A Devoted Heart (The Heart's Temptation Series Book 2)

by Genevieve Matthews

  Chapter Eighteen

  Cate

  I told Bree that I was on babysitting duty when she went into labor. I need to snag any opportunity I can to spend time with Sam. It’s already past his bedtime when Brogan and I pull up about twenty minutes after I got the call from Bree.

  Bree is sitting on an exercise ball, holding onto a chair when we walk into their house.

  “God I’m glad you’re here,” she says. She immediately stands up and walks toward the door. “Give me a hug and then we’re on our way to the hospital.”

  “Good luck,” I say as we hug tightly.

  I move right over to Bree’s husband, Heath, and give him a tight squeeze as well. I can tell he’s nervous and impatient to get to the hospital, too.

  “Sam’s already in bed, asleep. He should sleep through the night, but he’ll call for you if he needs you for anything,” Heath says.

  “Don’t worry about a thing, we’ve got it under control. Give me a call when you have any news,” I say as I usher them toward the door. “Oh, and Heath…this is Brogan. I know you haven’t met yet, but there’ll be more time for that later.”

  “Nice to meet you,” He says as he extends his hand. “Bree has told me a lot about you. We’ll all have to get together once things settle down.”

  The guys shake hands and then Bree is leaning over against the wall as another contraction hits.

  “Let’s go!” She says as soon as the contraction passes. I don’t envy her at all right now.

  I shut the door quickly behind them. I really don’t want to witness another contraction but it is good birth control for me. Damn it looks painful.

  “This is a really nice place,” Brogan says as he takes off his shoes and gives himself a tour.

  “It’s gorgeous. Have you met Jack? The owner of Jack’s Bar and Grill?”

  “Yes, I did meet him. Very cool guy. I stopped in for a drink one afternoon and we talked for a while.”

  “Yeah, he’s great. He renovated this place with Heath’s help. Bree lived here when she first moved to Winterhaven and Heath moved in with her shortly after. They bought it from Jack and the rest is history.”

  “Now I have a hook-up if I need some help when I find a place around town.”

  “Definitely. Heath runs his own construction business now. He’s very talented.”

  “He’s very talented, huh?” Brogan walks back over to me and pulls me close. “It sounds like you really like this guy.”

  “Are you jealous?”

  “Jealous? Absolutely. I’m talented too, you know.” He leans down and gives me a soft, sensual kiss.

  After he pulls away and I have a chance to shake off the lust daze I reply, “You certainly are talented. But there’s really not much we can do about that right now.”

  “No? But Sam’s asleep.”

  “Yes, but what if he wakes up and wanders out here for a drink of water? I’m not going to be the one to scar that little cutie for life.”

  “Good point,” he says while leaning down to plant multiple kisses on my lips again. “I’ve waited this long, what’s another night?”

  I can’t help but smile at that thought. If he’s been waiting a long time then I’ve been waiting an eternity. The difference between Brogan and me is that he has always found someone to scratch the itch for him. Me? I’ve tried to distract myself with other guys but my heart holds tight to what it wants.

  “We can continue our sofa movie-date if you’re interested,” I say.

  “Absolutely. But if you’re still anything like you were when we were younger, I’m putting money on you falling asleep before the movie is over.”

  “You will most likely, one-hundred percent win that bet. It has been a really long, eventful day. I’ll most likely pass out within the first fifteen minutes. So on that note, why don’t you pick the movie tonight?”

  He laughs and heads over to the sofa. “Deal.”

  I hear a faint beeping sound but I can’t seem to place what it is or where it’s coming from. I’m so tired that I decide to leave the beeping and hope that it goes away.

  Moments later my entire body shifts and I wake up to Brogan reaching for my phone on the coffee table.

  “Phone call,” he says as he hands me my phone and relaxes back into the couch.

  I force my eyes to focus and look at the screen. It’s actually a text and any hint of sleep is instantly gone when I realize that it’s a picture of Bree holding a little baby. I shoot up on the couch and quickly press my thumb to the phone to unlock it.

