Facing West: A Forever Wilde Novel

by Lucy Lennox

  I got out of the car, grabbing my backpack and storming toward the house. For once, I ignored the trio of yipping dogs and made a beeline for the big kitchen and family room area in the back of the old farmhouse.

  Sure enough, there were about a million Wildes spread out over the large open space. Had it been any other family, I’d have thought it was an intervention. But it was the Wildes. So it was more of a love posse.

  “What the hell are all of you doing here?” I asked.

  Two of my sisters tutted and came at me with hugs, laying on the sympathy and mothering thick enough to make up for my own mother being overseas.

  I caught Grandpa’s eyes across the kitchen island, and he gave me a grimace of understanding.

  “Why didn’t you tell us?” my aunt Gina exclaimed, throwing her hands up in typical dramatic fashion. Her son, my cousin Max, shot me an apologetic look from where he stood behind her, mouthing the words I’m sorry over his mom’s head.

  Gina’s wife, my aunt Carmen, also rolled her eyes at me apologetically. We all knew Gina was the crazy one of the group. And, honestly, it was usually a good bet the one with the Wilde blood was the crazy one in the crew.

  “Why didn’t I tell you what?” I mumbled into my sister MJ’s full bosom where my face was mashed uncomfortably against the sunglasses hanging from the collar of her shirt. “Let me go.”

  “Forget it. We’re here to love you through this. You know the drill.”

  “What if I hate the drill?” I countered grumpily.

  “Too bad,” Sassy said, spinning triumphantly with something in her hands held above her head. It was red and green, with fluffy pom-poms flying off it at the end of long strands of yarn.

  “What is that?” I asked right as the answer to my question hit me. “Oh god,” I groaned. “No. No.”

  My aunt Brenda sulked from the far end of the huge table between the kitchen and family room. “He won the damned thing fair and square. Just fucking give it to him already. Kathryn-Anne Wilde, I blame you for this,” she said, glaring at my cousin Katie. “I’m not getting any younger, and you and that good-for-nothing husband of yours need to get on the baby wagon before I die. I told you one of Bill and Shelby’s kids was gonna get it first. Bunch of high achievers.”

  “No,” I said again. “Put that thing away.”

  Sassy continued waving it like a flag of victory. “Nuh-uh. Grandpa spent five whole years knitting this gem for his first great-grandchild, and you’re the one who earned it fair and square. Take that, Aunt Brenda. Look at it. Watch me give it to my brother West.”

  She was such a fucking brat.

  Brenda shot Sassy a look. “Don’t make me call you by your real name,” she warned.

  Sassy gulped down her smirk and dropped the knitted monstrosity like a hot potato.

  “Aww, now look what you’ve done,” Doc said, leaning over to pick it up. He cradled the lump of knotted yarn in his arms and petted it like it was a baby. “His beautiful Christmas stocking and no one wants to claim it. It’s okay, green-and-red beast. Someone will want you one day. I promise.”

  Grandpa walked up and yanked the lump out of Doc’s arms. “Asshole,” he muttered, turning around and placing it reverently back between tissue paper layers in its box.

  “Guys,” I said to the room in general. “It’s not what you think. Pippa’s not my baby.”

  MJ’s eyes bore into mine like lasers. The lawyer in her was blazing hot for everyone to see. “Is your name on her birth certificate?”

  I blinked.

  “Well, yes, but—”

  “Then she’s yours,” MJ said triumphantly before reaching across a massive puce purse to slide Grandpa’s box over to me before grabbing some carrot sticks out of a bowl on the counter. Only my sister Winnie carried a purse that ugly.

  “The twins drove in as well?” I shook my head. “How many of you drove in from the city for god’s sake? Don’t you have jobs?”

  I noticed Cal and King playing chess in the corner of the room, noticeably staying quiet. But there nonetheless. It was the first time I’d been thankful Saint and Otto were deployed overseas. As it was, the room was full to the brim with my family.

  When there was trouble, Wildes showed up.

