“You should be,” Lily muttered. “But there is always next year.”
“Oh! Speaking of next year!” Cole began and was cut off by Beth.
“Baby.” Beth went to him and placed a hand on his arm. “Maybe we should actually get out of the doorway before sharing stories?” She looked to Sloan. “Is it okay if we…?”
Nodding, Sloan jerked a thumb towards the stairs. “Make yourself at home.”
“Great! Thanks.” She slipped out the back door, leaving it open for Cole to follow.
Cole made a face. “Okay, but seriously, next year … you won’t believe the news I have.”
With a roguish grin, Cole bounded after his girlfriend.
Sloan moved up to shut the door behind them before turning to Lily. “Okay?”
Lily nodded. “My back still hurts a little, but I think that’s because I’m on my feet.”
He pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head. “Why don’t you go get dressed? I’ll make you some tea and you can rest on the sofa.”
A look of absolute adoration passed over her face. She turned in his arms and cupped his cheeks. She kissed him lovingly.
“You are so good to me.”
Heart wrenching, Sloan brushed his lips to her brow. “Because there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, baby girl.” He pulled back. “Go.”
With a last smile for him, she left the room. He listened for her all the way up the stairs and along the upstairs hall. Then their bedroom door closed overhead.
He was in the process of putting hot water on the stove when the backdoor opened and Cole and Beth charged in, carting duffle bags. Sloan stood back as Cole showed the way to his room, a room still harboring a few of Lily’s things. Mostly her furniture and items they had bought for the baby. Her clothes had been moved into his room ages ago and he had gotten her a bookshelf for her albums that he had set up in the living room. The rest needed to go into the basement before the baby was born.
The kettle whistled and Sloan focused on making tea. It was ready by the time Lily entered the room in a pair of sweats that were his and a t-shirt that was also his. Sloan didn’t mind. There was something satisfying about seeing her in his clothes, which were much too big for her; she had rolled the pant legs up several times and the sleeves on the shirt went down to her elbows. Yet it brought a feeling of protectiveness over him at the sight of her.
He set the mug down on the table, expecting her to sit. Instead she walked straight up to him and encircled his middle. Her face mashed into the center of his chest and she clung to him. Startled, he returned the embrace with concern.
“Lil?”
She shook her head. “Just like holding you,” she mumbled into the fabric of his shirt.
But there was more to it than that. He didn’t know how he knew, but he could almost feel that something was wrong.
“Sit,” he ordered, nudging her into the chair. “Drink your tea.”
She didn’t complain, but raised her hands to cradle her cup. Her face held a slight pallor and she looked exhausted.
“And I’m back.” Cole stalked into the kitchen a second later, followed by Beth. “Now, for my news.”
“Coffee first,” Beth decided. “That stuff we had on the road was traumatizing.”
Cole threw up his hands in exasperation. “Woman, I am trying to tell a story here.”
Unconcerned, Beth patted his arm and moved around him to the sink. “I know, baby.”
“Let me help you,” Sloan offered and was waved away.
“I got it,” she said.
“She’ll find it,” Cole muttered as he dropped into the seat across from Lily. “The girl’s a coffee bloodhound. It’s all she lives on.”
“That’s not true,” Beth protested as she tracked down the coffee after opening only one cupboard, like she knew exactly which one it was in.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Cole said. “Coffee and pop tarts.”
Cole met his brother’s gaze and made a silent gagging face.
“I saw that,” Beth mumbled without turning around.
Lily giggled, but Sloan noted it never reached her eyes. Concern wormed through him and he moved to take the seat next to her. He slid his hand down her back, working his way to her lower spine. Her eyes closed as he rubbed.
“Everything okay?” Cole asked.
Lily’s eyelids flew open and she offered him a half smile. “Fine. How have you been?”
“Amazing!” Cole decided shamelessly. “Which I will tell you why, once the woman gets her butt over here.”
