Surrender to Me (Boggy Creek Valley Book 4)

by Kelly Elliott

  An hour later and after a whole lot of water drunk, ten tests were all spread out on three paper towels—and all with the same result.

  Pregnant.

  I stared at them while Bree jumped up and down next to me like a kid in a candy store, giving me her picks for girls’ names.

  “Jade is so cute. Willa wouldn’t even think of using it, though I don’t know why. Something about Aiden not liking it, but whatever. Oh! Jagger is cute for a girl too! I’ve always loved the name Jackson for a boy. Oh wait, we can’t do that because then he’ll be called Jack, and you’ve got the dog and Hunter’s dad, and yeah…”

  I picked up one of the tests and placed my other hand over my stomach. Bree continued to spit out name after name.

  Pregnant. I’m pregnant.

  Hunter’s baby, our baby, was growing inside of me. I rapidly blinked as I tried to hold back my tears. I finally lost the battle and a loud sob slipped free.

  “Okay, so maybe Peace isn’t a good name, but you don’t have to cry about it!”

  I shook my head and covered my mouth. When I spoke, my words came out all mumbled. “I’m just so happy.”

  Bree stared at me like I’d lost my mind. “What? You miss your nappy?”

  Shaking my head, I tried to speak again, but I couldn’t stop crying.

  “Okay, you’re freaking me out. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone smile while they’re crying. Gotta say, it’s creepy as fuck, Arabella.”

  I grabbed Bree and pulled her into my arms, crying even harder. She wrapped her arms around me, and we slowly sat down on the bed.

  “Shhh, it’s okay, sweetie. Are you happy? Sad? Scared? Talk to me.”

  Drawing back, I wiped my tears. “I’m for sure not sad, but I am scared.”

  She took my hand in hers. “It’s going to be okay. Take a deep breath in, hold it for a few seconds, and blow it all out. I learned that bullshit in yoga.”

  I sniffled. “You do yoga?”

  “Did yoga. There was a hot guy going to the yoga studio below my condo. I signed up and took four or five classes before I realized he took the class because his wife taught it. Turns out all those times he smiled at me, he was actually just being polite to the crazy woman who kept gawking at him all through downward dog. Ugh…seeing them together made me sick.”

  Laughing, I asked, “Why did it make you sick? That he took the class because his wife taught it?”

  She nodded, then shrugged. “Fine, I thought it was sweet. But if you tell Candace I said that, I’ll deny it.”

  I laughed and decided I needed a bit of a distraction from my big news. Squeezing her hand, I asked, “Why did you really leave Boston?”

  She chewed on her lip nervously. “Will you keep this between us? I’m not really ready to tell the girls about Luke.”

  I nodded. “Of course, I will.”

  She blew out a breath so hard it made her lips vibrate. “Okay, here goes. I met someone great. Really, really great. And things didn’t work out and…I ran. And when I say I ran, what I mean is, I gave up my entire life and sprinted like hell back to Boggy Creek.”

  “Why did you run?”

  Chewing on her lip, she said, “Do you know who Luke Walters is?”

  The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. “I don’t think so, though it sounds kind of familiar.”

  “Neither did I. Two Christmases ago, I made a deal with one of the partners at the law firm I worked at. He’s a member of the Lakewood Country Club just north of Boggy Creek. He arranged for Aiden and the guys to stay out at the country club and golf and all of that before Willa’s wedding. In exchange, I agreed to be his son’s date for the office Christmas party.”

  I scrunched up my nose. “Why was he arranging a date for his son?”

  “Right? I thought it was weird, too, and I chalked it up to him most likely not being very good-looking or maybe newly divorced. My boss never really talked about his family at all. Honestly, I didn’t even know what his wife’s name was until I’d worked there for almost a year.”

  “Was the son not good-looking?”

  She laughed. “He was hot as hell. Tall, brown hair, and eyes so deep brown they almost looked black. And he had a body…Lord, his body should be illegal. He looked like a younger version of Gene Kelly, and I really love Gene Kelly.”

