by Quinn, Taryn
When he was done with that, he disappeared. I figured that would be the last of him. Nope. He came back with a light lunch that wouldn’t be too heavy in the heat and a large reusable cup full of lemonade.
And he didn’t say a word.
The longer he worked, the harder it was to stay mad at him.
He forced me to take breaks. Hell, he even walked me over to the café to sit down in the air conditioning. He even hovered over me, worrying a bit. Then again, I was getting used to that. August was the same in that regard.
Each time Rory finished a thing on my to-do list, I gave him another and he completed it without complaint.
The sun was well past midday when my brother showed up. He climbed into the truck, his shoulders filling the space. His eyes widened as he took in the mostly finished truck. “Guess you don’t need me.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Rory. Paint dotted his cargo shorts and probably very expensive polo shirt. He even had a streak of chalk paint across his forehead. I had to force myself not to laugh.
I turned back to my brother. “I’m assuming you were the one to tell him where I was yesterday?”
August crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re lucky I didn’t pull his legs off.”
Rory cleared his throat. “Your brother may have left a little detail out before sending me to you yesterday.”
I pointed an accusing finger at him. “Wouldn’t have been an issue if you’d contacted me like I asked, now would it?”
Rory’s molars snapped together and he looked down at his feet.
I folded my arms. “Evidently, I have a slave. For today anyway.”
“I’ll be here as long as you need me.”
I didn’t turn to acknowledge Rory’s words. I didn’t want to fight with him in front of my brother. I was tired and sweaty and so very ready to go home and take a cool shower and fall on my face.
Unfortunately, I also had a shift at the diner to deal with.
“I appreciate you taking a shift, Aug, but I think we’re good for the day.” Me. I was good for the day. Where the hell had the we come from?
And I knew my brother had caught the pronoun since his eyebrow spiked and his gaze narrowed. I stalked toward him and pushed him back outside.
Thankfully, Rory didn’t follow me. He was probably still worried about losing a limb.
I didn’t mind him living in fear.
“I can’t believe you.”
“I tried to stay up and talk to you last night.”
“It was already too late. You sicced him on me without any warning.”
“Actually, it was more for him to catch a frigging clue. And you know he needed to know. I can’t believe you didn’t tell him.”
“I tried,” I whispered furiously.
“Yeah, well, you didn’t let me in on that particular detail. I thought the fucker knew.”
“It’s none of your business.”
The quick flash of hurt in my brother’s eyes made me wince. He’d been nothing but amazing since I’d figured out I was pregnant. Kinleigh and August had even both been with me for my first few doctor’s appointments.
“I’m sorry.”
He waved me off. “Don’t worry about it. It’s been a helluva day.” He raked his hands through his hair. “Is he bothering you? I can get rid of him.”
“No.”
Aug’s eyebrows shot up. “Quick to forgive.”
“There’s no forgiving because there’s no us.” My chest tightened even saying it, but it was the truth. There was barely anything between us other than sex and a baby.
Liar.
I folded my arms over my little bump and lifted my chin at my brother.
He huffed out a breath. “Look, the guy came to the house and was distraught.”
My mouth dropped open. “Are you defending him?”
“Jesus, no. Just…well, don’t write him off completely. He hasn’t had any time to figure this out yet.”
“I can’t believe you. You were just willing to castrate him if I asked you to.”
“And I still would. The fact that he touched you is enough for me to kill him.”
“August, you’re not my dad. I have one of those.” One who wasn’t exactly speaking to me right now. I’d told my folks and they were supportive under duress. My dad was disappointed though. He didn’t exactly say it, but it was pretty apparent since he left the room every time I came home.
This baby was supposed to be a happy thing. And nothing really made sense. I’d been prepared to do this alone all along, but now I just wasn’t sure. Unfortunately, Rory being an inadvertent sperm donor didn’t mean he was automatically cut out to be a father. No matter how much I wished it to be so.
It wasn’t like I hadn’t known that from the jump.
Everything felt different now that the reality was upon me. The shocked look on his face, the furtive glances all day. The worst part was the determination in his eyes.
Hope was not my friend.
August snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Earth to Ivy.”
I smacked his hand away. “I have a lot on my mind. I just want to get this truck done. That’s all I can concentrate on right now.”
“Does he know that?”
I looked over my shoulder at Rory blatantly listening in the doorway. “What do you think?”
August’s gaze crashed into Rory’s. “Say the word and I’ll make sure no one finds the body.”
I dropped my arms and moved to my brother. “Thanks, Aug.”
He hugged me with a sigh. “I’ll see you tonight?”
“After my shift.”
“Text me if you need anything.”
I stepped back. “I will.”
With a curt nod, he headed back across the street to his store.
I turned back to Rory, who was gripping the edges of the doorway. “He was kidding, right?”
“About which part?”
He swallowed. “The body.”
“No.” I brushed by him to grab my purse. “I have to lock up.”
“All right. Do you have any cling wrap?”
I looped my strap over my shoulder. “What? Why?”
