Only One (Ward Sisters Book 2)

by Lucy Gage

  “No shit. Well, of course. She’s a Bruins fan, right?”

  “Yeah. You remember that?”

  “Liam, you’ve never talked so much about a girl in your life. I thought it was strange that you stopped mentioning her, but I just figured Jenna had given up on you ever getting your act together and she’d met someone smart enough to hold on to her. Then you told me about Nina and I thought maybe you’d moved on, too. So, what happened with Nina? Did you break up with her?”

  “Yeah. It sucked. She was good about it, but I hated hurting her, Mary Cate. She’s such a great girl. I really liked her. Probably could have fallen for her, could have made a life with her.”

  “But then you’d have been Dad.”

  He sighed. “Right. Why the hell didn’t you call me on my shit about Jenna before?”

  “Because you never listen to me, anyway. I knew you’d get your head out of your ass eventually. You did, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah. Almost too late, though.”

  “Well, better late than never, right?”

  “Yeah. Look, we’re getting married on Monday. Can you be here?”

  “You kidding? Like I’d miss it. What time?”

  “Noon. I’ll send you the GPS coordinates for the house. Can you send them to mom and Dad? I don’t know if anyone else will come, but you can give it to them, too.”

  “Dad coming with Peggy?”

  “Yeah, mom’s not excited about it, but I’m not gonna tell him she can’t be here.” Mary Cate grunted her assent. Like Liam, she had grown fond of Peggy over the years and felt bad that it still hurt their mother so much to see Bobby with his second wife.

  “Who else is coming?”

  “The Deacons are here. Jenna’s mom and dad will be here, too. Her mom lives in Belmont. She might be on one of your charity committees.”

  “You think? What’s her name?”

  “Allison Ackerman. Or maybe she changed her name. I can’t remember if Jenna said she switched her name after her divorce.”

  “Wait, what? Did you say her name is Ackerman?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “No fucking way.”

  “Do you know her mother?”

  “Know her mother? I know Jenna! She was my best friend in college!”

  “What? No. That can’t be possible. The girl you kept trying to fix me up with?”

  “Yes! Holy shit! I knew you two should be together. I can’t believe she never told me!”

  “What do you mean? Do you still talk to her?”

  “Sometimes. Not often enough. You’ve been together for how long now? Three years?”

  “Three and a half. You’re serious? You know Jenna?”

  “Hell yes! Damn. And she works for Robbie. I knew she worked for someone famous, but she’d never said who.”

  “She wouldn’t. She’s even more protective of his privacy than he is. Amy is his publicist, but Jenna is the pit bull.”

  “Oh yeah? She’s the three-headed dog, huh?”

  “What?”

  “Sorry. Harry Potter reference. I’m reading that to Lila Beth right now. I can’t believe you’re with Jenna. Do you know how hard I tried to make that happen when we were in college?”

  “You only mentioned it every time we spoke on the phone.”

  “I wasn’t that bad.”

  “Yeah, you were. You always called her Jen. I knew she went to BU at the same time as you. I never thought to ask if she knew you because you weren’t in the same program and most of your friends were from the swim team.”

  “Most, but not all. Jenna was my best friend, though. She’s the one who took your place when you left me for the great white north.”

  “Are you ever going to forgive me for that?”

  “No. Okay, maybe. If you’re really moving back this way, and if you’re really going to marry my other best friend. Finally.”

  “I’m really marrying her. God, I love her. I just…I don’t know why I was such an idiot for so long.”

  “Because you’re a man. I told you this before, did I not? I love you, Liam, but you’re no better than any other man. Hell, half the time, you’re worse.”

  “Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Mary Cate.”

  “Oh, shut up. You know what I mean. Too damn stubborn to listen, even if you know someone is right.”

  “Meaning you.”

  “Of course. Did I not try to get you to meet Jenna for four years straight? If you’d have listened to me then, you could have been with her all that time. Maybe you’d never have gone into the CIA. Maybe you wouldn’t have gotten shot.”

