“I’d like that,” I admit, wiping at the wetness on my face.
“Me too, Stunner, me too.”
2
BEAU
ONE MONTH LATER
“You know if you’re not careful, your face will stay like that?” my brother Lake says, grinning like a fool as I scowl at my phone.
“Mind your business,” I bark and he laughs, my brother completely unfazed by my mood. There was a time when everyone thought we were twins, with our dark hair and broad shoulders inherited from our father. And while the resemblance is obvious, he’s keen to point out how much older I look these days.
I like to remind him that he’s the reason for the stress lines on my forehead.
“Trouble in paradise?” he teases and I narrow my eyes. I’m not a big sharer, and even if I wanted to, I know that Indie hasn’t told Lake’s girlfriend, Pen, about the baby. That had surprised me considering they’re friends from college and the reason we’d met in the first place.
“No, she’s just making things difficult.”
Lake snorts butdifficultwould be an understatement.
Indie Violet Kade is trying to see how fast she can turn my hair gray. She’ll fit right in with my family…if I can just get her here.
I’d been unprepared for the enormity of the weekend when she told me she’s pregnant. It was easily the scariest and best fucking time of my life.
We’re having a baby.
I’d never heard a sweeter phrase.
But then I watched the pregnancy ravage her small frame, and I’d never felt more helpless in my life.Morning sicknessis a misleading term because she threw up well into the night. I’d run out to the store and damn near cleared out the entire aisle of any and all things I thought might make her feel better. And then I carried her to bed, pressing a cool washcloth to her forehead like my mother used to do when we were sick.
She’d fallen asleep in my arms but I stayed up, reading every article I could find related to pregnancy and what to expect.
It’s a lot and the list of things that could go wrong is endless. And she was right when she said we barely knew each other. But that didn’t change the bone-deep need in me to protect and care for her—for our baby.
My sister, Wren, is the only one that knows and it’s killing me to keep this from my family.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Lake asks, schooling his expression as he turns fully toward me. He’s the second oldest after me, followed by Wren and Jesse, and while Wren looks like our mother, my brothers and I took after our father.
“No, it’s fine.”It will be fine.“I just need her to…make a decision about something,” I growl, shoving my phone back into my pocket and looking at my brother. He’s clearly not convinced if the way his brows are furrowed is any indication, but that’s not my problem.
I’d offered that first weekend to move to her and find work so she could keep her job and doctors, but she’d been adamant she didn’t want that. My family is in Wintervale and so is Pen. She said it didn’t make sense for me to move to Bozeman.
But didn’t she just buy into a partnership at the salon? She’s been cagey about the topic since she told me she was pregnant, and I’m ashamed to say I haven’t pushed, because I’d been excited when Indie agreed to move to Wintervale. But so far, those had only been words. She’s been fighting me on setting an actual date to pack and get settled here, and the longer it takes, the more unbearable I become. And what’s worse is I can’t help feeling like she’s keeping something from me.
But aside from carrying my child, what else could she possibly try to hide?
“Well, if you’re done withwhatever is going on that you don’t want to talk about,I need you to help me clean out the back corner of the barn. Dad wants to get all the equipment moved out of the old one so we can start the expansion Pen and Harlan mapped out.”
“Sure,” I say with a nod as I send up a little prayer for something to do that will take my mind off everything with Indie.
“Cool, but listen,” he says, and I do my best not to scowl because he just can’t let it go, “if you ever need to talk I’m here.”
“I know.”
“I’m just saying.”
“Can we be done now?” I ask. This time I have no chance of hiding the gruffness. I’m exhausted both with my brother and the unknown surrounding Indie and the baby.
