“I am the father of your future children, Kat. This situation doesn’t change where our lives are headed. Don’t for a minute think I don’t want to see you swollen with our child. That baby will have Cora for a big sister.”
I let out a big, frustrated breath. “You can’t talk like that right now. We need to deal with today. Right now. And the simple fact is you have a woman, the mother of your daughter, living in your home, and she thinks you belong to her. How are you going to handle the situation?”
He huffs. “I know exactly how I’m going to handle it.” He grabs my hand and pulls me toward his bedroom door. Before I can ask what’s going on, he drags me down the hallway and into the kitchen, where we can hear Misty cooing to Cora.
“That’s a good girl. Eat your Cheerios. Get something in that little belly of yours and make Mommy happy,” she says while pouring another handful of the wheat circles on the baby’s tray.
“How’s my baby girl?” Carson addresses Misty firmly but without malice, though I know he has a few things he wants to say to her.
“Fever broke. Looks like you showering with her and taking a nap with her helped. You’re so perfect with her. Isn’t Daddy the best, Cora?” she coos sappily to the pretty little girl, her blond ringlets bouncing as if she wasn’t just sick. Babies sure bounce back quickly.
“So, she’s feeling better?” He walks over to his daughter while still holding my hand in his firm grip and leans his head down to run his lips against her forehead. I’ve seen Gillian and Bree use the same move with their babies to check their temperature before. “Nice and even.” He kisses her on the top of her head.
Carson leads me to a stool and practically puts me on it. “Coffee, Sweetcheeks?” he says to me, but Misty answers.
“Oh, no thanks, I’ve had enough.”
“Now, Misty, you know I’ve never called you that name once in the two weeks you’ve lived here. I was talking to Kathleen. My girlfriend. Speaking of, we need to talk.”
Misty leans against the counter on the opposite side of the kitchen. Her gaze from this distance is lethal. “Do you really think that’s a good idea in front of our daughter? She’s liable to get confused. I mean, she knows I’m Mommy and you’re Daddy. This woman is a stranger.”
Carson visibly bristles. “No, she’s not. She’s the woman I’m in love with, and it’s time I introduce her to you and my daughter. You’re going to start seeing a lot more of her from here on out. Isn’t that right, Kathleen?”
“Yep.” And on that note I get up from my spot and hold out my left hand toward Misty. She narrows her eyes at the oddity. “Kathleen Bennett.”
She doesn’t take my hand, so I drop it to my side, feeling the discomfort pumping off her in waves of negative energy. Carson wraps an arm over my shoulders, providing me the extra boost of strength I need.
“I understand this is a difficult situation and time for you, Carson, and Cora. I’m happy to help this transition in any way I can.”
Misty snorts. “Help? The only thing you’re doing by being here is breaking up my family.”
Carson lets me go and stands in front of me, thankfully breaking the dagger-like stare she had going. If looks could kill, I’d already be dead by now. The woman absolutely hates me. Then again, if she wants Carson and I stand in the way, she has good reason to.
I remind myself it’s going to take time for all of this to sink in for everyone, and more time to get things on an even keel.
“Misty, that’s uncalled for. Kathleen is my family. Cora is my family. You are the mother of my daughter.”
“But you said you were going to change Cora’s name and make us a real family. You said that, and now that she’s here, you’re taking it back!” Her voice breaks and she runs out of the kitchen in tears.
Well, that didn’t go very well.
Carson presses thumb and forefinger into his temples. I can’t imagine the weight he’s feeling on his shoulders. I rub a hand down his back. “Carson, baby, how about I leave?”
“No! This is just a misunderstanding. I can fix this.” Misery coats his tone.
I bring him around to face me. “I believe you can and you will. But having me here is not helping. She needs time to get used to this idea. I think we all do. You’ve leveled me with a blow I need some time to come to terms with too.”
He grips my shoulders. “I don’t want you to overthink this and decide you can’t handle it. I want to work through this with you.”
