Surprise Daddies: A Contemporary Romance Box Set

by London James

  “Yes, but it won’t be for another month, I’m afraid.”

  “I can live another month. That’s not bad. I’ve made it this far. Another month is cake.”

  I go to pick up my bag again, but Gray grabs the hand that has the ring on it. “I know what happened, Everly. I know this ring isn’t for show.”

  My throat bobs as I swallow. I shrug my shoulders. “It’s okay. Things happen, right?”

  “No, Everly. Things just don’t happen to Rowan. He makes things happen. There is a really big difference. I’m worried about him. He loves you. He misses you. You need to talk to him.”

  “I don’t know how. I’ve messed things up. I don’t even know how I did it—again. That’s all I’m good for, Gray. I mess things up.”

  “Don’t give up on him.”

  I pick my bag up and look over my shoulder before I leave, not saying another word. It’s hard to move on when I can’t seem put one foot in front of the other. I have one foot stuck in the past and the other stuck in the present, and the common denominator is Rowan. It’s always Rowan.

  I toss the bag in the taxi and feel eyes burning into me again. It feels familiar, like four years ago when we came here and found out our parents were married. I turn around and glance up to the second story window to the right. My breath catches.

  It’s Rowan.

  I want nothing more than to run inside and throw myself at him, but at this point, I know I’m not good for him. He deserves better. It kills me to turn my back on him, again, but I’ll do what I need to do for him. I’ll stay married to him and sign the paperwork when he sends it to me to get divorced. It’s the least I can do. Even if it will kill me to do it.

  He looks different. It’s only been a day or so since I’ve really looked at him, but he looks tired, his hair is a mess, and his beard is thick from not shaving. He looks good with an unruly beard. He is even wearing an old band t-shirt now that the funeral is over. It has holes near the collar, and the words are faded, but he still makes it look good.

  He can make anything look good.

  This time, instead of him turning around, I do. I put one leg in the car, slide on the leather seat, and slam the door. “Airport, please,” I tell the taxi driver.

  We pull out of the driveway, leaving the huge estate in the rear-view. I don’t look back. I don’t bother wiping the tears. I deserve to feel every single one of them drip off my face. I stare at the ring, the one I refuse to take off, and my heart breaks. I miss him so much. I just want to tell him that being married is enough. I don’t care how we did it. I don’t care why. All I care about is us. We can make memories for the rest of our lives.

  I finally had the man of my dreams, and I ruined it by opening my mouth. I lean my head back against the seat and stare out the window, watching the Douglas Firs pass by as the taxi speeds to the airport. Every mile that I put between Rowan and I feels wrong, but I don’t know what else to do.

  Talk to him? We don’t know how to talk to each other anymore. We always fight. Maybe a few days away will be good. We did come crashing together for the first time in years, and it was really exciting. Maybe the excitement came falling down. We are different people on some levels, not all, and spending all that time together, in the short of amount of time, would be bad for anyone.

  The tires squeal when we pull up to the airport, and the driver parks. I sigh as I pick up my luggage out of the trunk and walk inside. A gush of heat hits me in the face, drying my tears quickly. I grab my ticket, go through security, and walk to my gate. I don’t want to go back, but I have to. I owe the tattoo shop that much, and I need to catch Blaire up on everything.

  She has probably called my phone twenty times.

  When I board the plane, my stomach turns, and I gag from the smell of the cabin. I hate flying. People are shoved into a tight space, they burp, cough, and do who knows what else, and the idea of inhaling that stuff makes me want to vomit.

  I try and calm myself, but for the entire plane ride back to New York City, I’m on the verge of puking. I run off the plane with my bag and burst through the automatic doors like I’ve just run a marathon. Of course, the airport could be considered its own sport if they tried it because sometimes even just walking gate to gate is exhausting.

  I catch another taxi, and before I know it, I’m at my apartment complex, fishing out my keys and unlocking the door.