  “And maybe I wouldn’t work for Rob.”

  “Nah. You’d still have done that. He trusts you with his life.”

  “He does. Hey, look, I have to go, but are you going to come up early?”

  “What, you mean, like, crash Robbie’s wedding?”

  “You know he’d love to have you here. He can’t say no to you.”

  “Ha! That’s what you think.”

  “I don’t want to know. Then I might have to punch him, and I don’t want to listen to Christopher if I make his pretty face ugly for the wedding tomorrow.”

  “Christopher? Not Jenna’s Christopher?”

  “Uh, if you mean her best friend from high school, yeah. He works on the team. He’s Rob’s stylist. Has been for years.”

  “Holy shit! I love that man. Hell, yeah, I’ll come early! Wait? When is the wedding?”

  “Tomorrow at one. Why?”

  “Crap. Well, I’ll miss the ceremony, but I’ll crash the party after. Lila Beth has swimming at ten and then she goes with Tony’s parents for the rest of the weekend. I’ll leave as soon as they pick her up at the house.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll send you the GPS coordinates and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Mom and Dad freak out?”

  “No worse than you did.”

  Mary Cate laughed. “No, I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as me. You knew I’d read you the riot act.”

  “Of course. Since when don’t you?”

  “I love you, little brother.”

  “Last I checked, I’m bigger than you.”

  “Ha! You’re still four minutes younger.”

  Liam laughed. This was their goodbye ritual. “Just means you’ll be old first.”

  “Yeah, but I’ll always be prettier than you.”

  “Yes you will. Love you.”

  “Love you too. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks.”

  Liam took a deep breath and held it. That was exhausting. Of course, with his family, no matter what the circumstances, the process would have been tiring. He stood and made his way back to the house, where he looked forward to kissing Jenna and holding her in his arms.

  He had to wonder if she knew he was Mary Cate’s brother. There would be time to talk about it later. Once again, he felt guilty to be relieved that Nina didn’t stay. Now they just had to get through Rob and Em’s wedding.

  **********

  Jenna’s phone played Cindi Lauper’s Girls Just Want to Have Fun and she smiled.

  Liam had talked to Catie.

  “Don’t be mad,” she answered.

  “Bitch! I can’t believe you’ve been with my brother for three and a half years and you never told me! And don’t try to give me some bullshit that you had no idea he was my brother. I know you. You’ve probably known the whole time.”

  “Busted. I actually figured it out right after I met him. When I saw his eyes, I thought he was your brother. As soon as he said his name, it set off alarm bells. The more things he told me that made it pretty obvious he was your twin, the more curious I became. I checked into it the, uh, next morning.”

  “After you slept with him.”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re having a baby with my brother. Do you know what that means?”

  “It means we’re family. For real now.” Jenna choked up. Catie had always been the sister she’d never had.r />
  “Yeah,” Catie said, tears in her voice. “And now it doesn’t mean a damn thing that Tony doesn’t want us to be friends. Now, he doesn’t get a say.”

  “Did he tell you that? Did he make you stop calling and emailing?”

  “You know he’d never do anything that obvious. He’s too slick for that. At first, he just made it difficult. And then he made me feel guilty if I even implied that I wanted to see you. As if it would have harmed Lila Beth irreparably for me to be away without her for even a few hours.”

  Jenna sighed. “I knew it would come to that. As soon as you said you were marrying him, I knew that would happen. If not right away, eventually.”

  “Well, you were right. Happy now?”

  “No. I don’t want you to be miserable.”

  “I’m not. Most of the time, when I’m with Lila Beth, I’m happy. I hardly see Tony. He’s gone all the time. It’s when I’m alone that I feel sad. I…I never told Liam about Noah. Don’t say anything to him, okay? He thinks I married Tony because I love him. He’d never have let me do it if he thought I was marrying for anything other than love.”

  “I know. Your secret is safe with me.”

  “Yes, you’re apparently Fort Knox. Keeping the fact that you were the love of my brother’s life from me. Failing to mention that Robbie Deacon was your big, high-profile boss. You know, I could have kicked Liam’s ass a long time ago if I’d known.”

