Truth About Love Duet: A beautiful small-town, angst filled, story of love (Legacy World Box Set Book 4)

by Mj Fields

  “Daddy, you wanna let go?” I grumble.

  “No.”

  I laugh. “You can’t keep me like this forever.”

  “He thinks I’m not good enough,” T says.

  “Christ himself wouldn’t be good enough for my daughter,” Dad says, loosening his grip on me. “If you hurt her, I’m going to jail. You hear me?”

  “I’ll never hurt her. I’ll cherish her. I have since day one,” T says sincerely.

  I step back and smile at Dad, holding up my left hand and wiggling my fingers so he can see the ring.

  “Are you trying to get her killed?” he gasps and scowls at T. “Some piece of shit is gonna try to kill her to steal the damn thing in that city you two are so fond of.”

  “He takes me to work and picks me up every day,” I tell him.

  “And I am with her all night. So rest assured, she is safe.” T nods.

  I shoot him a warning glance because I know damn well it was a jab.

  “If you two don’t start being nice to each other, I’m gonna run away,” I warn them.

  “Let me see that ring,” Harper says, hugging me again. “I am so happy for you both.”

  I hear the door shut, and Jade walks in with Ryan behind her.

  “The party started early and no one told us?” Jade laughs.

  “Ava and”—Dad points to T—“T surprised us.”

  That’s when I see Luke walk in.

  I look at T, and he looks at me. I smile because it doesn’t matter. I have let Luke go, and I am in love with T. So in love with him.

  “T has asked for Ava’s hand in marriage.” Dad smiles. It’s pretty damn convincing, too.

  Jade looks shocked. “Oh, my God.” Her eyes shift down to my hand. “Holy shit! Look at that!” She walks up and hugs me.

  “Thanks, Jade,” I tell her, stealing a glance at Luke who, as per his norm, has no expression.

  “Congratulations, Ava.” Ryan is the next to hug me.

  “Congratulations, Ava,” Luke says, forcing a smile.

  “Thank you, Luke.” I smile back. “Hey, what are you doing home?”

  “Our boy rolled his ankle during training, so he’s home until Wednesday when he flies into God only knows where to meet his team,” Ryan answers with pride. He pats Luke’s back. “Last mission, right, son?”

  Luke nods. “Last mission.” It’s what he tells them every time to pacify his family. They accept it, even though we all know better. I suppose there is a chance, but it’s highly unlikely.

  He looks at me then at T. “Congratulations, Thomas.”

  T nods, not saying a word.

  At dinner, T says a few words like, “How long will you be deployed?”

  Luke tells him six months.

  Then T tells him he will miss the wedding, rather pompously, actually.

  “When is the wedding?” Tessa asks.

  “We haven’t set a date yet,” I answer.

  “But she was okay with getting married the night I asked her,” T boasts.

  “I’d have a problem with that,” Dad sneers, and Luke and everyone else laughs.

  T shrugs. “Whatever she wants, I’ll give her.” Then T drinks his third double-shot of scotch.

  “Is it in hostile territory?” T asks Luke.

  No one else senses a damn thing, but me, I want to crawl under the table.

  I can’t be angry at T. He has to take my father’s jabs and look at a man I very recently thought I loved. Still, it’s not easy.

  Dinner couldn’t have ended more quickly.

  “I think we’re going to head back to the house,” I announce while helping clear the table.

  “Why so soon?” Dad asks.

  “She’s been working on a big case, traveling all over. She’ll be traveling for a few weeks, right, love?”

  I nod.

  “She’s one hell of a lawyer.”

  “She’s worked her ass off to become one,” Dad adds.

  “And she’ll continue if that’s what she wants. Although, it is totally unnecessary,” T says, narrowing his eyes slightly as he looks at me.

  I smile and shrug then go upstairs to peek in on Piper with Harper.

  “She’s gonna be our flower girl if that’s okay with you.”

  “Of course it is.” Harper smiles.

  “I’ll need a matron of honor, too,” I whisper.

