The Best Man's Baby

by Victoria James

  He tilted his chin in the direction of the other board. “What’s plan B?”

  He could have sworn he saw a trace of sadness flicker across her brown eyes.

  “Plan B is selling the business.” Her voice was soft and she cleared her throat before continuing. “I have an appointment with an appraisal company to determine what it’s worth. On speculation it should be pretty good—my profits keep increasing every year and there’s the very real possibility of franchising. So, I could sell before the baby arrives. We could live off that for a few years, being frugal of course, and then I could start again once he or she is old enough to start school. I could always do some floral arranging from home for extra money and to keep my foot in the door.” She turned around, snapping the lid back on her marker.

  Jake was speechless. Furious. He was trying to understand things from her perspective, but he couldn’t.

  “Your charts are all screwed up.”

  She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Really? How so?”

  “I’m not in any damn plan,” he said slowly, carefully enunciating the words the best he could through his clenched teeth.

  Her expression went from confused to angry. “You’re right. Wanna know why? Because plan A would have involved you sticking around long enough for the sperm to fertilize the egg, but by that time you were already on a plane halfway across the country! Why the heck would I think you’d stick around long enough to see the baby’s birth?”

  Chapter Three

  Jake stared at the glossy black door adorned with some kind of bright-green wreath, no doubt purchased at Claire’s floral shop. He hesitated before knocking. Did he really want to ask his sister-in-law and brother for advice? Once he went down that road, there would be no going back. Then again, it wasn’t likely they would leave him alone. After yesterday’s daddy-outing, Holly and Quinn were bound to be looking for him. He might as well get some advice for all his trouble. And right now he needed all the help he could get, especially from Holly. She knew Claire better than anyone.

  He didn’t know how he was going to get back into her life. He needed to earn her trust. He had hurt Claire—badly, much more than he thought originally. And now she had booted him out of her baby plans even though he was the damn father. After Claire’s horrifying “presentation” of baby plans A and B last night he’d used up all his energy trying not to yell. They bickered a few more minutes and then he’d finally called it quits. He really didn’t want to yell at the mother of his child. He told her she wasn’t getting rid of him and he was in it for the long haul. She’d given him a smirk that spoke more than she ever could have with words and then he’d left.

  He stared at the wreath. Just get it over with, Jake. He raised his tightly clenched fist to knock when the door swung open. Quinn stood there with an absurdly wide grin. “So you got a minister’s daughter pregnant. I have to say, Jake, even for you this is an all-time low.”

  Jake glared at him and clenched his teeth. By the time this whole mess was sorted out he’d probably have to see his dentist for all the teeth-grinding he was doing. Had Ella not appeared at that moment and barreled into his legs, Jake would have hurled a few choice curses Quinn’s way.

  “Uncle Zake!”

  “Hi, sweetie,” he said, hoisting her into his arms. She was smiling at him, and he was grateful for that unconditional support. At least they hadn’t turned her against him. Holly suddenly appeared behind Quinn’s shoulder. She reached out and yanked Jake forward, bunching up his shirt in her hand. He had no idea his tiny sister in-law had that kind of strength. He ignored Quinn’s laughter as he stumbled into their always-spotless entryway. Holly let go of him and stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest and a frown on her pretty face. His brother was grinning like an idiot.

  “Alright, Jake, care to tell me why my best friend has not returned any of my calls?”

  “Can we go in the kitchen? I need caffeine before we get into this.”

  Jake punched Quinn on the arm as he passed him. “Thanks a lot,” he muttered under his breath.

  “No, no, no. No hit Daddy,” Ella said, wagging her finger at him. Jake gave her a kiss on the forehead.

  “You’re right, Ella-Bella,” he said, trying to look contrite.

  “That’s my girl,” Quinn said with a smile as they entered the bright kitchen.

  The aroma of freshly brewed coffee teased him into thinking maybe this was going to be a normal morning, but he knew normal was about to take on a drastically different meaning from now on.

