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“You’re not,” Jayson assured her.
“Thanks, Coop.” She smiled genuinely before turning her attention to Bran. “Say the word and we’ll delay the honeymoon. Royce and I want to be home when Addi has the baby.”
Jayson was surprised to see Royce nod his agreement. “It’s not a problem, Bran. Really.”
“Go.” Bran waved a hand. “The baby will be here when you come back.”
“But I want to be there.” Taylor appeared as unsatisfied by this decision as her new husband. “The moment it happens.”
“Guys. Go to the Bahamas. Any excuse to delay and neither of you will ever go. You work too much.”
Jayson regarded the ground and smiled to himself. Bran was as dedicated to their family’s company as Royce and Taylor, even though he played down his commitment.
“He’s right,” Taylor told Royce. “Plus, if we stay here, your mom and dad will insist on keeping their granddaughter anyway. They’ve been looking forward to our honeymoon as much as we have.”
“Not as much,” Royce told his bride.
“We have things under control here,” Jayson assured her. He was happy for them. Not every marriage ended in catastrophe.
Though a lot of them do,murmured the cynic inside.
“Fine. I’ll go to the Bahamas,” she said with a surly huff. “Where is Gia, anyway? I wanted to say goodbye.”
This again? “I believe she went to bed.”
“Oh.” Taylor’s brow crinkled. Jayson was an inch away from encouraging her to go upstairs and interrupt whatever might be happening, but he managed to keep that request to himself.
Progress. He was growing.
Royce shook Jayson’s then Brannon’s hands. “Call us the second Addi’s in the hospital,” he instructed his brother. “Day or night.”
“Honeymoon, Royce,” Bran told him. “You have to relax.”
“I don’t relax.” Royce dipped his chin at Jayson, his tone firmer than before. “Coop. Keep an eye on our girl.”
“What was that about?” Bran asked once they’d gone.
“No idea,” Jayson lied, lifting his cigar to his lips.
Royce wasn’t referring to his daughter, but Gia.
It wasn’t so long ago that Gia’s father, Jack Knox, had given Jayson a similar command. Her family had always wanted to protect her.
It’d taken Jayson a while to learn it, but he now knew what Gia wanted more than anything. And that was to take care of herself.
