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Prologue
Hope
Four Weeks Earlier
Icould hear the girlsplaying down the hall while waiting for Carter to come home. The life we had built with one another had been nothing short of amazing, but lately our relationship was feeling strained. He had been secretive about everything including work, and work was one thing he never held back from me. I had always enjoyed hearing what he and his brothers were working on—minus the names of course; client confidentiality wouldn’t allow him to break that. It wasn’t just being secretive, though. We had spent the better part of the last two months arguing over EVERYTHING, which wasn’t normal for either of us. I could count on one hand the amount of times we had argued over the years.
“Mom...” Kendall screamed, banging on the door and pulling me out of the memory of last night’s argument. “Mackenzie wants to pack now to go to Grandpa’s. She has her suitcase out.”
I sucked in a breath, staring at myself in the mirror. “Kendall, tell your sister I will talk to her in a few minutes. Read her a book until I get there.”
“Okay, Mommy.” I listened for her little feet to go off running down the hall. I let out another breath and brushed the hair from my face.
“Please please please, don’t let this be happening,” I whispered to myself as I glanced at my watch. We had gone over this topic a few times over the last year; our family was complete and there was no need for any more babies.
A sick feeling came over me as I waited.What would I tell him? How would I tell him?I glanced at my watch again; it was time. “Hope, I’m home!” I heard Carter’s voice from the hallway.
I closed my eyes. He shouted my name again and then he started yelling at the girls for whatever mess they had gotten into. I looked down at the little white stick that sat on the counter, and staring back at me were two dark, perfect little pink lines.
Chapter One
Carter
Isat behind my deskWednesday night, typing away on my keyboard. It was after eleven, the house was quiet, Hope and the girls had already gone to bed, and I sat waiting for an update from Hunter on the case he was working on. I was leaving next week for a business trip, so I wanted to know exactly where things stood with his case. With both of us away and out of the office, that meant Bryce and Chase had control, and neither of us felt quite comfortable with that yet.
I sent off an email to confirm my reservation at the hotel I would be staying at next week and dove back into the paperwork that my paralegal had done. There were a few things she would need to change before Monday’s meeting, so I finished noting my changes for her, so she could work on it tomorrow.
My phone vibrated against the desktop, taking my attention away from what I was reading. Grabbing it I answered the call.
“Hey, man, it’s done, it’s over. He’s going to prison.”
“Wow. I’m surprised that it hasn’t hit the news yet. Thanks for the update. When do you figure you’ll be back?”
“In a couple weeks. There are a few loose ends that need to be wrapped up here, and then once those are done, the remainder should be able to be done at the office.”
“Sounds good. I leave on Monday, so I’ll tell Anna to have everything wait for your approval business-wise until you are back.”
“Sure thing. Have you mentioned anything to Hope about this case?”
I looked toward my office door and picked up my glass of Scotch from the desk, swirling the liquid around. “No, not yet.”
“I see.” He went quiet. I should have told her. I mean, after all, it was her ex-boyfriend whom our firm was representing. “What else is going on?” Hunter asked, pulling me back to the conversation.
I swallowed hard. “I received a message from Felice the other day.”
“Wow, that’s a blast from the past. How is she?”
“Good, she and Mike need some legal advice and asked that I stop in while I’m in town next week. Mike had been in touch with me last year; they are going to adopt a child and just want me to look over things.”
“Is Hope okay with that?”
I went quiet, taking a sip of Scotch. “I’m not exactly sure.”
“You haven’t told her?”
“Not exactly. I don’t want to spend our ten-year anniversary in a fight.”
“Carter, you need to tell her—you do know that—before you go.”