  “Me color,” Ella said, pointing to the child’s play table and chairs. He helped her settle into a chair.

  “Uncle Zake color?” He would have loved to join her. He glanced over at Holly, who was standing at the large island in the middle of the kitchen, watching him.

  “Sorry, sweetie. I have to speak to your mom and dad. Why don’t you draw me a picture?”

  Ella stared at him for a moment. “Uncle Zake in trouble?”

  “Huge trouble,” Quinn called out.

  Jake turned to glare at him, then gave a smile to Ella. “No, I’m fine. Don’t worry. You draw and then show me your picture when you’re done, okay?”

  Ella nodded, picking up her pack of crayons.

  He settled himself down at the large island and Holly shoved a coffee in his direction.

  He opened his mouth, about to start talking, when he heard the front door open. Evan shouted out a hello. Jake cursed under his breath. This was beginning to turn into a circus, and he was starting to feel like the stupid elephant wearing the pink tutu.

  “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the runaway Manning father,” Evan said, sauntering into the kitchen with a too-wide grin on his face. Jake glared at him while he kissed Holly and Ella on the cheek.

  “Uncle Zake, big trouble,” Ella said with a worried frown.

  “Don’t worry, sweetheart. Uncle Jake is always in big trouble.”

  Ella’s brow furrowed and then she went back to coloring. Even his niece was beginning to think he was a screwup. Holly poured Evan a coffee and despite Jake’s frosty greeting, he plunked down at the bar stool beside him.

  “Thanks,” Jake said. He loved his brothers, he really did. He couldn’t have asked for better brothers. Even when he’d let them down, they’d welcomed him back into their lives without question. That was part of the reason he was here now, willing to participate in his own beheading, because he respected them, and despite everything, he knew they would have his back.

  “Okay, boys,” Holly said sternly, pointing her index finger at Quinn and Evan. “No teasing.” Evan was already on his BlackBerry and Quinn held his hands up in surrender.

  “Give me the full story, Jake,” she said, leaning forward opposite him on the island. He looked into her reassuring green eyes and suddenly felt compelled to spill everything. Is this what women did?

  “The night of your wedding we, uh—” He coughed and then took a sip of his coffee. “Sort of got a room together.”

  “So you used Holly and Quinn’s wedding as an opportunity to fornicate,” Evan said while thumb-typing.

  Jake glared at Evan. “Fornicate?”

  Evan looked up from his BlackBerry, shaking his head condescendingly. “Fornication. There is a child in the room, Casanova. I’m trying to use words she won’t be able to repeat.”

  “Pornication!” Ella yelled out. Holly’s mouth dropped open, and Quinn choked on his coffee. They all slowly turned to look at Ella, who was grinning at them.

  “That’s not a word, sweetie. Uncle Evan likes to make things up,” Quinn said.

  Ella nodded and then held her index finger to her lips. “Shhhh.”

  If he hadn’t been the subject of the conversation he might have laughed.

  “Can we try and keep our voices down and keep this PG, please?” Holly whispered. They all nodded. Jake muttered a curse at Evan. Evan gave him a smile that told him exactly how much he was enjoying this.

 
“Okay, back it up. You and Claire slept together the night of our wedding?” Quinn asked in a hushed voice.

  Jake nodded.

  “Why didn’t she tell me?” Holly whispered. Jake could tell she was hurt. He knew those two probably told each other everything.

  Jake shrugged. “It wasn’t really planned and—”

  “Wait a second, Jake,” Holly said, giving him a look that sent all the small hairs on the back of his neck standing at attention. Who knew how scary his five-foot-five sister-in-law could be? “Didn’t you leave for that project on the West Coast the next morning?”

  He swallowed. Hard. Then nodded. Holly had joined the Manning business as a senior designer, and since she was married to Quinn, she knew everything that went on. She also knew he didn’t have to leave at the crack of dawn that morning.

  “But you called her, right?”

