe,” I say, trying not to make a big deal. Her emotions have been all over the place lately, not that I don’t get it. Our lives seem to be in flux, and she’s been busy with the decorator trying to make everything perfect. Cate and her family are staying with us for the weekend. “Everyone’s here. You should come down.”
That’s when I spot her tears. I go sit next to her on the bed. “Why are you crying?” I ask like I don’t know.
“When you married me, I bet you didn’t bargain on getting a defective wife.”
She has no fucking clue how lucky I am to have her.
I pull her onto my lap, overcome with lumps that want to form in my throat. Wrapping her around me, I declare with no room to argue, “You’re not defective.”
“Really,” she sobs. “It’s not your swimmers that are the problem.”
“And you don’t know you are either. The doctors aren’t sure what to make of us. It could be just the pressure we’re putting on ourselves.”
Fierce eyes meet me. “Don’t. We both know if it’s not you, it’s me.”
Stress etches worry lines in her forehead. Between hormone injection shots and sex on demand, I can see in her eyes she’s ready to give up.
The kiss I give her I hope speaks volumes. But when I pull back, I add words to what I want her to know.
“I married you. You, Jenna Connelly. You are everything to me. If we can’t have kids, if you want to adopt, or if you want to just let it be the two of us, I’m cool with any of it as long as it will make you happy.”
For a second, my thoughts trail off to Kym. She’s graduated college and is working in Charlotte. She wouldn’t come back to Charleston, but we still keep in touch. I wonder what our life might be like if she hadn’t lost the kid. Maybe Jenna and I could have been parents of a sort, and my girl wouldn’t be so unhappy.
“Why does everything have to be so hard for me?”
I swipe the tears from her cheeks.
“We’ll get through this.”
“Promise?” she asks.
I pull a tissue from the box on the bed and hand it to her.
After she blows her nose, she asks, “Together?”
I nod. “Together.”
After wiping more tears from her eyes, I help her to her feet.
“I have to check on something,” she says. I try not to look worried, and she adds, “I promise I’ll be down in a minute. I need to fix my face.”
One thing we have in spades is trust. So I head for the kitchen, where Ben finds me.
“So, I hear you’re marrying Maddy.”
He, like Jenna, enjoys making jokes.
“Yeah, don’t tell Jenna.” I laugh.
“Tell Jenna what?”
She comes in, all smiles. That’s my girl. She puts on a brave face for everyone.
“Seems your husband is going to divorce you for a younger woman. Good thing you didn’t sign a prenup. Now you can take him for all his money.” Ben laughs.
“Younger woman, huh? Good thing your business has expanded. I’ll go find that hussy. Her name wouldn’t be Madeline, would it?” Jenna says good-naturedly.
Everyone knows of Maddy’s fondness for me. I shrug.
“She showers me with hugs and kisses. It’s kind of hard to ignore. You’re going to have to step up your game.” I wink at her.
Her animated face is true, and I love her more for it.
“I’m going to find this Maddy and tickle her until she gives up her quest to take my man.”
The grin she gives me is so bright, my mood lifts. I shouldn’t have doubted that she could do this day and survive it. We will survive. All I need is her.
“How’s she doing?” Ben asks seriously once Jenna’s outside.
“Some days are tougher than others,” I admit.
“I feel almost guilty that Sam’s pregnant.”
“Don’t,” I say. “She’s giving adoption serious thought.”
Ben nods.
“Well, Sam and I want to tell you both that she’s willing to carry a child for the two of you. I mean, Jenna told her that was an option. Doc will sync the two of you up and implant it in her.”
The fertility doctor had mentioned that as a possibility, but Jenna didn’t want to ask Sam or Cate to do that for her. I’m surprised she told them.
“You guys would do that?” I choke.
Ben has become like a brother to me. It’s weird being on the receiving end of advice, but I’m grateful for him.
He nods. “I bet Sam is telling her now.”
