Page 68 of Secret Baby for the Triplets

As soon as I say it, I feel like an idiot.

Mae glowers at me. “Why?” she repeats. “Where else was she supposed to go? She has no job and nowhere to live.”

“She could have stayed with us,” Will interjects quickly, but his wife gives him another look, which stops him from talking again.

I imagine how desperate and alone she must have felt to move back in with her parents, and my heart aches for her.

“Anyway, good to see you,” Mae chirps sarcastically, tugging on her husband’s arm. “Good luck with your life.”

They disappear into the crowd, leaving Toby and me staring after them. The massive digital clock in the arena catches my eye in the distance, and I collect myself.

“You need to get going,” I tell my brother. “You’re riding soon.”

“We need to—” Toby starts to say.

“Never mind that now,” I tell him flatly. “Go. We will fix this. We can’t do anything now, but we will make this right.”

Toby drags his feet as he turns away, shoulders slumped in silent protest.

CHAPTER19

Brock

It’s too quiet in the office without Emerson now, but I can’t bring myself to leave. I keep getting hints of her in remote corners of the office—or at least I had been up until a day or so ago.

Now I don’t smell her around anymore. But her presence still lingers.

Staring at my cell phone, my thumb hovers over the send button. It feels impersonal to send a text after all this time. This feels like more of a face-to-face discussion.

Inhaling, I delete the text before I can change my mind.

We do have to talk to her at some point, though. Why won’t she reach out to us?

When we finally talk to her, we have to be honest with her about the DNA test she wants. It won’t give her the answer she’s hoping for. Not with us. Identical triplets share the same DNA, which means a simple test won’t tell her anything useful. To get real answers, she’ll need something way more advanced. Expensive. Maybe even out of reach. But in the end, it doesn’t matter. This isourbaby. She won’t be doing this alone.

The office door opens, and I toss the phone aside.

Owen strides in, his face pinched.

“Have you given any more thought to what I said?” he asks.

“About what?” I ask, knowing exactly what he’s asking me about.

He scowls. “Are you trying to be a dick on purpose?”

“I told you that we’re leaving things up to Emerson,” I say firmly.

“She’s not going to reach out, Brock. We need to go to her, or at least call her. To be honest, I think Toby’s tried.”

“Well, there you have it,” I say stiffly. “She doesn’t want us in her life.”

“No. I don’t buy that, and I don’t think you do either.” Owen takes the chair in front of me and pulls it up to the desk, draping his elbows over the tabletop. “Brock…”

I throw up my hands. “What do you want from me, Owen? You want me to go beg her to let us in her life?”

His brow furrows. “No. I want you to come with us when we tell her how we feel about her.”

Shocked, I sit back. “What?”

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