Freed (Bound Duet Book 2)

by Stephie Walls

Because of the backlash at work, we hadn’t counted on being able to get any of the guys at work to help move Dan, the whole guilt by association thing. But at the last minute, a handful stepped up and were here today helping us knock out combining two houses into one. As I hauled out box after box, I thought about how everything had lined up to make all of this happen. Dan and Lissa had both sold their houses within days of each other, in a real estate market that wasn’t great, in order to be able to close on the house together—that happened to be next door to us. I wasn’t overly religious, but I certainly believed in a higher power, and things like this just further confirmed that belief.

  After this weekend, we were home free until Lissa gave birth. The four of us had done the nurseries at our house this past week, painting them, assembling furniture, decorating—well, Dan and I did the labor, Annie and Lissa directed traffic and hung up baby clothes and organized the spaces. We’d given them separate rooms in case they weren’t both boys or girls and hopefully prevent them from keeping each other awake crying. It was optimistic at best. Annie had let Lissa lead the charge on the first baby’s room. I hadn’t thought Lissa would care, but surprisingly, it seemed really important. They’d spent hours poring over furniture and bedding, and even more time shopping. For someone who didn’t want any children, Lissa seemed to enjoy the process.

  Now that the nurseries were done, the moves would be completed today, and Gray’s replacement had started this past week, I was hoping to spend time with my wife and friends. Lissa was at thirty-two weeks, which gave us roughly two months before our life changed significantly. And then again, twelve weeks later. Twins had seemed daunting when we considered multiples, but babies three months apart seem even more difficult. Annie hadn’t complained once, other than her clothes not fitting that was, but even that stopped once she went shopping.

  I wished I thought I’d see my wife pregnant again. She truly did glow, and she was incredibly happy, but that bump—I’d never had an attraction to pregnant women. I found them very…maternal. But when it was my wife, carrying my baby, something changed. I loved seeing her that way and knowing she was growing our family. It was a huge turn on. Working the hours I’d been working had put a serious damper on enjoying her body, but I planned to remedy that. I had approximately twenty more weeks, and the bigger she got, the more insatiable I became.

  Thinking about her while hauling boxes wasn’t the best idea. There were far too many people around to see me sporting a chub. The sooner we got this done, the better. I hoped Lissa’s house was moving as quickly as Dan’s. I’d kill for a beer right now, but we still had another twenty weeks to go before alcohol would grace my lips again. I wasn’t a heavy drinker, not even a regular drinker, but tell me I can’t have it, and I craved it. I hoped like hell this agreement didn’t continue into breastfeeding.

  “Hey, man,” a voice called out from the driveway.

  I turned to find Dan walking toward me. “You done over at Lissa’s?”

  “Yeah, how are you guys coming here?” We made our way toward the house.

  “I’d say we’re just about ready to head out. When are the cleaning people coming?”

  Dan hadn’t wanted to clean two houses after moving everything out and didn’t want Lissa doing it either, so he’d hired a cleaning crew to come in after we left. “They’re already over at Lissa’s. They’ll come here after.”

  When we went through the front door, he stopped to talk to a couple guys from work before we all grabbed the last of his stuff. I sent Annie a text to let her know we were on our way. The two of them had another crew waiting to go over to Dan and Lissa’s new house to unpack. God help the men being directed by that crowd.

  The closer Lissa got to her due date the more serious Dan became about asking her to marry him. He was worried she’d go into labor, and he wouldn’t have the ring. But he didn’t want her finding it either.

  “Do you know how hard it is to find reasons we shouldn’t join our bank accounts?”

  He’d been sitting in my office for the last half hour stressed out about the engagement. I was humored by his anxiety. I’d been there, and he laughed at me when it happened. I had been a hell of a lot nicer than he had to me.

  “Why can’t you join bank accounts?” I was sure the answer should be obvious, but it wasn’t, and I was only half listening, anyhow.

