by D. L. Roan
“What do you mean? Why wouldn’t she?”
“Think about it.” Matt pushed up from the chair to close the office door. “Dani’s gettin’ married,” he continued, lowering his voice to make sure Grey couldn’t overhear them. “All the trouble Breezy’s havin’ gettin’ pregnant. Our first grandkid on its way. And let’s not forget about Uncle Cade.” He ticked off each reason on his fingers. “You know how she is. If she is pregnant, she wouldn’t want the attention right now.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Mason scoffed. “She’d still tell us.”
Matt chuckled as he pushed past Mason and slumped back down in the chair behind the desk. “You really think Grey’s in the best place to handle that kind of news right now?” He laughed again when Mason’s eyes widened with understanding. “Exactly. Grey’s already so far off the reservation about Dani leavin’. Somethin’ like this would send him right over the edge.”
Mason’s expression twisted with skepticism. “Wait a minute.” He pointed at the computer screen. “Why would Gabby be using Grey’s computer to look this stuff up? She’s got her own laptop. What if she told Grey, and he was reading that stuff?”
“Please.” Matt narrowed his eyes, challenging Mason to defend the ridiculous idea. No way could Grey keep a secret that big. Nor would Gabby tell him and not them.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Mason conceded with a shake of his head.
“She’s been in here all week on Grey’s computer working on weddin’ stuff,” Matt pointed out, nodding to the table against the opposite wall stacked high with books and boxes overflowing with lime green ribbon and other…frilly girly stuff. “She’s turned the whole office into weddin’ central.”
Mason’s weary gaze traveled around the room, taking in all the changes. He sucked in a long breath, then blew it out in a rush as he slowly sank down the wall onto his haunches. “A baby,” he said in a barely audible whisper, holding his head between his palms.
“Yeah.” Matt sighed.
Images of Gabby, her belly heavy with their child, along with memories of their other children’s births, even their first wife, Sarah, pregnant with Connor and Carson, all swirled in front of Matt like an intoxicating collage. His lips stretched into a wide smile. It had been a while since he’d thought about those days. Or the ones that began at infant-fucked-us-o’clock, with baby formula facials, and ended with someone, usually Gabby, passed out in the rocking chair beside the crib, or in front of the television. He’d lost count of how many times he or his brothers had to carry her to bed after Cory was born. That kid never slept. Changing diapers wasn’t so bad. He could handle that, but…
He tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling, his thoughts all over the map. “Damn.”
“Yeah,” Mason sighed. “Damn.”
Neither of them said anything for what seemed like forever. Matt eventually looked over at his twin. “Damn,” they said in unison, this time with uncontainable grins.
The sound of booted footsteps bled through the closed office door, and Mason sprung to his feet.
“What are you doin’?” Matt asked as Mason rushed to click the website closed.
“We can’t let Grey know about this.”
“We have to tell him,” Matt argued in a hushed whisper.
“Are you crazy? We don’t even know if it’s true yet.” Hand shaking, Mason clicked back over to the supplier website and then stepped back as if he was studying whatever was on the screen. “That’s not the hitch lock I need. I’ll get it in town instead,” he said as if they’d been talking about the weather, or a hitch lock, when the door opened and a freshly showered Grey walked in.
Matt tried his best to school his expression, but Grey raised a brow as he made his way to the desk. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “They don’t have the seal kit?”
“No. I mean, yeah.” Matt clicked the button that finalized the order. “I’m orderin’ it now.”
Mason made his way to the door, sending Matt a sideways glance that demanded he follow.
Matt cleared his throat, glancing back at Grey.
Mason glared back at him. “Don’t,” he mouthed behind Grey.
Their older brother caught the silent exchange. “What are the two of you scheming about now?” Grey asked with a huff.
“Nothing,” Mason insisted.
Matt rose from behind the desk. They couldn’t keep this from Grey forever. “We were uh,” Matt pushed on, rolling his eyes when Mason snarled at him. “We were just talkin’ about the baby,” he said, scrutinizing Grey’s expression for any sign he knew something he wasn’t telling them. The only reaction he got, however, was from Mason, who tried to shove him from the room, but he twisted away.