“I’m coming. I’m coming!” Beth muttered as she pushed the on button, cast the machine a wistful glance and hurried to sit. “Okay.”
Cole turned to Lily and Sloan, his face practically glowing with barely suppressed excitement. He planted his hands on the table as if bracing himself.
“I was offered a junior position at Barkley and Boyd as soon as I graduate.” He paused, eyes bouncing like ping pongs back and forth between Lily and Sloan. “It’s one of the biggest law firms on the western coast and they want me!”
“Oh my God, Cole!” Lily struggled out of her seat and went around to put her arms around him. “That is incredible news. I am so proud of you!”
Beaming with enough force to possibly tear his face in half, Cole squeezed her back. “I know, right?” Lily released him and returned to her seat. “I’m probably the youngest person to ever work there.”
Sloan surveyed his brother’s face, the absolute joy and bliss that seemed to radiate off him like heat waves and felt an incredible sense of peace washed over him. He had wanted so much for Cole for so long that he couldn’t bring himself to believe it was actually happening.
“My law professor knows Parker Boyd and he sent in one of my papers,” Cole went on, speaking fast, his cheeks flushed. “Mr. Boyd made an appearance at the school to see me specifically. Said he was impressed and needed someone as brilliant and driven as me on his team.” He slammed a hand on the table, making Lily’s tea rattle. “Can you fucking believe it? Me, at one of the best fucking law firms in Canada? I don’t know whether to laugh, cry, or come in my pants.”
They all laughed.
Lily wiped her eyes with the hem of her shirt.
“Are you crying?” Cole teased her.
She blushed and scowled at him. “Hormones!” She rolled her eyes. “And maybe because I am so happy for you.”
Sloan rubbed her back and kissed the side of her head before turning to his brother. He offered the other man a half smile.
“Good job, little brother. You deserve it.” He paused as emotions threatened to overwhelm him. “Mom would be proud.”
Cole’s face tightened. His eyes glistened and he quickly dropped them to the table. “I couldn’t have done it without you, Sloan. You always rode my ass hard, but I see now why you did it.”
Sloan put his hand up, stopping the other man, because his own eyes were starting to sting and he refused to cry.
“You can thank me by graduating and possibly naming your first born after me.”
It had been meant as a joke. Cole laughed shakily, even Beth chuckled while rubbing her eyes dry with the sleeve of her sweater. But Lily stiffened under the hand he still rested against her back. He stroked the rigid length lightly until she relaxed once more.
“So.” Cole cleared his throat and screwed on a lopsided grin. “When’s the big day?”
“We haven’t decided yet,” Sloan admitted. “We’re waiting until after the baby’s born.”
Cole nodded. “Makes sense. You’ll have to tell me in advance so I can take the week off or something.”
No sooner had he spoken when Lily gasped for breath and bent in half. Her face twisted in pain as she clutched her stomach with one hand and the table with the other, the knuckles white on both hands.
“Lily?” Sloan reached for her.
“How long have you been having those contractions?” Beth interrupted.
Lily shook
her head. “They’re not contractions.”
Sloan got to his feet, eased Lily’s chair back. “Come on. I’m getting you to bed. You need to lie down.”
Lily didn’t protest as he helped her upstairs and into their bed. He sat with her as she lay curled up on her side, gently stroking her stomach.
“I think it’s all the excitement,” she said.
He hummed and stroked the bump. “Get some rest.”
He left her nestled deep beneath the blankets and made his way back downstairs. Beth and Cole were in the living room, waiting for him when he returned.
“She okay?” Cole asked at once.
Sloan nodded. “She gets easily tired.”
Beth worried her lip and cast anxious glances towards the stairs. “Are you sure?”
Sloan looked at her.
“It’s just … I’m training to be a prenatal nurse and it looked to me like it was more than just exhaustion.”
Worry coiled tight in the pit of Sloan’s gut that didn’t settle, not even when he assured himself they still had a month.