  Jenna took a deep breath. “I know. But I didn’t tell you for the same reason I didn’t tell Liam. I wanted him to tell me himself.”

  “Has he?”

  “Not yet. He will. I assume you told him that we’ve been best friends since college. He isn’t going to let that go easily.”

  “No, he won’t. Hey, I’m coming up early. You want me to stand up for you?”

  “Are you kidding me? The other option is to ask Reggie. I mean, I could ask Kelly or Amy, I guess. But I sure as hell am not asking Emily.”

  “Reggie, she’s the makeup girl that Liam used to see?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I can’t believe you put up with that shit from him!”

  “I didn’t have much choice. You know he had to come to it all on his own.”

  Catie sighed. “Yeah. Damn stubborn Irishman. What’s wrong with Emily?”

  “Nothing,” Jenna grumbled.

  “Yeah, I don’t buy that.”

  “I’m just not happy with how she treated Rob. But I don’t get to tell him not to marry her because I’m mad at her.”

  “Or jealous?”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because I’ve known you forever. I expect to hear the reason behind that at some point. I’ll be up early to play Maid of Honor.”

  “Don’t you mean Matron?” Jenna teased.

  “You’re on my shit list for keeping things with Liam a secret. Don’t push it by trying to make me feel old. This society lady shit makes me feel old enough as it is.”

  “Can I tell you a secret?”

  “Of course. I wish you’d told me more of them.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. If it makes you feel better, knowing that he was your brother helped me stick with it, even when I wanted to cut my losses and end it.”

  “It did?” Catie asked, sounding touched.

  “Yeah,” Jenna replied, tears in her eyes and voice. “Who better to be my sister-in-law than the only sister I’ve ever had?”

  “I know I have four biological sisters, but you’re the sister of my heart. I’m glad I was right about you and Liam all along.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Jenna said, laughing. “You just want to be right.”

  “No, I am right. When are you due?”

  “October 28th. Six weeks.”

  “Shit, you got pregnant the last time you saw him, huh?”

  “Yeah,” she whispered, remembering that night. At least the baby had been conceived in love, even if most of her pregnancy had been an emotional rollercoaster.

  “He’d have come to you. All you had to do was call him and tell him.”

  “I couldn’t tell him over the phone. I had no idea what to say.”

  “And since you knew where he was and what he was doing, you also knew that you couldn’t just show up.”

  “Yeah. And the damn fool wouldn’t let Rick rotate him out. Rob wanted him to stay, but if he’d wanted a break, Rick would have done the job himself or sent someone else, even for a week.”

  “Except, Liam is the one he knew could do it without Emily’s knowledge.”

  Jenna sighed. “Yeah, yeah. She’s the bane of my existence at the moment.”

  “We really, really need to talk.”

  “We do. I can’t wait to see you.”

  “Me either. Bye, hon. Smack that brother of mine for me, will you?”

  Jenna laughed. “Forget it. We don’t play that way.”

  “Hmm. Not sure I want to know the details of your sex life.”

  “We’ll catch up later. Bye, Catie.”

  Jenna hung up and smiled, happy that Catie finally knew the truth. She was right. Now, Tony had no reasonable way to keep them from being friends. The fact that she got Liam and Catie both back in the same day made up for Rob’s impending wedding.

  Just a little.

  **********

  Liam found Jenna in the kitchen with Kelly and Emily. He snaked his arms around her belly, nuzzling her ear through her silky curtain of hair.

  “Mmm, hi, Joe.”

  “Joe? Who’s Joe?” Liam asked pulling back and looking at her oddly. She giggled and he got the joke. “Very funny. I’ve never been Joe a day in my life.”

  She kissed him sweetly. “I know. I was teasing you. Kelly was asking me if I knew your name wasn’t really Liam.”

  “I certainly didn’t know that,” Emily noted.