“Keeps the brush wet.”
“Why don’t you just wash it?”
“Because you’re obviously in a rush. And I have to finish the other doors tomorrow.” He closed the paint can with deliberate taps from a hammer.
“So, you have painted before?” I would not concentrate on the part where he said he’d be back the next day.
He shrugged. “My ma likes a tidy house. I’ve painted my fair share of shutters and walls for sure.”
“Right, well, that’s good. I have to go to work.”
“Now? You’ve been working in this heat all day.”
“Actually, you haven’t let me do too much, but I still need to pay my bills.”
“No, you don’t. You have me.”
The fact that he was still so blind made me want to rip my hair out. “I really don’t.” The stricken look on his face almost stopped me. “Goodnight, Rory.”
“I’ll be here tomorrow.”
I didn’t reply. What could I say? I just needed to get away from him. I’d used up a lifetime of tears on him already. “Lock up before you leave. I’m going to be late.”
At the diner, I’d be too busy to think about us. Thank God.
Counting on him was too dangerous. For my baby and me.
I needed to remember that.
Twenty-Two
I was going to be a father.
Me. The guy who’d killed a plant labeled “basically indestructible.”
The last day was basically a haze in my mind. I’d had more than twenty-four hours to come to terms with the idea yet I was still wandering around like a zombie. I could walk and carry on a semblance of a conversation, but my head was abuzz with white noise and panicked shouts that amounted to little more than…
Holy fucking shit.
After seeing
Ivy at her truck and getting the news—and an almost concussion from attempted homicide via vase—I’d driven around for hours in a stupor. I’d stopped in some pinprick-sized town and had waffles at a no name diner. They hadn’t had any taste and the texture had been like sandpaper, but that probably had more to do with my mental state than the quality of the food.
Then I’d driven to the nearest city and found a club. I was desperate for music. For something to fill my head that wasn’t those same panicked shouts.
Turned out the hysteria was better, since the music had been terrible techno crap and I’d snapped at every woman who had dared to approach me. I’d gotten down half a Guinness before I found my way to the door.
I almost called my mum. Almost called Ian. Hell, even Kellan with his gruff amusement or Flynn with his no-nonsense views on life might’ve helped me set my head back on straight.
In the end, I sneaked back into the bed and breakfast where I’d yet again booked a room and darted up the stairs like an escaped convict. If Sage had asked me more probing, borderline inappropriate questions, I would’ve broken like a burnt cookie. She would’ve heard all about how the needs of my loins had led me to early fatherhood with a woman who now thought I was equivalent to sewer sludge.
I didn’t blame Ivy for thinking the way she did. I hadn’t replied to her calls because of my own hang-ups. She’d wanted to tell me so we could handle the situation maturely.
Meanwhile, I’d hidden my head under the pillows to avoid finding out she’d dumped me for some guy named Ax who could’ve taken down her hulking brother without batting a…deltoid.
Sleeping off my misery was all I could do.
I’d gone to Ivy’s truck this morning full of resolve. I would help Ivy ready it for her opening day, which I gathered was soon. I would show her I could be depended on, despite my previous track record.
Sure, she knew me as the guy who rolled into town for sex and good times then rolled back out with little contact, but I had another side to me. I could be counted on.
Lo and behold, doing a day of backbreaking painting and cleaning tasks had proven shit to her. She said goodbye to me as if it would be the last one—and I wasn’t even sure she’d mind.
I suspected she had feelings for me. She’d enjoyed having sex with me at the very least, which was the source of our troubles. We’d enjoyed it a little too much and too often.
Already I wanted to get my hands on her again. It made me a caveman. A pig. I had no right to want to explore her new curves with my tongue. Yet I did. Even though I had not one clue what to do about the baby, I still wanted to be with Ivy and figure it all out on a path strewn with orgasms.
Good luck there, boyo.
I drove away from my first day helping Ivy with her truck feeling dejected. Probably rejected too. I understood she had a higher responsibility to someone other than herself now, but God, that only made me want her more.
That was my child she was fighting to protect.
My child she cared about more than her own needs—assuming she still had some in my direction.
All right, caveman, cool it. It’s her child too.
Our baby she was working so hard to provide for.
If she thought shoving a paintbrush in my hand was enough to drive me back to California, she was sorely mistaken. I was only digging in my heels more.
I didn’t have one clue how to be a parent to a child. But others did it every day. Including people I never would’ve guessed would have wanted that role so soon in life.
Not everything occurred on schedules. Sometimes timetables were moved up and you had to deal.
So, I could learn too. On the fly if need be. And I was heading out right now for some on-the-job training.
Oddly, I wasn’t in the mood for music. I could count on one hand the times I could’ve said that. Even after Darla, I’d filled my world with sound so I could try to forget.
With Ivy, I’d quickly realized no wall of words and melodies could drown her out inside me.
I didn’t want them to.
It took me the better part of an hour to reach Happy Acres. I’d taken a meandering route on purpose. I didn’t know exactly how to tell Ian what I’d done. What we’d done. I’d given him so much grief about knocking up Zoe shortly after they’d gotten back together, but he’d been so certain.