I shake my head and pat his cheek. “Honey, you can’t. We all need this. I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to go to one of the girl’s houses, hash it out with copious amounts of wine, and then go home to bed. You deal with Misty and make sure Cora is taken care of. Then call me tomorrow. Okay?”
He pushes me against the counter and kisses me soundly. His tongue dips in, swallowing me whole. I love every second. Until we’re broken apart by a giggling squeal coming from a few feet away.
“Someone wants her daddy’s attention.” I smile against his lips.
“Yeah,” he says softly, kissing me once more. “Will you meet my daughter before you go?” He sounds needy and wistful at the same time.
“I’d like nothing more. Lead the way, Daddio.”
He chuckles and pulls the squirming toddler out of her chair. He grabs a towel, wipes her mouth, and then tosses the towel back on the counter.
“Cora Duncan, soon to be Davis, meet Kathleen Bennett, soon to be Davis.”
I try not to allow the shock of his words and intention hit me too hard. Carson was never shy about his desire to marry me. He mentioned it often when we were together. It was always me holding back. I should have jumped in before the fire. Had I done so, we’d be in an entirely different place. Then again, sometimes fate has other plans. Maybe we were meant to do things differently.
Considering the crystal-blue eyes of Carson’s daughter makes one thing very clear to me. If we had not gone through what we had, this perfect angel would never be here.
“Hi, angel baby. I’m Kat, and we’re going to be great friends.” I wrap a finger around her chubby one, lean forward, and kiss the top of her head.
She giggles, and my heart melts. It is definitely not going to be hard to fall in love with this little girl. I’m half in love already.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
KATHLEEN
“A child. As in, a real-life human being made of bone and flesh?” Bree beams.
“Sugar and spice and everything nice?” I quip, trying to soften the blow a little.
She gets a faraway look in her eyes, glancing off into the distance. “Like a real boy? Not like Pinocchio?” Her glossy pink lips curve around the salted edge of her melon margarita.
“Girl. A real girl. An eighteen-month-old daughter to be exact,” I correct.
Bree blinks as if she cannot comprehend any of what I’ve just shared.
“Jesus, Bree, you need to lay off the Disney flicks.” Gigi shakes her head and plucks at her napkin, head down and surprisingly quiet. She hasn’t so much as said a word about the elephant-sized bomb I just dropped.
Maria dunks her tortilla chip into the salsa bowl, loading far more salsa on the chip than should be humanly possible, before lifting her icy gaze. “No problemo. I’ll chop off his cojones and mail them in a jar to his father, so he knows where to bury them along with the body I’ll have Eli beat to a pulp.”
Dead silence settles among the four of us. They’re not sure how to respond because I haven’t given them a vibe either way of how I’m feeling about this new information. Soul sisters are like that. We can be opinionated, straightforward, but we can’t do it until we know exactly what kind of emotional fallout we’re dealing with. Time to lay it all out on the table.
“Okay, girls. I’m going to say everything all at once. You’re going to let me without interrupting. Then we’ll address this one at a time. Soul sister solidarity. All right?” I narrow my eyes and meet three gazes. One Caribbean-blue, one emerald-green,
and the last icy-blue.
Slowly they each nod but don’t say a word.
I lick my lips and suck in a breath. Here goes nothin’.
“One. Carson and I are officially back together. Long-term. Future, marriage on the horizon possibly, all of it.”
Three sets of gasps in varying lengths and volume blast the air around me. I wish I could dive into the monster-sized blended margarita sitting in front of me, but I carry on with valor.
“Two. He met Misty, the baby mama, during a one-night stand the same night I pushed him away for good.”
I stop to make sure all three of them are breathing. Maria looks ready to pounce or cut someone. Bree looks shocked beyond compare. And Gigi looks straight-up guilty as shit. I’ll have to address that later. Though I worry why Gillian’s showing guilt and not concern. That’s unlike the peacekeeper.
“Three. We’re head over heels in love with one another and in a fucked-up situation because Baby Mama does not like me and wants Carson for herself.”
Maria’s mouth opens, but I hold up a finger. “You promised.”