  “Hey!” Blaire greets me, running to the door to take my bag out of my arms. “Oh, babe. Come here.” She pulls me into a tight hug. The love I’m getting from my best friend is all I need.

  I let go.

  I let go of everything and cry as hard as I can. I don’t have to pretend with Blaire. She understands. And when she doesn’t, she acts like she does because she never wants anyone to feel bad.

  “It’s okay. Let it all out,” she croons.

  But the smell of her infiltrates my sensitive stomach, and I push her out of the way and run toward the bathroom. I barely lift the toilet seat before I’m tossing up my lunch. I groan. My forehead feels hot, and my back starts to sweat. Gross. Maybe I just need to shower and get all the traveling off me.

  “Are you okay?”

  “It’s just been stressful. I’m fine,” I say.

  “What the ever-loving fuck is on your finger?” she gasps, grasping my hand hard to turn it left and right so the diamond can capture all angles of the light. “Is that an engagement ring?”

  “Close. It’s a wedding ring.”

  The look on her face would be comical if it wasn’t for the seriousness of my statement. “No, really. Where did you get that, Everly?”

  “A filthy rich billionaire that I married in Vegas because our parents left a will saying we had to marry someone in thirty days, and one of us has to live at the estate to take care of it for six months. Instead of finding people to marry, we married each other.”

  “I’m assuming since you are here and he isn’t, it didn’t go over real well.”

  “When does it ever? It’s me. Apparently, I don’t know how to talk to people. And I never know how to talk with Rowan.”

  “He loves you, Everly.”

  I shake my head. “I don’t doubt that, but I think he is in love with what we used to be, how we used to be, the memories. Things like that.”

  “Are you?” she asks.

  “No. I love him so much it hurts. He has my heart.”

  “Then why are you assuming you know what he wants. You know you love him. You know you’d do anything for him, but instead, you are looking for reasons for him not to love you like you do him. That’s not fair. Sure, what you did all those years ago sucked. You should have gone about it a different way, but you meant well. Now, look at him. He is a millionaire—”

  “—Billionaire,” I correct her with a smile on my face.

  She rolls her eyes. “Whatever. Same thing. Money is money. I don’t think he would have all that if you didn’t leave him that day. Is there a possibility? Sure. But we can’t live life off what-ifs. That’s no good. Life will never be fulfilled if it’s lived that way. I think it took him a while to get over what you did, but he is over it, the only person that isn’t, is you.”

  I put my head over the toilet when a wave of nausea hits me again from her being right. “I know. I’m so afraid he is going to wake up one day and realize that he doesn’t love me as much as he thought.”

  “What else does he need to do? He has loved you since you guys could throw mud at each other. He held you when you got chickenpox, and then he ended up getting chickenpox because he didn’t want you to be alone. He wanted to change his life when you guys finally got together. What about you?”

  I wipe my mouth with some toilet paper. “What do you mean?”

  “What would you change or give up for him?”

  “Everything,” I whisper.

  “I have no idea what the hell you are doing here, then. Rent is paid. Andy will find another receptionist. Your husband is in Spokane. That’s where
you should be. Marriage is about making it work when you think it can’t. You have to push, Everly. You have to push through the worst of it and get through it. And then it will happen all over again, except, it will be worse again. And worse. But you have to keep finding ways to get through it, or you will never get through anything.”

  “You’re right,” I say.

  “I know.” She nods, huffing breath on her nails and rubbing them on her shirt. “If you are staying for me, don’t. I’m fine here. I’ll be okay. I always am.”

  “That’s a lie. You hate being alone.”

  “If I need a change of scenery, I know I can always go back home. I’ll just stay with you in your big fancy mansion.”

  “If I can convince him. Oh, god, I think I’m going to be sick again,” I gag over the toilet, wondering what the hell is wrong with me.

  “You’re probably pregnant,” Blaire says, laughing because it is supposed to be a joke.

  I wipe my mouth with toilet paper again and toss it in the trash, wondering if she is right.