&n
bsp; Clapping me on the back, his support lifts a weight from my shoulders. I felt helpless unable to give Jenna everything she wants in this life. I hug the guy, not caring who sees. Then, I brush off the emotions, afraid I might tear up or some shit. I pick up the pan of steaks ready for the grill and head outside, blinking away any threat of moisture.
The women are in a circle hug, and for a second, I allow myself to dream. It’s easy to imagine Jenna and me pushing the two kids she so desperately wants on a swing set with a golden Labrador running around and between us. Before the vision fades, I envision Jenna stepping back with a rounded belly. It’s too much to dream for. So I push it back as the three women join us guys on the deck as I put the steaks down.
“We have news,” Jenna says.
“Me first,” says Cate.
She walks over and doles out drinks to all of us. The guys get beer, and the girls get sparkling apple cider in flutes. She stops next to Drew, who wraps an arm around her before she makes an announcement. “A toast. We’re moving back to Charleston.”
It’s a good thing I haven’t started the meat. The squeals and hugs go on for long minutes as we guys watch. Apparently, Cate hadn’t told Sam and Jenna yet.
Drew shrugs. “It’s time. Our family is here. I’m joining a practice down here.”
Cate looks at me as she speaks to all of us. “For the longest time, I couldn’t imagine living here without…” She glances at her husband for a second. He takes her hand in his. “But he’s here,” she says, choking up. She brings their joined hands to her heart. “I know he’s happy for me, for us. And to tell you the truth, I miss you guys. I want our kids to know each other.”
Cue in the group hug.
“I have an announcement,” Sam says.
I steady myself that maybe, just maybe Jenna and I can have at least one of our own. And I’ll be happy if Jenna’s happy with one child.
“Jenna and I have decided to go into business together. We’re going to start a boutique event and marketing company.”
Cate bounces on her toes. She and Drew give more congratulations to the women. I’m not surprised by that. They’ve been toying with the ideas for a while. However, I was expecting—
“My turn,” Jenna says shyly. She glances up at me from across the circle. I give her my best reassuring smile. Whatever she says next, that we are giving up on having kids or that we are adopting or that Sam has agreed to be our surrogate at some point in the future after giving birth to her and Ben’s second. Whatever it is, I’m prepared to support her decision.
“I’ve made a lot of wrong choices in my life, but you guys aren’t one of them. I’m grateful to each of you. Cate, my best friend in all the world, I’m so happy you have Drew. He’s the very best guy for you.” Her eyes shift. “Benny, my brother, and biggest champion, you are the best big brother a girl can ask for.”
“I’ll drink to that,” I say, and we all lift our drinks.
“And, Sam,” Jenna continues, “who’s going to be my business partner, you’ve become so important to me. I’m glad my brother got his shit together.”
We all raise a glass.
Jenna’s eyes are all for me now. “And, my husband, my knight in shining armor.”
“That’s the oil and grease, babe.”
Everyone laughs.
“And that’s what I love most about you. You are my best friend, my partner, and the love of my life. I can’t imagine what my world would be like if you’d given up on me or I on you.”
Tears begin to fall from her eyes.
“Don’t cry, babe. You know what it does to me.”
I close the distance between us, collapsing the circle.
“Don’t you see, these are happy tears? Sam told me what Benny and she are willing to do for us.”
“I know,” I say, embracing her.
“Come on. I’m not finished yet, and everyone’s watching,” she teases, a blush forming on her face.
Pulling back, even though I don’t want to, I stand by her side.
“Thank you, Sam and Ben, for offering to surrogate a child for us,” she says.
They look confused, but I’m sure she’s going to tell them we’ve decided to adopt.
“I wish our parents were here,” she adds.
That mystifies me as I’m not sure where she’s going. It’s taken Jenna a while to fully forgive her mother, but things have been a lot better between the two. I squeeze her hand to silently tell her I’m here.
“Anyway, I’m glad you all are here. You guys are my family, our family. Which is why you’ll be the first to know we’re pregnant.”