She closes her mouth, her lips firming into a tight line of repressed anger.
“Four. Misty and Cora—that’s his daughter’s name…”
Three sets of “aw” slip out of their mouths. I allow it because Cora is a lovely name and sticks with the tradition of C names in the Davis family. Something I know Carson is very proud of.
“They both live with Carson at his beach-house ranch,” I finish, letting out all of my remaining breath like a balloon going flat.
“¿Qué mierda?” Maria hisses. Loosely translated—What’s this shit?
“My God!” Bree gasps.
Gigi stays completely silent, which can mean only one thing. This news did not surprise her. She knew about the baby, and she knew about them living at Carson’s house.
“Cat got your tongue, Gigi?” I narrow my gaze.
She blinks rapidly. “Uh, no. You said not to say anything until you were done.”
“You don’t seem surprised by this news. Not at all, actually.”
“Um, yeah, I kind of…”
“You knew about Cora. You knew about them living in his house. You knew, and you didn’t fucking tell me? What the fuck? What happened to the sister code?” I grate through clenched teeth, loud enough that only the girls can hear me, not the patrons happily eating lunch around us.
Gillian’s face pales even more, which is shocking because the girl glows in the dark.
“It’s all Chase’s fault!” She throws her husband right under the bus and rubs at her swollen belly. “He made me promise not to say anything. Literally told me he’d take away sex if I didn’t give Carson two weeks to speak the truth. I’m horny as all get-out with this pregnancy. Do you know what no sex would be like?”
“No. I don’t. Probably because I spent almost three years not getting laid!” I fire back.
Ria shakes her head. “Tres años. We should be giving your va-jay-jay a party now that the three-year dry spell is broken. ¡Jesucristo! Tres años. I can’t even go three days!” Not that we didn’t already know Maria is our resident nympho.
“If I didn’t need you so bad, Gigi, I’d be so pissed at you! You owe me. Big-time. Huge! You might have to name your baby after me!”
“Can’t. She’s having un niño,” Ria chimes in directly, but I ignore her.
Unshed tears fill Gillian’s eyes, and she nods emphatically. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do. Choose between my husband and my sister? Besides. It was Carson’s truth to share. Not mine. You wouldn’t have wanted to hear that from me. Would you?” Her voice cracks with overwhelming emotion and a truckload of pregnancy hormones.
Now I feel like a hateful bitch.
I slump in my chair. “No. I wouldn’t have. As much as this was a shocker, I’m glad Carson told me and we had time to reconnect. To firm our commitment to one another before I found out. Otherwise, I’m not sure I’d be sitting here talking to you three about how I’m going to get through all of this instead of just running from it.”
“So, you’re in it to win it?” Bree asks.
“Yeah, I am. Do you think it’s stupid?” I ask all three but start with them one at a time. “Ria?”
She shoves another loaded chip in her mouth, chews thoughtfully, swallows, and crosses her arms over her chest. “Obviously, we’re going to support you, but honestly, gatita, I’ve never seen anyone lose himself in sorrow the way he did when you pushed him away after the fire. That man loves you. Always has.” She shrugs. “Seems pretty simple to me. If you love him, there’s nothing else that matters. I learned that lesson the hard way between Tommy’s death and falling for his twin brother Eli. Love isn’t easy. It definitely bitch-slaps you upside the head when you least expect it.”
Gillian and Bree both nod, and I take a brain-freezing gulp of my margarita to let her words settle.
“Bree? What do you think?”
She pushes her long waterfall of blond hair over one shoulder and leans forward to clasp my hands in both of hers. As usual, I have to force myself not to flinch at the touch on my scarred flesh. It doesn’t ever seem to faze the girls in the least, and I’ve been working on it not fazing me, especially around them.
“Kathleen, we love and adore you. We’re your sisters and we’re here for you, whatever that means. You’ve always got us. But I’m going to throw myself out on a ledge and say that no man will ever love you the way Carson does. He’s your soul mate, babe. Do you feel that with him?” Her ocean-blue eyes swirl with love and friendship as I watch her lips quiver, a deep emotion filling the air around us.