  “And what did you tell her?” Liam asked slyly. Though he knew the answer, he wondered if Jenna had admitted it, especially given that he now knew she had been friends with Mary Cate. He doubted very much that she was unaware of the fact that her best friend was his twin sister.

  “I told her that I’ve known since the day after we met.”

  “And…?”

  “And what?” Kelly asked.

  “I’m wondering if she told you how she knows,” Liam teased. He suspected her venture into Deacon had been for confirmation that he was who she thought. Probably as soon as he told her his name, she wondered if he was Mary Cate’s brother.

  Kelly said, “Well, I assumed you told her.” Liam shook his head. “What, you keeping your name a secret?”

  Liam laughed. “No. Half of Southie knows my full name. Like it would ever stay a secret if I tried.”

  “Then how does she know?” Kelly asked, looking at him like he had two heads. He looked at Jenna, grinned and gave her a tell her expression.

  Jenna bit her lip.“I hacked Deacon Security’s personnel files.”

  “What? Holy cow! Does Rick know?”

  Jenna nodded. “Liam made me tell him. Mostly because he said that if I could hack into it, then someone else could, too, and Rick needed to know that he was vulnerable.”

  “Huh. He never told me.”

  “Probably didn’t want to worry you. I developed the security software when I worked at CyTech. Might as well be me to tweak it. I hack it monthly to make sure it’s still working properly.”

  Kelly shook her head. “I’m on there daily. I never knew.”

  “Of course you didn’t. If I wanted you to know, you’d know. Otherwise, I go in and out and you’re never the wiser. That’s how it works.”

  “I didn’t know you had those kinds of talents,” Emily said, surprised.

  Rob walked in the room then, along with Rick. “She regaling you with tales of her hacker skills?” he joked. “Why do you think I hired her? Jenna is a computer genius. Literally.” He winked at her.

  Jenna blushed. “Stop.”

  “Oh, you know it’s true. Mensa calls you regularly,�
� Rob teased. “Which is why I could never understand what she saw in Joseph over here.” He put Liam in a headlock for a moment and quickly released him, knowing Liam would have kicked his ass if he didn’t. Liam might be smaller than him, but Rob knew his best friend was more skilled at fighting, even before the CIA.

  “I don’t know, Robbie, she must have seen something in me she didn’t see in you because she wouldn’t even go out with you,” Liam prodded. Everyone but Emily laughed.

  “I feel like I’m missing something,” Em sadly remarked.

  “Oh, honey, it’s a funny story…” As Rob and Jenna took turns telling the story of how they met and Pat’s matchmaking attempt, Liam thought about the day after he met Jenna, when he’d been the one to question what she saw in him.

  Liam stayed in his own memory lane, remembering when he and Jenna first met, while they told the story. Jenna squeezed his hand and he smiled at her. She was really here. He sighed, and she must have sensed his need to be alone with her.

  “You know what?” Jenna said, “I’m getting tired. You want to head up to bed?”

  Liam nodded. “Yeah. Been a long day. Hey, Rob, you want us to pick up your rings tomorrow? We’re going to the jewelry store in the morning.”

  “Yeah, thanks. That would decrease the chances of attracting the paparazzi. Goodnight, you two. Don’t forget, there are little kids down the hall…” Rob teased.

  Liam shook his head. “I think we can contain ourselves.”

  “I don’t know,” Rick said, shaking his head, “I’ve slept down the hall from you two…”

  “Funny. You’re a funny guy. Goodnight,” Liam said as he put his hand on the small of Jenna’s back and guided her in the direction of the stairs.

  When they stepped into the bedroom, Liam quietly closed the door. He turned and Jenna was shoving him into it. He gasped.

  “Thought you couldn’t do that with a big belly.”

  “I figured I’d give it a try. Remind you of the past?” She ran her hands down his chest, tugging at his shirt, pulling it from his pants.

  “Yeah. I always liked it when you did that, took control.” He backed her toward the bed as he kissed her.

  “Did you? I should have taken control more often.”

  She sighed as he yanked his shirt over his head. He smiled at her. Every time she sighed at that and it always made him smile.