What Might Have Been: Daniels Brother #4 (Daniels Brothers)

by Sherri Hayes

  “Do you want to meet for dinner?” she asked.

  He turned his head to look down the hallway. “Okay. I’ll come by your room in about an hour.”

  “All right.” Even their breakup hadn’t been this awkward.

  Chris nodded, then continued on to his room roughly five doors down. He slipped his keycard in the slot and entered, leaving her standing alone in the hall.

  Abby let herself into her room. She dropped her suitcase right inside the door and strolled over to the window. So much had changed since she’d last been in New York, yet the city itself hadn’t changed at all. That should have been comforting, but it wasn’t.

  ***

  Trent was attempting to distract himself with work. After everyone else had left for the evening, he’d stayed at the office to go over old security footage. He’d been hoping to find something that would tie the missing mulch from before to the more recent thefts.

  Much to his disappointment, nothing major had stood out to him. The only thing of interest he’d seen was when the camera had caught Trinity and her boyfriend getting busy against one of the sheds. Trent remembered having to sit down and have a rather awkward conversation with her. She’d apologized and explained that they’d had a big fight two weeks before and that her boyfriend had stopped by to say he was sorry. Lucky for Trent, he’d been paying extra special attention after the mulch had gone missing and had captured their reconciliation on camera.

  When he could no longer justify hanging around the office, he locked up and headed over to his parents’ house. Trent knew that eventually he’d have to go home, but he was putting it off. All he kept thinking about was Abby being in New York with Chris and here he was in Ohio, sitting on his hands.

  He parked his truck along the curb—the driveway was already occupied by Elizabeth’s car. Trent hadn’t realized she would be there.

  Just then, she came around the side of the house. She grinned. “Hey. I didn’t know you were stopping by tonight.”

  “Same here. I figured you’d be at home waiting for Chris to call.”

  Elizabeth strolled over to her car and removed a book from the center console. “He called me about a half hour ago.”

  Trent waited to see if she’d leave him hanging. Abby had texted him to say they’d landed in New York, but that was the last he’d heard from her.

  “He said the hotel they’re staying at is pretty nice. There was even a piece of chocolate on his pillow.” She seemed rather amused by that bit of information. Trent wondered if his brother had said something more about the chocolate that Elizabeth wasn’t sharing. Then again, if he had, that was probably information Trent was better off not knowing.

  He cleared his throat as they walked toward the backyard. “Did he say how he and Abby are getting along?”

  Elizabeth stopped and glanced over at him. “I got the impression that they haven’t said much to each other. Of course, I’m sure that has a lot to do with Chris.”

  Trent placed a hand on her arm. “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t want him saying anything he’s going to regret later. Abby hurt him. More than I think any of you know.” She hesitated. “Chris and I had just started talking about trying to have a baby a few months ago.”

  “That’s great,” Trent said, genuinely happy for them.

  The smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

  “What is it?”

  She shook her head and sighed. “You know what happened with my first husband. That he used to knock me around.”

  He nodded. While Trent didn’t know the details, he’d known it had been bad enough for her to risk her life leaving the bastard.

  Elizabeth inhaled sharply. “I don’t want to go into the details, but getting pregnant might not be all that easy for us. So this . . . now . . .”

  Trent was beginning to see the connection. He pulled Elizabeth in for a hug. “I’m sorry.”

  She leaned into him for a few moments, and then took a step back. “Something tells me Abby is going to be in all our lives for the foreseeable future. Chris is going to have to deal with that, and learn to move past what happened. I’m guessing he’s taking that to the extreme and not saying much of anything.”

  A small smile tugged at Trent’s lips. “Sounds like my brother.”

  Elizabeth chuckled. “Doesn’t it, though?”

  He spent the next two hours helping his dad weed the flower beds and trim some bushes. It felt good to get his hands dirty. He hadn’t been out with the guys since the theft and he missed it.

  Trent had figured at some point during their work in the yard his dad would use the opportunity to have a heart-to-heart with him, but he didn’t. Other than a few comments here and there about the plants themselves, his dad remained quiet. It was odd. Then again, maybe his father realized that Trent would rather work than talk at the moment.

  When they had all the weeds plucked and the bushes tamed, the two men went inside to cool off. They found his mom and Elizabeth huddled together at the dining room table over some fabric.

  “There you are.” His mom made it sound as if they’d wandered off or something. “We wanted to ask your opinion.”

  Elizabeth held a piece of blue fabric against her shoulder. “What do you think of the color?”

  “For what?” Trent asked.

  “Curtains.” His mother scraped the chair against the floor as she got up and went to the refrigerator. “Elizabeth is thinking of making some curtains for the spare bedroom.”

  “Looks good to me,” his dad grunted, only half-paying attention. He was more concerned with the two glasses of lemonade his wife was pouring.

  “Me, too,” Trent agreed. He wasn’t exactly sure what type of input they wanted from two guys who knew nothing about décor. That was more Abby’s thing.

  Elizabeth wasn’t deterred. “You don’t think it should be darker or lighter?”

