by Josie Kerr
Bailey stepped across the small room and hugged Colin tightly. He stroked her hair and her back with soft touches. Mick shook his head at the two of them, but his eyes were soft and his lips turned up in a small smile.
“Knock, knock, where is everyone?” Em called from the front of the small duplex.
“We’re back here, Em.”
When Em stepped through the door of the nursery, Bailey abandoned Colin and hugged the other woman as fiercely as she could and not crush the baby she had in her arms.
“You shouldn’t have done that, Em. I love it, but you shouldn’t have done that.”
“It was Multiples Monday, Bailey. They were two for one,” Em fibbed, bouncing Emily on her hip. At Bailey’s stern look, she said, “Okay, they weren’t two for one, but it was Multiples Monday and they had a deal on the gliders, and I figured, Emily and Baby Girl are going to be close enough in age that they’ll be almost twins, so I couldn’t resist. If it makes you feel better, the other glider is in Emily’s room.”
“Oh, they’ll be like cousins. I always wanted cousins. Did y’all have cousins growing up? I mean, I had a brother, but it’s different. Cousins seem like something special.”
Dangit, though Bailey. I slipped. I hope they don’t notice.
The three looked at each other and shook their heads.
“That is kind of nuts that none of us had cousins growing up, isn’t it? Weird,” Em said.
“I have to go pack, girlies. See you back at the house?” Mick asked, leaning over to give Em a peck on the cheek and taking Emily in his arms. “This one looks like she’s ready to go down. I’m taking her home to spend time with her until bedtime. Colin, walk me out?”
Mick passed the baby around for kisses, and then motioned for Colin to follow him.
“I thought Bailey was an only child?” Colin asked after they got out of earshot.
“So you caught that, too? I’m telling you, there’s something going on. Em said that Bailey has been extra emotional lately, even more so than regular late pregnancy emotions.”
“I’ve noticed it. I mean, I don’t know her all that well, and I know fuck-all about pregnancy emotions, but she’s been...funny...the past few days.”
Mick looked his brother in the eye. “I know it’s none of my business, and I was the one who encouraged you, but did anything happen between you two after we had that...talk?”
Colin cleared his throat and turned bright red. Mick chuckled.
“Okay,” Mick said. “Fair enough, b’y.”
“What was it like, at the beginning? With you and Em?” Colin asked.
“It was scary as hell. And exciting. And just...right. And then I almost totally fucked it all up by being a jealous, scared scrodbag. Thank God Em realized how frightened I was and forced me to get over myself.”
“Really? How she’d do that?” This was the first time that Colin had even a hint that Mick and Em’s relationship had any bumps. Well, bumps other than her psycho ex-boyfriend. Who happened to be the father of Bailey’s baby. Oh, God. This situation is totally complicated.
“She pounded on my door and bitched me out and told me that I either need to kiss her or fuck completely off,” Mick said, chuckling at the memory of how fierce his little wife was that night. “She was bossy and demanding and it was just what I needed to be able to pull my head out of my ass. I’m thankful for that hissy fit every single fucking day.”
“How long had you two known each other?” Colin asked.
“Maybe five months or so? We had had a couple of dates, and um, we had been intimate,” Mick reddened at that bit of information. “We hadn’t had actual intercourse, though...”
“Oh God, don’t say ‘intercourse,’” Colin interrupted, looking nauseated.
“Ha, we hadn’t actually fucked, though. Is that better?” laughed Mick. Colin nodded. “But there was a lot of sexual tension, and since I hadn’t been with a woman in twenty-two years, it was a bit overwhelming for me, physically and emotionally.”
“Wait, twenty-two years? My God, man. When Rory said you would win the celibacy contest, I was thinking, three, five years maybe, but twenty-two? Holy crap,” Colin said with a laugh. “Mick, if it’s not too personal, is Em only the second woman you’ve been with?”
“Yep, she is.”