  “How am I going to justify a large chunk of money coming out of the account? Or hide savings accounts from her? Once we get married, I want to hand all of that over for her to handle, but until I buy the ring, I can’t do that completely.”

  “So go buy the ring, already. What the hell are you waiting for?” I looked up perplexed by his procrastination.

  “I don’t have a clue what to buy!”

  The laughter erupted from my chest in a roar that startled him.

  “What the fuck, man? Why are you laughing?”

  “You’ve been talking about getting engaged to this woman for over eight months. You haven’t bothered figuring out what she likes since then?”

  “Yeah, sort of, but what if I get it wrong? That’s a shit load of money for her not to like it.”

  “Dan, stop and think about what you’re saying. First, she adores you. Second, have you ever heard of a woman not liking an engagement ring? It just doesn’t happen. She’ll love it because you picked it out and gave it to her.”

  He sat there looking defeated.

  My eyes rolled in heavy exaggeration, and I let out a sigh that would rival any females. “Do you want me to go with you?”

  His face lit up like a Christmas tree.

  “Why didn’t you just ask, Dan? I would have gone with you.”

  “You’ve got a lot of shit on your plate. Between two pregnancies, Gray dying, the stuff at work, I didn’t want to ask you for your time.”

  “Stop being a fucking girl. Do you want to go tonight after work?”

  “Yeah, but how are you going to do that and not tell Annie?”

  “I’ll just skip the gym. I’ll still get home at the same time. That way I’m not lying.”

  At five o’clock on the dot, Dan knocked on my office door, and we left in search of the perfect ring. I had no idea what kind of jewelry Lissa liked, but I knew the only place in town I’d go.

  Annie and I had gotten our wedding bands at Lynn Strong, and that was where I took Dan. I hadn’t expected to see the same salesperson who’d helped us, but the moment we walked in the door there she stood.

  “You’re back,” she exclaimed.

  It had been years since Annie and I had been here, and I was shocked she recognized me. My surprise must have been written all over my face. The same woman had helped us pick our wedding rings. She had found a perfect band for Annie with little pink stones that were the same color as her wedding dress, and Annie instantly fell in love with my two-tone band. The two different sheens in the silver metals made the design look like a dissected tree trunk, the inner layer signifying the life of the plant. In her mind, it was an indication of our life cycle together. I loved what she had seen in it, and we hadn’t looked at anything else.

  “It’s hard to forget a couple like you and your…” she hesitated and then looked at my hand to see if I had on the band, “wife. So, what can I help you guys with today.”

  “He’s looking for an engagement ring.”

  She clapped her hands together, and her smile radiated on her lips. “My favorite. What did you have in mind?”

  “Simple.”

  She giggled at Dan’s response. “Okay, how about metal?”

  “Yes.”

  The woman apparently dealt with men like Dan all the time. “Do you prefer gold or platinum?”

  “She has red hair.”

  “Yellow gold then. Do you want a solitaire? Or multi-stone?”

  “Solitaire.”

  “Do you have a price point in mind?”

  “I don’t care about the price. I just want to make sure she loves it. Do you remember his
wife?” He used his thumb to indicate it was me he was talking about.

  “Of course. Lovely girl.”

  “My girlfriend is a carbon copy with red hair. Down to the way they dress. It’s uncanny.”

  “Perfect.”

  She directed us to a glass case that did nothing but sparkle. The lighting above the glass seemed to ignite the shine in every stone in the case. He eyed every ring, one by one. She pulled a couple out to show him, but he wasn’t interested in either. Every ring in the store was a custom piece, each one unique in its own way, and no other woman would have the same ring—but Dan hadn’t found the one he wanted. I found it rather humorous that he was so picky considering he didn’t know what he was looking for.

  Until he saw it.

  “There.” He pointed to a ring on the far end.

  “The rose gold?” she asked.

  “Is that the pink one?”

  She pulled it out and handed it to him. “It’s two and a quarter carats with amazing clarity and color.”

  Dan didn’t have a clue what color or clarity were, and the more she tried to explain the less he cared. He just knew that was the ring he wanted Lissa to have. He didn’t bat an eye at the price or even try to haggle. I knew then, he’d found his Annie.