It’s always been this way with my soul sisters. We feel each other’s pain. When needed, like now, we take some of the burden and help relieve one another. It’s our way.
I close my eyes and squeeze her fingers. “I do. Lord knows I do.”
“Then you have your answer.” She leans back and wipes at a tear that has fallen down her pretty cheek. Always our softie.
“Gigi? What would you do?”
Gillian leans back and lays one hand over her bump and the other on the table, one finger making the rim of her virgin margarita glass sing. “I’d hold on to him with everything I have. We all know how hard it is to hold on to true love. It has gossamer wings and can fly away at any moment. It’s up to us to capture love and cherish it every day. What does your heart say?”
“That being with Carson, getting back together, is what it is.”
“And what’s that?” She tips her head, her fiery red hair tumbling over the side of her shoulder.
“Fate.”
* * *
To: Kathleen Bennett
From: Carson Davis
What’s cooking, hot stuff?
I chuckle at the text Carson sent me. We’ve been seeing one another twice a week for the past two months and talking nightly as well as texting regularly. On Wednesdays, when we both have a light day, I meet up with him and Cora for what he dubs “family time.” We usually take Cora to the park, or to Gillian’s to play with the twins, or to Bree’s to play with Dannica. We have dinner, spend quality time with one another, and then I retreat back to my apartment. Alone.
Carson has what he thinks is a “stellar plan” for solving the problem. He wants me to just sleep over at his house. But I can’t. Not with Misty there. It feels wrong somehow. As if we’re having some type of tawdry affair under her nose. I don’t want to feel that way when I lay my head down in Carson’s bed. I want to feel as if I belong there, with him and Cora. The three of us. Until Misty has her own place, I’m firm on my stance. It’s driving Carson crazy, but I think moving through this scenario slowly is working for us. For all of us, including his daughter.
Of course, on Saturday nights, all bets are off. Saturday nights…those are mine. All six-foot three-inches of hotness wrapped around me from the second he enters my apartment until after breakfast on Sunday.
I hate Sundays. Not only
does he leave to go back to her, but it’s their combined family day. Not like he doesn’t have Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Alas, I’m trying very, very hard to accept the things I cannot change. At least right now. I can see that Carson is trying to make the best of a very trying situation, and he doesn’t need me adding to the problems, but damn, I’m tired of seeing him based on scheduled dates.
To: Carson Davis
From: Kathleen Bennett
Wouldn’t you like to know? Let’s just say something saucy, spicy, and mouthwatering.
I respond to his text, proud of my charming wit.
His response is the emoji with the big heart eyes. Then my phone rings.
“Hello, hot stuff speaking,” I joke.
Carson’s throaty laugh rumbles through my body, settling hotly between my thighs. Damn. He can take me from zero to wet with a simple laugh. I stir the marsala sauce I’m making for dinner. It will last me three days. I can’t eat out every night. I’d be as big as a cow. How would I compare standing next to petite, fake-titty Barbie?
“Hey, I have news!” His jovial timbre sets my heart abuzz.
“What kind of news?” I smile, knowing it must be good by the tone of his voice.
“The best.”
“Really? Well, don’t keep a girl waiting.”
“I’ve found the perfect place for Misty and Cora. And you’re never going to believe where.”
Just the fact he’s found a place for his house guest—aka Baby Mama Drama, according to my girl Bree—is amazing news on its own. A prickle of excitement skitters along my skin. I turn the sauce down and lean against the counter, pressing the phone closer to my ear. I do not want to miss this.
“Where? Better yet, when is it available?” I ask in a rush. The excitement of getting my boyfriend back all to myself is nudging my exuberance.
“In your building! Chase has an opening. A couple on your floor is growing their family, and they need more than two bedrooms. It’s perfect! And you’ll be right there. Then I can stay over more and not feel like I’m too far away. It’s a win-win.”
Fate: A Trinity Novel: Book Five Page 16