Page 32 of Twins for the Silver Foxes

Grateful that I’d diverted a possible meltdown later, I stood and took her hand. I had no idea whether I’d tell them about the pregnancy, but a visit might help me come to a decision. “We’ll stop by for a little while.”

“Today? Right now?” Ryland’s smile and excitement was a thing of beauty. He kissed my cheek in a completely platonicway. “Did you drive? You can ride with me.” He reminded me of a puppy as the light shone on his blond hair falling from his topknot. He tore the band loose, letting his hair fall in waves around his shoulders.

I had driven to today’s adventure. I fixed Ryland with a steady look. “I’ll drive.” I needed some measure of power in this situation, and having my own way home gave me the slightest edge.

Liddy and I followed him to the parking lot, where his shiny red car sparkled in the sunlight. He glanced at me, then at Liddy, a flush crawling up his cheeks. “You sure you don’t want to ride with me?”

Liddy stretched out a single finger and touched the cherry red paint. “Wow. It’s so pretty.”

Pretty, yes, but also fast and dangerous. All the things I’d stopped looking for but found myself wrapped up in when I took on Arthur, Scott, and Ryland. They were a danger to my heart, not my body. Though the child growing in my belly might prove otherwise. “I’m sure.”

A new, vicious thought sucked the air from my lungs. Would they try to take the baby from me? The yearning I’d seen in Ryland earlier came back in a burst. What if they found out and cut me from the baby’s life? I couldn’t stand the thought, which reminded me of how hypocritical it was in the first place. Wasn’t that exactly what I was doing by keeping the truth from them?

17

ARTHUR

The front door opened as I walked out of the study. Scott’s incessant drinking pissed me off and drove me to distraction. I understood the need for something to take away the sting of pain from Hannah leaving us, but alcohol was only a temporary reprieve.

I waited for Ryland, demands that he help me sober Scott up perched on my tongue.

Hannah swept into the foyer, Liddy by her side.

My entire body turned to ice, freezing me in mid-step. I almost shattered right then and there, prepared to collapse at her feet. Only disappointment and a bite of anger kept me upright. My heart, as desperate as it was, took flight in my chest. It peppered my ribs with thunderous beats.

A look of apology crossed Hannah’s face as she said, “Ryland invited us.” It almost sounded like she dared me to challenge her and force her to leave. She stymied me with the contradiction of words and looks. Ryland entered the house behind her. A joyous smile lit his face with an ethereal glow.

“Arthur!” Liddy yanked free from her mother’s grasp and bolted toward me. The sound of her steps echoing across thefoyer sent a surge of love into my heart so powerful it dropped me to a knee to scoop her into a hug. She clung to my neck. “I missed you. Can we have a tea party?”

“Maybe in a bit.” I eyed Ryland in hopes of gaining some silent intel. He shifted his weight and made a tiny slashing motion with his hand. I understood perfectly. Don’t get attached. Hannah would not be staying. We’d been friends long enough to have developed and perfected this silent method of communication.

Heavy steps sounded from the study. Scott’s approach halted, his ragged inhale loud enough to wake the dead. “I’ll be right back.” He barely slurred the words, but his lack of coordination sent him stumbling into a table, where he knocked over a vase.

Deena shot out from the kitchen at the sound of the vase crashing to the floor. “Oh dear.” She clicked her tongue. “Give me a minute, Mr. Scott. I have just the thing.” Scott turned back around, the ruddiness in his cheeks deepening.

Liddy squeezed my neck one last time then ran across the room to leap into Scott’s arms. I swore I saw tears in the man’s eyes as he closed them and patted Liddy’s back.

“Hey, sugar plum. How’ve you been?” He leaned against the wall and listened as Liddy filled him in on her adventures at school.

I half-listened, the rest of my attention locked onto Hannah and staying there. She stood with her hands in front of her, palms pressed together and fingers locked. The look in her eyes mesmerized me. She watched Liddy with careful scrutiny. Or maybe it was Scott who’d earned the look.

My heart steadied and the gaping wound in my chest closed. The pain flushed away the longer I looked at Hannah. Warmth filled me. I pushed back to my feet, approaching her and Ryland. “It’s good to see you.” My world was complete once again.

Hannah fidgeted with a button on her jacket. “You too.” She tipped her head toward Scott. “How is he?”

“He’s a miserable boar of a man who despises everything except the alcohol in his glass.” I spat the words, not intending to use them as weapons, but after the pain I’d suffered, they demanded retribution. “But he’ll soon be put to rights.”

I had no doubt that Liddy’s embrace was as healing for Scott as it had been for me. As was seeing Hannah. I scoured her from head to toe, hoping once again for some visual representation of why she’d left. She looked much the same, though a little more withdrawn than I expected. Slight rings of purple shadows decorated her eyes, and her frown tugged her beautiful lips down into a pout I wished to kiss away.

Scott and Liddy finished their conversation and he lowered her to the ground. Deena returned with a steaming cup of her famous hangover remedy. It tasted like ass but was effective enough that Scott downed the whole thing in three gulps. This wasn’t his first time taking it. He smacked the empty cup into his palm and jerked his head to the side. “Son of a bologna sandwich rolled in dog scum. That’s the worst thing I’ve ever tasted.”

Deena beamed and snatched up the cup. “But it works.”

The blur of stupidity from too much drink faded from Scott’s eyes. He scrubbed both hands down his face and bit his lip with a grunt.

“So.” I motioned toward the study. “What brings you two by?”

“I ran into them at the park.” Ryland rushed into the conversation and hurried to a chair.

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