It didn’t take much convincing. Vince agreed and climbed back into bed with me. Before he went to work, we took a shower together and he ran his hand over my stomach. There was nothing there yet, but seeing his tenderness and excitement melted me. I finally knew this was really going to work. We were going to be okay.
39
Vince
I checked the time on my phone, saw it was a couple of minutes after five, and instantly started packing up my stuff to leave. Quentin showed up at the doorway to my office and looked in.
“Darren and I are going over to Greg’s house for a bit. Do you want to come?” he asked.
“Usually I would, but not today,” I said.
“Ah,” Quentin said with a grin. “Going to see Lindsey?”
“Absolutely. And since it’s already after five, technically I’m on overtime right now and she will be waiting for me.”
My brother laughed and shook his head. “It’s good to see you happy again. Both of you.”
I smiled at him as I walked out of the office. “Thanks. It’s good to be happy.”
Lindsey and I had decided not to share the baby news quite yet. We were still giving ourselves a chance to get used to the idea and just kind of enjoy our little secret between the two of us. But I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold out telling everybody for long. Especially my family.
My brothers and I had always been extremely close. The same went for all four of us and our parents. We were tight and shared everything. If one of us was going through something or something was happening in one of our lives, it wouldn’t be long before it spread out through the rest of the family. It’d definitely cut down on our privacy, but it also meant we had an incredible support system and always knew there were people by our side.
No matter what, each of us had at least five people we knew who loved us and would be there in any way they could. That made it hard for me to not just babble the news out as soon as I saw my family the day after Lindsey told me. I wanted them to know, and to be able to share in my excitement. When Quentin found out Merry was pregnant with their daughter, he told our mother within five minutes.
When Kelly finally revealed the baby girl she brought with her from Canada was Darren’s, he went straight to our parents.
But in both those situations, things were further along. Willa was already more than two years old, and Merry was a few months pregnant. Lindsey and I decided we wanted to hold off until we knew a little more about this pregnancy before we revealed it to everybody. But it was so hard to wait. I knew my parents would be over the moon. And I couldn’t wait to see Nick’s reaction.
He already thought of himself as Remy’s Uncle Nick. I could only imagine the thrill he was going to get finding out his best friend’s next child was his niece or nephew by blood. And with Darren and Kelly already talking about their plans to give Willa a little brother or sister, the boom of cousins was just going to keep growing. There could never be too many babies to grow up together and create the next generation of super-close Freemans.
But I could wait. I wanted to do what was best for Lindsey and the baby. The time would come soon enough. But for that evening, I was just excited to get to spend some time with her. It was a race week, and I had several meetings with vendors and clients. It left us barely seeing each other throughout the week. I spent the night at her apartment, but by the time I got home from the office, she was already at the bar and didn’t get home until well after I went to bed. We got a few minutes together in the mornings, but I was seriously missing her.
Things were going to be different soon. We already talked about our schedules and how we needed to coordinate them so we could spend more time together, and more time as a family. Lindsey had no intention of giving the bar up. It was the legacy of her father and her grandfather. But she was willing to hand over much of the responsibility of day-to-day running of the bar to her staff.
Especially some of the older staff who knew the bar as well as she did. She could trust them to take care of the place she loved and keep it running well while she spent more time at home.
Which was soon going to be my house. The lease was up on her apartment in three months, and she had no intention of renewing. Instead, she would move into my house so she could spend the end of her pregnancy there and we’d be ready to bring our baby home. There would be plenty of space for Remy to have his own room as well as a playroom. When the baby outgrew a bassinet in our room, a nursery right down the hall would offer comfortable, private space, but still easy access for us for feedings and changings during the night.
It felt like everything was truly falling into place.
As soon as I walked into the apartment, I heard mumbling and some of the nonsensical words she was training herself to use instead of profanity.
“Babe?” I called out. “What are you doing?”
“I’m back here,” she called.
I followed her voice to the second bedroom. Lindsey used that room for pretty much anything she could think of. She liked to call it her mansion in a box. She replicated the all the fancy, luxurious rooms in mansions right there in that little second bedroom.
A pile of books perpetually right on the edge of toppling over made one corner of the room her library. A rocking chair and an old recliner that had been her father’s sat close together in a pool of sunlight coming from one of the windows, making it her sitting room. An air mattress, a pillow, and a vacuum bag full of bedding against the other wall created a guest room.
My favorite was the gift-wrapping room. It consisted of dozens of rolls of wrapping paper for various holidays and occasions propped up against the wall in the closet next to a small set of shelves stacked with scissors, tape, ribbons, and other accessories.
Now it looked like she had designs on giving the room yet another purpose. She stopped in the middle of the beige carpet with various pieces of wood scattered around her. The papers gripped in her hands looked crumpled and bent like they’d been subjected to being balled up and tossed aside quite a number of times already.
“What’s going on in here?” I asked.
“I’m trying to put together the cradle,” she said.