  I took a moment to be grateful I had so many people who loved me. My thoughts turned to Nico, and I wondered how he was faring with all this insanity.

  Hallie came plowing into the room. She paused dramatically on the threshold and clasped her hands together in front of her chest. “Oh Weston,” she cried. “Of course we’re all here. It’s not every day your brother becomes a father.”

  I’d had enough of the drama. “I’m not her father goddammit!”

  The chatter in the room stopped, and everyone looked past me in the direction of the front door. I turned to see what they were staring at and saw Nico cradling a bundle of pink blankets in his arms. He looked stunned, and I realized he’d heard my words. I quickly tried to explain myself.

  “Nico, I—”

  “She’s sick,” he croaked. “Something’s wrong with her, West. I think she’s having trouble breathing.”

  It was then that I realized he also looked terrified. I hurried over to him and took the baby out of his arms. “Doc,” I called out.

  “Take her in the family room. I’ll grab my bag,” he said without needing any other information before springing into action.

  My family all scuttled away from the area, and Aunt Carmen began whispering for everyone to leave the room and give us some space.

  I got her to the sofa and noticed someone had thrown a blanket down to protect the surface of the cushion. I quickly laid Pippa on the blanket and began to peel her own blankets away to see what was going on. Her lips were blue, and my heart sped up as my mind spun through possible causes.

  Doc slid to a stop next to me on the coffee table, yanking his bag open and barking orders at me so we could work as a team to assess her as quickly as possible.

  “There’s a neb under the sink in the master. Go get it,” he said.

  I jumped up and raced to my grandparents’ room, ignoring Nico’s shouted questions. I found the nebulizer under the sink and saw a bag next to it with various mouthpieces. I grabbed it in hopes there was a infant-sized one.

  I ran back to the room, unfurling the cord and asking Grandpa for an extension cord. In the meantime, I plugged it into the nearest outlet and rifled through Doc’s bag, looking for the medicine we’d need to go in it. I found a tiny mask and got to work. Once it was all set up, I met Doc’s eyes.

  “RSV?” I asked, knowing the diagnosis could be dangerous but also knowing it would be better than something stuck in her throat or needing surgery.

  “That’s my guess. I swabbed her to double-check. Hand me the mask, and I’ll give her the breathing treatment.”

  I helped get Doc settled onto the sofa with a bundled-up Pippa in his arms. After placing the tiny dinosaur-style pediatric mask on her face, I stepped back and took a breath. Nico was standing off to the side with his hands in front of his mouth and his eyes still wide with terror.

  My heart lurched, and I grabbed for him. “Come here,” I murmured, pulling him into my chest. “She’s going to be okay, Nico. You did the right thing bringing her.”

  His arms came around me, and he held on to me for dear life. I tried to reassure him it was all going to be fine, but he was trembling all over.

  “Shh,” I whispered into his ear. “Baby, she’s okay. I promise.”

  “West, fuck. I don’t know how to do this. I can’t do this. Thank god, you’re listed as her father. It’ll be better that way.”

  “That’s not true,” I said with as much conviction as I could. “That’s not true, and we both know it. You love that little girl. She’s your family.”

  I felt him sigh against me. “No. I should go.”

  My jaw tightened, and I wanted to shake the man. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  Chapter 29

&
nbsp; Nico

  I felt like I was going to come out of my skin. When I’d noticed Pippa was having trouble breathing, I’d raced to the car and headed to Doc’s house immediately. I didn’t want to show up at West’s house and have to admit I’d let Pippa get that sick before asking for help.

  I’d panicked so badly I was halfway down the driveway before I realized I’d left Griff and Rebecca standing on the porch. I called Griff’s cell and apologized, explaining I needed to get the baby help as soon as I could and would call him when I knew something.

  When I’d walked in to Doc and Mr. Wilde’s house and seen West standing in the middle of a roomful of people, I’d felt light-headed. He was going to know. They were all going to know how shitty I was at taking care of one particularly easy baby.

  I felt like such a fool. I’d fucked up, and now Pippa was going to have to pay the price for my mistake.

