by Lily Graison
[Back to Table of Contents]
Chapter 5
He saw a bird chirping from its perch in the tree above him when he opened his eyes. The branches were swaying in the breeze and soft voices were heard somewhere off to his right. Mick blinked and turned his head, Faith’s face coming into his line of sight.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
He stared at her, seeing in her eyes a foreign look. They were glassy still, and the same sadness he’d seen earlier was there, but something he couldn’t identify dulled her emerald eyes. He sighed, sinking into the grass. “The baby … is it mine?”
She nodded her head again and looked away. He stared at her profile for long minutes until the voices grew louder. Turning his head, he saw Adam, Jacob and another man near a row of hedge bushes arguing. The new stranger was tall and looked a lot like Adam. It had to be another brother.
He watched them for long moments before turning away and sitting up. The voices stopped and he didn’t have the strength to look at Faith’s brothers to see why. He stared across the street, looking at nothing in particular with one thought running on repeat through his head. Faith was pregnant. The girl he’d married while so drunk he couldn’t even remember it, was having his baby.
He raised his hand and ran it through his hair, pulling the strands to feel something other than the numbing sensation that had taken over his limbs. What was he going to do now? He’d come to Georgia to get Faith to sign the divorce papers and now this. Is this why she didn’t sign them?
Turning his head to her, he watched her stare down at the ground and saw a tear slip down her cheek. His heart clenched in his chest and felt his own eyes mist while looking at her. “Faith…” She looked up and his heart broke at the look on her face. He knew what that foreign look was now. It was fear. He reached for her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into his lap. She buried her face in his chest and cried.
“Shhh, don’t cry, Tinker Bell,” he said, raising his hand to her head. He stroked her hair and tightened his arms around her, hugging her to his chest. “It’s going to be okay.”
He held her as she cried and glanced over at the men still by the hedges. They were watching them with blank faces. Jacob turned and walked to the sidewalk and headed back to town while Adam and the other man remained. When Faith’s sobs turned to small sniffles and she lifted her head, he turned his attention back to her.
She wiped her face with the back of her hand and sighed while looking at her brother. “Daddy said since I was pregnant that I shouldn’t sign the divorce papers.”
Mick’s blood ran cold at her words. His vision clouded and everything around him went fuzzy white. He saw his ex, Jennifer, in the haze, her mocking laughter while she screamed that he got off easy only giving her half of his money. If her attempts to get pregnant had been successful, she’d own his ass for years.
His throat tightened until he found it hard to breathe past the lump forming. His heart was racing and a dull ringing sounded in his ears. Wrapping his arms around Faith, he lifted her off his lap and stood up, taking a few steps away from her before stopping when she said his name.
“Where are you going?”
He shook his head and stared across the road. “Not sure,” he said. “Away.”
He left her sitting under the tree in someone’s lawn and each step away from her left him feeling a little bit colder, his heart aching a little bit more.
Faith stood up, her shaky legs barely holding her, and watched him leave. The tears returned and she wiped angrily at them. “Damn hormones,” she hissed, ignoring the clenching pain in her chest. She watched Mick walk down the sidewalk, away from town. He looked beaten, like he held the weight of the world on his shoulders and she knew she was the reason. His joy in seeing her again washed away in an instant with the news that their irresponsible behavior had more serious consequences than a hasty marriage. Her elation at seeing him again tarnished at his obvious disappointment at hearing the news of the baby.
She turned, looking over at Adam and Seth. They were watching her, the look on their faces she knew matched her own. When they started toward her, she turned her head and looked back down the sidewalk to Mick.
“He’ll be back,” Adam said.
Faith sighed. “I’m not so sure.”
“He will,” Seth said. “He’ll do it on his own or we’ll hunt him down and drag him back kickin’ and screamin’.”
She grinned despite her mood and looked up at him. “You’re going to force him to be a man and make him own up to his mistake?”
“Of course,” Seth said, grinning. “What are brothers for if not to make sure the man who stole our sisters heart treats her with respect.”
She laughed and leaned her head on his arm. “By the time he meets all of my brothers he’ll be running for the state line.”
“He should have thought about that before marrying you without our permission.”
“And knocking up our baby sister,” Adam added.
“Oh lord, you make it sound so sordid,” she laughed.
“It is. You ran off to Vegas and married a rock star while drunk and ended up with a reminder that will be with you until the day you die. How sleazy can you get?”
She smacked him on the arm and shook her head. “Take me home,” she said. “I think my lunch is going to come back up.”
They laughed as they walked to the sidewalk, and Faith resisted the urge to look back at Mick one last time. Her heart screamed to run after him but the rational part of her brain told her he just needed time to sort it all out in his head. Lord knew she’d needed it when she found out and thankfully, her family had been there to help her through. She just hoped the guys were there for Mick when he needed them.
* * * *
It was dark by the time Mick made it back to the Bed and Breakfast Inn. He climbed the steps of the three-story home and opened the front door, wincing when the door hinges squeaked. Christian peeked around the corner of the first room when the door shut behind him.
“Damn man, where the hell have you been? Roxy was ready to call the police.”