I laughed. “Why? The baby isn’t even coming for another seven months. And by then you’re going to live in my house. Why are you putting the cradle together now, here?”
“I just wanted to prove I could,” she said. “Remy’s cradle was antique and handcrafted. It was Grant’s, too, so it’s not exactly an heirloom to pass down to this baby. So, I bought a kit to put one together. I just wanted to see if I could do it, but it’s more confusing than when I tried to put together my entertainment center.”
“You don’t have an entertainment center,” I said.
She looked back at the papers. “Exactly.”
“Isn’t Remy coming for his first weekend stay next week?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said, looking around. “I’ve got to do something about this place before that. But this thing was delivered first, so I thought it would be fun to try to put together. It’s not fun.”
“I can help you,” I told her. “But my father is pretty handy. Woodwork is one of his favorite hobbies. It’s not something most people know about him, but he’s actually really good at it. I could ask him if he could make the baby a cradle.”
“That would be wonderful,” she said. I reached down and took her hands to help her to her feet. Gathering her gently in my arms, I kissed her. Lindsey sighed and wrapped her arms around my waist.
“Missed you today, “she said.
“Missed you all week,” I said, and she grinned.
“Did you do anything fun today?” she asked.
“Actually, yes,” I said. “I’ve been working on getting everything set for the Fourth of July party.”
The epic celebration was one of my favorite things my parents established years ago on the racing compound. They put together a Fourth of July event including music, food, activities, and custom f
ireworks. It was far smaller for the first few versions, but after twenty-three years, it had grown tremendously. Now they invited people from all over the community, and it turned into a massive celebration. We looked forward to it all summer.
“Ooooh, I love the Fourth of July party,” Lindsey said.
“You do?” I asked, pretending to be shocked by the revelation. “Would it be too forward of me to ask you to accompany me as my date?”
She managed to keep a completely straight face. “Wow, this is kind of short notice. I only have a couple of weeks. Let me check my social calendar and make sure I don’t have anything planned.”
“You do that,” I said. “Get back to me.”
Yanking her in for another kiss, I gave her a playful smack on her butt.
“Are you ready for dinner?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” I told her. “Do you have something special in mind I could make for you?”
“Actually,” she said. “I thought we could go grab fast food from a bunch of places, curl up on the couch, and watch some cooking shows.”
I gathered her closer in my arms. “That sounds perfect.”
Epilogue
Vince - Fourth of July
The Freeman Racing family’s Fourth of July party was always epic. Our whole family was there, and the people who worked on the complex all brought their families as well. We invited various members of the community and it turned into a huge celebration. Each year it just got a little bigger and a little more amazing.
I was sure this one was the best one ever. Not only had we put together an exceptional spread of food, created a sound system to stream music over the complex, and came up with several new activities, but Lindsey was there. It wasn’t the first time she’d come to a Fourth of July party for the family. Nick brought her along several years. In fact, some of my most distinct memories of her from when we were younger were from the Fourth of July party.
But this was different. Much different. Lindsey wasn’t just at the party, and she didn’t arrive with my brother. She was there as my girlfriend, the woman I loved and who I wanted to spend my life with. And along with her came Remy. I was excited for him to experience the party for the first time. He had taken to me well enough that he clung like a little octopus and let me carry him around introducing him to everybody.
I felt a surge of pride. He may not be my biological son, and he might have a father, but that wouldn’t stop me from considering him my own as well. I wasn’t going to compete with Grant. And he had learned there was no room to compete with me. There wasn’t any need to. Just like any other child, this little boy could use all the love he could get. And now that he was going to be part of our family, he was going to get plenty.
I was holding Remy in one arm and held Lindsey’s hand with the other as we watched my family laugh and live and love. They all looked so happy. And I couldn’t help but notice Nick was there with a woman I didn’t know. One he hadn’t introduced to any of us. Any other time, I would carve out an opportunity to harass my brother. Especially after the way he treated me when Lindsey and I were first getting together.
But I was too content to do it. I brought Remy over to one of the quilts spread out across the grass in the large field, and we settled down onto it. As Lindsey dropped down beside me, I poked her with one finger.
“You go talk to him,” I said.
She looked over at me and laughed. “Why should I? He’s your brother.”
“And he’s your best friend. I think meddling girl best friend trumps brother in this situation,” I said.
Lindsey gave me a withering look. “I don’t meddle. I lovingly investigate and voice my opinion.”
“Did my mother teach you that?” I asked.
She laughed and leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. “I’ll be right back.”
I rolled over on my stomach to watch her with a soft smile. I was going to marry that girl. I knew it. I just needed to find the right ring and have the perfect time to ask her. Merry came up to the blankets and handed Remy a thick slice of watermelon. He immediately dove into it. Juice dripped all over him, making his face and hands sticky. I laughed. Then I looked back over at Lindsey.