“That’s actually really cool, Mickey.” Colin leaned against Mick’s SUV. “I, uh, didn’t lose my virginity until I was twenty-eight. And it wasn’t in any way I am proud of. I had been drinking a whole lot, really unhappy with who I was becoming, and it just happened. One-night stand, I barely knew the woman. She never talked to me again when she found out I was a virgin.” Colin huffed a small laugh. “Bailey was number three for me, but it’s like she’s the only one that matters. And while I’m doing the confession thing, those glasses of scotch that I shared with you that night at Duke’s and the night before your wedding have been the only alcoholic drinks that I’ve had in eight years.”
“Because of the one-night stand?”
Colin shrugged. “Not just because of that, but it definitely played a part in my decision to stop drinking.”
“Colin, don’t ever feel compelled to have a drink if you don’t want one.”
“I know. I wanted to have a drink with you both of those times, and I had just that. One drink. It’s fine.”
Mick clapped his younger brother on the shoulder.
“I’m glad we had this talk, son,” Mick said in a silly, deep voice. Colin barked out a laugh.
“Seriously, though,” Mick said in his normal voice. “I am glad that we talked. With the baby’s arrival and you getting the gym started, we haven’t had a lot of time to get to know each other better.”
“I know. I need to do better at that.”
“Not just you, okay?” Mick looked his brother in the eye. “We both do. And regarding Bailey, if you want to continue to grow what you’ve got with her, I think you’re going to have to break down some serious walls. I have a feeling that those barriers are enclosing some serious shit. But she’s worth it, Colin. I know she is.”
“I know she is, too, Mickey. I just don’t know if she knows she is.”
Chapter Nine
March
Okay, Bailey. You can do this.
Bailey sat at a table in the visitor’s room of the jail. She looked around at all the families that surrounded her. She always figured she’d be doing this someday, but she never expected to be the prisoner’s babymama.
Tripp’s father, Ed, had offered to come with her, but she wanted to see Tripp alone this first time. She was beginning to second-guess her decision to come by herself.
She blew out a breath.
“Don’t worry, honey. It gets easier,” a woman at the next table said. Bailey smiled weakly at her. The woman had two small children with her and she looked at Bailey with sympathy until the little girl exclaimed “There’s Daddy!” The woman turned her face to the man and her eyes softened. The man walking toward the table had a huge grin on his face as he slipped into a chair at the table.
“I wish I could hug and kiss every one of you girls,” he said. “Now, tell me what you’ve been up to.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Tripp’s voice caused her to snap her eyes away from the family at the next table.
Bailey sighed. So much for being glad to get a visitor. “Hello, Tripp.”
Tripp slid into the chair on the opposite side of the table. He didn’t look bad, but his eyes were tight and darted around the room suspiciously.
“So, why are you here?”
Why the hell am I here? “I wanted to see you before I had the baby.”
“Why? I’ve been here almost four months. Why now?”
“God, Tripp. The baby’s due next week. We need to talk about things.”
“Well, I’m in here for the next year, so, you know, I won’t exactly be available to babysit.”
Bailey rolle
d her eyes. “You don’t babysit your own child, Tripp.”
“I meant watch it or whatever. Anyway, whatever. Why are you here, Bailey? Did you come to gloat?”
“Gloat? Why would I be gloating? I’m not happy that you’re in jail, Tripp.”
Tripp barked a laugh. “Oh, of course you’re not. You’re sweet Bailey, the one who never wishes anyone any harm, who always sees the best in people.”
“Tripp, you’re being a jerk. You have no one but yourself to blame for you being here. You made some terrible decisions and now you’re paying for them.”
“You listen to me, Bailey Jenkins. When I get out, you’re going to see a whole new Tripp Holbrook. There’s going to be a lot of changes. You’ll see.”
Bailey looked at Tripp, really looked at him. He’d obviously been working out, because, while not ever heavy, he was just...soft. Now Bailey could see the well-defined muscles of his biceps under his short sleeves, and his neck looked thicker. He was nothing compared to Colin, but he was definitely in better shape now than he was before he went to jail.