  Bree looks tired but happy, holding a tiny little bundle in her arms. Under the picture it reads, “Leo James, born at 1:29 a.m. Weighing 7 pounds 5 ounces.”

  “It’s a boy!” I say to Brogan as I smack him. “Look!”

  I hand him the phone and jump off of the couch.

  “Wow, he’s so little,” Brogan says.

  “Yeah, thank goodness! I can’t imagine what it would be like to push something even bigger out of my hoo-ha.”

  “Nice,” he says sarcastically and hands me back my phone.

  I quickly reply with a very animated “Congratulations!” and also ask if I can bring Sam to see the baby when he wakes up.

  Brogan is sitting up on the couch now and he looks exactly how I would feel if I weren’t so excited about the latest little addition to our family.

  “Man, I’m getting old. It gets harder and harder to function when I haven’t had enough sleep.”

  “Well you can go back to sleep, there’s no rush.”

  “I have to be at practice this morning.”

  “Oh, bummer.” I was really hoping he’d be able to come see the baby with me and we could spend some more time together.

  “What are you doing later?”

  “I have to take care of Sam until Bree and Heath come home. So I’ll definitely be here with him today and tonight again.”

  “Okay, well some of my football buddies are coming into town tomorrow night. Do you think you’ll be free to go out to dinner with us?”

  “I’ll check with Bree today but I would think that would work.”

  “Awesome.” He gives me a playful smile before walking to the bathroom.

  While he’s gone I tiptoe back to Sam’s room and very gently push open his door, just a crack, to see if he’s still sleeping. He’s sleeping completely sideways in his bed with his little feet sticking out the side. No movement yet. I slowly tiptoe backwards from the door.

  In the kitchen, I pull out all of the supplies I’ll need to whip up some pancakes this morning. I find Sam’s Thomas the Train plate and matching cup and set it out at the kitchen table.

  Then I get to work measuring out the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Once that’s mixed I add the milk, eggs, and butter to the center and stir it all together. I find the syrup in the cupboard and pull out some strawberries from the refrigerator.

  “Wow, what a treat. I have a feeling this isn’t for my benefit, though.” Brogan has joined me in the kitchen and is standing, marveling at my progress with breakfast since he left for a shower.

  “It’s for both of your benefits. I’m happy to make you a plate of pancakes as well, if you’d like.”

  “I’m not going to pass this up. It’s not every day I get pancakes for breakfast.”

  I’m adding the first spoonfuls of batter to the pan when I hear a little voice say, “Auntie Cate!”

  We both turn to see Sam standing in the kitchen, barefoot in his tight, little, train-engine pajamas. His hair is messy and he has his favorite brown bear by one arm, dragging him along behind him.

  “Good morning, Sammie!” I scoop him up and give him a big hug and kiss. He noticed Brogan right away and hasn’t stopped staring. “Sammie this is Auntie’s friend, Brogan.”

  “He’s so big,” Sam says. He tucks his little head under mine.

  “You know how I got so big, Sammie?” Brogan says. “I ate a good breakfast of pancakes and strawberries. You wanna come sit
with me at the table while Catey fixes us some pancakes?”

  Brogan immediately puts Sam at ease. He’s acting shy, but he has a big smile on his face that tells me he’s about to soften at any moment. He nods his head in agreement and lets Brogan lift him out of my arms.

  He carries him over to the table and I find myself fantasizing about having this life with Brogan. I love the way he looks carrying this little pajama-clad person in his arms.

  I quickly check the pancake that’s cooking on the pan and flip it. It’s not quite as brown as I’d like, but the first one in the pan never is. Brogan is asking Sam about his favorite shows and then as quickly as that conversation started, it switches to playing outside and Sam’s really cool construction trucks.

  He jumps up from the table and runs out of the room.

  “Sam, where are you going?” I call after him, but he’s long gone.

  “I think he wants to bring out some of his trucks to show me,” Brogan says.