The words don’t register. My mind plays back over the last several months. The hell we went through with all the alarms on her phone to do this, to do that, legs in the air, come, and don’t come. This is our third go around with intrauterine insemination treatment. If it doesn’t work, we plan to try the more pricey in vitro fertilization or surrogacy.
“It’s early, but I took a test upstairs before you came to get me. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but we’re pregnant.”
It sounds like she’s just talking to me as congratulations are spoken with more squeals of delight. I stand stupefied, still trying to make sense of the words.
“We’re pregnant,” I mumble, which is ridiculous. I’m not pregnant.
Jenna hears me, and in the mist of conversation all around us, it’s as if a bubble forms around us.
Her eyes lock on mine, and I never really thought about how much this meant to me until she said those words.
“God, I love you,” I say.
“I love you, too.”
“And you’re sure? We’re pregnant?” I ask.
“I’m sure.”
“We’re going to do this,” I say.
She nods. “Together.”
“Together.”
I kiss my bride, because that’s what it feels like. The elation I felt on our wedding day is what I feel now.
“Us,” I begin. “We were never a wrong choice. We were the only one.”
Thank you for reading this series. We would greatly appreciate a review if you could spare a minute. If not, we understand. To read more of our co-authored book, check out our Other Books pages where you can find a plethora of them.
Acknowledgments
As we close out this series, there are a few things that need to be said. Neither of us ever dreamed we’d end up here … on the third book, closing out a series, AND … it being our seventh book we’ve written together. Oh, by the way, we’ve already started our eighth! The reason for this long explanation is we have you, our readers to thank for it. We would not be writing together, or solo, for that matter, if it weren’t for you. So THANK YOU from the bottoms of our hearts, for taking a chance on us with Cruel & Beautiful, and hanging in there with us for all the other books!
Here are the lovely people we’d like to say THANK YOU to. Our beta readers: Kristie, Andrea, Nina, Jill, and Heather. You ladies have been with us constantly and are our RIGHT CHOICES because you knock us down when we need us and let us know what works and what doesn’t. Thanks for making our books better and prettier! We don’t know what we’d do without you!
Thank you Nina Grinstead, and Social Butterfly PR for running your butt off in getting our stuff out there when we are always behind and at the eleventh hour. And then we do that switchy thing on you and you want to kill us but we love you!
And thank you Rick Miles at Redcoat PR for everything, particularly when we change dates at the spur of the moment.
Thank you Paige Smith, for your diligent editing and always squishing us in. Because, yeah, we’re kind of un-planners!
And finally, thank you Sara Eirew for the amazing cover!
Terri E. Laine
Terri E. Laine, USA Today bestselling author, left a lucrative career as a CPA to pursue her love for writing. Outside of her roles as a wife and mother of three, she’s always been a dreamer and as such became an avid reader at a young ag
e.
Many years later, she got a crazy idea to write a novel and set out to try to publish it. With over a dozen titles published under various pen names, the rest is history. Her journey has been a blessing, and a dream realized. She looks forward to many more memories to come.
You can find more about her books at www.terrielaine.com.
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other books authored
by Terri E. Laine
Him standalone series
Because Of Him
Captivated by Him
Chasing Butterflies standalone series
Chasing Butterflies
Catching Fireflies
Changing Hearts
Craving Dragonflies
Songs for Cricket
Standalones and novellas
Ride or Die
Thirty-Five and Single
Sex, Alcohol, and My Neighbor (in Beer Googles Anthology)
Honey
Sugar
Married in Vegas: In His Arms
Absolutely Mine
other books co-authored
by Terri E. Laine
Cruel and Beautiful standalone series
Cruel and Beautiful
A Mess of A Man
One Wrong Choice
Wilde Players series
Sidelined
Fastball
Hooked
Worth Every Risk
Standalone
A Beautiful Sin
The Cruel and Beautiful Series Boxset Page 107