  “Name the time and the place,” she whispers back then looks around and adds, “Sooner than later, though. I wanna look good in the photos.” She grins and puts her finger over her mouth. “Shh…”

  “Oh, my God,” I gasp then cover my mouth. “When?”

  “August. Don’t tell anyone, including T. He’s freaking drunk and very—”

  “Over the top tonight.” I giggle softly, and she nods. “Yeah, he is, but I can’t blame him.”

  She hugs me. “You deserve to be happy. So does he.”

  I smile. “And you’re going to be a mom of two.”

  “I know. It’s insane. But Maddox has been begging for two years, so I finally said yes and truly didn’t expect it to happen so fast.”

  I want to tell her I’m pregnant, too, but I can’t. Not yet.

  “You’re past your first trimester, so why haven’t you told anyone?” I ask.

  She smiles and shrugs. “I don’t know.”

  “Wait a couple weeks if that makes you feel better. But call me first, okay?”

  “Will you come home?” she asks.

  I grin and nod. “Yes. Yes, I’ll come home.”

  “Then we can plan a wedding where I don’t have to wear a tent.”

  I laugh. “You were the most beautiful pregnant woman ever.”

  “Aw, thanks. I wasn’t …” She pauses. “Thanks.”

  When I walk outside a few minutes later, I find T and Luke standing there, looking at each other, neither saying a word.

  “Hey, guys, what’s going on?” I ask cautiously.

  “Getting some fresh air,” Luke replies in a clipped tone.

  “You ready to get home, Ava?” T asks in a cocky, arrogant way that’s meant to piss off Luke. It makes me angry.

  “What I’m ready for is peace!” I snap.

  Luke nods. “I hope you’ve found it.”

  “I’m pretty sure I have.” I laugh nervously. “T?”

  He doesn’t budge.

  “Thomas Hardy, are you gonna stay here all night? I’m going home.”

  “You’re driving, Ava. Your boy’s drunk.” Luke chuckles.

  Before T can say a word, I point at Luke. “Enough.” Then I point at T. “Let’s go.”

  Luke laughs as he walks toward the house. “Good luck.”

  I take T’s hand and yell over my shoulder, “Be safe, Lane.” stomping to the vehicle and getting in.

  “You wanna take it easy on the gears?” T asks as he gets in.

  “You wanna replay of last time we were here, T? I mean, what the hell are you doing starting shit with him?”

  “My goddess is pissed.”

  “Damn straight she is.” I grind into first.

  “The vehicle is warm, yes, Ava?”

  “Clearly,” I say, running over a snow bank.

  “Because I came out and started it. Your … friend followed me out. So kindly be nice to our vehicle,” he says with a sigh.

  “Why did he follow you out?” I ask, knowing the answer.

  Luke has no right to act like a jealous ass. None at all. His actions are contradictory to his words. It’s not like Luke to act like that, but it is like T. And as much as it annoys me, I understand, but it needs to stop. I need peace for me, for him, and for this baby.

  “Because he likes me, Ava. He wants to be my friend.” He snickers.

  “Good,” I say, not believing that’s why Luke followed him out, but I don’t give a damn, and I don’t want T to, either.

  “Can we fly home tonight?” he asks, looking at his phone.

  “Yeah, sure,” I say.

  C
hapter Twenty-One

  To love someone takes work — M. Gossett

  Six Weeks Later

  “She’s, what?” T exclaims, and I laugh. “How long have you known?”

  “Since we were home,” I tell him, feeling a little ashamed of myself.

  “And you didn’t …” He pauses, his eyes widening. “You lied to me!”

  “No!” I cry when he picks me up and acts as if he’s going to toss me onto the bed. “Don’t you dare! You’ll mess up the clothes we’re packing!”

  “You’ve had weeks to digest this, Ava soon-to-be Hardy.”

  I laugh, loving when he says my name like that.

  “Let me wrap my head around the fact that our children will be as close as you and Harper and Maddox and I are.”

  My stomach rumbles, and I cover it with my hand.

  “Hungry?” he asks immediately.

  I nod, and he sets me on my feet.