When you know, you know. And too fast doesn’t exist.
I understood now what he meant and that scared me fucking senseless. Even the baby thing, while unexpected, didn’t seem out of place. I didn’t know the first thing what to do with a kid, but all of our timetables had been on hyper-speed since day one. Why should this be any different?
That didn’t mean I was going to tell Ian he was right. He was arrogant enough already. I’d just slide in and observe what worked best with Zoe in her maternal state. I needed help.
Lots and lots of tips.
I pulled up the gravel driveway that led to the huge parking lot closest to the main store. I made myself get right out because it would’ve been too easy to sit in that relentless sun, ruminating. Trying to come up with a plan of attack for how to tell Ian and still not look like a jackass without a clue. But being with Ivy had taught me sometimes spur-of-the-moment was best.
School was newly out for summer, so the place was teeming with parents and children. So many little ones. All crying and yelling and laughing and wanting things. Piggyback rides—I could handle that—and cotton candy—still okay—and a turn on the pony—say what?
Then there were bathroom requests and petty squabbles with siblings, which I’d had my own fair share of as a child. My da hadn’t put up with backtalk, however, and these children seemed born to backtalk.
Would mine be that way? Probably. I wasn’t exactly the conformist type myself.
I finally made it through the crowd and opened the front door to the store. I’d assumed I would have to go looking for Ian and Zoe.
No, sirree. They were holding court right on the main floor.
Zoe stomped past me, her silver braid flying. She didn’t even notice me in her annoyance. “Did I not tell you I didn’t want to talk right now? Go away.”
Ian didn’t look my way either as he followed. “You know better than getting up on that ladder, Magic. If I hadn’t been there, you could’ve fallen and—”
“I didn’t fall until you startled me with your shrieking about my tendency to fall. Pain in the as—” She broke off and cleared her throat, apparently recalling children were nearby. “Rear that you are.” She whirled and gave him a shove not befitting two happily engaged parents-to-be.
Then I saw the sparkler on her hand and was nearly permanently blinded.
“My God, you finally manned up.”
Neither of them appeared to hear me. I hadn’t spoken very loudly. The place was full of customers and everyone was laughing, talking, and generally making noise. So, I tried again.
“I did it to Ivy.”
It was probably my imagination that all conversation ceased. That couldn’t have been possible. But it definitely lessened in our little area.
Ian and Zoe stopped squabbling and stared at me. Ian grinned widely, then frowned as if he’d just fully heard what I’d said.
“You did what, exactly, to Ivy?”
My powers of speech had vanished. In lieu of them, I pointed at Zoe. More precisely, Zoe’s belly.
They both looked down at her bump and then back at me with twin horrified expressions. I couldn’t help it. I started to laugh.
If it sounded a little hysterical, that was probably due to imminent heat stroke.
“Can you get him some tea?” Ian asked Zoe, already moving toward me.
“With a shot of brandy.”
Zoe nodded, eagerly scurrying away.
“Make that two shots,” Ian called after her. He turned back to me and hauled me in for one of his standard bear hugs.
Ian Kagan didn’t do anything halfway, and that included greeting someone. Did
n’t matter if it had been a day or two months since the last time. His difficult home environment had left some lasting scars, and he didn’t take anything for granted.
Unlike me, he’d evolved from what he’d come from. Me? I’d made mountains from tiny piles of rice.
My parents were good people. Quiet, stoic, and sometimes uncommunicative and undemonstrative, yes. But I couldn’t keep blaming them for everything. They’d done the best they knew how to do, as we all did.
And yes, Darla had fucked me over, as had my former friend. None of that mattered now. I couldn’t keep using them as excuses for why I shoved people away and painted everyone with the same negative hues.
Ian held on for longer than normal, patting my back as he moved back. Then he smacked my cheeks. “You doing okay? You’re still upright. That’s a good sign.”
“I’m fine. Just fine.” I wobbled a little on my feet, only partially affecting the stumble.
Ian laughed and gestured toward the little café area off to one side. “Zoe’s handling the drinks, so let’s sit.”
I sat. It was a relief to have something steady beneath me again.
“I’d ask how you are, but that’s probably redundant.” Ian sat forward in his chair and stretched out his long legs. “Is that why you went right to Ivy from home?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t know until I…saw her.”
God, that first glimpse of her would never leave my mind. So proud and defiant and beautiful, that was my Ivy. If need be, she’d take on the world alone. And she’d win, because who would dare tell her no?
“She didn’t tell you?”
“She tried. She called. Left messages.”
“And you didn’t reply to them?” Ian stared hard at me, then shook his head with a sigh. “Worse, you didn’t even listen to them, did you?”
I scrubbed my hands over my face. “It’s complicated.”
“Maybe the baby isn’t yours?”
I dropped my hands and narrowed my eyes. “You better watch your mouth, arsehole.”
Ian laughed and sat back. “Just proving a point, mate. So, if the baby is yours—”