  “He was a jerk, then?”

  Shaking her head, Bree replied, “Nope. He was a gentleman all the way. He’s a fellow lawyer; or rather, he was a lawyer until he changed jobs.”

  “What does he do now?”

  Bree pulled out her phone and typed something in. She turned her phone, so I could see it.

  “The Time Before Us? It’s a movie. Does he work for the studio?”

  “Something like that.” She clicked a few more times and then turned her phone again.

  A picture of a handsome guy who looked exactly as Bree had just described was smiling back at me. I read the caption, looked at the guy again, went back to the caption, and then lifted my head toward Bree. “He’s an actor?”

  “Yep,” she said with a pop of the P. “A rather good actor. I hadn’t heard of him before because, honestly, I don’t really watch movies or TV. At least, I didn’t until I quit my job and moved home. Now my mother has me addicted to the damn Hallmark Channel, and we have a countdown on the fridge for that Christmas in July event. Apparently, they play all Christmas shows the whole month.”

  “Oh, I love the Hallmark Channel. All three of them. Movies and Mysteries and Hallmark Drama. Christmas in July is my favorite!”

  Bree rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it. All I do these days is pop some popcorn, put on my PJs, sit on my ass, and power watch the Hallmark Channel. I’ve seen some of those movies so many times, I can practically recite them.”

  “Yikes.” I grinned.

  “Then, of course, you have Greer, who’s started my reading addiction. Did you know you can totally get horny as hell reading romance novels?”

  “I did, as a matter of fact. I’ve read a lot of them these last ten years.”

  Bree jerked her head up and looked at me. We both started laughing before she dropped back onto the bed. “Ugh, why does it all have to be so complicated?”

  Dropping down next to her, I took her hand in mine. We both stared up at the ceiling. “What happened?”

  “Ohhhh…we hit it off. I mean, sparks flew between us the night we met. I’ve never had that sort of reaction to a guy before in my entire life. We laughed, we drank—a lot. Laughed, danced, drank, and danced some more. We ended up leaving together and got a room in the hotel where the Christmas party was being held. It was, without a doubt, the best sex I’ve ever had in my entire life. He was…he was…perfect.”

  “Okay, then what happened?”

  She drew in another breath and quickly let it out before she went on. “We woke up the next morning, and I was starved. I suggested we go for breakfast, he suggested we order in. Let’s just say it didn’t take long before he finally told me who he was. Then I panicked, of course. I mean, he’s kissed Scarlett Johansson, for Christ’s sake.”

  She started to laugh.

  “I was so stupid. When he first suggested sneaking into the back of restaurants, or constantly meeting him at different places, it should have been a clue, but it was all so amazing. I really loved being with him, and I didn’t want our relationship going public any more than he did.”

  “He didn’t want anyone to see you?”

  “Part of it. He didn’t want anyone to see us, together. I got that, I really did. I mean, I dated him just over a year and never told a single soul. Not any of you guys, not my parents, no one but my assistant.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe it was because if I told everyone, something would jinx it. Or if the outside world penetrated our little bubble, it would be different. I was scared and stupid, and scared and stupid.”

  “So you said.”

  “He h
ad to go back to California after New Year’s, but until he left, we had the most amazing time. He talked me into taking some time off, which of course, my boss allowed because, hello, I was fucking his son.”

  “Bree,” I said with a giggle.

  “I was. It wasn’t a secret with his family. His father and mother knew, as well as his sister and his brother. Anyway, he brought me up to this beautiful house on the ocean in Maine. We spent five days there, just the two of us. It was a little town, and no one knew who he was, so we were able to just be regular people. I’m pretty positive I fell head over heels in love with him that week. After he returned to California, he flew back to Boston a lot and we snuck around like two criminals.”

  I sat up and turned to face her. “Why do you say that?”