  “Snickers?” I ask.

  “Of course a Snickers. Mini or the larger size?”

  “Mini,” I answer, knowing it is unhealthy to eat as many freaking Snickers bars as I have been lately. But dammit, they do really satisfy.

  When he returns to wherever it is he hides them—upon my request—he has a full-sized bar. He bites half of it off, smirking as he hands me the rest.

  “We have a problem, you know.” I point at him with the bar and laugh.

  “We do. Those damn things are addictive.”

  Thomas Hardy is my male Harper. He is my best friend. He is my lover. He is the father of the child growing inside of me. And he is everything I ever dreamed of to the tenth power.

  I sit down and take a bite, groaning as I chew.

  “You know,” he says, “I don’t think we have a problem at all. In fact, I love the near orgasmic sound you make after taking the first bite.”

  “So good,” I moan, rolling my eyes.

  He laughs. “So Memorial Day weekend?”

  I nod. “Soonest we can get the venue.”

  “On a Friday,” he says, scrunching up his face.

  I laugh and nod because, when we checked into Lake Watch, the same place my prom was held and the same place he and I first kissed at Harper and Maddox’s wedding, I was not okay with a Friday night, and he was not okay with waiting two more months.

  I lie in bed, and he lies beside me, reading one of the hundreds of children’s books he has ordered since we were in Chicago. None are Grimm’s fairytales; they are all about love and life and happiness. The one he is reading now is his favorite.

  He holds the book in one hand, the other on my belly that is really not all that distended, but I push it out for him because the pride in his eyes and in his heart is as sweet and heavenly as anything on this earth ever has been.

  He is going to have a family with a woman who loves him and chose him, a child who will no doubt adore him, and regardless of how my father is acting, he will come around. I know he will because he loves me and he will see that T makes me so happy, so very happy.

  We had dinner with mother and Robert last night. She was … cold, and he was as relaxed as could be. He was charming and kind and treated her like a queen. Yet, she was still bitchy. I could have slapped her, but she’s my mom.

  He closes the book and sighs. “The wonderful thing you will be.” Then he leans over and lets his long lashes flutter over my lower abdomen where I felt our child move a week ago and showed him what it felt like by moving my eyelashes across his face.

  “Butterfly wings.” He smiles. “Wonderful feeling.”

  Tomorrow, we have an ultrasound scheduled. We chose to do it at a clinic because the office didn’t have a time that worked with our flight time. T doesn’t care about insurance paying; he is paying out of pocket.

  Of course he is. Someday soon, I am going to have to teach him about what the term “waste not, want not” means. Money or no money, throwing away food is a sin. But that little sin makes him feel proud of who he has become. Who am I to take that away from him?

  We decided to fly home to share in Harper and Maddox’s joy of telling their families about their little blessing and to hopefully share ours with everyone, as well. The flight is quiet. T appears to be in shock, and I think it is hysterical how the thought of marriage and a child doesn’t faze him, yet two babies almost puts him in such a mood. But it doesn’t matter, not one bit. I will deal with his change in moods.

  “Page seventeen, love isn’t affected by ups and downs.”

  He gives me a questioning look.

  “You dealt with all my mood swings, so I can deal with anything you throw at me.” I smile, and he gives a silent chuckle, holding me more tightly.

  “I love you, Ava.”

  “I love you, Thomas.”

  Truth be told, I am unbelievably excited. Tonight, Thomas and I are making dinner at my family home for everyone.

  Harper plans to come early. I had to trick her, telling her that I needed her to get a few things at the store. I really want her here to tell her about my pregnancy before we tell anyone else.

  When she walks in with Maddox, she looks tired, and I laugh.

  “Come sit down. We want to tell you and Maddox a secret.”

  After removing their coats and hats, they sit down.

  I nod to T, and he runs his hands through his hair, taking a deep breath before holding up the little frame we picked up at Tiffany.

  “Ava thought it would be cute to put your sonogram picture in here and set it on the table just to see if anyone notices.” He hands them the frame and sits down next to me.

  I squeeze his hand and smile. He kisses my cheek, smiling back.

