Page 27 of Inked Craving

I blinked, looking up at my sister. “What?” I asked, my voice going high-pitched.

She just grinned. “You think I wouldn’t know? Of course, I knew. I also know that you two are doing an excellent job of not talking about it and hiding what happened from the brothers. Not that I blame you. About the hiding part. You should probably talk about it, but I understand why you wouldn’t. After all, you’re pregnant, the father isn’t in the picture—ish—and you and Lee have this weird friendship that seemingly came out of nowhere but I totally understand it.”

“You said that all practically in one breath.” I needed time to catch up on everything that she had just said. I could barely breathe, but here I was, doing my best not to stress out.

“I need to head into the office soon,” Annabelle said after a minute. “But is there anything else I can get you before I go?”

I leaned forward and gripped her hand. “I’m okay, Annabelle. I just need to hang out on the couch here for a bit. I have food, books, my planner, and work. I’ll be okay.”

“You don’t need to work, Paige,” Annabelle began, and I shook my head.

“Let me work. You worked while pregnant. I can do the same thing.”

“I suppose. But you don’t have to.”

“Well, what if I want to? I want to be a contributing member of this family. Don’t forget that.”

“Okay. I guess the good thing is the childcare part of the Montgomery Builders will be completely ready by the time you and the baby are ready to come back to work after your maternity leave.”

I smiled. “I’m glad that we’re following the other Montgomery footsteps in that.”

“It makes sense to me. If all of us are starting the next generation nearly at the same time, we might as well make it easier for our employees. I’m sure Clay appreciates it, too.”

Clay worked for Montgomery Builders under Beckett and had three kids of his own. Though they were a bit older, that didn’t mean we didn’t need childcare. Montgomery Builders, with the expansion coming up and hiring of new people, would now have a full, on-site childcare service.

It meant a lot of paperwork, and more issues than we previously had to deal with, but it was worth it. My parents started Montgomery Builders from their home, so we had always been a part of the place. Now, things were different, but only in that there were more of us, and we needed a bigger space. Mom had done most of the child-rearing since Dad was on-site most days, but for some meetings, Mom had to be there, and Dad had stayed home with a lot of us. I vividly remember those days before and after school, when we had taken care of each other, and things had gotten crazy. But it’d all worked out.

“I’m okay for the day. Thank you for everything.”

Annabelle squeezed my hand. “I’m just sorry you had to go through that. I’m glad Lee was there.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t know if you’re trying to be comforting or fishing about Lee.”

“I have twins, and I help run a very successful company with you. I can multitask.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “Head into work. I’ll be emailing you shortly.”

“You do not have to work right now. The doctor says you should be careful with your stress.”

“It’s just emails. And I won’t even send one that says, ‘Per my previous email.’”

Annabelle snorted and then picked up her phone. “Austin and Sierra may be stopping by later today if they get in on time.”

I nodded, remembering that my cousin and his wife had planned to come up to Fort Collins to see us and had wanted to meet with me specifically. I loved my cousins, the huge family, and I knew that they were all worried about me. They had given me space, but as Austin was the eldest of us all, I knew he was probably coming to check on me.

“Are they coming here first or to Mom and Dad’s?”

“Probably here because we love you.” Annabelle kissed the top of my head and then headed out, leaving me alone on my couch for a bit.

My phone buzzed, and I looked at it, a small smile playing on my face as I did my best to ignore the feeling that filled me.

Lee:I’m headed to a meeting, but I’ll bring dinner?

Me:You’re bringing dinner to a meeting?

Lee:Are you really correcting my grammar in a text?

Me:If I have to. I would say I’m bored, but this is the first time I’ve been alone in the past week.

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