Sweet on You

by Katana Collins

  I chuckled, threading my fingers through hers and tugging her to the front door with a wave to the guards. “That’s a deal.” We walked silently toward the parking lot. “I know my life isn’t easy to fit into, Ronnie. But thank you for trying.”

  Her eyes widened. “Are you kidding me? I always thought I’d be the difficult one in a relationship. It’s nice to meet someone who gives me a run for my money.”

  I bumped her gently with my hip as we crossed the parking lot to her car. “Hey, who says you’re not the difficult one?”

  I paused, turning her to face me and taking her hands. “I need you to know something,” I said. “Sarah and I will never get back together. I’m not in love with her. I don’t know that I ever was in love with her. We were just… companions who shared a similar interest in heroin.”

  Ronnie nodded, her eyes filling with tears. “I think… I think I know that now. But I’m still a little insecure. It might take me some time to feel that trust even though you don’t deserve to have to wait for it—”

  I cupped her jaw. “Hey, that’s what supporting each other is. I will never stop trying to prove myself trustworthy to you.”

  She blinked and a single tear slipped down her cheek. I caught it with the back of my knuckle. “I promise that, even if I lapse and feel insecure, I’ll never stop believing in you.”

  “I’d like to stand here and promise I’ll never touch drugs or alcohol again… but the truth is, that’s a promise I’m not sure I can keep.”

  She dropped her forehead to mine and nodded. “One day at a time, Lex. We’ll take this one day at a time and weather the storms together.”

  I kissed her again, a long, lingering kiss in the middle of a county jail parking lot. It would have been ridiculous, except… it just felt right.

  We finished kissing and I walked her to her car. She paused, turning to face me. “So… now that neither of us is using our savings on bail money… I had a thought about your building…”

  I raised my brows. “I’m not letting you buy that property for me. I can afford it on my own.” I groaned. “Crap, I told Nate last night to list the property.”

  Ronnie’s eyes widened. “Text him now! Tell him to take it off the market.”

  I laughed. “I will in a minute. He made it pretty clear he wouldn’t sell it today. I’m confident he’ll take it off the market for me.”

  She pressed her lips together, looking up at me with sparkling blue eyes. “Well, I was also thinking… that apartment is a bit small for you and a baby, even if you do finish the loft space.”

  “Uh-huh…” I slid my hands around her waist, waiting for her to continue.

  “And I have a three-bedroom house with an exceptionally large kitchen that doesn’t get much use.”

  My heart jumped in my chest. Was she suggesting what I thought she was? “Go on…”

  “You could continue running Latte Da as is and rent out the above apartment for extra income. We might even consider letting Sarah rent the space when she’s out of jail.”

  I grinned, knowing where she was going with this… but she hadn’t actually said the words yet. “And where would Olivia and I live?”

  She blinked slowly, those gorgeous eyes of hers sparkling, and I couldn’t help but wonder what the child I hoped we’d have some day would look like. “You and Liv could move in with me. Olivia could have her own room and you and I won’t have to make out like teenagers on the couch or on an air mattress anymore.”

  I snickered and dropped my lips to her neck. “But… I mean, we could sometimes, right? For old time’s sake?”

  She squealed as I nipped the most sensitive part of her neck and wriggled out of my hold.

  She reached into her purse and handed me her phone. “Okay… call Nate,” she said, bouncing on her toes. “Call Nate and tell him now you want to buy the place.”

  Her excitement was so adorable, I couldn’t not kiss her. But then I looked down at her phone, and my own excitement morphed into nerves when I saw five missed calls on her screen. “Uh, Ronnie?” I handed her the phone and she hissed in a tight breath.

  “Crap. I turned it to silent inside the jail.” Her concern shifted to curiosity. “Huh… it’s my doctor’s office.” She held up a finger and hit the return call button. “Hi, Dr. Stevens. Yes, it’s Ronnie Tripp.”

  She’d barely gotten her name out when she froze and stayed silent for several minutes. Her jaw dropped open and the pink color in her cheeks faded rapidly to a ghostly pallor.