  “No, Everly!” she gasps. “You had sex, and you didn’t wear a condom?” Blaire chides.

  “It was Rowan,” I say, as if that is reason enough not to wear protection. “I’m on the pill, too.”

  “That still has a chance of failing. And because it is Rowan, I bet you’re knocked up. Let me go get a pregnancy test.”

  “It won’t show. It hasn’t been that long.”

  “How long has it been?”

  I don’t say anything.

  “How long, Everly?”

  “T-three weeks or so,” I finally admit.

  “Get your ass up then because we are going to the doctor and getting blood work taken. If you are, you are getting back on that plane and telling him. He deserves to know.”

  “I wouldn’t keep this from him!”

  “You would, if you thought he didn’t want it. You have a habit of thinking you know what people want, and you don’t.” She picks me up by my arm and pushes me out the bathroom door. “Grab your purse. We are going.”

  “Blaire,” I whine. “I’m tired. The test can wait.”

  “No. The sooner you find out, the better. You don’t want him to think you kept this from him too.”

  Damn it; I really hate it when she is right.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Rowan

  “What do you mean they are coming here tomorrow to break ground?”

  I clutch the phone in my hand until it creaks, threatening to break under my hold. “You guys aren’t supposed to be coming here at all. I’ve sent the paperwork five times. I’m married. You can’t break ground, and if you show up here, we are going to have big problems. You’ll be hearing from my lawyer.” I hang up the phone and toss it across the room.

  It slams against the wall, shattering the screen into a thousand pieces. Damn it. That’s the third phone in two days.

  “Okay, you keep doing that, and we are going to have to start buying bulk of those,” Gray says as he leans against the door, like he doesn’t have a care in the world.

  Must be nice.

  “That may not be a bad idea. Do it. Order like five hundred of them.”

  “No. Learn to control your temper. I’m not spending our money on something as silly as cell phones because you are pissed off mommy took your favorite toy.”

  I narrow my eyes at him and grab my envelope cutter. I shouldn’t throw this too, right? That would be bad. “Mommy didn’t take away anything.”

  “Really? So, this has nothing to do with someone’s name, starting with ‘Ever’, ending in ‘ly’? Just curious.” He plops down in the leather chair sitting in front of my desk.

  “What do you want?” I groan. “I have enough to worry about. Apparently, the people with the bulldozer are going to be at the estate tomorrow to tear it down. I thought everything was in order. But they are saying they don’t have that part of the contract. They had the nerve to tell me, whatever was in the will was wrong.”

  “Well, could it be? How much of a trickster is your dad?”

  “He wouldn’t tear that place down,” I say out of habit, but it got me wondering. I don’t live there. No one lives there anymore.

  Why would he tell me to get married if the estate would be torn down anyway? I lean back in my chair, the leather creaking as I do. I twirl the pen through my fingers. My wedding ring catching the light. Damn, I miss my maddening wife. I really, really do. I’ve tried reaching out to her, forgetting Gray told me that she lost her phone and can’t afford a new one. The only time I’ve seen her is at our parents’ funeral, and I didn’t have the energy to talk to her.

  I was actually coming off of a whiskey drinking spree to try and forget about her, but it didn’t work.

  “I say call the lawyer, do it now. I want to be witness,” Gray says.

  “That’s a great idea.” I pick up the desk phone and flip through my address book to find the lawyer my father used. I press the speaker button and wait.

  “Gaulding and Associates?” the clerk answers.

  “I need to speak with Ray Gaulding. Tell him it is Mr. Michaels calling.”

  “One moment,” she says.

  The hold doesn’t last long, and when Ray answers, he seems a little too jovial. “Gaulding here.”

  “Is there something about my parents will that you didn’t tell me about?” I seethe.

  “Ah, I see you have run into the problem. Yes, I wasn’t allowed to disclose that with you until after you got married. You see, it says that if you married a Ms. Everly Madison, the estate is going to get torn down regardless, but the money still goes to you. All of their material possessions of been moved to a storage unit to be sorted and sold. You can, of course, take everything you wish to keep.”