  “Well he sure warmed to you quickly!” I cut up the first pancake on Sam’s plate and set it on the table. The next one is already cooking in the pan.

  “This is my front loader, dump truck and excavator,” Sam says. He’s carrying three trucks into the kitchen, somehow managing to hold them all and also looking like he’ll drop all three at any moment. One drops on the floor while he clunks the other two on the table.

  “Hey, little man, eat your pancake while it’s warm,” I say.

  He doesn’t answer but picks up his fork and stuffs the first bite in his mouth. He pushed the dump truck over to Brogan. “You can be this one and I’ll be this one,” he says as he puts the excavator in front of himself.

  I finish some more pancakes and put them out on the table for the boys. After I eat a few pancakes and strawberries myself, I leave the boys to play while I head to the bathroom for a shower.

  “Hey, Sam, when I’m done in the shower we’re going to go visit your mom and dad at the hospital, okay?”

  “Okay!” He says. Again, he doesn’t stop what he’s doing, but at least I’ve planted the seed that we’ll be leaving soon.

  “I can get him dressed and ready,” Brogan says.

  “That would be awesome.”

  He picks Sam up and tosses him over his shoulder. “Come on, Sammie, let’s go pick out some clothes.”

  Sam is laughing and his face is filled with complete joy as Brogan carries him toward his bedroom to get ready. Brogan catches my eye and winks as they disappear down the hallway.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Cate

  Sam and I stop at the store before we go to the hospital. He picks out a small rattle for his baby brother that we wrap and put in a little gift bag.

  Brogan had to leave to make it to football practice on time and Sam seemed really disappointed about that. They really hit it off this morning over pancakes and construction trucks.

  He quickly became distracted with the excitement of meeting his new baby brother for the first time. I let him push the buttons in the elevator to take us to the correct floor and we pretend we’re ninjas as we sneak quietly through the hallways together, looking for the right room.

  When we finally find the right spot, I pick up Sam and we walk quietly into the room. Bree’s face lights up when she sees Sam. He’s acting really shy all of a sudden and clings to me like a monkey when I go to set him down.

  Bree is holding Leo so I walk over to the bed and set Sam down. He snuggles right up to Bree and peeks at the baby. She smiles at me as I lean in and kiss her on the cheek.

  “Congratulations,” I say.

  “Thanks. He’s the sweetest little guy.” She looks so tired, but there’s no hiding the glow of pure joy radiating off of her face.

  “This is your little baby brother, Sammy,” Bree says.

  He’s smiling shyly but looks so pleased as he looks at his little brother.

  “He’s so little, isn’t he?” I say.

  “Uh huh,” Sam replies. “Where’s daddy?”

  “He went to get something to eat. He’ll be back really soon. He’s going to be so excited to see you! He’s been so lonesome for you,” Bree says as she wraps her arm around Sam and pulls him into a close hug.

  While Bree is snuggling both of her little boys, I pull out my phone and snap a picture to capture the moment. I feel like I’m intruding on this special family bonding time, but looking at the adoration on Bree’s face touches my heart.

  For the first time I find myself thinking that this is exactly what I’m missing in my life. I’ve been on hold for a while, filling time with random men who were never going to mean more to me than what one night could give.

  Heath walks in carrying a tray of food from the cafeteria. “Hey, little buddy!” he says to Sam. He sets the food down on the small table in the corner of the room and walks over to the bed. Sam is up and jumps up into his arms.

  “What do you think of your little brother?” he asks.

  “Good,” Sam says.

  We all laugh at his response but quickly stop when Leo starts to squawk. Bree shushes him with gentle bounces and he quickly quiets back down.

  “Okay, I feel like I’ve waited long enough. Can I hold that baby now or what?” I ask.

  “Of course,” Bree says.

  I very carefully put one hand under his head and use my other arm to scoop up his little body. I rearrange his blanket as I tuck him into my arms. He’s still sound asleep and his tiny little mouth is hanging open in the cutest of ways. I slowly walk him around the room, enjoying the calm that comes with holding a sleeping baby.