  “You okay?” I whispered and ran my hand down her arm to her hand.

  She shook her head before finally saying, “Yes, I-I understand. Thank you for calling.”

  She hung up and fell back, leaning against her car, not saying a word. “Ronnie? What’s wrong? You’re scaring me.”

  She shook her head. “That was my doctor. They mixed up the urine samples Kandi and I gave the other day… turns out she’s anemic. And I’m… I’m pregnant.”

  I stumbled backwards a couple steps. “You’re pregnant?” I repeated.

  She nodded, still slack-jawed. Warmth spiraled through my body and a smile slowly spread across my face. “You’re pregnant.” Her hand rested on her abdomen and I placed my hand over hers, waiting for her to say something—anything—to give me an indication of whether or not she was happy or sad or terrified or excited or some mixture of everything.

  “Ronnie?” I nudged her after another long moment of silence. “Are you okay?”

  Anything would be better than her silence. It had me squirming and itching. Was she going into full panic mode inside? My heart ached for her. I wanted to tell her I’d be there for her every step of the way. That I wasn’t going to miss a moment of my future child’s life. Never again.

  My stomach was in knots. And just when I thought I was going to pass out from stress… she smiled. Tears fell from her eyes as she bit her bottom lip through her genuine smile, and the knot in my gut unraveled. That smile was like the sun peeking over the lake’s horizon, bringing light and warmth into my world.

  I dropped my forehead to hers, kissing her gently. “I can’t wait to do this from the start this time. With you by my side.”

  37

  Ronnie

  Two Months Later…

  I wasn’t a dainty pregnant woman. Hell, I wasn’t even a dainty non-pregnant woman. The simple white summer dress was tight around my breasts, but hung loose from my ribcage to my shins, hiding the small baby bump I was sporting.

  Callie handed me a bouquet of freshly picked wildflowers from Mom’s backyard that was tied with blue ribbon. She smiled at me, wiggling her eyebrows. “And here I’d always thought I’d be the Tripp sibling getting hitched while I was four months pregnant.”

  I rolled my eyes and smacked her in the butt. As much as I wanted all my girlfriends to be in my wedding party, we didn’t invite that many people to the wedding in the first place—there would have been no one left to watch the ceremony if I’d had them all up front with me. So, Callie was my maid of honor, and my future sisters-in-law, Yvonne and Lydia, were my bridesmaids. Cam and Steve were Lex’s groomsmen. And Tony was his best man. And my baby brother, Noah, was marrying us after getting ordained online.

  My mom poked her head into the master bedroom—her bedroom. She grinned, biting her lip. “They’re here,” she whispered. “Kyra just got back from picking them up at the airport.”

  Butterflies swarmed my stomach. “I’ll be down in a second,” I said. Then, I turned to face Callie, Lydia, and Yvonne. “How do I look?”

  Lydia sniffed and Yvonne swiped at her eyes. “You look perfect,” Lydia said.

  “I still can’t believe you’ve been engaged the shortest amount of time and yet you’re the first to get married of the three of us,” Yvonne laughed.

  Well,” I ran my hand over my growing bump. “Some of us don’t have the gift of time on our hands.” I exhaled. “Okay. Here goes nothing.”

  “Are you sure about doing this b
efore the ceremony?” Callie cut in, and all eyes snapped to her. She shrugged. “What? Isn’t it bad luck to see the groom before the wedding?”

  I rolled my eyes and waved off her concern. “I’ve never believed in luck, anyway.”

  I walked down the hall and knocked on the door where the boys were getting ready. “Lex?” I called through the door. “Can I see you a moment?”

  He cracked open the door, grinning at me and looking deliciously handsome in his stone-colored linen suit. Neither of us were fancy people… I saw no reason to dress up in tuxes and uncomfortable gowns on our wedding day. A cute summer dress from Macy’s for me and a linen summer suit for Lex suited us perfectly.

  “What’s up, sugarplum?”

  I grinned, loving the term of endearment he had for me. “I thought we could get some pictures of us and Olivia before the ceremony. That way if Olivia gets fussy, we can put her to bed early without worrying about the photos.”