“We need to start dinner,” Mason reminded him when he refused to budge.
“Did Gabby call you?” Grey asked, his brows pinched in concern.
Matt narrowed his eyes, wondering if Grey did know something. Why else would he ask about Gabby when he mentioned the baby?
“Is Chloe okay?” Grey continued, hovering above his chair. “Is it a boy or girl?”
“No. I mean yes, she’s fine I guess. Gabby didn’t call,” Mason interjected, clapping a hand on Matt’s shoulder, guiding him to the door, “but she’ll be home any minute, and we’d better have something on the stove.”
“I thought Mom was bringing dinner tonight,” Grey sank down into the seat behind his desk, his worried expression gone.
“She’s with Gabby and Chloe, but Dads are bringing the roast,” Mason clarified as he and Matt back-stepped through the office doorway. “We’re up for the sides.”
“We need to talk about this,” Matt insisted once he and his brother were in the kitchen and out of earshot of Grey’s open office door.
“Not with Grey,” Mason said, reaching into the pantry for a sack of potatoes. “Not yet, anyway.” Matt took the sack, dropping it on the counter. “Look…” He paused, bracing his hands on the edge of the island bar. “You were right. Grey’s already freaked out about Dani.”
“So are you,” Matt challenged.
Mason snapped his head up, narrowed his eyes, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t deny it. He still hadn’t so much as said Clay’s name since he found him and Dani half naked in the barn.
“I get that this thing with Dani and Clay snuck up on you, but if this is true, and Gabby is pregnant, we’ve got bigger problems than your wounded pride.”
“This isn’t about my pride.”
“You saw the headline on that ad, Mason. There are risks. We need to talk about this.”
“All I’m saying is, we should wait,” Mason insisted. “Feel this thing out before we go stirring up a hornet’s nest.”
“Feel what out?” Gabby asked from the kitchen doorway.
Chapter Seven
Mason caught Gabby’s gaze. The sparkle in her smiling brown eyes stirred his soul as always, but the idea that she could be carrying their baby added a kick to the intoxicating sensation, doing funny things to his insides, and parts further south.
“Hey, darlin’.” Matt dashed to her side.
As Matt hugged their wife, Mason raked his gaze over her petite frame, looking for any signs to confirm their suspicions. Were her breasts larger? He hadn’t noticed when they’d last made love, but he hadn’t been looking then, either. Well, at least not for that. It was hard to tell beneath the billowy white blouse she wore tucked into one of her favorite skirts. She turned to hand Matt the bags she’d brought inside, and Mason scanned her waistline. She’d always been a healthy kind of curvy in all the right places, but had she gained a little weight?
Gabby’s gaze returned to Mason and she paused. “What?” she asked with a carefree smile, glancing down at the front of her blouse. “Did I spill something?”
Two steps and Mason had her in his arms. She yelped when he picked her up and spun her around, depositing her on the kitchen counter like he would a fresh carton of fragile eggs.
“Oh,
no,” she said with a lighthearted laugh when he kissed her. “Flirty kisses will not persuade me to spill the baby news. You’ll have to wait until Jonah makes the announcement at dinner.”
“Fine,” Mason said, smiling against her soft lips. “Tell me something else.” Tell me you’re having my baby.
Gabby drew back, glancing between him and Matt, who’d sidled up beside them. “Like what?” she asked, raising a saucy brow as she fingered the buttons on his and his brother’s shirt.
“Anything.” Mason kissed the tip of her nose. He studied her eyes, her smile, looking for any of her numerous tells he’d learned over the years. Their wife was good at keeping secrets but not all that great at hiding she had one.
“Well...” She drew in a long breath. “It was a truly magical day,” she said with a long dreamy exhale and melted against him. “I can’t imagine a more perfect day.”
His brother tipped her chin toward him and dipped to give her a lingering kiss. “I can think of one,” he said, bouncing his brows in his usual playful way. “The two of us naked on a blanket after an afternoon dip in the creek.”
