by Susan Ward
She stretched under the bed.
“Would rather watch you on your hands and knees.” Stealthily, I came up behind her and put a light nip on her butt cheek poking out the hem of her dress.
“Damon!” She shot around and glared at me, but her cheeks pinked prettily. I spotted a little swatch of black on the bed, reached around her, and dangled them from a finger. She started to laugh. “You knew they were there all the time.”
“No, I didn’t.”
She rolled her eyes, plopped onto the bed, and yanked them on. An aggravated sigh escaped her as she rose and smoothed her dress. “There. I’m back together again.”
“I didn’t think you weren’t together.”
As she hurried across the cabin, she chided me with her eyes. I fought back a grin. “What’s got you so frazzled, love? You’re acting like you’re late—which we’re not—and if you were it wouldn’t matter.”
She halted midstep and shot a gaze to my face in sharp study, then her head did a quick shake. “I’m not frazzled.”
She strode to the open cabin door and stopped again. “There’s a Bentley parked on the tarmac with the SUVs.” She whirled on me as if annoyed. “Why would you do that? The black SUVs are much less conspicuous. Are you trying to tip off the tabloids about us? Not nice, Damon, to go around me on this.”
I flushed.
Khloe couldn’t seriously accuse me of that.
“I would never do that, unless we both agreed the time was right to unseal our marriage record, which we haven’t, though it is a discussion I plan to get back to once we’re home. Us being officially married. As there’s no reason to keep it hidden anymore.”
“That was Damon-speak if ever I heard it.” She gave a harsh sigh. “There’s every reason not to register our marriage. It would ruin our privacy and I’d hate that.”
“I didn’t make the travel arrangements, love. Cody did. But it’s hardly anything to get worked up about. I’m proud you’re my wife. I would prefer the entire world knew it.”
“I’m proud to be your wife, but I like the privacy of only the circle of trust knowing it. And we’re already very officially-officially married. A tabloid story won’t change that. We’re talking about this later, Damon.”
Bloody hell. “There’s nothing to talk about. I didn’t do this.” I turned to Cody. “Go down there and see who it is and get rid of them so my wife will leave the plane.”
Khloe shooed me back away from the open door as Cody’s thundering footsteps pounded the stairs. She sank down on the arm of a chair and crossed her arms, glaring at me.
“I refuse to bicker with you over this,” I announced. “Especially as I’m the one who should be annoyed now.”
“Did I say a word? And why especially you?”
I pulled her off the seat and into my arms. “Because you’re my wife and it feels awful hiding that fact now that there isn’t any reason to. I want to get on with the business of our life, do what we want, and fuck what the paparazzi does. Nothing they do could ever harm us, and it’s past time we stopped letting them impact what we say, what we do, or where we go.”
She laughed. “God, I love how you say fuck.”
I pouted. “No jokes, Khloe. I love you.”
She looped her arms around my neck and gave me a passionate kiss. “I like our life exactly how it is, Damon.”
“So do I.” I pressed my nose against hers and she smiled. “Especially this.”
I was about to go for another kiss when I heard a familiar jovial voice. “Prodigal son. Are you ever leaving the plane?”
I whirled around.
Liam was standing just inside the cabin. I strode toward him and he took me in a hug. “What are you doing in Los Angeles?”
“Spending the holidays with my brother. It’s been too long since we’ve done that, Damon.” Liam pulled back and smirked. “Khloe invited Grayson and me for the entire month. Didn’t she tell you? We called this morning to confirm it.”
That was the call this morning and why she’d been secretive. I turned around. “Oh, you.” I growled. “You put me through all that at the house and with the Bentley, and you knew it was Liam all the time.”
“Yep, I did. I told you I was better than you at being sneaky. Happy Saturday, Damon. You forgot the infinite-possibilities box this morning. But that’s all right. This time I had a present for you.”
Chapter Thirty
Khloe
The Past
THE PAST FOUR WEEKS home had been weird. I was profoundly different because of the surgery, and most of my family—except Damon, Liam, Grayson, Dad, and Eric—seemed stuck in the notion of who Khloe had been before this year.