  “Sure,” he said, slipping out of the room. “Is she still downstairs with the Murphys?”

  I nodded, and we walked downstairs, hand in hand, to where Olivia was waiting with my mom and Mr. and Mrs. Murphy.

  “There’s my girl,” Lex said, reaching out to take her from Mrs. Murphy. She giggled and leapt into his arms, and we walked outside and around to the opposite side of the house.

  “So… I know we said no gifts since we’re spending most of our money to fix up the loft in the apartment…” I said.

  Lex glared at me, a slow smile playfully tipping the corners of his mouth. He tugged a small box from his pocket and handed it to me. “I cheated, too,” he whispered and brushed his lips against mine.

  I opened the box, and inside was a set of small topaz earrings. “December’s birthstone,” he said with a wink, bouncing Olivia on his hip.

  I laughed. “What if they come early?” Twins. It still felt utterly surreal that we were having twins. Then again, they did run in both our families. “What if they decide to come out in November? Twins often make an early appearance.”

  Lex laughed. “You worry too much, you know that?” He stopped walking and kissed me again, whispering, “Just say thank you.”

  I tilted my head, biting my bottom lip. “Thank you.”

  “So… for your gift, it’s a little different. But I know it’s what you wanted—more than anything—today.”

  We turned the corner to where Kyra stood off to the side, blocking the few guests we had in attendance from interrupting our moment. There, standing in front of us, was Lex’s sister and grandmother. A slight, older woman with a cane and sleek, silvery hair. And a younger woman, with the same tousled, russet-brown hair and turquoise eyes as Lex. Even though they were fraternal twins, she looked nearly exactly like Lex.

  “Grandma?” Lex said, his chest heaving.

  Tears already streaked her wrinkled cheeks, and she stepped slowly toward him, whispering his name. “Alexander. You look so… healthy.”

  “You’re here.” He handed Olivia to me and rushed over to his grandmother to give her a hug. She cupped his face gently before hugging him back.

  “You really do look great,” his sister said, hugging him. “You don’t even look like the same guy who left England.”

  Lex turned to me, tears still filling his eyes. “How did you manage this?”

  I shrugged, not about to reveal the fact that it had taken a lot of convincing and all of the airline miles I had saved to get them here. “I know how much they mean to you. And I can’t believe they’ve yet to see the amazing life you’ve built here.”

  “Veronica,” his grandmother said as I approached, still holding a squirming Olivia in my arms. “Thank you for getting us here. I can’t believe we almost missed this day.”

  I smiled at her and turned Olivia toward her. “This is your great-granddaughter.” Lex took Liv from me and held her close to her great-grandmother.

  “Grandma, meet Olivia.”

  Though his grandmother didn’t hug me, his sister did. Barreling at me, she crushed me in her embrace. “I always wanted a sister,” she whispered, pulling back. “And now I have one… and a niece!”

  Lex rested his hand on my belly. “And another niece and nephew on the way,” he added.

  “Are any of these little ones named after me?” his sister joked. “I mean, I did name my little boy, Alex, after you.” She poked Lex in the shoulder and they both chuckled.

  Lex looked to me, waiting on my approval, to which I nodded. “Tell them,” I whispered.

  “Actually, we’re going to name our boy Hugh Michael… after both of his late grandfathers. And our daughter is going to be named Calliope Ruth… after you and Ronnie’s sister.”

  His grandmother gave another sharp inhale as glossy tears filled her dark blue eyes. She nodded. “You’re a good man, Alexander.”

  “I am now. Thanks to you.” He held his grandmother’s eye contact a moment before switching to look at his sister. “And no thanks to you, of course,” he added with a wink. The playful banter reminded me so much of my own relationship with my siblings.

  She laughed and covered her mouth. “You have no idea how hard it was to keep this a secret when we talked on the phone. I’ve known we were coming for weeks and I just had to act like I was regretful that we couldn’t make it.”

  Lex pointed at me. “For a girl who claims to not be good at lying, you did a damn good job.”

  I shrugged. “I had help. Lots of help.”