“She had her appointment a week ago and the doctor said everything was fine.”
Beth opened her mouth when Cole spoke.
“If she wakes up still not feeling well, you should take her to the hospital.”
Sloan nodded in agreement, but couldn’t think past his apprehension to speak.
Beth seemed to be raging war with herself, but she too kept her mouth closed. Instead, she focused on the photo albums lining an entire shelf.
“That’s a lot of photos,” she remarked.
“They’re Lily’s,” Cole said.
He walked over and pulled one free to show Beth.
“These are incredible!” Beth said as Cole flipped through the pages. “I can see so many of these on my dorm room wall.” She raised her head to look at Sloan. “Has she ever considered starting a studio, or selling her pieces online? People would pay a fortune for these.”
Sloan chuckled. “I’m not sure she has, but you should ask her.”
Nodding, Beth went back to scanning the photos.
Sloan focused on his brother. “Think I can have a minute?”
Relinquishing his hold on the album to Beth, Cole followed Sloan into the office.
“What’s up?”
Sloan shut the door behind them and motioned for the other man to have a seat.
“There’s something I wanted to wait until I saw you in person to tell you,” he said as he propped a hip against the corner of the desk.
He peered down at his brother’s wide, blue eyes and briefly wondered if he shouldn’t tell him about their father and the events Christmas night. It had just been one more lie to protect him, because Sloan knew Cole would fly off in a fit of rage, leave school, and possibly kill their father for what he did to Lily. So he had opted to wait until they met, face to face. Now, with Cole’s face still flushed with his earlier revelation, Sloan couldn’t help wondering if he should wait.
“What?” Cole pressed. “You’re kinda freaking me out.”
Now or never, Sloan thought.
“Dad attacked Lily on Christmas.”
Cole’s eyes bulged. His jaw slackened. Then everything twisted into a sneer of absolute fury.
“What?”
Sloan told him everything. When he finished, Cole was on his feet, breathing hard with his hands balled into angry fists at his sides.
“Where is he?”
Sloan rose and rested a hand on his brother’s shoulder. The boy was practically vibrating with rage.
“In jail,” he said. “The sheriff found him the next day at home. He didn’t deny what he’d done.”
Cole’s nostrils flared. “Fucking bastard! Hitting a pregnant woman … what the fuck is the matter with him?”
“Doesn’t matter anymore,” Sloan said. “He can’t hurt anyone.” He searched his brother’s rigid expression. “I’m telling you because I didn’t want you to hear it from anyone else. He’s gone, Cole. And I’m going to make sure he never comes back.”
“Good.”
Chapter Thirteen ~ Cole
There was nothing like the warmth of being surrounded by family. Cole had gone so long without it that the whole scene felt surreal, like a dream, and he lived in constant fear that at any moment, he would jerk awake in bed with Jason’s snores filling the apartment.
He sat on the loveseat with Beth curled up into his side. She was laughing over something Lily was saying from her reclined position on the sofa. Her head was on a pillow in Sloan’s lap and his brother was combing the hairs at her temple with steady fingers while gazing down at the tiny woman with an adoration that took Cole’s breath away. The whole scene amused him in a way that wasn’t funny at all; his surly, pain in the ass brother was head over heels in love with Cole’s best friend, and from the way she looked back at him, Lily was equally gone over Cole’s brother. There was something both endearing and twisted about that, although he couldn’t imagine what that was. Frankly, he didn’t give a shit. If there were ever two people who deserved each other more, it was the two sitting across from him. He honestly couldn’t have been happier for them if he tried.
“You two are like a fairytale,” Beth said when Lily finished. “I am so jealous right now.”
Lily chuckled. Her brown eyes lifted until she was peering up at the man looking down at her as though she’d hung the moon. Her smile softened. She turned her face into the hand he stroked over her cheek.
“You two are going to make me sick,” Cole teased with no real heat. “Get a room.”
