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“Okay… and…?” Jackson prompted when I added nothing else.
“And what?” I slammed my hand down on the counter. What did he want from me? A play by fucking play? “I couldn’t even get a word in. She had to entertain him while I made dinner, then he made a mess of his food and was fussy at bedtime. It took her twice as long as normal, and when she finally came out, he was crying again after like—”
His laugh stopped me mid-sentence. Why did he think my life imploding was funny?
“Dude, isn’t that what you wanted?” He chuckled again before adding. “You know,bothof them there, like,all the time.”
His words pierced my subconscious. I blinked, awareness settling over me.
Oh, shit.
I was an asshole. That was exactly what I wanted. To be a family with the two people I loved most in the world. I wanted the mess and the noise and the chaos in my house every damn day. But I’d been so busy trying to make everything perfect so Bella would see my house was where she needed to be that instead of enjoying them both, I’d implied Brendan was a problem I didn’t want. Aninterruption.
Oh my God.
I had to talk to Bella and beg her to forgive me.
“Dude, ya there?” Jackson’s voice echoed in my ear, reminding me I was on the phone.
“Fuck. I screwed up. I gotta go.” I didn’t even wait for his response before hitting the red end call button. My focus was on grabbing my keys and getting to Bella.
My mind went through all the possibilities of where she would go as I navigated my truck down the long gravel drive. She wouldn’t go home. I was certain of it. She’d want to avoid the questions from my mom. Plus, knowing my mom had a migraine, Bella wouldn’t want to risk Brendan making too much noise. And my dad would be no help. He’d just mumble something about how he knew all along I was going to screw this up.
So where would she go? I turned onto the main road and headed toward town. Bella would have needed a place to lay Brendan down. Somewhere she felt comfortable. I made a left onto Main Street, pretty sure I’d figured out where she went.
My whole body shook as I climbed the stairs. What if she refused to talk to me? I couldn’t lose her. I couldn’t losethem.
My hand felt heavy as I raised it and knocked on the door. I prayed Bella would answer and not my sister. But of course, my prayer went unanswered.
“What do you want?” Ashley narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms as she pried the door open.
Her harsh tone caused me to take a step back. I wouldn’t put it past her to deck me.
“I just want to talk to Bella.” I put my hands up in the universal “I come in peace” gesture.
But my sister’s loyalty had been and would always be firmly placed with Bella. And since she was like a dog with a bone when it came to protecting those she loved, she rarely backed down.
“Why? So you can make her cry again?” Her voice, although just above a whisper, was sharper than before. And the fact that I’d made Bella cry twisted my heart. I never wanted to be the reason she cried.
“No.” I swallowed. “Ash, I need to apologize. I need to make it right.”
“Good.” Her mouth lifted into a smug-ass smirk. “But it can wait until the morning.”
“Please, Ashley,” I begged, my voice filled with emotion I knew she could hear.
Her eyes softened, and her tone became more sympathetic. But she slowly shook her head.
“She’s getting Brendan settled. They’re fine here tonight. Go home, Rhett.”
The door slammed closed in my face, and I had to fight the urge to bang my fists against it.
Fucking hell.
I paced the hallway before deciding to shoot off a few texts to Bella, hoping she would respond. All I wanted was five minutes to explain. To tell her how sorry I was. To bring her home with me.
I prayed my phone would beep, but after twenty minutes of silence, I gave up hope.
I had no idea what to do next.
