Page 58 of Burden to Bear

“Absolutely. Are you still up for a walk today?”

Even if I wasn’t physically up to going for a walk, which thankfully, wasn’t the case, there wasn’t a chance I was going to turn him down. I wanted to spend as much time with Brock as I could.

Nodding, I confirmed, “Yep. I’ll just need to get myself a snack, and I’ll be ready to go.”

“Perfect. Hey, by the way, I wanted to ask you about something,” he said.

I tipped my head to the side, eyeing him with curiosity. “Sure. What’s up?”

“We can talk about it on the walk, but Izzy finishes school this week. I talked to her and my brother while I was on my way home from work, and when I asked her if and how she wanted to celebrate it with me, she said she wanted to take a trip to the beach this weekend. Of course, she asked if you would be free to go with us, so I told her I’d find out. Do you happen to have any plans for Saturday? And if not, would you like to join Izzy and me on a trip to the beach?”

“Yes. Yes, I’d love to go,” I bubbled, the excitement spilling out of me before I could contain any of it.

Brock laughed, and I wondered if he thought I was being silly, or if he thought I was too eager. He never indicated either way. Instead, he returned, “Izzy is going to be thrilled when I call back to let her know.”

“Well, you tell her that I’m just as excited as she is,” I urged him.

“I will.”

I inclined my head, grabbed my mail out of the box, and said, “I just need five minutes to get inside, get changed, and grab a snack. Then we can go for this walk and plan the fun for this weekend.”

“Sounds good.”

Without another word, Brock and I returned to our vehicles and did what we had to do to get ourselves ready for our walk together. Five minutes later, we met outside and took off.

And by the time we returned to our homes, it had been determined.

I was going to take care of packing sandwiches for the beach trip, and Brock would be responsible for the snacks. And together, we decided that we’d use this trip to reveal the news of my pregnancy to Izzy.

It was safe to say, I might have been more excited about Izzy’s final week of school than she was, because I couldn’t wait for another weekend of fun.

When the knock came at my door early Saturday morning, I was practically bursting with giddiness.

I darted from the kitchen to the front door as quickly as I could and pulled it open to reveal two faces I adored smiling back at me.

“Are you ready for the beach, Mia?” Izzy asked, her jubilance unmatched.

I beamed at her. “I can’t wait. I’ve been looking forward to this day ever since your uncle asked me to go with you.”

“Uncle Brock and I got everything packed in the car, so we’re ready to go,” she informed me.

“Well, I don’t want to delay us any longer,” I replied. “Do you want to come in and help me carry the things I packed to the car, so we can get out of here and get our toes in the sand as soon as possible?”

Izzy didn’t hesitate. She stepped inside and moved right past me. I lifted my gaze to Brock’s and found him looking as happy as Izzy and I felt.

“Good morning, Mia.”

There was something sweet and slightly seductive about the way he said those three words. I could feel the flush creep over my skin.

“Good morning, Brock.”

Before he had the chance to say anything, Izzy’s hand reached for mine and gave it a tug. Brock and I sprang into action, and before I knew it, we were on the road and heading out for a day of fun.

We’d barely departed from the neighborhood when I turned in my seat, looked back at Izzy, and said, “Congratulations on finishing school. Are you excited for your summer break, or are you already missing your friends?”

“Hmm. Well, I’m really excited about summer, because Daddy said he has a lot of fun things planned for us. And I know Uncle Brock will do fun things with me, too. But I am a little bit sad about not being able to see my friends, especially Billy.”

Brock growled his displeasure at his niece’s response. I glanced at him and felt a jolt of sympathy for him. He adored this girl, and she was certainly testing him, even if she didn’t realize it.

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