“You could have done it on your own.”
“Not after you left me with no choice but to hand it over,” Dylan pointed out as she made her way down the line.
“You had other options,” Brooke said as they came to the end of the table.
“Like selling it to you?” Dylan asked, placing her plate down so that she could face her sister.
“For one,” Brooke murmured absently as she considered her. “But now you have nothing.”
“I have everything I want,” Dylan said, and it was all because of the woman watching her with something close to pity.
If it hadn’t been for Brooke, she never would have married Quinn, never would have realized that she was still in love with him, or had a beautiful baby on the way, and she never would have figured out what she really wanted.
She always thought that her dream was to renovate old houses, but now, thanks to Brooke, she’d realized that she was in over her head with Blackwood Manor. She never would havebeen able to keep up with everything that came with renovating a historical house, but she could do something else.
A few months ago, she started designing “mock” historical homes. She took everything that she’d learned about historical houses over the years, used what she’d learned while working at B.T. Construction designing luxury houses and figured out a way to combine the two. She came up with designs for modern houses that looked historical, with all the modern amenities seamlessly blended into the design.
After her first design was done, Dylan designed a website for her designs, created a digital mock-up of the house, allowing users to take a realistic tour of the house, and placed it online. She’d sent the link to a few local realtors that she knew and within a week, she had an offer. Two weeks later, she deposited her first check in the account she’d set up to pay Quinn back for Blackwood Manor, and now, she had a thriving business, one that she hadn’t told her husband about yet. She wanted to wait until after he finished Blackwood Manor so that she could surprise him.
“Quinn’s about to be out of a job, which means that you are too, since I won’t be needing your services anymore and he won’t be able to afford them,” Brooke said, looking bored as she scanned the room.
“He can start his own business,” Dylan pointed out.
“With what? Last time I checked, he owed B.T. Construction a little over four hundred thousand dollars for Blackwood Manor,” Brooke said as Dylan mentally calculated how many designs she’d have to sell to cover that and realized that she’d have the money by next year.
That’s if everything went according to plan.
“Besides, I don’t think he’s interested in B.T. Construction anymore,” Brooke said with a pointed look that had Dylanfrowning as she followed her sister’s gaze only to forget how to breathe when she saw him.
She always thought that he was handsome, but tonight…
God, there were no words, Dylan thought, unable to look away as she ran her eyes over her husband and couldn’t help but notice how good he looked in a suit. She watched as he made his way around the room, greeting a few cousins and uncles along the way before he made his way to their parents and-
“He’s given up,” Brooke said, making her frown as she looked back at her sister to find her watching her with something close to pity.
“What makes you say that?” Dylan asked, stepping out of the way for a server carrying a tray of glasses.
“Because he spends most of his time at Blackwood Manor,” Brooke said, shrugging it off as she helped herself to a glass of champagne from a passing waiter.
“He still does his job,” Dylan pointed out.
“True, but he’s lost interest,” Brooke said, taking a sip of champagne as she glanced around the room and-
“Or he’s found something more interesting to focus on,” came the softly murmured words as Dylan felt Quinn’s hand wrap around hers before he led her to the other side of the room.
Without another word, he leaned down and kissed her forehead as she felt him slide something on her finger. Before she could say anything, he gave her an achingly sweet kiss that left her melting before he stepped behind her and pulled her into his arms, his right hand absently caressing the soft swell of her belly through her dress while Dylan stood there, watching their mothers’ expressions go from confused to-
Calculating.
CHAPTER 23
“Why did you do that?” Dylan asked hollowly as he pulled her onto the dance floor.
“To end this,” Quinn said, pulling her into his arms.
“You do realize that Brooke is going to take this as a personal challenge to make our lives a living hell, right?” Dylan asked, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she glanced back at her sister.
“She can try,” Quinn said as he leaned down and kissed her, unable to help himself.