I wasn’t just Khloe, their sick baby sister anymore, disappearing six months of the year to travel the party circuit with her wandering circus, afraid of commitment, things that spoke of a future, who came home to crawl a half a year through illness, only to take off again once I was cleared for travel.
I was Damon’s wife. I lived on a cattle ranch and loved it. I was a princess now. My life had a whole new set of purpose, dreams, and possibilities. Some of them I hadn’t even anticipated. Just thinking about my most recent unanticipated possibility unnerved me.
Where the heck was my sister?
Mom stood at the French doors, gazing out onto the patio. She was dressed in her usual California trendy: a loose white linen pantsuit with blingy flip-flops. She laughed softly to herself and looked over at me. “What do you suppose they talk about all day?”
My gaze strayed to the patio. Dad had a tight circle around him that included Liam, Grayson, Damon, Cody, and Gideon. They’d been out there drinking and jabbering for hours.
“I don’t know, Mom. Why don’t you go out there and join them?”
She crinkled her nose. “Nah, that’s guy world. It’s more fun to watch. Besides, whenever there’s more than one Brit in the house your dad’s accent gets more British, and half the words he uses I don’t understand. I’d need a translator just to keep up with the conversation. Do you ever have that problem with Damon when he’s with his brother?”
“Can’t say that I have. And you’re silly, Mom.”
“I know.” She plopped down on the couch beside me. “But that doesn’t mean I’m wrong. It was sure fun having his brother here for Thanksgiving and Christmas. They fit right in with themed Christmas Eve and everything. Liam and Grayson are a delightful couple.”
“Yeah. I’m glad you wanted to include them for the holidays. I think it was good for Damon. He doesn’t say it, but I know he misses his family more than he tells me. Though Liam does try to get to the ranch as often as he can.”
Mom’s face twisted up in disgust. “How that family managed to raise two men as sweet as Damon and Liam is beyond me.”
“Their little brother Leo is pretty special, too.”
“What a shame he couldn’t join us.” She narrowed her eyes and made a harsh huff. “No way I could ever cut off any of my children. Gay or not gay. Royal life or a ranch in Wyoming. You’d still be my kids and I’d love you.”
“I know, Mom. That’s what makes you so special and all us kids very lucky.”
“Ah, I’m still appreciated. That’s good to know, baby girl. It kinda makes up for not really being needed anymore.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ll always need you.”
Her expression changed into one of her quirky ones. “Well, we have Damon in our fold; maybe we should adopt Liam. Fuck the Saxe family. They’re both better off without their father.”
“Mom! Did you really just say fuck?” I laughed.
She nodded, smiling. “Sometimes no other word will do, and when I think about Damon’s dad…” She growled.
“Please, don’t do that again. That scarred me for life.”
Giggling, she sank back into the cushions. “I didn’t realize my daughter had such fragile ears.”
“I don’t.”
“You lo
ok amazing today, Khloe. But aren’t you a bit overdressed for a lunch with your sister?”
“I don’t think so. It’s Krystal who always underdresses for everything.”
She shook her head. “Why are you so antsy today?” Her blue gaze narrowed on me. “You’re making the couch bounce.”
I glanced down and saw that my leg was jiggling. “Sorry. It’s just Krystal’s late.”
She patted my leg. “She’ll be here.”
“I know. It’s just she’s never late.”
“Well, if she doesn’t show up, we’ll go together. That’d be fun, don’t you think?”
Together? No, not happening. Not even though Mom’s expression said she was a bit hurt we hadn’t included her, and it made me sad to have to shut her out on this one.
The front door opened and closed with a slam. A few seconds later, Krystal breezed into the room. “You ready to go?” she asked, breathless.
“Rough day with the kids?” Mom asked. “You sound like you’ve been running all morning, sunshine. Sit down. Catch your breath. You can take a few minutes. The restaurant isn’t going anywhere.”
Krystal’s gaze shot to me and I returned a hard stare. “I’m really hungry. Let’s go.”