  Lex bent, kissing me gently and whispering, “Best wedding gift, ever.”

  I backed away, slowly releasing his hand. “Spend some time with them. I’m going to go finish getting ready.”

  He glanced back and forth between me and his family. “Are you… are you sure?”

  I nodded. “More than sure. We’ve got a lifetime together, Lex.”

  He grinned and tugged me back into him for another kiss. “I’ll meet you at the altar.”

  Epilogue

  Noah

  I’ve performed on dozens of stages, been on a long-running hit television show, and just last summer, I had my first supporting role in a feature film. But nothing compared to the butterflies I felt this morning… the nerves of going in front of a dozen family and friends and marrying my sister Ronnie to Lex.

  I sat out on the dock, my dress pants rolled up to the knee with my feet dangling in the cool water’s edge of our lake. Each swirl of my toe sent ripples cascading deeper into the lake.

  From within my pocket, my phone buzzed, ringing for the thousandth time that morning. With a sigh, I tugged it free from my pocket, relieved to find it wasn’t Rosa, or Haze, or even Reid, my best friend who had gotten married two days ago in Atlantic City.

  Instead, it was my publicist. I shouldn’t answer. It was my sister’s wedding day and I was the officiant for God’s sake. If there was ever a day I should have off from all the Hollywood bullshit, this was it.

  Even still, I sighed and swiped my thumb across the screen, answering. “Kristen,” I said. “What’s up?”

  “What’s up?” she repeated and I had to tug the phone from my ear, she was yelling so loudly. “What’s up? Are you seriously asking me that right now?”

  “Ummm, yeah.” I kept my voice calm and collected. I had a pretty good habit of acting cool, even when my life was imploding. And holy shit was it imploding right now.

  I raked my fingers through my hair, knowing my mom would kill me for messing with the way she combed it earlier this morning. You can look like something out of a Jack Kerouac novel the other 364 days of the year, but today? Today you are marrying your sister. You need to look presentable, she’d said only a couple hours earlier.

  “Kristen, this really isn’t a good time,” I said. “I’m at my sister’s wedding.”

  “Oh… your sister’s wedding, huh?” There was silence. Like the most boring game of chicken ever. Finally, Kristen sighed. “Tell me the rumors aren’t true, Noah. Please, God, tell me you didn’t do what everyone
is saying you did.”

  “Okay. It isn’t true.”

  More silence. “But… is it true?”

  Unfortunately, it was. And my publicist knew it was. Because we both knew that if it wasn’t true, I would be throwing all kinds of sarcastic comments out.

  “Shit,” Kristen muttered. “You are a teen heartthrob. The guy that all these women are dreaming they could someday be with, Noah. You’re a role model—”

  I snorted. “Okay, let’s not get too over the top.”

  Kristen sighed again and I could just see her pacing her office, her silver hair pulled into a tight bun. She was sort of like the rich aunt who always judged your every move. Except I paid her to judge me and then fix my messes. And there were a lot of messes to fix with me as her client.

  “You know,” she said, “just once I’d love to have a weekend off that doesn’t involve putting out your fires. Okay, I’ll prepare a statement and send it to you first before releasing.”

  “Okay. I’m shutting my phone off in a few minutes for the wedding. I’ll turn it back on after the main events are over.”

  “Can you be back to the city tonight?”

  I swallowed, glancing around at my mother’s backyard. The wooden archway Cam had carved for Ronnie to get married beneath. The twinkling lights strung all around the deck and yard that transformed my childhood home into a romantic paradise. I hated coming home to Maple Grove. Most trips, I did everything in my power to get the hell back to New York within twenty-four hours. But the last two years, I’ve also been making much more of an effort to reconnect with my family. Rebuild the bridges I thought had long since been burned.

  “No,” I said quietly, flicking my toe against the top of the water. “I won’t be back for a few days.”

  “Okay,” Kristen said, not pushing the matter. She knew my history with my family. She knew when to press me and when to back off. It’s why we worked so well together. “Good luck officiating. Let’s talk again tonight, okay?”