Mick laughed and shook his head, turning the corner and walking into a large sitting room. “Don’t,” he said. “The good Sheriff Weston is the last person I want to talk to tonight.”
“Weston?” Christian said, shocked.
“What? Jessi didn’t tell you Faith’s brother was the sheriff?”
“The sheriff?” Jessi said, surprise showing on her face. “Which one?”
“Adam.”
Jessi grinned. “Figures,” she said. “He always was the bossy one.”
He snorted a laugh. “You could say that again.”
“Did he do that to your face?” Roxy asked.
Mick raised his hand to the side of his face, feeling the raised skin near his temple. He hadn’t seen it but knew a bruise was there by how sore it was. “No,” he said. “That would have been Jacob.”
“So you got into a fight with one of Faith’s brothers and her other brother locked you up?”
He shot a glance at Devin and threw himself in a vacant chair. “He didn’t lock me up,” he said. “But I’m kind of wishing he would have now.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I’d have something to worry about other than what I do now.”
“Which is?”
Running a hand over his face, Mick leaned back in the chair and looked toward the hallway.
“No one is up but us,” Christian said. “At least, I don’t think anyone else is. I haven’t seen a soul in two hours.”
“Did you see Faith?” Roxy asked.
“Oh yeah, I saw her all right and I’m in deep shit.”
She raised an eyebrow at him and leaned forward in her chair. “How so.”
He looked at her before glancing at the others in the room. Everyone was there, his best friends for the last five years and the women they’d claimed as their own. How had the life he used to think
was so normal get so screwed up? He sighed before focusing his gaze back on Roxy. “She’s pregnant.”
The silence was deafening. The only sound to be heard was the chirp of crickets outside. He watched their faces, seeing the shock turn to placid calm. He wished he’d had the ability for the same thing before he walked off and left Faith standing. If she didn’t hate him before then, she probably did now.
Roxy was the first to move. She blew out a long breath and leaned back in her seat. “I guess we know why she didn’t sign those divorce papers now.”
Mick nodded his head. “She said her father told her not to.”
“Smart man,” Roxy said.
“If you say so.”
“I do. If she had signed those papers and the divorce was finalized, you’d be in court for years to come when she petitioned you for child support.”
The dull throbbing behind his eyes intensified at her words and Mick stared up at the ceiling and sighed. “I’ll be there anyway.”
“Maybe but we can get everything in writing before the baby is born and move on from there.”
The baby. Mick’s stomach clenched at the thought. He was going to be a father. What the hell did he know about being a father? Hell, his own hadn’t bothered staying around once he found out he had a kid on the way. He’d only met the man once and barely even remembered what he looked like. Would his own kid think he was just a worthless sperm donor like he thought about his own old man? The thought made him sick.
“Tell me what to do, Roxy.”
“Well, that depends,” she said.
He lifted his head and looked at her. “On what?”
“On what you want to do?”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, do you want this baby to have your name? Have you thought about what it’ll mean to divorce Faith and move on knowing you’ve left a part of yourself here? Can you walk away from your child and possibly let another man raise it as his own?”
His head was pounding as each question she asked thundered through his skull. He’d asked himself those very same questions half a dozen times each on his walk through this miserable little town and he didn’t have an answer for any of them. The only thing he knew without a doubt was, every time he thought of Faith, his gut twisted and his chest felt like it would crush under the weight of his need to see her.
He stood and shook his head. “I don’t have the answers for that right now.”
“You don’t have to answer them now,” Roxy said. “My suggestion would be to get some sleep, go talk to Faith tomorrow and figure out what you want to do when the time comes.”
He nodded and walked out of the room, stopping when he stepped out into the foyer. “Which room is mine?”
“Second floor,” Christian said. “Room four.”
He headed for the stairs, his steps heavy. He’d wondered most of the day what to do and he wasn’t anywhere close to an answer. The only thing he did know was that he had to talk to Faith. The sooner the better.
* * * *
Mick read the numbers off the side of the house and compared them to the piece of paper in his hand Jessi had written Faith’s address on. They matched. He took a deep breath and tossed the paper to the passenger seat and killed the engine of the SUV. He stared out the windshield, trying to get his nerve up to actually walk to the house.
He’d laid awake most of the night wondering what he should do. The baby complicated everything. It wasn’t just a simple divorce that mattered anymore. It was a life. A life he’d help create and regardless of how useless his own father had been, he didn’t want his kid to grow up hating the man who’d given him life.
Of course, all of that was months down the road. Now, his problem lay inside the four walls of the small white house on the other side of the street. He turned his head, looking at the house again. Trees shaded the lawn and flowers sprang in a rainbow of color in a sea of green grass.
He opened the car door and stepped out onto the street, hurrying across the road before he lost his nerve. The thought of seeing Faith again caused his pulse to leap. Meeting her father, the good Reverend, made his stomach cramp and his breakfast threaten to come back up. What do you say to the man whose daughter you married while stone ass drunk and then knocked up?
Climbing the steps to the porch, he approached the door and lifted his hand to knock. The door opened before he got a chance. The unknown man from the day before, the one he’d seen talking to Adam and Jacob stood just inside the door. He was broad shouldered, with a thick mane of black hair. His eyes were the same shade of green as Faith’s. This had to be another brother. He looked too much like Faith not to be.