  When I got home, Annie knew something was up. I sucked at lying because I didn’t ever have the need to do it. I hadn’t expected her to question where I’d been because it was a gym day. But I came home sweaty from the gym, and clearly, walking in the door, I had not been working out.

  “I ran an errand with Dan.”

  Her eyebrows rose, and the corners of her mouth turned up in jest. “You and Dan run errands now? Maybe the four of us are spending too much time together.” The way her tone hinted at laughter indicated she wasn’t upset, but knowing my wife, she wouldn’t let it go either.

  “Yeah.” I tried to hide the smile and play it off, but I failed miserably.

  “Oh, my God. You know something.” She smacked me playfully on the chest. “What is it? Tell me your gossip.”

  “I can’t.”

  “You totally can. I’m your wife. It’s in the code. We don’t keep secrets.”

  “That’s not entirely true. We keep lots of secrets, just not from each other. But this isn’t my secret to tell.”

  “Do you really want to upset a pregnant woman?”

  “Not particularly, but when said woman can’t keep news to herself, then I have little choice.”

  “It’s about Lissa!”

  “Annie…” I tried to warn her to stop but knew it wouldn’t get me anywhere.

  “Brett.”

  I closed my eyes to avoid rolling them and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Is dinner ready?” I hadn’t made it past the foyer when she’d started questioning me. But I could smell something cooking, and I was hungry.

  “Avoidance doesn’t look good on you. So, spill it.”

  I turned, took her hips in my hands, and tried to pacify her with physical attention. My effort to divert her attention failed.

  “Tell me,” she whined.

  “Sorry, sweetheart. I can’t.”

  She pushed away to pout.

  “Annie, don’t do that, it’s not fair. I wouldn’t betray your trust. Why are you asking me to do it to Dan?”

  “Because Lissa is one of my best friends, and she’s carrying our baby. I want her to be happy. You have news you don’t trust me with, and that hurts my feelings.”

  I knew what I was about to do was wrong on so many levels, but I had to live with Annie, twenty-two weeks pregnant and extremely emotional. “So help me God, if you breathe a word of this or even hint you know anything to Dan or Lissa, I’ll never talk to you again.”

  “Yes you will because you love me, but if it’s that serious, Brett, I won’t say anything.” A grave expression took over her features—she was worried now.

  I let out an audible sigh and prayed my best friend didn’t find out or forgave me when he did. “He bought Lissa an engagement ring tonight.”

  Annie’s exuberance was worth the risk of telling her. She hopped around before putting her hands on my shoulders and jumping in front of me.

  “Are you supposed to jump around like that pregnant?”

  She quit bouncing up and down but talked a mile a minute about babies and weddings.

  “Annie, sweetheart. Slow down. Why don’t we eat and talk about it over dinner?”

  I didn’t know if it was the baby that bonded Annie and Lissa, or if the connection would have formed so strongly on its own. She had other friends, but Lissa was more like a sister. Couple that with Dan being like a brother, and we had our own little familial compound going with them now next door. I made her promise not to say anything to Lissa about the ring, but when I showed it to her, I wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep that agreement.

  “She’s going to die. When’s he proposing?”

  There was no turning back. “When the baby’s born. He’s been planning this for a long time, months. He knows she’s going to have a hard time giving away the baby, even if she doesn’t think she will. He thinks this will be a gift for her like she’s giving us.”

  My wife’s eyes filled with tears as she choked back the emotion. A lot of her reaction was her hormones, but I knew she thought it was a fantastic idea.

  “I’m so glad he waited. It’s perfect.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Annie

  I didn’t have to keep my secret anywhere near as long as I thought I was going to. It hadn’t happened yet, but when I got the call from Lissa, I grabbed the ring from Brett’s dresser drawer. Neither Brett nor Dan knew it, but she would have a harder time with this than either of them believed. Over the last few weeks, she’d dropped comments about being sad the pregnancy was ending and that she’d miss having the baby with her all the time. I hadn’t asked because I didn’t want to know, but if I had to guess, Lissa had changed her mind about wanting children.