“Oh-no,” Mason protested with a chuckle. “Don’t think you’re leaving me out of this.” He slipped his hands beneath her skirt, working it over her bare legs. He’d always been a leg man, and having Gabby’s wrapped around him as he sank deep into her wet heat, the setting sun sparkling over the drops of water on her skin as he kissed them away…yeah, he’d go for that.
“Eh-hem,” Grey cleared his throat behind them. “Better make it three,” he declared, his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the doorway, his eyes dark with the same seductive ideas racing through Mason’s thoughts.
Gabby beckoned their older brother, pulling him to her until their lips met in a welcoming kiss that made Mason forget the blanket-by-the-creek fantasy. He was ready to strip her naked, lay her out right there on the counter, and make love to her until she confessed every one of her secrets.
“We need to start cooking,” she protested with a regretful whine. “Everyone will be here for dinner soon.”
Matt groaned. “As far as I’m concerned, dinner’s already cookin’, darlin’. We’re about to be served.”
Gabby pushed them all away with an incredulous chuckle. “You’re incorrigible.” She slipped off the counter and righted her blouse. “All of you—stop that!” she yelped, twisting away and batting at Grey’s hands when he tried to untuck her shirt again. “This is an important night for Jonah, and I want to make it memorable.”
“Oh, we can make it memorable, alright,” Matt teased.
On guard, Gabby skirted past him to the pantry, but Mason was quick. She gasped when he pulled her back into his arms and gave her one last kiss, and a wink that promised much more before the night was through.
Contrary to her expectations, their contribution to dinner was ready by the time Gran and the Papas arrived with the main course. “Your cooking always smells amazing, Mom,” Mason commented as Hazel, Papa Joe, Papa Nate, and Papa Jake filed through the front door.
“I was out with the girls all day,” Hazel said. “I’m afraid the credit goes to your dads on this one.” Hazel pushed up on her toes and planted a kiss on his cheek, then followed his dads into the kitchen.
The table was set. The voices of their growing family boomed over the clanging of dishes as the food was prepared and brought into the dining room one dish at a time.
Mason and Matt took turns watching Gabby, he from the dining room, Matt from the kitchen. They might be overreacting, considering their entire theory of her being pregnant was based on some internet algorithm he didn’t fully understand. After Connor, Carson, and Breezy arrived, he’d managed to escape to the bathroom for a few minutes and do a quick internet search on some of the risks Matt was talking about. As far as he was concerned, they were worrisome enough to warrant the extra attention. They weren’t taking any chances of her passing out and spilling a pot of scalding coffee on herself like she did the Christmas they found out she was pregnant with Cory.
“Dad, can you grab the gravy dish from the china cabinet?” Dani asked him as she set the salt and pepper shakers on the dining table.
Mason retrieved the piece of china from the cupboard and walked it around to her. “Dani, wait.” He snagged her sleeve before she could turn away.
On top of everything else, things had been strained between him and Dani since her engagement to...Clay. Christ, Matt was right. He still couldn’t think of that man without his head splitting in two. He didn’t know why he was having such a hard time with this, except that Clay was thirty fucking years old, and Dani was barely drinking age. Seeing them together, naked in the damn barn, hadn’t helped.
Oh, and there was the small detail of him stealing their little girl away, possibly forever. And he hadn’t even asked their permission, not that Dani needed it, but he still couldn’t believe she wanted to get married in the first place. He was her first serious boyfriend. Why couldn’t they date for a while first? A decade would be ideal.
He massaged the acute stabbing pain in his temple. Even if Gabby hadn’t pointed it out repeatedly, that he was acting like an ass, he knew he hadn’t handled the situation very well. He needed to patch things up with Dani. But how was he supposed to be happy about this?
Dani saw his sour expression and rolled her eyes before turning away.
“No, wait.” He snagged her sleeve again. “I… Have you heard from…him, since he went back to Texas?”
Dani raised her chin with a cool stare. “Clay and I talk every day, Dad.”
“Good.” Mason palmed the scruff on his chin. Communication was good. Vital to a healthy relationship. That was all that mattered, right? That she was happy and healthy?