As if she could feel me watching her, she glanced my way and smiled. My heart swelled. Maybe I didn’t need a perfect time. Maybe I just needed sunshine and watermelon. I asked Merry to hang out with Remy for a few minutes and jumped up to go after Lindsey.
As the sun faded away and the sky finally got dark enough, everybody buzzed with excitement over the fireworks. Each year, my father hired a local pyrotechnics company to create a custom display for the party on the compound. It was always elaborate and impressive. But it didn’t stop the four of us boys from wanting to buy fireworks from roadside stands and set them off ourselves.
Dad never complained about that. As far as he was concerned, the more big booms and bright sparkly lights on the Fourth of July, the better. That was the sentiment Lindsey and I went on while making our special plan for the night. I was already in charge of putting together a lot of the plans for the party every year. While Mom and Dad took care of the main planning and always came up with something new each year, I handled details.
That year that included having the seafood shack, the bakery, and the diner cater, and setting up several cooling tents to keep the growing contingency of expectant mamas and small children comfortable.
What nobody knew that year was I went beyond the food vendors and party rentals to plan something extra special for right before the main fireworks display. Lindsey and I stood at the head of the field and used a microphone to get the attention of everybody there. It took a few minutes, but finally everybody stood around watching us intently.
My arm wrapped around Lindsey’s waist, I smiled out at them.
“Hey, everybody,” I said. “I think everybody here already knows who I am, but if you don’t, I’m Vince Freeman. This is Lindsey Trewes, the incredible woman who has just agreed to be my wife. I want to welcome all of you to the party tonight and thank you for coming out and celebrating with us. The Fourth of July is a favorite time for my family, and we always joke that we start planning the next year’s event as soon as the last fireworks die down. That’s not so far off the truth.”
“That’s true,” Dad said from a few feet away where he held a beer in one hand and my mother’s hand in the other. “This year we started planning for the next party last week.”
Everybody chuckled, and I grinned along with them. “Because of that, I couldn’t think of a better opportunity to reveal a bit of a surprise. This is something not even my family knows about.”
“What are you up to?” Quentin called out.
I laughed. “Can you see why we are in racing? Nobody has patience around here. I have been waiting all day for this moment. We all know my father’s fireworks are at the very best anywhere every year, but I’m going to borrow the sky from him for just a second. Because before we light it up to celebrate the birthday of this great nation, Lindsey and I want to share something with you.
I took out my phone and called the technician, who was waiting deeper on the grounds with the special firework I gave him at the beginning of the party. Within a few seconds, four shells exploded up into the sky. Everybody looked up and the shells burst, sending a cascade of blue sparkles down toward the ground. Everybody gasped as Lindsey and I cheered.
“We’re having a baby!” she said ecstatically.
“It’s a boy!” I added.
She and I had intended on keeping the news to ourselves for a while longer. But when the doctor ordered a series of routine tests last week and mentioned one could tell us what we were having, we couldn’t resist. The Fourth of July party seemed like far too amazing an opportunity to let it pass. Now as my parents and brothers descended on us with congratulations and hugs, and Lindsey leaned in for another kiss, I couldn’t be happier.
For changed plans. For constant discoveries. For the unexpected.
&
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Check out book FOUR - Nick’s story.
Book Four - Millionaire Hero
1
Bryn
“Oh, come on!”
I stuck my fingers under the beige twine and yanked, but it wouldn’t release. Digging my nails into one of the knots, I cursed the manicurist who told me the short, sporty look was trendy for this season. No matter how much I pulled, poked, or prodded, I couldn’t get the twine off the packaging. It was beyond me why a butcher felt the need to bind up a roast so tightly. It wasn’t like it was going to escape at this point.
Glancing over at the clock, I saw my time was dwindling away. When I first came up with this plan, it seemed like such a good idea. Silly me, I didn’t take into account the need to wrestle the roast free before I would be able to put it in the oven. The battle had already put a significant dent in the time I had to prepare dinner. If it didn’t get it in soon, Justin would come home to a less-than-romantic assortment of takeout Chinese. Granted, at this point I was almost ready to take the knock against me in the romance department if it meant not dealing with this massive chunk of meat.
But I was never one to give up that easily. Some people called it stubbornness. I called it… well, stubbornness. But I thought of it in a more positive way. Something closer to persistence.
Wrenching open the junk drawer, I dug through the odds and ends of life that ended up tucked there. My search for kitchen shears came up dry. It didn’t surprise me. The scissors had a way of climbing out of the drawer and walking away from the kitchen. At least, that’s the way Justin would tell it, considering he insisted he never touched the things and couldn’t understand why they kept showing up on his desk.
Letting out a sigh, I left the offending roast on the counter and headed for Justin’s office. Crowded into one of the two extra bedrooms in my little house, the office was where he buried himself in work. He spent hours locked away trying to get to the next level. That was how he described it. I wasn’t entirely sure what he meant. He wanted to make more money and be more successful.
The Freeman Brothers: A Secret Baby Romance Collection Page 64