“OK,” Krystal mumbled cautiously, then glared at me when Mom wasn’t looking.
“Be back soon, Mom.” I kissed her cheek.
She frowned. “You girls aren’t going to say goodbye to everyone?”
“I don’t want to interrupt them,” I answered, grabbing my bag and hurrying toward my sister. “If Damon cuts out on the group with Dad, tell him where I went.”
Once we were out the front door, Krystal grabbed my arm. “Darn it. You should have given me a heads-up that you didn’t tell anyone where we’re really going today.”
“Krystal, please.” I continued to her car. “I don’t want to talk about this.”
She stared at me in disbelief. “You haven’t even told Damon, have you? That’s why you ran out of the house without telling him you were taking off with me. You didn’t want him asking questions and having to lie to him. Not good, Khloe. Not good.”
“What’s there to tell?” I plopped down on the passenger seat.
She crossed her arms, tilted her head, and her eyes went wide. “Khloe, this isn’t the kind of thing you keep secret from your husband. In fact, you don’t keep any secrets. Not if you want a good marriage.”
“I’m not keeping anything secret,” I countered, aggravated. “A few dizzy spells. Nothing new to me. I feel fine. What’s the point in getting everyone all worked up when all Dr. Hern is going to tell me is there’s nothing to worry about?”
Krystal climbed in the driver’s side and buckled. “Not a few! You’ve been having these over a month. Why didn’t you just have Gideon check you out in Wyoming? Then you wouldn’t be keeping anything from Damon, and I wouldn’t be an accomplice to you fibbing to Mom and your husband.”
Really, Krystal? Fibbing to Mom? Jeez, Louise. I exhaled loudly.
“Because Gideon would run his mouth to Cody. Cody would read me the riot act for not telling him. Somehow Damon would find out. Then I’d have both of them worrying and helicoptering over me the way Mom does. I don’t want that. I’m finally to a place where I can live my life without the concerned-for-Khloe brigade on alert every second of the day. The dizzy spells are nothing and I’m sure they’ll go away. I’m sure it’s part of having had the transplant.”
“How do you think Damon’s going to feel if he finds out you’ve been lying to him for weeks about how you are?”
“He’s not going to feel anything, because if nothing’s wrong, we’re not going to tell him. Not that I’ve seen Dr. Hern or anything. That includes Cody, too.”
She punched the ignition and paused to give me the look. “Maybe it’s nothing wrong and something good.”
“Not possible, you know that, Krystal.”
“Could be possible. We don’t know that it isn’t.”
“Yes, we do.” I slouched against my seat and shook my head. “Dr. Hern made that very clear a long time ago when I first started chemo. ‘Possible but highly improbable.’”
“Highly improbable doesn’t mean impossible. You could take after Mom. She’s the queen of highly improbable.” She busted up laughing, but there was nothing humorous about that.
“Not funny, Krystal.”
“We’ll see which one of us is right.” She drove through the gates, smirking.
“JUST DIZZY SPELLS OR nausea, too?” Dr. Hern asked in his bland medical voice.
My gaze strayed to Krystal sitting in a chair across the room, and her eyes went aha wide.
“No nausea. And the dizzy spells aren’t bad. I get a little light-headed. That’s all. It’s nothing to worry about, right?’
“Nothing to worry about. You’re in perfect health, Khloe. All your lab reports look good. You’re a good weight. There’s no issue with the artificial heart. The test we ran today shows it’s responding very accurately to your body’s needs. Everything looks very good.” He continued clicking through my medical records, reading lab results. “You’ve been two years off the immune therapy. Almost one year off the chemo. Good. Good. That’s what we want. At least six months to a year to pass off those treatments.”
“So there’s nothing to worry about, right?” I asked anxiously.
“Taking any medication I don’t know about?”
“Nothing.” Why was he dragging this out?
He whirled around on his stool and smiled overly bright in a way he’d never done before. “This is one of those happy days oncologists don’t get enough of. You are cancer free for almost a year. Your health is good. Your sister’s right. You, my dear, are pregnant. About two months, by my calculation.”