  He watched as Quinn backed away from the island, out of Holly’s line of vision, and was nodding his head in an exaggerated motion. Jake frowned at him—he couldn’t lie. Quinn was sliding his finger across his throat like a knife. Evan looked up, snorted a laugh, and then went back to his BlackBerry. Holly turned to glare at Quinn, who quickly dropped his arm and took a sip of coffee.

  Jake finally shook his head and then looked away. Of course his brothers would know that was exactly what he did, and how could he possibly justify that?

  “No wonder she didn’t tell me. She was probably humiliated. How could you do that? And then you showed up with Amanda groping you. I mean, of all people, Amanda?” Holly covered her face with her hands, shaking her head as though he had shown up with an escaped convict.

  “She hitched a ride. I didn’t invite her. I didn’t lead her on. Wait, what’s with Amanda?” Jake asked, remembering the way Claire had said her name last night too. Holly promptly lowered her hands from her face, composing herself, and snatched up her mug of coffee.

  “Nothing, nothing,” she mumbled into her cup, avoiding eye contact with him.

  “Spill it, Holly. If I’m going to make this work with Claire I need to know some of this stuff.”

  She slowly looked up at him. He could tell she was trying to decide whether or not to tell him whatever it was she was hiding. Finally she shook her head. “Nothing.”

  He took a deep breath even though his chest hurt. So much for coming here to feel better. “Holly—”

  “I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, and Claire would so kill me right now, but because of the extenuating circumstances, I feel it’s in her best interest to tell you Claire is not a one-night-stand kind of girl.”

  “Don’t you think I know?” He felt as though he ripped those words from his gut. His torment must have gotten through to her, because suddenly Holly looked sympathetic.

  “Gee,” Evan interjected sarcastically, “what would have given that away? The fact that she is Reverend Holbrook’s daughter? Were you running out of women in Red River? I mean of all people—”

  “Back off, Evan,” Jake growled. His brother was right, and he was angry at himself. What had he been thinking?

  “How did you even manage this whole seduction, anyway? We were the last ones to leave. I remember standing with you on the balcony.” He stopped talking for a second and then scowled at him. “You told me you were exhausted and going to bed, and then ditched me while I was still speaking.”

  “You were boring.”

  “So you decided to hit on Claire?”

  “Better than spending the night listening to you.”

  “Can we get this conversation back on track, guys? Jake, listen up, you need my help.”

  Jake nodded seriously.

  “As you may or may not know, I am a firm believer in the philosophy that everything happens for a reason.”

  Jake looked at Quinn, expecting his brother to be rolling his eyes, but it was much worse than that—his brother had a small smile on his lips, and his expression as he stared at his wife was…sappy.

  Evan sighed loudly. “Holly, you know that sounds really sweet—”

  “Evan,” she said, effectively cutting off his brother with the tone of her voice. “I’m not prepared to hear some logical explanation of what really happened in your opinion. What I’m here to do is help two very deserving people find happiness together.”

  Jake ignored Evan’s snort and instead focused on whatever his sister-in-law was about to tell him. She obviously had pity for him. And he’d take it.

  She clasped her hands together. “Okay. So now we have to fix this.”

  Finally, someone was willing to help him. “Thanks, Holly.”

  “Did you see Claire last night?”

  He nodded and averted his eyes. “She kicked me out of her house.”

  Quinn and Evan laughed. Holly glared both of them into silence. “What happened?”

  “I proposed marriage and she told me to get out.” He ignored Quinn as he spit his coffee out of his mouth, and then he fought the urge to step on Evan’s BlackBerry as it clanked to the ground.

  “You proposed marriage? This is years too early for you,” Quinn said, approaching the island again.

  “What are you talking about?”

  Quinn was tapping his chin. “Well, according to your life plan, you’re not due to be getting married for at least another decade. What was it you said about ruining the best years of your life?”

  Jake glared at his older brother, recalling the exact conversation in which he’d proudly declared that he wasn’t getting married until he was forty-five. “That was then. This is now. Obviously things have changed.”

  “You asked her to marry you?” Holly repeated, her skin suddenly going a few shades paler.

