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“Love you. I’ll see you in a few days.” I avoided a topic that had become more and more at the forefront over the last few months. My mother had gone from subtle hints to blatant expressions of her desire for grandchildren. And what I wanted to take from that was that she was going to kick this cancer. That she hadn’t give up the fight. And that made me want to fight harder too.
I wanted to give them to her. I wanted a chance at a relationship with my own children like I had with my parents. Being around Mulaney’s family only intensified the thoughts I tended to keep at bay.
Plenty of people ran companies bigger than ours and had children, but I never wanted to be that dad who missed the important stuff because of work. So I’d put off the part of me that longed for kids until it was the right time, but . . . the damnedest thing . . . as of late, I’d figured out there was no right time.
The plans for the future I’d envisioned chipped away a little more every day. I wasn’t getting any younger. At my age, Dad had two teenagers. And that was sobering.
I strode across the tarmac to the waiting private plane. When I stepped on board, my eyes immediately found Mulaney, who registered genuine shock at my appearance. She picked up her giant purse and slung it into the seat next to her.
Somehow I made it through polite greetings with Daniel, Vivian, Stone, and Muriella, though I was laser-focused on one person.
I grabbed her bag and dropped it back on the floor.
I retrieved a plastic grocery bag from my briefcase and tossed it in her lap. Guilt morphed into annoyance when she recognized the sack.
“Who have you been fucking?”
She glanced past me to see if anyone else was listening before she feigned nonchalance. “That’s really none of your business.”
“The hell it’s not.”
The plane crawled to the end of the runway and rocketed down the pavement before jetting into the sky. She pretended to be fascinated with something out the window, while my irritation rose.
“I want a name.”
She looked at me incredulously. “What part of ‘it’s none of your business’ don’t you understand?”
“You know it is. Must be a relief to know you won’t have a bastard child,” I roared.
She gripped the armrests. “This doesn’t concern you.”
Her calm only fueled my fury.
“Doesn’t concern me? You fucking another man is most definitely my concern. You’re my—”
“I’m sorry to interrupt”—Daniel placed a hand on my shoulder—“but I need a moment to discuss something with Mulaney.”
“It can wait.” This conversation wasn’t finished by a long shot.
Mulaney bolted to her feet and skirted into the aisle. “Now is fine.” She didn’t wait for Daniel to respond before moving toward the rear of the plane.
The abandoned bag of negative pregnancy tests was like a giant one-finger salute. I didn’t completely understand my rage, but I wondered if it had to do with Mama’s talk earlier. I wanted her to be happy. God, I wanted that happiness for myself too. But Mulaney had been . . . she’d been with other men? Even though she’d melted in my arms the night before?
“Easton?” Muriella leaned over so she could see past Stone. “Where are you staying in the city?”
I cleared my throat and stashed the sack in my briefcase to take a second to rein in my temper. She didn’t deserve my attitude. “At the Four Seasons until I can find something more permanent.”
She frowned, her dissatisfaction at my answer apparent. “That’s unacceptable. We have plenty of room. You shouldn’t be at a hotel by yourself.”
“Just go ahead and say yes now,” Stone said, giving his wife’s thigh a squeeze. “Didn’t take me long to learn that.”
Muriella swatted at him, though there was affection in her eyes. “I’ve got the perfect place for you.”
“You don’t mean with Daniel and Vivian, do you?” he asked.
“Nope,” she said with a mischief I wasn’t certain was a good thing. “You’re okay with bunk beds?”
My brow furrowed. “Uh, sure, though at my age it’s probably best to avoid the top.”