  “Wait, there’s already a picture in—” Harper gasps. “Oh, my God!”

  Maddox looks at her and then at the picture, his eyes widening.

  “Did you give them the wrong one?” I ask as planned.

  “Oh, gee, I must have,” he says in a cheesy, 1960’s actor voice that makes me laugh.

  “You two are having—”

  “Twins.” I laugh and clap my hands, interrupting Harper.

  She looks again. “And you’re due a month after I am?”

  “Yep. Our babies are going to spend Christmases and holidays together, Harper. Can you believe it?”

  “Oh, I am so happy for you.” She laughs and tears start to trickle down her face. “I am so happy for both of you.”

  I notice Maddox and T staring at each other. Then I look at Harper, whose tears now seem more sorrowful than joyful.

  It bothers me. I never even thought of how anyone may react. It is hurtful and makes me feel like, if my best friend doubts me, then others certainly will, too.

  I smile big and stand up. “Excuse me for just a minute.”

  I walk quickly to the bathroom before the tears fall. I look in the mirror with self-loathing and self-deprecating thoughts in my head.

  The door opens, and T walks in. He shuts the door behind him and immediately hugs me. “Shh … You’ll be fine.”

  “How come I can’t just be happy here, T?” I ask him as I wipe my tears away.

  “Did she know about him?” T asks.

  I nod. “She did, but not the last time I was with him.”

  “It’s possible that was my fault,” he says in a self-deprecating tone. “I may have made a scene … or two. And if she knows, Maddox surely knows. They may wonder if—”

  I sigh. “It’s ours—mine and yours.”

  “Ava, does it matter at all what anyone else thinks besides us?”

  I pout. “Well, yes … kind of.”

  He doesn’t say anything for a long minute. Then he kisses my cheek. “You miss home?”

  I know he’s asking about our place in Brooklyn. I do miss it … very much.

  “Yes.”

  “I’m not saying this to hurt you in any way, but how you feel right now is how I feel every damn time I’m around your father.”

  “I’m sorry. I really am.”

  He
hugs me more tightly and sighs. “We’ll be fine.”

  “Yeah, once we get back to New York.”

  He gives me a sad smile as he wipes away my tears. “Let’s go tell them about the test.”

  “Okay.”

  It infuriates me, but it isn’t just me who is going through this. He is, too.

  As we begin to walk out the door, I squeeze his hand. “Can we leave in the morning? I want to be home.”

  He nods. “Yes, anything for you, Ava.”

  “Thank you.”

  Harper stays close to me after T tells them about the test, and that yes, he is the father. Both visibly relax, and I know it’s not judgment from Harper or Maddox; it’s pity, and pity sucks just as much. Sometimes more.

  My happy, joyful mood is now put on for show, but as T reminds me, he is here. It may not have changed my mood, but I will bask in that. My smile is for him and for us and our home and our love.

  Logan is the first to show up. He’s a little annoyed I didn’t tell him I’m engaged. He scolds me since it is unlike me not to tell him something before Dad knows. I make sure not to tell him our mother saw the ring before all of them. It would crush him, and he’s my little Loggie.

  I ask him to fill the glasses with water as I set the table, and he looks at me like I’m crazy.

  “People can fill their own glasses, Ava. Damn.”

  T and I stand back and watch him. He notices and rolls his eyes then goes back to pouring.

  He notices the frame and leans in. Then his jaw drops, and I can’t help giggling. When he picks it up and sees the name, he looks at me then back at the frame and back and forth again.

  “No way,” he gasps.

  I nod and pat my belly. “And there are two.”

  He looks bewildered but then smiles, walks over, and hugs me.

  “I know you are going to be an amazing mom, Ava. And I hope you know, as much as I love you, I am never changing a diaper.”

  T and I laugh.

  “Don’t worry, Logan,” T tells him. “I’ve already volunteered for that privilege.”

  Logan gives him a quick hug then says, “I need a fucking drink.”

  I have T at my side, Harper close by, and Logan on my other side. I feel a little better about things now. A little.