Beth gouged her elbow into his side. “I think they’re adorable.”
Cole wondered what that was like, to be so hopelessly in love with a person that nothing else in the world mattered. He knew he loved Beth. He knew being without her just made no sense, but when he looked at her, did he have the same look his brother did when he looked at Lily? Somehow, his feelings felt so inadequate next to these two.
“I think supper’s finished,” Lily said. “I should pull the roast out before it burns.”
“I’ll do it,” Cole and Sloan said in unison.
The room went quiet as everyone exchanged glances. Then, just like that, they all laughed.
“Come on, dork,” Sloan said, gently easing Lily’s head and pillow off his lap and onto the sofa. “You can help.”
Cole brushed a kiss to Beth’s soft, dark curls before getting to his feet and following his brother into the kitchen.
The entire room smelled of fried meat and roasted vegetables. It was enough to make his stomach whimper and his mouth salivate. Sloan tossed him potholders and told him to pull out the roast while he got the dishes.
“So you and Lily look really happy,” he remarked as he yanked down the oven door and was met with a punch of moist heat that made his eyes sting.
“I love her, Cole,” Sloan said so quietly that Cole almost didn’t hear it.
Cole glanced up to find his brother watching him, his expression determined. It would have made him laugh to think his brother was trying to convince him of the fact, except it was more than that.
“I know you do,” he said. “I also know she’s crazy about you.”
Sloan looked to be on the verge of saying something more, reconsidered it and turned away. Cole frowned, but didn’t push as he drew the pan from the oven. He kicked the oven door shut with his heel and dumped the massive weight onto the wooden board on the counter.
Supper consisted of light chatter that was done mostly between the girls with the occasional response from Sloan, or Cole. The girls didn’t seem to mind, or notice as they went on about absolutely everything. It amazed Cole just how much the two could talk about in great lengths. But it didn’t bother him. He wanted Lily to like Beth. He wanted them to get along, because they were both two of the most important people in his life and he had no idea what he would do if they hated each other.
Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case.
<
br /> “So how far long are you exactly, Lily?” Beth asked as she cut her roast into neat little squares.
She sat across from him, looking beautiful under the warm, golden glow of the candlelight. The light reflected off her green eyes and shimmered whenever their gazes met. Cole’s heart did a little flip every time she followed it up with one of her smiles.
Damn if he wasn’t crazy about the girl.
“Eight months,” Lily said from the place on Cole’s right.
“Wow!” Beth gasped. “You guys must be so excited.”
Lily giggled nervously. “No, not at all. There’s still a million things we haven’t done.”
“Like what?” Beth prompted.
While Lily told them about the crib they had yet to put together and the room they still needed to paint, Cole frowned into his plate as his mind suddenly latched on to Lily’s comment. He wasn’t sure why it was nagging at him, because, until that moment, he had never really thought about it. He never saw a reason to. It hadn’t fastened to his brain and grown roots.
Eight months.
He wasn’t an expert at childbirth, but he knew enough about babies to know they cooked for nine months. Nine months from April was July, which put Lily’s time of conception two months before he left for school so unless she and Sloan had been secretly seeing each other behind Cole’s back all that time, which made no sense because he knew he had been Lily’s first, or…
No. He had to be wrong. Maybe the doctor was wrong, or Lily. Maybe she got the dates wrong. Maybe they slept together after he and Lily had. Yeah, that made sense. Yet as soon as he allowed the happy feeling to take hold once more, it popped. No matter how he tried to manipulate the dates, it just kept rounding back to the fact that, unless she jumped into Sloan’s bed straight after she’d been in Cole’s…
“Baby?”
He must have made a sound, because everyone at the table was watching him with varying degrees of concern. But his dizzying senses were turned on Lily, then to the bump barely visible beneath the table’s edge.
Christ.
The roast he’d consumed turned to ashes in his stomach. He felt hot and cold waves of anger, betrayal, and pain collide over him.
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