  “If he wanted to go to dinner, we had to meet there. He’d have a car leave his townhouse ahead of him, so the paparazzi would follow that one. Then he’d leave on his own and meet me wherever it was we’d planned. At first it was fun. Lord, it was fun. Just to be with him. He made me feel so alive. Then it got to be hard. The sneaking around wasn’t a big deal; I could do it. But one day it just kind of bugged me. I didn’t say anything to him at first because I thought it was what I wanted. I wanted our relationship out of the press. But this part deep inside of me kept second-guessing everything. Someone did snap a picture of us together once.”

  “No!”

  “Yes. They never did find out who I was, but we were more careful after that. I was so stupid, Arabella. I thought I could handle this big secret, but when I started to have to lie to my folks, and I wasn’t telling Willa or any of you guys, it started to weigh heavy. I’d been living in a bubble with Luke. All the private nights together, the meetings in discreet places. It was so romantic, and I honestly couldn’t even think of a single bad thing about being with him. Then reality hit—and hit hard.”

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “He asked me to go to this private function that a friend of his was throwing. Press would be there, but they were vetted or something like that, and he trusted that they wouldn’t print anything about us. I told him I couldn’t go because I had a huge trial I was working on the next week, and honestly, I was nervous. I just wanted one regular date before we went public, you know? No sneaking-around bullshit, no going to a function one of his actor friends was putting on. So that was one of the reasons I was reluctant to go. But I finally decided to go after staring at the invitation on my desk all day. I knew if I quickly got home and got changed, I would most likely be able to attend. I sent him a text saying I’d meet him there, since I had the invite. He didn’t reply, so I headed on over by myself.”

  “What happened?” I asked, feeling like I was on the edge of my seat reading a good book.

  “I showed up and saw him with another woman.”

  I brought both of my hands up to my mouth. “Was it just a friend?”

  She laughed bitterly. “Hardly. It was the woman he was filming a movie with at the time, or they were in the beginning stages of filming it. They’re filming it now, I do know that. He’d told me a bit about the cast of his new movie. I made the mistake of looking it up and found out it was a romantic comedy. And the lead actress was stunning. She lives in Boggy Creek Valley, crazily enough. Her name is Kathleen Daughtry.

  “Anyway, I showed up in a taxi, and it had dropped me off a little ways away from the party. When I walked up, Luke was getting out of a limo with Kathleen. He had his arm around her, and she had hers around him. She kept reaching up and whispering into his ear as they walked into the event, making him laugh every so often. Apparently, the press on the outside wasn’t being paid to keep quiet, and the two of them made sure to put on a spectacular show. Except, I couldn’t tell if they were acting or not.”

  “Maybe it was just all for press,” I said, trying to play devil’s advocate.

  “That’s what I thought, until I made my way in and saw them still arm-in-arm, where supposedly the press was vetted. I stood off to the side for a little bit and watched. Kathleen kept her arm linked with Luke’s as they walked around the room. It was clear at that point they’d come together as a couple. Then they danced and…”

  “And what?” I asked, gripping her arm and jerking her lightly. “What happened?”

  Bree sat up and crossed her legs as she faced me. Tears built in her eyes, and my heart instantly broke. I had never seen her like this, so distraught.

  Biting her lip, she tried to gather her composure before she went on. “I was in love with him, Arabella. So stupidly in love with him, I couldn’t see what life would be like dating someone like that. Was it an act? Maybe, but it was so hard to stand there and watch it. Then that ugly green jealous monster appeared, and I got so stupidly emotional.”

  She closed her eyes and shook her head before she went on. “The way that woman looked at him gave me such a gross feeling. It was like she wanted to devour him right then and there. She ran her fingers through his hair, then reached up to kiss him. I turned away before I saw them kiss and ran right into a waiter.”

  I gasped, eyes wide.

  “No, I take that back. I ran into three waiters, who were all coming out of the kitchen carrying big-ass trays of hors d’oeuvres. One waiter stumbled back into a second one, and when I tried to help correct the second, I ran into the third. Their trays clattered to the ground, and everyone in the room looked over. I apologized to the waiters and quickly ran for the exit. Luke started to call after me, but I just ran as fast as I could. Once I got outside, I jumped into the first taxi I saw and cried all the way home.”

