Page 55 of Saving Shepperd

“It’s going to be fine,” he reassured as he stood and closed his laptop. “Everyone will be focused on the birthday girl and not even notice us there.”

“See? We could skip it, and no one would know the difference,” I teased but followed him to the front door. I stood to the side while he set the security alarm and locked the front door.

He clasped my hand, and we walked to his parked car on the driveway.

“Wait!” I realized just as he opened my door. “We never got a gift!”

“In the back already,” he answered coolly. “I had my assistant deal with it yesterday. Wrapped and everything.”

I narrowed my eyes his way.

“What?” He chuckled. “That’s what I pay the guy for.”

Internally I let out a sigh of relief, thankful that he had a male assistant and not some little hottie I had to worry about on top of everything else that poisoned my mind. People had no idea about the war going on inside my brain. Every little thing was examined and reexamined for signs of truth or dishonesty, for hidden motives versus pure altruism.

We spent the drive to Law’s brother’s house chatting about the movie we watched the night before and planned what shows we wanted to binge the next time we had an entire day to ourselves.

Before I knew it, we were creeping along a residential street looking for an open parking spot. My nerves were fine until I saw the chaotic activity on the street clearly centered around this birthday party. Parents towed little ones dressed in their party finest along the sidewalks. Some staggered with the burden of large, wrapped gifts while others jogged frantically behind their offspring as they hurried to the front door of the shindig.

“Oh my God,” I muttered and peeked beneath the edge of the sun visor to absorb what I saw.

“How many people are going to be here?” I asked, afraid I might vomit when I heard the answer. Judging on the parking situation alone, this was going to be an epic blowout.

“I’m not sure, but if I know my brother, they went all out. This is the first birthday he gets to celebrate with his daughter, so I’m sure he’s making up for all the years he missed,” Law explained as he expertly maneuvered his car into a spot about a block away from the house.

“Wait…what?” I asked as the words he so casually uttered sank in.

“What?” he asked with his face adorably screwed up in confusion. My God, could this guy get any hotter? I stole a kiss with a big smile on my face, and he looked even more confused when I pulled back afterward.

“What do you mean this is his first birthday with her?” I finally asked rather than justify my goofy reaction.

As we walked through the lovely neighborhood, he explained that the mother of his brother’s child hid the fact that she gave birth for eight years.

“Oh my God, you’re kidding,” was the nicest thing I could come up with. What kind of woman does something like that? Then I reminded myself to keep an open mind. You never really knew what drove a person to the decisions they made. It wasn’t my place to judge her any more than it was someone’s place to judge me and my choices.

“Crazy, right? They were college sweethearts,” he continued. “Well, really more than that. Jake never got over this woman. She did a real number on him when he moved away.”

“Wait a second,” I interrupted. “He moved away, yet she was the one that did a number on him? That doesn’t make sense. I mean, if he left her…”

“No, it wasn’t like that. He got an incredible internship in Barcelona fresh out of school. She encouraged him to go, and they planned to stay together. Do the long-distance thing. But she got pregnant and didn’t know until after he was already gone. So she ghosted him and planned to raise the baby herself. She knew if he was aware of the pregnancy, he would’ve come back to the States to be with her. And that’s exactly what he would’ve done because he’s that kind of guy. She said she was saving him from making the wrong decision regarding his career, but still…”

“Wow, what a tough situation to be in. Can you imagine?” I asked, trying in fairness to put myself in that mother’s shoes. Or his, for that matter. It was bad timing, for one thing. But so much more the longer I thought about it.

“Yeah, no, I can’t. It’s hard to say what was right or wrong in their situation, you know?” Law looked my way to see me nodding. “Some shoes are way too hard to imagine walking in when you haven’t actually done it.”

And with all that backstory fresh on the brain, we rang the doorbell at his brother’s house. You could hear the ruckus from inside while standing on the front porch.

“Do you think they can even hear the doorbell?” I asked when Law pushed the button a second time.

“You’re probably right. Let’s see if it’s open.” He tried the handle on the cobalt blue door, and it opened freely. He gave me a quick wink and said, “You’re so smart.”

I just grinned because I knew he was teasing, and honestly, it seemed like I just couldn’t stop smiling with the guy around. When I let myself really process how great my life had been lately, I was immediately filled with fear.

Nothing good ever lasted. Not in my life anyway. The trick was to enjoy it while things were good and not spend too much time worrying about picking up the pieces when it all went to hell again. Because it would. It always did.

We wandered through the busy house, Law towing me behind him by one hand. I held on tighter as the crowd thickened in the kitchen and someone informed him his brother was out in the backyard. I tried to smile at the people I made eye contact with but was more worried about running into my sister.

The backyard was an entertaining paradise. The pool took up most of the lot, but the outdoor patio and kitchen area had enough space for plenty of tables and chairs for the partygoers. Music thumped through the whole place and kids ran wildly from one end to the other. Parents chatted in groupings while several dads anchored a serious game of volleyball in the swimming pool.

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