  Trent pulled out a chair and sat down, thanking his mom for the glass of lemonade she placed in front of him.

  Marilyn retook her seat next to Elizabeth. “I think it will work fine. Just add a few dark blue accent pillows in the room and it will be perfect. I might even have some fabric you can use for those as well, if you’re interested.”

  The two women went on to talk about patterns and fabric swatches that meant nothing to Trent. It was seriously enough to make one’s eyes glaze over.

  After a few minutes, his dad caught Trent’s gaze and tilted his head toward the living room. Nodding, they both stood.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” his mom asked.

  Mike bent down and kissed the top of his wife’s head. “We’re going to see if there’s a game on. Give you ladies some privacy.”

  To her credit, all she did was give them a look that said she wasn’t fooled as they hustled out of the room.

  Trent didn’t end up leaving his parents’ house until after nine. He and his dad had settled on watching some preseason roundup, since there wasn’t a game worth watching on television. There was footage of his younger brother, Gage, throwing the football to one of his teammates during spring training.

  It had been a way to kill time, but eventually he had to give up and go home.

  He was climbing into bed that night when his phone beeped, notifying him of a text message.

  Are you awake? – Abby

  Yes. Everything okay? – Trent

  The next thing he knew, his phone was ringing.

  “I’m sorry to call so late,” she said as soon as he answered the call. “I just wanted to talk to you. Hear your voice, I guess.”

  “I’m glad you called.” He’d been worried about her all day. “How are things going in New York?”

  “Not too bad, I guess. Chris isn’t saying much. I’m trying to go with the flow and not push him.”

  Trent leaned back against the headboard and stretched out his long legs. “Probably wise.”

  “How are things there? Any news on your thief?”

&nbs
p; “I’m not sure you could say it’s progress, but I spent some time tonight going over some old surveillance footage. Not much there, other than I got to witness my office manager making out with her boyfriend again.” He shivered at the memory.

  “She was making out with her boyfriend at work?” Abby asked.

  “It was a few years ago, and we talked about it after it happened. Apparently they’d had a big fight a couple of weeks before and he came by to apologize.”

  “Sounds like a nice apology.”

  He laughed. “Yeah.”

  “So if it was years ago, what made you go back through all that video?”

  “The reason I put the cameras up in the first place was because we had some bags of mulch go missing. It didn’t happen again, so I figured whoever it was, they were either satisfied with what they got the first time around, or saw the camera and thought better of it.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “Then about three weeks ago, we had some mulch disappear again. I was hoping that maybe I’d see something on the video I’d missed the first time around.” Trent shrugged even though she couldn’t see him. “It was a long shot, but I was hoping.”

  “You don’t think . . .”

  She didn’t finish her sentence.

  “I don’t think what?” he asked.

  “Never mind. It’s none of my business.”

  “Abby, what is it? Tell me.”

  “Well, I was just thinking. I know you said you don’t think Trinity would do something like that, but what about her boyfriend? Is she still seeing him? He’s obviously been there, and if they were in the yard fooling around, chances are that he’d at least have an idea of where everything is. Maybe not as good as you or the rest of your employees, but enough. And if they got caught, I would think Trinity probably told him about the camera.”

  A smile spread across Trent’s face. “It makes sense. I hadn’t thought about it that way before.”

  She was quiet for several moments. “I hope I’m wrong.”

  So did he. Because if Abby was right, if it was Trinity’s boyfriend—or ex-boyfriend for that matter—his office manager was going to blame herself. Even if she didn’t have anything to do with it.

  Chapter 21

  On Saturday morning Abby went about her routine of getting ready, her thoughts more on her conversation with Trent last night than on what she was doing. They’d talked on the phone until almost midnight. It had been nice to hear his comforting voice on the other end of the line, even if he was six hundred miles away.

  They’d made plans to go see a football game. With everything going on, Trent asking her to go to a game had struck her as funny and she’d dissolved into a fit of laughter. He’d patiently waited for her to get herself back under control, and then changed the tone of the conversation completely by saying he missed her.

  Abby sat down at the end of her bed and sighed. Things with Trent were getting really serious, really fast. Logically she knew she should walk away, but the thought of doing that made her heart ache.

  She turned the television on and flipped through the channels. Today was the day. She was taking Chris to see Kaylee’s grave. He’d be there to pick her up any second.

  A knot formed in her throat thinking about visiting her daughter’s grave with Chris. He’d been so quiet last night when they met for dinner.

  The news droned on about some jewelry store robbery that had happened overnight. She was only half paying attention, too worried about how the day would go.

  There was a knock at the door—two sharp raps. Chris. He’d done the same the night before.

  She turned the television off and tossed the remote on the bed before making her way over to the door and looking through the peephole. Chris stood in the hallway, looking as uncomfortable as she felt.

  She unlatched the chain and opened the door. “Morning.”

  He shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded. “Are you ready?”

  “Yeah. Just let me grab my purse.”

  They stopped in the hotel restaurant for a quick breakfast. Chris was as stoic as he had been the night before. She tried to give him his space, but it would have been easier if he’d yelled at her. The silence was getting to Abby.