  “Brogan’s in trouble, isn’t he?” Heath says.

  I answer with a smile. I don’t really even know how we would classify our relationship at this point, much less adding conversations about a family and what he sees for our future.

  “He is in trouble. It’s a matter of when he figures that out,” Bree says.

  We spend the afternoon with Bree, Heath and Leo. Eventually everyone is tired so we say our goodbyes and I take Sam home. I’m staying with him again until tomorrow when they’ll bring Leo home from the hospital.

  I get him a snack when we get back to his house and turn on a movie for us to watch. A little while later there’s a knock on the door and I get up to let my mom in. She has a bag of groceries that I take out of her hands and walk into the kitchen.

  “Greta!” Sam says as he runs over to her and crashes into her legs for a hug.

  “Hi, little peanut!” she says. She picks him up and walks him back into the living room. “Are you guys watching a movie?”

  “Uh huh,” he says.

  “Wow! You’re so lucky. Well I brought some things so we could make you a really yummy dinner tonight. Does that sound good?”

  “Yeah!”

  “I may have even brought the ingredients so you can help me make chocolate chip cookies.”

  “Chocolate chip cookies! Yes!” He jumps up and down on the couch to show how excited he is.

  “How about you finish watching the movie while Cate and I start making dinner.”

  “Okay,” he answers but doesn’t need any convincing, his focus already shifted back to the television screen.

  “Thanks for inviting me over tonight,” Greta says as she walks into the kitchen. I’ve already poured us each a glass of wine.

  “Of course. Sam loves seeing you and I appreciate the help. What are we fixing tonight for dinner?”

  “Creamy chicken-and-broccoli casserole. One of your favorites from when you were little. And of course all of the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies. I thought we could make a double-batch and put one in the freezer for when Bree and Heath come home with the baby. It’s always nice to have dinners ready to go.”

  “That’s a great idea.”

  I’m unpacking all of the groceries from the bag when my phone dings. I grab it off the counter and check the text.

  Brogan: How did everything go today?

  Me: Great! I snuggled
a sweet little baby all afternoon.

  Brogan: Fun! I’d be afraid I’d break someone that tiny.

  Me: They are fragile. How was practice?

  Brogan: Good. I miss you.

  Me: I miss you, too.

  Brogan: You’ll be free tomorrow night?

  Me: Yes.

  Brogan: Dinner date?

  Me: Yes. :)

  Brogan: Sleep tight, beautiful.

  Me: Sleep tight. Looking forward to tomorrow.

  Brogan: Me, too.

  “I don’t even have to ask who that is,” Greta says.

  “What?”

  “You look like your face might crack you’re smiling so big.”

  “Mom.”

  “What? There’s only one boy who has ever had that effect on you and now he very conveniently ended up in Winterhaven.”

  “He came to coach the football team.”

  “He came to be by you and lick his wounds. You’re always there when he’s down and out. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he happened to show up here right after his football career ended.”

  “So you think he’s using me until he’s back on top?”

  “No, honey, I don’t think he’s using you. I think he needs you more than he has ever needed anyone in his life. I question whether he thinks about how his actions impact your life or if he’s always thinking about what he needs in his.”

  I take a deep breath and a big swallow of wine. I can always count on my mom to be honest. Too honest? Yes. Does it keep me grounded? Yes. Does it make me want to stomp into my bedroom and slam the door? Absolutely.

  “So what do you suggest I do?” She’s already busy taking out a pot to boil water for the rice and grabbing a mixing bowl to stir all of the ingredients of the casserole together. I would help but until she tells me what to measure I’m at a loss and the recipe is all in her head.

  “You need to have a conversation about what this relationship means to you and find out what it means to him. Because if he’s not interested in being with you, he needs to tell you so you can move on with your life. At some point, something needs to happen between you. I mean, it would be fine if you were both just friends, but I know it means a lot more than that to you. Not to mention I want grandchildren of my own for heaven’s sake, and you’re not getting any younger.”