  And just like I knew they would, West and Doc had taken charge like the professionals they were and done what it took to treat Pippa while I’d just stood there as useless as a hood ornament.

  I’d finally agreed to stay for a while and fetched the infant car seat from my car so Doc could put her to sleep sitting upright. Apparently, it helped with nasal drainage or something. What the hell did I know?

  After the breathing treatment and a cuddle, Doc settled her into the car seat and took her back to his bedroom to watch over her. He seemed content to sit with her for a while despite the fact a million of his family members were present for a party. Maybe it was because so many people were there that he was happy to get some quiet time in his room.

  West led me out of Doc and Grandpa’s room, closing the door behind us. His warm hand was still settled on my lower back, and he used it to pull me around to face him. We stood at the end of a long hallway with no one around.

  “Do you trust Doc to take good care of her for a little while so you can catch your breath?” West asked in a soft voice. It wasn’t accusatory, more like sincerely concerned.

  “Of course I do. Obviously, he can do a hell of a better job at it than I can,” I admitted drily. “I’m not cut out for this, West.”

  “Stop that. You’re full of shit. Do you have any idea how many new parents wouldn’t have been nearly as on top of this as you were? She was perfectly healthy when I last saw her forty-eight hours ago, and Doc said he saw her just this afternoon in town. That means the virus came on quickly, Nico. Stop berating yourself. You did fine. You noticed she was sick, and you brought her to a doctor. Now cut that crap out and let’s go get a drink. I think we could both use one.”

  “I think you might be right,” I told him as a laugh of relief bubbled up.

  We began walking back toward the main part of the house when West spoke again. “Nico, about the birth certificate…”

  “I believe you,” I said before he could say anything else. “If you say you aren’t her father, I believe you. I’m sorry I doubted you. I was really upset.”

  West stopped and held me still by my shoulders. “I’m not her father, Nico. I promise I’m not. I never slept with your sister. I need you to know that. And I had no idea she listed me as the father on the birth certificate.”

  “Do you know why she would have done it?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe for emergencies? Maybe Honovi has a better idea. We can ask him tomorrow. Right now I want to introduce you to some of these crazies and watch you get more and more uncomfortable as the night wears on.”

  His words were said with deadpan humor, but he wasn’t far off from the truth.

  “Is this some kind of weirdo ‘meet the family’ ritual? Don’t you think it’s a little soon for all that?” I teased.

  “Better now than waiting until after you’ve popped the question,” West said with a shrug. I barked out a laugh and smacked him on the ass as he turned back toward the direction of the increasing noise from all the people who’d piled back into the kitchen and family room. I had to admit it felt good to cede control of Pippa over to an expert for a little while.

  Once we entered the kitchen, I noticed Griff had arrived somehow and was talking to an older woman I didn’t recognize. He was holding a glass of wine and laughing. I quirked a brow at West.

  “Oh, I asked Hudson to run over and pick up Griff. I figured you wouldn’t want to leave them alone, and this way I could justify keeping you here longer.” He winked at me before reaching for one of the bottles of alcohol scattered across the huge kitchen island.

  I greeted Griff and updated him on Pippa’s situation, learning that Rebecca had chosen to stay in and rest rather than coming over to “party with all the kids.”

  After West brought me a stiff drink of some kind, he started introducing me around to everyone until my head spun. Someone had turned on music, and Mr. Wilde was dishing out bowls of chili. For some reason there were groans of complaints about the food choice.

  “What’s wrong with chili?” I asked one of the sisters quietly. I was pretty sure her name was a combination of initials, but I’d be damned if I remembered which ones.

  “He’s been testing chili recipes for days. He’s trying to beat one of his neighbors in the upcoming cook-off, but it’s never going to happen. Meanwhile, that’s all poor Doc, Felix, and Hudson have eaten for days,” she explained.

  “Which one is Felix again?” I asked.