  “Then why bother having me get married?”

  “Let me get my glasses. He left a note.”

  There is a bunch of fumbling. Something falls and shatters on the floor, and when he comes back on the phone, he is breathing hard. “Got them. Okay, he says, and I quote, ‘He has always loved that girl, and she’s always loved him. He must think I’m blind. The estate gets torn down because it is time for him to make new memories. If I didn’t threaten my hand, he would have never married her because they are both stubborn and don’t know how to forgive.’”

  I tap my fingers against the desk and sigh, “Yeah, well. You can tell him he doesn’t know shit. And thank you for your time,” I say a little nicer, before slamming the phone on the receiver.

  Gray lets out that long whistle he does when he can’t believe something. “Wow. Your dad is a legend.”

  “Gray, do you see the problem? I’m married to a woman that wants nothing to do with me. My childhood home is getting demolished. And I have no idea where the inheritance is even going. Yeah, this is a problem. There has to be a way to stop it.”

  “Why do you want to? You live in downtown Spokane. You hardly ever go there. Why keep it?”

  “Because that’s my home, man.”

  “No, your home is in New York City right now. Home isn’t a place. It’s a person. That estate has no people, Rowan. You need to learn to let go.”

  Let go. I love it when people make it sound so easy. If I could let go, I would. I don’t want to hold onto all this pain and resentment. I want to move on with my life, with Everly. I just want to know where she is!

  “Have you spoken to her?” I ask, rubbing my temples with my fingers. I feel a headache brewing.

  “I have. She landed in NYC yesterday, but she is going out of town again today,” he says.

  “Out of town where, Gray?”

  “She asked me not to tell you.”

  I slam my fist on the table. “Where is she?” I growl. “I need to talk to her.”

  “She said she is going back to where it all started. I don’t know what it means after that.”

  I fold my hands on my stomach and think. Going to the beginning. Just where would she go. There are a few places
that start at the beginning for us. “That’s it? You don’t have anything else for me?”

  “I don’t want to violate my friendship with her.”

  “But you’ll violate it with me?” I deadpan.

  He groans, pinching his eyes closed from not knowing what to do. “I don’t ever want to be in the middle between Mom and Dad again,” he huffs, while crossing his arms.

  “Just tell me.”

  “Her old house.”

  “What? That thing is barely standing. She could get herself killed walking into that thing.” I push out of my chair and grab my sport coat. “This woman is taking ten years off my life every damn day.”

  “Bright side, you’re going to be a really handsome corpse?” Gray chuckles, throwing my stress ball in the air.

  “I’m not even going to comment on that.” I snatch the ball out of the air and run out the door, ignoring Gray’s shouts as he calls after me. I just want to get to her already. It’s been too long. I keep replaying what happened in Vegas, and for some reason, I can’t seem to get a handle of how the argument even started. I’ve been trying to place my finger on it, but there isn’t an instance.

  There can be a lot of variables, but I don’t want to think about them right now. None of them matter. I just want to start over. I don’t want us to live in the past anymore. And maybe, just maybe, if we sat down and talked instead of getting pissed off at each other, maybe it will work.

  I have faith that it will.

  “Hey, Greg,” I call out to the bellman that answers the door at the company building. “Toss me the keys.” I go long, cupping my hands together in hopes that he doesn’t miss this time because those key fobs are really expensive to replace.

  The old man tosses it to me, and it lands right in the middle of my hands. “Next round is on me, my friend!” I shout, jumping every two steps down the staircase.

  I get to the garage and click the remote start to my Ford Raptor. Sure, it isn’t a Lamborghini, but I fucking love this truck. I hop in, and the engine growls, sounding angry and menacing. The roar echoes through the garage, and I slam my foot on the gas, peeling out of the parking garage in a very dangerous manner. I don’t recommend doing this all the time.