Oh, God. Colin. No, Bailey, you are not going to think about Colin while you’re visiting your jailbird ex-fiancé.
“Well, I hope they’re changes for the better,” she couldn’t help but say. She huffed a breath. Just spit it out, Bailey. “Tripp, about bringing the baby to visit after she’s born...”
“I don’t want to see the baby.”
Bailey halted. He didn’t want to see the baby?
Tripp backtracked at her horrified expression. “Bailey, I don’t want you to bring the baby to visit me here. There will be time enough when I get out. And while we’re talking about future plans, Bailey, I’m assuming that because you moved out and started working for Doyle that you’re not interested in continuing our relationship.”
Bailey frowned. “What does my working for Rory have to do with our relationship? And we’re going to have to continue having a relationship because we’re having a baby, Tripp. But no, I’m not interested in a romantic relationship with you, if that’s what you meant.”
Tripp sat back in his chair and cocked his head. “You’re seeing someone.”
Bailey rolled her eyes to cover her discomfort. “Tripp. Look at me. I am nine months pregnant. Who in the world would want anything to do with me?”
“I suppose you’re right.” He looked like he was going to continue his commentary, but didn’t. He crossed his arms over his chest and merely glared at her.
Bailey shifted in her seat, unsure what else to say.
“So, what else do you have to spring on me? Anything else you can add to this pile of shit that’s my life right now?”
Bailey huffed a laugh and shook her head, smiling at him. “You really don’t get that you’re not a victim, do you? Oh my God.”
“Now look here, Bailey,” Tripp spat, pointing at her. “All this mess could have been avoided if Em had come back to the Holbrook Firm and not gotten Rory Doyle involved.”
“I heard the voicemails, Tripp. You begged her to come back to the Holbrook Firm and I quote, back to your bed. You were the one who ran her off in the first place. It’s not my fault that you realized what you were missing once she was gone. And it’s the same thing with me, I suppose. Only you don’t sound like you miss me at all, which is okay by me, really.”
“What are you going to do, Bailey, once that baby comes? Are you going to put it in daycare ten hours a day, let some foreigner take care of it?”
“Our child is not an ‘it’, Tripp; the baby is a girl. We’re having a daughter,” Bailey interrupted.
“Whatever. It really doesn’t matter what it is. How are you going to afford anything, whether it’s a boy or a girl?”
“I’m glad you brought that up, Tripp, because that’s part of the reason I’m here. We need to talk about child support and other financial stuff.”
“I can tell you right now, you’re not getting a cent from me,” he said with a mean laugh.
“I don’t want your money, Tripp, but I sure as hell am going to hold you to help support our child.”
“How do I know it’s mine, really?”
Bailey arched her eyebrows at Tripp. “Really. You’re going to play that game with me?”
He shrugged.
And then Bailey got mad. “Tripp, you know you were the only man that I had been with at that point. What happened to ‘oh, this means so much that you’re giving me this gift’? Huh?”
“Oh, ‘at that point’, huh? You are seeing someone, aren’t you?” Tripp shook his head. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Doyle himself. You’re not going to get a pay-out now that I’m in here, so you needed to find yourself another sugar daddy.”
Bailey breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth, trying to suppress her angry tears and the urge to pop Tripp in his big, fat mouth. “Tripp, it doesn’t matter if I’m seeing anyone or not, but it’s obvious that we’re not going to be able to have a civil conversation about this. I wanted to avoid lawyers, but I guess that’s what I’m going to have to do.” She got up from the table. “Goodbye, Tripp.”
He watched her walk out the double doors of the visitors’ area.
“Dude. You’re an asshole,” the guy at the next table said.
“Fuck off.”
Colin hummed tunelessly as he unlocked the door to the house. God, this has been a long-ass day. He needed a good meal and some serious couch time.
Colin continued humming as he walked through the house to the backyard to turn on the grill. He thought about the steaks and chicken that he had thawed out. It was way too much for one meal, and maybe even two meals.