  “Did he call you? Try to come over?”

  “Both, but I sent him to voicemail and told my doorman I didn’t want him in the building. Then he showed up at my job, and it was kind of hard to tell the boss’ son to go fuck off.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He said there was nothing between them, that it was all an act, something they had to do to promote the movie. I asked if he’d gotten my text that said I’d be there, and said he didn’t get it until after he had seen me there. Then I asked what would have happened if I’d told him that I was going from the beginning. He said he would have shown up with her, made a few rounds of the room, and then met up with me.

  “That was when I really, honest to God, realized I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stand by and watch the man I love pretend to be with another woman for appearances’ sake. Or worse yet, I didn’t want to watch him have pretend sex with another woman. Acting or not, it felt wrong. I’m not a jealous person by nature, but I know myself, Arabella…and I couldn’t do it. I thought I could until that night, seeing him with her. I mean, look at Brad and Angelina. Everyone thought Brad was madly in love with Jennifer, when in fact, he was having fake sex with Angelina and liked it better than the real sex with Jennifer.”

  Clearing my throat, I said, “Well, we don’t really know why they broke up.”

  Bree shot me a look that told me to stop trying to make a case for Brad and Angelina.

  “I asked him if he’d ever dated that actress he was with, and he said no—but that they’d hooked up once. I nearly broke down in front of him, and I swore to myself a long time ago I would never let a man make me cry. At least, not in front of him. So, I told him to get out of my office. That he could have his actress, but he couldn’t have me waiting on the sidelines.”

  “What did he do?” I asked, fully invested in the story.

  Bree wiped a tear away. “He left.”

  My mouth fell open. “Wait—what? He just left? He didn’t try to fight for you, or explain it wasn’t like that? Tell you he loved you after dating for so long?”

  She slowly shook her head. “He turned and walked out of my office. That afternoon, I put in my notice.”

  “You haven’t heard from him since?”

  Chewing on her lip, she shook her head.

  “And you didn’t tell anyone?”

  “No. No one—other than you now�
��knows about him. Well, besides his family. I had dinner at their house a few times. But I hadn’t even told my own folks. I think maybe deep down I knew it would never work. Luke was in the limelight, an actor, for Pete’s sake. All I’ve ever dreamed about is marrying someone and having a family like my folks. I loved being a lawyer, but deep down, I want what my parents have. I want love. Marriage. A man who will be there for me and take our kids to all the stupid practices that kids make their parents take them to. I didn’t want the Hollywood life, but I sure as hell wanted him.” She shrugged. “It simply wasn’t meant to be.”

  I folded my arms across my chest. “Well, screw him!”

  Bree’s brows shot up. “What?”

  “Screw him. To hell with him. Fuck him.”

  Her mouth fell open. “Holy shit. Is the baby doing this?”

  “No. I’m angry that he didn’t even try to fight for you, Bree. No man who has you in his life should be stupid enough to walk away. I mean, look at you. You’re smart, funny, beautiful on the outside as well as the inside. If he didn’t think you were worth at least a little fight, then…fuck him!”

  Bree pulled me into her arms and hugged me. “Arabella Adams, you are by far the cutest damn thing on this planet. Don’t ever change.”

  I hugged her back. When we broke apart, she gave me a wicked smile. “We need to get you to say fuck more often. It sounds so precious coming out of your mouth!”

  Pushing her shoulder, I laughed. “What we need to do is find you a guy.”

  “Oh no.” Bree crawled off the bed and pointed to the tests. “What we need to do is plan a romantic dinner for when Hunter gets home tomorrow, so you can tell him the good news. What do you say about going and buying some lingerie to help celebrate? Oh! And we can go and get our nails and toes done too.”

  I laughed. “I think all of that sounds amazing.”

  “Then let’s get this all cleaned up and put away, so we can spend the rest of the day pampering ourselves and finding you something that will knock Hunter’s socks off.”

  Placing my hand over my stomach, I thought about whether the baby would be a boy or a girl. I glanced at the clock and started a mental countdown until Hunter was back tomorrow.