“I knew it,” Krystal announced gleefully.
My stomach dropped.
I was numb.
Krystal sprang across the room to give me a hug. “I told you!”
KRYSTAL POUTED. “I DON’T understand. This is really good news. Why aren’t you happy? Dr. Hern said there’s no reason to be worried about having this baby because of all the treatments you’ve had. That it was all good. Safe. No risk for the baby. Why don’t you look like it’s good?”
My gaze flitted around the restaurant. We ended up going out to lunch after the clinic because I needed somewhere private to decompress and think through everything.
Sighing, I sank my fingers into my hair and gazed across the table at her. “It’s not something I’ve considered. Not something we’ve talked about. It’s not something I ever expected. Give me a moment to catch up with it.”
“Yeah, but it’s a good not-expected, right?”
I nodded, still a bit overwhelmed. “I’m only twenty-three. I’ve only now started to be able to live my own life, do things. I haven’t even figured out who I am. I don’t know anything about being a mother.”
Krystal laughed. “No one does until they have kids.”
“Damon and I haven’t discussed this, Krystal. Not once. Only to the extent I made sure he knew before we married that I’m not able to have kids. And he was fine with that. Really fine with that. What if he doesn’t want kids? If Damon wanted kids, he’d have gone all Steel Magnolias on me and said ‘That’s fine, Khloe. We’ll buy them if we have to.’ I don’t think Damon wants kids. He would have told me if he did.”
“Well, I think that’s a discussion you need to have. Better late than never. Go home, tell Damon, and discuss it.”
Her uncharacteristic positive attitude shredded my already frayed nerves. “Everything will change again. I’m just catching up to where I am now. I don’t want that.”
“Everything is going to change whether you want it to or not.” She patted my hand. “‘Change is what you go through to get to where you’re going.’ At least this is a happy destination. My baby sister is going to have a baby.”
I grimaced. “Are you
really quoting Grandpa Jack to me? This is serious, Krystal. I’m freaked out here.”
“Nothing else has worked to get you out of this mood.” She reached for her wine. “Do you want me to call Kaley and have her meet us? She’s always so good at talking you down when you’re panicking over something.”
“No. Krystal, absolutely no one else can know about this until I’ve talked to Damon. Not even Jacob.”
“Fine, I won’t say a word. But once you get over being freaked out, I think you’re going to be really happy about this. I know I am. My baby sister is having a baby. You are now the new queen of improbable in our family.” She gestured with her fork at my plate. “Eat your lunch, Khloe. You’re eating for two now.”
I groaned and shoved some salad into my mouth.
Chapter Thirty-One
Khloe
The Past
MY NERVES WERE KNOTTED in tight balls by the time Krystal dropped me at the house. I expected Damon to be waiting to pounce on me with questions as to where I went, since I hadn’t told him, and I wasn’t at all sure I was ready for where my answer would take us.
Not that I expected Damon to disappoint me. I didn’t. He’d be charming and wonderfully supportive, at ease to say all the right things, no matter what he thought of it. I, on the other hand…the concept of the baby seemed unreal and very scary. He could handle anything. I wasn’t sure I could. I needed more time to adjust, adapt, and to figure out what I thought of it.
As it was, I had nothing to be anxious about. Damon was holed up in the studio with Dad and Liam. According to Mom, some kind of drama had happened while I was out and the three of them were crowded around the TV watching something, but that’s all she could tell me. In typical Chrissie fashion, she didn’t have details; all she could say was the Brits in the house acted like it was serious. Then she made a quirky face and went back to cooking dinner with our housekeeper.
I picked at my food even though the Brits in the house didn’t join us for dinner. It was Lourdes’s chicken enchilada casserole, my favorite, but I wasn’t hungry.
“You must have had a big lunch with Krystal,” Mom announced, pushing away her plate and leaning back in her stool across the breakfast bar. She gave me a fast study, and then frowned. “Are you all right? You haven’t said two words since we sat down.”