  She gestured to a quiet guy sitting off to the side, reading what looked to be some kind of textbook. He was slender with delicate features and dark-framed glasses. Cute, in a massively geeky way. “He’s the one who was raised by Doc and Grandpa. His mom, our aunt Jackie, is a famous actress. Felix hates all the attention from the paparazzi, so he begged to stay here and grow up in Hobie. He’s very shy. Despises attention of any kind. Lord only knows how a woman like Jackie Wilde wound up with a kid like Felix.”

  “Jacqueline Wilde is your aunt? Holy shit. She’s one of Doc and Mr. Wilde’s kids? Does she come to town? Do they ever see her?”

  “They refuse to now. She got to a point when she only referred to her family to score points with the media or her fans. They hated it, especially for Felix’s sake. Family is everything to them, as you can see,” she said with a smile, looking around the room. Suddenly I remembered the initials. Her name was MJ. “By the way, you know you can call him Grandpa, right? Everyone does. Even Doc most of the time.”

  “What’s his actual name?” I asked out of curiosity.

  “Weston,” she said with a wink.

  I smiled and looked around for the junior version, catching his eye from where he stood offering Griff a wine refill. West cocked his head in question, and I shook mine. My heart was doing stupid flips just at the sight of him. If I didn’t leave town soon, I was going to fall even further for the guy than I already had.

  “You like him, don’t you?” MJ asked, leaning in so no one would hear her.

  “Yep,” I said on a sigh.

  She chuckled. “I take it that’s a bad thing?”

  “Yep.”

  She stood straight and wrapped her arms around my neck, squeezing me into an impromptu hug.

  “Cheer up, buttercup. It could be worse.”

  “How’s that?” I asked.

  “At least you’re not the only kitten who’s smitten.”

  I looked again for the man we were discussing and caught him still gazing at me. MJ removed herself from my person and wandered off chuckling while I stood there staring at the one man in the room who could ask me to strip naked right there in front of everyone and sing a Dolly Parton song, and I’d do it without a second thought.

  I was so very fucked.

  Perhaps I needed another drink. Or twelve.

  Chapter 30

  West

  By the time the party died down, it was after midnight and most of us had had way too much to drink. My aunts had all disappeared to their rooms ages ago, and many of my siblings and cousins had stumbled across the backyard to the bunkhouse.

  When Gran
dpa’s ranch had been in full production, the bunkhouse had been just that—a dusty old bunkhouse for ranch hands. But when he’d retired and sold off the last of his stock, he and Doc had renovated the bunkhouse into guest rooms and minisuites to accommodate all the friends and family who visited regularly. With a handful of adult children and gobs of grown grandkids now, there were times the ranch hosted over forty of us at a time.

  We loved it out there. As teenagers, we’d convinced Doc and Grandpa to let us get a pool table and Ping-Pong table, and we kept the common room fridge stocked with sodas and beer. Our friends always begged us to have them over to the bunkhouse for sleepovers. Little did they know Grandpa and Doc had the surveillance equivalent of a baby monitor in the common area of the bunkhouse so they could spy on us.

  At one point late in the evening, Doc had pulled me aside to make me promise I wouldn’t let anyone, including myself, drive home. He’d offered to keep the baby in his room and do the necessary night feedings so Nico and I could get some rest. I think he knew how much Nico needed the break from baby duty, and Doc definitely knew I had to get up and be at work by nine the next morning.

  I led Griff and Nico out to the bunkhouse, laughing at the wild drunken shouts of my sisters, Winnie and Hallie. The twins were complete opposites in every way, but when they got drunk together, they turned into the bosom buddies they’d been when we were little.

  “I love you, Winnipeg!” Hallie shouted into the night.

  “I love you too, Halifax!” Winnie giggled, bumping Hallie’s shoulder and almost sending them both into the scraggly half-dead rosebushes next to the bunkhouse door.

  Nico giggled right along with them. I’d noticed at least an hour ago that he was comfortably shit-faced. I wasn’t quite there, but I was heavily buzzed and couldn’t stop imagining Nico naked. Just the thought of it made me suck in a breath.

  “What?” he asked.

  “What, what?”

  “You gasped.”

  “So?”

  Nico giggled again. “So I want to know why.”