Page 95 of Nothing to Beat

Ben’s laugh was a surprise.“Because he knows you better than that.He would never blurt out the question without forethought.At the slightest hint of obligation, you’d shut him down.You want to get married for love, the same as he does.”

“He’s asked me before… not recently with everything, but… we did talk about it.”

“And your concerns about your family always held you back.From what I understand, that’s being cleaned up.”

“I had to do something.Breck left here, Breckenridge, to put distance between him and… what worried me.He did it for us and I couldn’t be the reason he… he loves his family.”

“And we will continue to love him regardless of where he works, lives, whether he gets married or doesn’t.Alice always said you were his only chance at it.”

“A normal life?”

“True happiness.”

“Was she high at the time?”

The depth of appreciation in his low laugh offered relief.“Marrying for love.Soulmates do exist, so Alice tells me.Given my own experience, I have no evidence to the contrary.If my eldest wants to be happy, he has to spend his life with his soulmate.Marriage doesn’t matter.Who we’re biologically related to, none of it is as important as love and respect.”

“Support not judgment,” she whispered and twisted to put the glass on the table behind her.“I want to spend my life with him.”

“I guarantee he feels the same.”

“He’s told me as much.”

“So be together, what’s the problem?”

That niggling doubt wouldn’t go away.“What if my family broke me too much?What if I can’t be fixed and rounded and…?It’s so much.Last week, I was barely thinking about this and now we’re… I want to be with him; I’m having his baby.He’s literally the father of my future.”

God, when she put it like that…

“Your family didn’t break you.They may have tried, but you walked away.At a young age too, that was how confident you were that you didn’t want the future your parents envisioned.You’re strong, Sequoia, don’t doubt yourself.”

“Would you take him back here?Breck?”

“That goes without saying.”

Yes, it did.Fired by the certainty of a man she respected so much, the possibilities began to align.

“This child will be a part of all of our lives.”

“Yes.A welcome addition.”

Not just a part of their lives, the little one would be spoiled as the first of the next generation.

“I need to talk to Breck.”In person.As soon as possible.She shifted to the edge of the seat and paused.“You’re going to tell Alice even if I ask you not to tell her, aren’t you?”

“I keep nothing from my wife,” he said.“But this is news better received from you and Breck.”He leaned in to kiss her cheek and murmured, “Just tell her soon.”

Because he wouldn’t want to keep anything from her, and maybe didn’t trust himself not to follow her example and blurt it out.

The first place she’d check was their apartment.If Breck wasn’t there, she could at least change before tracking him down.Where else would he be?Not Crimson without his brother there.Darroch’s, maybe, or B House.At a job interview?He could be literally anywhere and she didn’t want to call.He’d worry if she sounded amped, and right then, she probably did.

One step at a time.

THIRTY-THREE

BEFORE SHE TURNED the key in her apartment lock, she could smell it: paint.Someone on their floor must be decorating.It was a fleeting thought until on going inside, its concentration assaulted her.Not some neighbor.No, someone was painting in her apartment.She rounded into the hallway and was drawn to the second bedroom with its wide open door and pure white walls.Uh… those walls had been red when she left.

The floor was covered and next to a ladder she didn’t know they had, Breck stood, roller in hand.Her mouth opened, sure, because she should say something… but she was just confused.

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