Page 45 of One Midnight Kiss

17

FOX

Sitting on the worn-out leather couch at my brother Wilder’s place, I tossed a tennis ball for his ultra-hyper rescue dogs, Frank and Harriet. Frank bolted across the living room like he was on a mission with Harriet yipping at his heels, desperate to steal it from him.

As usual, Frank dropped it and let Harriet have it. “Dude, you are bigger than her. Why are you letting her bully you?”

Harriet snatched the ball and ran back to me, snorting and drooling. I shook my head and took the ball out of her mouth.

“Don’t be mean to your brother,” I scolded the dog. “You have to take turns.”

I threw the ball again. Frank sprinted after it, pouncing just as Harriet reached for it. For a moment, they wrestled, biting playfully at each other, before Frank gave up and trotted back to me.

“You’re helpless,” I said to the dog.

The house was unusually quiet without Christa’s chatter filling the space. She was at work, but Wilder was working from home today.

He came back into the living room from the kitchen, carrying two mugs of coffee. “I appreciate you coming over.”

“Of course,” I said, snatching the ball back from Harriet and tossing it again. “You sounded like you needed to talk. What’s going on?”

“Christa’s second IVF cycle failed.”

I blinked. “Damn. I’m sorry, Wilder. How’s she holding up?”

“Not great,” he admitted, rubbing his eyes. “She’s beating herself up over it. You know how she gets. She’s convinced it’s her fault. I don’t know how to help her. And we can’t really afford another round.”

I clenched my jaw, shaking my head. “You’re not taking out another mortgage on this place.”

He opened his mouth, probably to argue, but I cut him off. “I’ll pay for it. Consider it a Christmas gift. You are not telling me no.”

Wilder frowned, his pride kicking in. “Fox, you don’t need to⁠—”

“I want to,” I insisted. “I’d love to be an uncle. You’re my only brother. The only way I get to be an uncle is if you have some kids. The doctor said it might take a few tries. Let me do it.”

A small, strained smile tugged at his lips. “You’d be a good uncle. Natalia would be their aunt, of course. I’m not sure how she feels about that prospect, though.”

Hearing Natalia’s name made me pause. Christa and Natalia were close, sure, but close enough for Christa to consider her family? It sparked something in me. It was an opening I hadn’t expected. The perfect opportunity to do a little digging. I knew it was none of my business but he kind of wanted it to be. Did it have something to do with why Christa had been pushing this fake proposal thing on me? I knew Christa well enough to know when she was playing her little matchmaker games.

I leaned back, crossing my arms. “Speaking of Natalia,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “I didn’t realize her divorce was so messy.”

Wilder’s gaze sharpened, studying me. He must have decided I was safe to talk to. “It was. Really messy. I don’t know all the gory details, but I know Andrew wiped her out. She let him.”

“Wiped her out?” I repeated.

I tried to picture Natalia letting someone take advantage of her like that. It didn’t compute with the woman I got to know. The Natalia I knew kicked ass and didn’t bother taking names.

“She used to be loaded,” he said.

“Loaded? Like money?”

“No, like mashed potatoes.” He laughed and shook his head. “Of course I mean money. Her parents were well off. She had a trust fund. It covered her undergrad at Yale, with a good chunk left over she had planned to use for her master’s degree. But she married Andrew. He convinced her to put it on hold. They had a good life from what I understand. He was pretty well off himself, but the way Christa talks about it, Natalia had the money. Christa said Natalia was crazy in love. Like she found the person she was going to spend the rest of her life with.”

“Holy shit. That was in New York?”

He nodded. “Yep. Christa and I had just started getting serious when Natalia showed up in Seattle.”

“How long ago was that?”