  Jake gave a nod.

  “And she said no?”

  Jake nodded affirmatively.

  “Not good,” Holly mumbled, leaning back against the counter.

  He ran his fingers through his already-disheveled hair and then looked up from his mug at Quinn and Holly. “I just need to do something that will make Claire realize I’m in this for the long haul, that she can depend on me. For some reason she thinks I’m this playboy who can’t settle down.”

  Evan turned to look at him. “Uh, maybe it has something to do with the fact that you have a new woman on the back of your Harley every week. Or that you took off for six weeks.”

  “Which was two weeks longer than you really needed to be gone. The new subdivision out west was already under way. You didn’t need to stay out there that long. Our partners on that project had everything under control, ” Quinn added.

  Jake looked away from them. Yeah, he’d been gone weeks longer than necessary for Manning Construction, but he had his own business plans and it was too early to tell them yet.

  “Wait, I’ve got it!” Holly yelled, flailing her arms around.

  “Yay! Mommy!” Ella clapped. They all smiled at her and then she went back to coloring.

  “Trade in your Harley and get a minivan.”

  Everyone went silent. Jake felt the room start spinning, and he was having a hard time focusing. He clutched the edge of the quartzite counter as chills ran up and down his spine. And then a cold, clammy sweat dripped from his pores. He heard laughter, voices, but it sounded as though they were coming from a dark tunnel. Was he having a stroke? A large hand slapped him on the back. Hard.

  “Breathe, Jake, breathe,” he heard Quinn say in the distance.

  “Have some water.” He accepted the glass of water and forced himself to take a large gulp.

  “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  Everyone laughed.

  “Jake, getting rid of the Harley would symbolize the end of your wild days, that you’re ready to embrace your future as a dad. And a husband.” He could tell from the sound of her voice that she was actually being serious. Helpful even.

  He shook his head and closed his eyes, but not before catching Quinn turning around to hide his laughter. Traitor. “Holly. I’m not getting rid of the Harley.”<
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  She smiled and crossed her arms in front of her. “How about the minivan?”

  That word again. Maybe he was allergic to the word, because he felt the room start teetering again.

  “You’re hyperventilating,” Evan said, though he didn’t look too concerned as he leaned back in his chair.

  “What if you got one that said ‘Sport’ on the back? I’m sure that means it’s peppy.”

  Jake stared at his beautiful sister-in-law and wondered when she had become so evil.

  Quinn turned to Holly. Finally, the man was going to set his wife straight. “That’s a good idea, honey. Jake, really, it’ll have so much room for all the kid’s toys and the food shopping. And those car seats and strollers take up tons of room. And if you get leather seats, the baby vomit is easy to wipe up.”

  He stared at the two of them.

  Evan piped up. “And minivans are great when you start gaining that middle-aged family-man potbelly. Very forgiving.”

  Jake touched his flat stomach absently. “Forget it. No flipping way am I getting a minivan! No, no, no. Thanks for nothing, guys.” He shot them all a dirty look and walked over to Ella.

  “Bye, sweetie. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He ruffled her brown hair and gave her a quick kiss on the head.

  “Wait,” she said, and then thrust a piece of paper up at him. “Dat’s Uncle Zake and Auntie Care.” Jake looked at the scribbles on the paper, aware that his niece had somehow come up with her own interpretation of what happened between him and Claire.

  “Thanks, honey. I’ll be sure to hang this on my fridge, okay?” The entire front of his fridge was filled with pictures from Ella. This was the most interesting piece in the collection.

  She nodded, pleased with herself.

  He walked out of the kitchen with a final, pissed-off look in his brothers’ direction. Was he really mad at them? Okay, maybe not. He would have done the same thing if either of his brothers had done something as stupid as he had.

  As he reached the front door he heard Holly call out his name. He sighed and turned around to face her.

  “Jake, I’m sorry for teasing you.”

  He shrugged. He deserved all of this. He deserved much worse than this. He was a total screwup, exactly like their father told him.