  He walked beside her as they made their way to the subway station, and then stood next to her until they reached their stop. After they climbed the steps up to the sidewalk, it was three blocks to the cemetery. He glanced around at their surroundings, but said nothing until they were a block away. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

  Chris didn’t wait for her response before jogging to the crosswalk and across the street.

  She didn’t know what had come over him until she saw where he was going. Across the street there was a vendor selling flowers. He returned a few minutes later with a pink carnation in his hand.

  Moisture clouded her vision and she turned away, trying to keep it together. “You ready?”

  “Yeah.”

  Chris stayed right behind her as Abby made her way into the cemetery. She led him over to the children’s section. It was flanked by two tall oak trees. She remembered the first time she’d seen them, the day she buried Kaylee. The way they were positioned made it seem as if they were standing guard over the children’s section of the cemetery.

  She walked past the imposing oaks into an entirely different world. The children’s section was different from the main cemetery. Each grave still had a gravestone, but there were also small statues of animals peppered throughout. She zeroed in on the statue of the baby lamb standing next to her mother. Instinctively, she wrapped her fingers around the pendant she wore around her neck.

  Before she could chicken out, Abby put one foot in front of the other. Chris followed close behind, letting her lead.

  Stopping in front of Kaylee’s tombstone, she knelt down and ran her fingers over the engraved letters that spelled out Kaylee Alice Daniels.

  Chris sucked in a loud breath directly behind her. “You gave her my name.”

  Abby didn’t look at him. She couldn’t because there was a huge knot in her throat. All she could do was nod.

  “Thank you,” he whispered.

  She looked up to see tears streaming down his cheeks. Seeing him so emotional broke the last little hold she’d had on her own. She placed two fingers to her lips, pressed them gently against Kaylee’s tombstone, and then stood. “I’ll give you a minute alone.”

  Abby turned to go, but Chris grabbed her hand, stopping her.

  Once he seemed sure she wasn’t going anywhere, Chris lowered himself down until he was eye level with Kaylee’s little tombstone. He placed the flower on the little ledge at the base and bowed his head.

  Abby wasn’t sure what to do. She felt as if she was intruding on a private moment, but he’d wanted her there, so she stayed.

  After a long moment, he raised his head and mimicked her action from before, pressing two fingers to his lips before placing them over their daughter’s name. He held them there for several moments before standing and immediately wrapping his arms around Abby. She felt him shudder as he buried his face in the crook of her neck.

  A heartbeat passed before she returned his embrace. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about her,” Abby whispered. “If I could go back . . .”

  He took a deep breath and released her. Tears flowed unchecked down his cheeks. “I know.”

  For the first time, she wondered if maybe they would get through this eventually. She knew it would take time for him to forgive her, but Abby could handle that. Heaven knew it had taken her a long time to forgive herself—to admit that maybe, just maybe she hadn’t done anything wrong—that Kaylee’s death hadn’t been her fault somehow.

  Several more minutes passed before he wiped the moisture from his cheeks and turned to leave as suddenly as he’d hugged her.

  She followed him out, staying a few steps behind.

  When he reached the sidewalk in front of the cemetery, Chris turned to the right.
The subway station was to the left. Abby had no idea where he was going. She considered leaving him to his own devices and heading back to the hotel, but then she remembered how he’d reached for her hand.

  Staying a few steps behind, Abby followed him down the sidewalk. After a while, she wondered if he had a destination in mind or if he was mindlessly taking a stroll through Brooklyn.

  They’d gone several blocks before he turned and walked through a door. She’d fallen a little behind and rushed to catch up. When she entered the small café, she found him seated at a table in the corner.

  “Did you want to be alone?”

  “No.”

  Nodding, she pulled out the chair across from him and sat down.

  Almost immediately, a server approached their table. “What can I get ya?”

  “I’ll take a coffee,” Chris said.

  The woman looked to Abby.

  “The same. Thank you.”

  Chris made no effort to start up a conversation while they waited for their drinks, so Abby sat there and waited. The ball was in his court.

  The server placed their coffees in front of them along with a few little packets of sugar and some half-and-half. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

  Abby took two of the sugar packets, ripped them open, and dumped them into her coffee. All the while, Chris made no move to add sugar or cream to his. Instead, he rotated the ceramic mug between his fingers several times, appearing deep in thought.

  “I’d like copies of the pictures you have,” he said without looking up.

  “Of course.”

  He took a sip of his coffee and stared out the window. “Are things between you and Trent serious?”

  Abby almost choked on her drink. Hot coffee went flying from her mouth and onto the table in front of her.

  Chris handed her a napkin. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. Sorry.” She used the time it took to clean up the mess to try and figure out how best to answer his original question. Out of all the questions she thought he’d ask her, that hadn’t been near the top of her list. She’d been sure he’d ask about Kaylee or even her life in New York, not her relationship with Trent. Although, now that she thought about it, she shouldn’t have been surprised. “I don’t know. We haven’t been seeing each other that long.”