“You’re brave. I’ll give you that.”
Mick raised an eyebrow and gave him a slight nod of his head. “I think the word you’re looking for here is stupid, not brave.”
The man grinned. “I was trying to be nice.” He opened the screen door and held it open. “Come on in. I’ll let Faith know you’re here.”
He entered the house, stopping just inside the door. The living room was brown. The carpet, the walls, the furniture, even the brick on the fireplace. It was like walking into a cave. The only light in the room came from the windows and the open front door.
The man who’d open the door shut it and took a few steps in front of him. “I’m Seth,” he said. “Brother #4.”
“Mick Sheppard.”
Seth grinned and looked over his shoulder. “The Reverend is out back. I’ll go grab Faith. You’ll need someone you know with you for emotional support.”
Mick swallowed his nervousness and looked around the darkened living room while he waited for Faith. Pictures hung on the walls, covering almost every square inch of space. The picture closest to him showed a group of young boys surrounding one tiny little girl with large doe eyes. He smiled while looking at it.
Pictures of Faith graced every wall, all of them surrounded by pictures of her brothers. Taking them all in he noticed what all the memories lacked. The presence of a mother. Not one picture showed anyone close to resembling Faith’s mother. He’d have to remember to ask her about that. He realized then that he knew next to nothing about Faith. Hell, he didn’t even know how old she was. Over 21, that much he knew. They’d carded her at the bar in Vegas but other than her having five brothers and her father being a minister, the girl was a complete mystery.
A commotion from the hall drew his attention and he turned his head. He grinned when he saw Faith.
“Where is the fire,” she said, grumpily. “You know the smell of breakfast makes me hack.”
“It’s not breakfast,” Seth said. “You have a visitor.” Faith looked up and froze, her eyes widening.
“Morning, Tinker Bell.” Mick had only seen her once in the morning and she’d been dressed then, now, it looked as if she’d just crawled out of bed. Her hair was sticking up at odd angles, one side plastered to the side of her head. An oversized t-shirt hung past her knees and a pair of fuzzy slippers was on her feet. She looked adorable.
She blinked and raised a hand to her hair, trying to smooth the strands. “What are you doing here?”
“Came to talk to you.”
Seth walked around her and headed through the living room toward the kitchen. “You want me to tell dad he’s here?”
“No!” Faith yelled, her eyes widening.
A chuckle from Seth was all he heard as he turned and left the room. Mick stared at Faith, watching her shift from foot to foot. She wasn’t looking at him and her cheeks were tinted pink. “Did I make a mistake in coming this morning?”
She shook her head. “No. Daddy knows you’re in town so showing up here is probably the only thing that’s going to save you from his wrath.”
“That bad, huh?”
She laughed. “You have no idea,” she mumbled before finally looking up at him. “I have to get dressed. I’ll be right back.”
He waited until she turned before following her. When she tried to shut her bedroo
m door, he extended his arm and held it open.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to help you change,” he said, grinning, walking into her room and shutting the door behind him.
“Mick, you can’t be in here,” she said, staring at the door.
“Sure I can. We’re married, remember?”
She stared at him, her mouth a perfect “O”. He grinned and leaned back against the door. “You look too damn cute for your own good, Faith. I suggest you change quickly before I take advantage of the closed door and have my way with you.”
That snapped her out of her stupor. She spun on her heel and walked to the dresser, pulling out a pair of cut-off jean shorts and a t-shirt. She laid them on top of the dresser and glanced at him over her shoulder before turning her back to him and kicking off her fuzzy slippers.
Mick watched her and wondered what she had on under that nightshirt. He looked down at the doorknob by his hip and turned the lock on the door before looking back up at her. When the material of her shirt revealed her plain, white panties and nothing else, he pushed off the door and crossed the room. He reached her as the shirt slid over her head. “Turn around.”
She jumped when he spoke and whirled around, stumbling. He reached for her, his hands closing around her waist as he stared down at her.
“Mick! My daddy will kill us both if he finds you in here and me practically naked.”
“We’re married,” he said, sliding his hands up her ribs and cupping her breasts. “Not a whole lot he can say about it.”
Faith laughed and tried batting his hands away. “That’s what you think.”
“Then I suggest you be very quiet.” He bent at the waist and lifted the breast in his right hand to his mouth, his lips closing over her nipple. He flicked his tongue over the hardening bud, sucking it until she gasped and leaned back against the dresser, her fingers digging into his hair.
“Mick…”
He straightened at the soft moan of his name and lifted her, carrying her to the bed and laying her down. He followed her, taking her lips in a kiss that said he wasn’t taking no for an answer. His fingers skimmed her breasts and tickled the soft skin of her belly before diving inside the thin cotton of her panties. She moaned when he parted her wet folds, his fingers sliding easily between her legs. He worked her with his fingers, listening to her moans and gasps and thought his dick would explode with every sound she made. When her body stiffened suddenly, he latched onto her breast, sucking the puckered tip until she shuddered under him, her body convulsing as spasms wracked her small frame.