Dani sighed. “Dad, you don’t have to do this. I know you don’t like him.”
“It’s not that I don’t…like him.” Mason forced the words out of his mouth like a brick-shaped cow turd.
“Dad—”
“It’s not,” Mason insisted. “I mean…he is a lot older than you, and—”
“Dad—”
“I’m sorry,” he finally conceded. Dani stared up at him as if he’d slapped her. It nearly broke his heart that she might think he’d been an ass on purpose. “I screwed up.”
“Dad—”
“No. Let me finish. Please.”
She set the dish on the table and crossed her arms over her chest, her bottom lip snarled between her teeth. Christ, she looked so much like her mom when she did that.
“This whole thing with you and Clay…it threw me. I know I haven’t handled it well, and…well, I’m sorry.”
Silence. His little girl stared into his soul until he thought his chest would explode with regret.
“Okay.” She exhaled with a shrug.
“Really?”
Dani gave him a grudging nod.
“I’m forgiven?”
She lifted her chin and pretended to be reconsidering it, but when Mason stuck out a pouty bottom lip, her stone expression cracked into a reluctant smile. “Yes,” she said with a giggle. “You’re forgiven, and I’m sorry, too. I should have been more sensitive about your feelings.”
Mason pulled her into a hug. God help him, this was hard. She didn’t have a damn thing to be sorry for. “I’ll do better,” he promised. “I just need a little time to get used to the idea, I guess.”
Dani gave him a pitying grin. “I know, Dad. You just don’t know him like I do, which is why I can’t wait for you to spend more time with him this weekend.”
You don’t know him either. Wait… “What?”
She pushed from his arms with a coy laugh, giving him a reassuring pat on his arm that made him feel like one of the skittish horses he trained.
“Clay’s coming back this weekend?” he asked. “He was just here last week.”
“Nope.” Dani turned back toward the kitchen, but paused and glanced over her shoulder. “You’re going to Texas, right after
he calls you tomorrow to invite you, Matt, and Daddy Grey for a visit, and y’all say yes. Because you love me.”
Dani walked out, taking all the air in the room with her. Texas? Why the hell did he have to go to Texas? And since when did she start saying y’all?
Gabby whirled in carrying the oversized roast, the sight snapping him out of it enough to suck in some much-needed oxygen. “Let me get that,” he snipped, taking the platter from her hands. “You shouldn’t be carrying that.”
Gabby drew back, propping her hands on her hips. “Why on earth not?”
“Did you know about this Texas thing?” he asked, ignoring her question as he set the roast on the dining table.
Her scowl eased. “Thank God she finally told you,” she said with a huge sigh of relief.
“Another secret?” he ground out. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because she asked me not to,” Gabby said in a hushed whisper. “That’s why they call it a secret. And don’t even think about not going,” she warned. “Clay is trying to do the honorable thing. He wants to introduce you to his family and get to know you.”
The sharp taste of blood bloomed in Mason’s mouth as he gritted his teeth. If he wanted to do the honorable thing, he’d have asked them for permission to marry their only daughter, after she finished college.
“And this is important to Dani,” Gabby continued.
Mason bit his tongue and winced from the sharp pain.
Gabby gave him a chastising glare. “Mason, really, you’re as bad as Grey.”
“Are you going?” he asked, scrubbing a hand over his aching jaw.
He didn’t miss the way Gabby’s hand covered her belly as she tipped her head back and smiled up at him. “You know I get sick when I fly.” Mason stared at her hand. Yes, he knew, especially when she was pregnant. “Dani said this is supposed to be a guy-bonding kind of thing,” she insisted. “Besides, I’m planning a wedding, remember?” She splayed her fingers on his chest and pushed up to kiss his chin. “Next weekend is wedding dress weekend.”
“Wedding dress weekend?”
“Uh-huh.” Gabby grinned. “You know, when your daughter tries on wedding dresses and hopefully finds the perfect one?” She moved her hand from his chest to his shoulder, caressing the side of his neck with her soft fingertips. Her normally soothing touch only added to the chaos of sensations rioting through his insides, setting fires deep within his gut and making it hard to breathe.