This is, unless he had someone to share it with.
He looked at Bailey’s back door. What was that? Was that her head that he saw ducking behind the curtains? Colin grinned. Oh yeah, someone’s getting a dinner invitation.
God, you are such a creeper, Bailey thought. Lurking and spying on Colin through doors and windows. Is this what it’s come to? Good grief.
She blew out a breath and looked in her refrigerator as she ate peanut butter off a spoon. I don’t want one thing that’s in here. No, that wasn’t true. She didn’t want to cook anything. She wanted food to magically appear, beautifully prepared. And maybe served by a certain shirtless MMA fighter.
What the heck is that awful noise?
Bailey looked in the backyard and discovered that the horrible racket she heard was Colin, specifically, Colin’s singing. She stifled a laugh. Colin and Mick sounded very much alike when they spoke, but lordy, they did not sound the same when they sang.
Bailey grinned as she watched him pinwheel his arm, a spatula in his hand and his legs spread like some sort of guitar hero as he sang, loudly and out-of-tune, to the Kinks song that played over the small speakers that lined the underside of the pergola.
He might have the face of an angel but his voice is anything but heavenly. Wow. He is really tone-deaf.
Bailey’s eyes widened as Colin turned around and headed right toward her back door. She scurried to the living room, hopefully avoiding looking like she was ogling him from the window.
“Hey, Bailey?” Colin called through the door as he knocked. “I thought I saw you in the kitchen.”
She huffed and walked to the back door and opened it. Busted. Dangit.
“Hey, Colin. I was just trying to figure out what I was gonna have for dinner.”
“I’m cooking some steaks and chicken. I thawed out too much – would you like some?”
Only if I can use your abs as a plate, buster. “Sure, I’d love that, if you’re sure it’s not too much trouble. Can I cook some veggies or something?”
Colin grinned. “Sure, that’d be great. How do you like your steak?”
“Rare, but I probably need it medium because of the baby.”
Colin nodded. “Okay, I’ll get the food on the grill.”
Bailey grinned and pulled
some vegetables from the refrigerator.
“That was so good, Colin. I haven’t had a steak like that in a long time.”
Colin looked pleased with himself as he brushed down the grill. “You want some dessert?” he asked.
He thought he heard Bailey blow out a breath, but when he looked at her, she was still sitting on the wrought iron loveseat with one leg tucked under her, gazing into the fire pit. She looked sad.
Bailey looked up at Colin when he touched her shoulder. She blew her breath out her nose to keep from tearing up and managed a weak smile.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Colin asked. He moved to sit down on the settee. He draped his arm over the back and cupped Bailey’s face in his big palm. She leaned into his hand and closed her eyes.
“I went to go see Tripp today.”
“Why the fuck did you do that?” Colin blurted before he could stop himself, then he winced. “Sorry.”
Bailey laughed softly. “I have been asking that myself that all afternoon, actually.”
“I take it the visit didn’t go very well?”
“Oh, it was great, if you don’t count him insinuating that I was horribly unattractive and accusing me of hooking up with Rory as my new ‘sugar daddy’.”
“What the hell? That guy’s a jackass.”
“Yep.” Bailey sighed again.
Colin cringed when he realized how his proclamation sounded. “Sorry, Bailey…”
“No, he is a jackass. I just thought I needed to visit him. The baby’s coming soon and there’s a lot of stuff that we need to get figured out.”
Colin nodded. “You definitely need dessert. Come on. My treat.” Colin stood up and offered his hand to her. “Come on, Bailey. I’m gonna be insulted if you don’t get dessert with me.”
Bailey rolled her eyes but took Colin’s hand and allowed him to pull her up. “Let me put on a jacket. You should put on one, too. Or at least, put on some long pants. You look kind of nuts out here in a pair of shorts.”
Colin shrugged. “I run hot.”
Boy, yes, you do, Colin. Yes, you do.
