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“The baby, yes,” Trinity says. “A shower, not so much. Hope hates all that girly shit.”
Something I happen to love about my wife.
“How about this.” Trinity taps her pencil against the table. “We’ll have the girly-showery stuff in the early afternoon and then have more of a casual club celebration in the evening.” She glances at Charlotte. “Is that okay with you?”
“That sounds good.”
“We can truck the guys up to the property if they get too rowdy,” Trinity assures her.
Charlotte twists to check out the clock and stands. “I have to get going, Trinity. I’ll call you later.”
After she leaves, Trinity crosses her arms over her chest. “You look like crap. Everything okay?”
This is why Trinity’s one of my favorite people in the world. Somehow she’s both sweet and straightforward. “Tell me how you really feel.”
“I’m serious, Rock. I can’t even imagine. Ugh. It’s such shitty timing too.” She taps the paper in front of her. “You want me to take Willow off the guest list?”
Sounds like Hope gave Trinity the full and complete version of events. “No. It’s not her fault.” I lift my chin. “Who else is on your invite list?”
She picks it up. “Well, Mara, of course. She actually offered to have it at her house too, but I thought if we…”
“If it ended up being a club party, having it at a judge’s house wasn’t the best idea?”
The corners of her mouth twitch. “Something like that, yes.”
“You’re probably right. Who else?”
“Well, Heidi and Charlotte of course. Willow, Winter, I was thinking of inviting Mallory, because I know she and Hope get along well.” She sets the paper down and rolls her eyes. “I suppose we have to invite Tawny.”
Not that I want to do anything to make Hope unhappy, but, “It’s probably for the best.”
“Ugh. I’m going to have to make that up to her somehow.”
“Anyone else?”
“Well, her mom just… and she’s still not talking to Sophie as far as I know. Lilly’s out in Cali, so I don’t see her flying in. I sent her an invite, though.”
“Small family.”
She cuts a serious look at me. “We have all the family we need, Rock.”
“Yes, we do.” I pause and consider how I want to say what I can’t get out of my head. “I want this to be—”
“Special? Take her mind off Inga’s lawsuit? I’m not a magician, Rock.” She flashes a softer smile. “I want everything to be perfect for her too.”
“She say anything else to you about it?”
She shrugs. “Just explained the procedural parts.”
“How are you doing?”
“I’m not worried about becoming a stepmom if that’s what you’re asking.” She glances away. “If there was a possibility, he would’ve told me.”
“Yeah, Wrath doesn’t sugarcoat anything.”
She chuckles. “I think he was born without the bullshit gene. It’s why people either love him or hate him.”
“Truth.”
“Back to the party. Is there anything specific you want?” She lowers her voice. “Are you telling people it’s a girl yet?” After a quick eye roll, she adds. “I’ve gotten an earful from Heidi about gender-neutral blah, blah, blah.”
I snort. “We’ve gotten a dose of that in our birthing class.”
“See, and I thought it was a generational thing because Heidi’s a lot younger—”
“I think we’re the oldest parents in the class, Trin.”
The wide eyes and quick, playful shove she gives me makes me laugh. “Stop it. You are not.”
“We are. We’re fucking ancient.” When she stops laughing, I continue. “Whatever you can do to make it fun for her.” I slip a card out of my wallet one of the moms in the birthing class gave us. “To make up for the Tawny thing, think you can take Hope here for a girls’ afternoon? A woman in our class swears they do ‘the absolute best’ pregnancy massages or whatever.”
“Aw.” She plucks the card out of my hand and sweeps her gaze over it quickly before setting it next to her phone. “You’re the sweetest. How many husbands would think to do that for their wives?”
“She’s the one doing all the hard work.” I reach over and tap the card. “I don’t know what your schedule looks like. Do you mind setting up the appointments? I’ll cover the rest of it.”
“Like you did for us in Mississippi? I can’t keep going to the spa on your dime, Rock.”
I wave off her concern. “Seriously? With all the shit I ask you to do? Besides, I know she’s more comfortable going with someone else.”
“You know, they do couple massages…”
“I’m good.” I pat her shoulder and stand. “Besides, this way I know you’ll slow down and take a break for a few minutes too.”
“Sneaky.”
“And you can’t say no to your president.”
She clutches her chest and throws her head back with a dramatic gasp. “So ruthless.”
“Thank you, Trinny.”
Hope
“What is the holdup? Your client wanted this test. Was very dramatic about it in fact.”
“Ms. Kendall, I’m working to set this up as quickly as possible.”
I fight to keep my cool, if only because I need more information from him. “Why is she dragging her feet?”
A better question is, why am I on the phone with this asshole so early in the morning? Because I woke up to an empty bed for the third morning in a row. After racing to the bathroom, I padded across the hall and called Inga’s attorney. I swear I’ll be his daily wake-up call until this case is settled.
Never poke at a pregnant lawyer who’s ragey and has lots of time on her hands.
He hesitates. “Her son’s been ill, and she was waiting for him to get better so she can bring him to the lab for the test. I don’t think she expected this to move so quickly.”
A note of sympathy stirs inside of me. My maternal side can’t imagine anything worse than your child being sick. As much as I hate giving her feelings any consideration, I assume Inga’s a single parent. That must be difficult for her. Maybe that’s why she threw Rock into her lawsuit? Thinking if he knew, he’d want to help her, even if he wasn’t the father?
Because he’s just such a nice guy? Doubtful. Rock doesn’t show that nice side to many people.
Because he’s honorable? Yes, over the years she might have witnessed that side of him.
And now I’m feeling ragey again, because I really don’t enjoy being reminded that they spent any time whatsoever together, no matter how long ago it might have been.
If that makes me crazy and irrational, so be it. I’m entitled to a little crazy under the circumstances.
My rational side says I’m being too generous with her intentions. She’s doing this because she’s a jealous bitch. Plain and simple.
Maybe I’m trying to think of some noble reason she’s done all of this to stop myself from hopping on a plane to California, tracking her down, and choking her scrawny ass.
I blow out a long breath, waving goodbye to the last fuck I’m going to give about Inga today. “I’m sorry to hear that. However, we need to have these tests done in a timely manner, or I’m going to ask to have the petition dismissed.”
“I’m expecting a call from her this afternoon. I’ll let you know as soon as I have more information, Ms. Kendall.”
“Thank you.”
“Oh wait. Before we hang up. I meant to tell you, we need to add another name to the list.”
“What?” I’m way past civility now and practically scream into the phone. “Who?”
“Hang on.” There’s a shuffling of papers in the background. I close my eyes and concentrate on deep, cleansing breaths while I wait. “An Elias Serrano.”
Bricks? Seriously? He’s been with Winter since I’ve known him. Seems the least likely of the guys to have had a fling with In
ga. “Fine. Anyone else she may have forgotten?” I ask in my most caustic tone.
“I don’t think so.” He chuckles as if I’m a buddy he’s having a friendly chat with instead of a woman who wants to poke his eyes out with a pencil. “Honestly, I’ve never had a case quite like this one. I feel like I should be on Jerry Springer or something.”
“Am I supposed to be amused?”
“That’s right. You have a personal stake in this, don’t you? I almost forgot.”
Yeah, well, I haven’t. I’m not worried Rock’s the father. I’m worried about who the father may actually be.
Teller? What’s that going to do to his relationship with Charlotte? Hello awkward city.
Dex? He’s usually so quiet, but thoughtful. Finding out he has a son this way might really wound him.
And the other guys? Sheesh. None of them are prepared to be fathers. Having it thrown on them like this almost seems cruel.
They’re big boys who made big-boy choices.