  “Hello?” I hadn’t made it over to Lissa’s to check on her yet. The bigger I got the slower I moved, but I loved every minute of being pregnant.

  I started working from home when Lissa hit thirty-five weeks just in case she needed anything. As a college professor, she’d chosen not to teach summer classes and had been done in late April.

  “I keep peeing on myself.”

  We’d had lots of these types of conversations. The things that happen to a woman’s body during pregnancy just weren’t pretty. Wetting your pants when you coughed or laughed too hard, acid reflux and indigestion, cankles—God definitely had an odd sense of humor.

  “Were you coughing?”

  “No.” She half laughed, but I could tell she was concerned. “I went to the bathroom, and when I came back to sit down on the couch, I peed a little. So, I went back to the bathroom, sat down, and peed again. It wasn’t a lot, but I definitely peed again.”

  “Lissa, you’re paranoid. You’re pregnant. We pee a lot.”

  “Yeah, I’d agree except it happened three more times before I called you. I haven’t sat back down.”

  “I’m sure it’s nothing. You’re only thirty-eight weeks. Have you called Dr. Matthews?”

  “No. Will you come over and call with me?”

  “Of course! Give me about five minutes, and I’ll be there.”

  I put on my shoes, which was becoming an increasingly more difficult task. Thank God, I’d be able to wear flip flops soon. I was on the verge of losing sight of my toes, and shoes were becoming a monumental feat.

  Lissa met me at the door with an odd look on her face. Quizzical, possibly pained.

  “You all right?”

  “Scared,” she admitted.

  “Let’s go call the doctor’s office and see what they say. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

  “Ugh, I don’t want to be one of those women.”

  I giggled at her melodramatic response. “What women?”

  “The ones who go to the hospital fifteen times thinki
ng they’re in labor only to be told it’s a false alarm.”

  “Well, since we have a midwife coming to the house, I’d say you’re safe there. But it’s probably nothing big. Are you in any pain?”

  She shook her head.

  The nurse we talked to at Dr. Matthews’s office didn’t seem to think it was a big deal either. She asked me to bring Lissa in to get checked but thought we were still in the clear for a while with this being her first baby.

  We sat in the waiting room for over an hour waiting for the nurse to work us in. I gave in and called Brett and Dan, who both overreacted. I spent fifteen minutes trying to talk them both out of coming to the doctor’s office. Their concern sent Lissa into panic mode, leaving me the only sane one in the bunch, and I was considerably pregnant. The four of us made quite the group.

  When Lissa started pacing the room, they decided to call us back. Her anxiety was instilling fear into the other expectant mothers in the room.

  “Melissa Jackson?” The nurse said from the open door.

  She just about knocked the lady over going back to the exam room. I waddled after her, giggling. She was a woman on a mission, and I was along for the show.

  The nurse pulled out the infamous paper sheet. “Undress from the waist down and cover up with this. The doctor will be in shortly.” Without so much as even a hello, the nurse asked her to strip and then left. Someone was having a bad day.

  Lissa struggled to get her pants off and contorted her body in all sorts of odd angles to get around her tummy to pull the final leg over her foot. If we weren’t close by then, seeing her spread eagle while I attempted to help her would have done it. She eased herself up onto the exam table just as the knock on the door came.

  “Good morning, ladies.” Dr. Matthews was way too chipper for a man who looked at coochies all day. Hell, maybe that was why he was always in such a great mood.

  His nurse, not the kind lady we’d just had the pleasure of not speaking with, but another one, gave Lissa a warm smile. “Put your legs up in the stirrups for me and lie back.”

  Dr. Matthews was positioning himself on his stool at the end of the table as the nurse helped ease her down. The second she was flat, the sound of splashing water caught my attention. When I turned my head, Dr. Matthews was soaked. There was water all over the floor.