Page 65 of Coming Unraveled
“Logan is in the car. Nikki’s father and her aunt Andrea are watching all of the kids today so we can go to the trial. The whole town practically shut down to support Everleigh.” She looks over at him as they step outside, but as she sees the glum look on his face she asks, “Does she know that you’re coming?”
“If she would take my calls or read my texts she would.”
Logan steps away from his car and greets Brooks before they all help load his gear into the back of the SUV.
“I’m sure she’ll be thrilled. She’s been working like crazy. We haven’t seen her much either.”
Avery smiles brightly as she piles into the backseat between the two babbling babies and he tries his best to return her bright grin, knowing that he fails when his lips burn from pulling too tightly.
Even though he spent the past two hours or so on a plane Brooks eagerly sits through the three-and-a-half-hour drive to Raleigh, listening contently to Avery speaking to Caroline and Everett.
Once they arrive at the courthouse, Avery and Logan each snag a kid from their carriers and hoist them into their arms.
“Do you need to feed them before we go inside?” Logan asks Avery, not noticing how Brooks bobs on the tips of his feet, ready to see Everleigh for the first time in over a month.
“I’ll just hop on over to that small eatery right next door and get them fed if you want to get us seats.”
Brooks makes his move to head inside the building; instead, Logan pulls him back by his elbow and asks him to escort Avery.
“Please, man?”
Wondering why he didn’t want to escort his own wife to help feed their children, Brooks takes Everett from Logan’s arms and walks with Avery next door to a sandwich bistro.
He holds the door for her and a few others, but as he turns to face the restaurant he now understands why Logan had insisted that he come.
His vision grows hazy as he watches Everleigh sip from a white coffee mug while Sierra gestures to some papers lying on the table.
“You could probably go say, ‘hello’,” Avery implies as she nudges him with her elbow, causing Caroline to giggle.
She must recognize the baby’s laugh because Everleigh turns towards the entrance seeking out her niece. Brooks watches as the haunted gaze in her eyes changes to happiness as she pinpoints Avery and Caroline. At first, she doesn’t realize that he stands there holding the other twin, but she does a double take when Everett joins his sister’s giggles and she recognizes his muscular arms holding the baby.
Her plump lips part as she gasps in surprise. The same plump lips he wants to kiss and suck on. God, how he has missed her mouth, her taste, her scent. His feet move on their own accord and before he realizes, he is standing before her, baby in hand, and ready to pull her into his arms.
“Brooks? What…how…” she stutters, her mouth gaping like a fish as she tries to find her words and gather her thoughts. “I mean, what are you doing here?”
Sierra slides out of the booth and reaches for Everett, offering to give them a bit of privacy as she introduces herself to Avery and they walk to the corner table.
“I’ve missed you, Everleigh.”
She glances down at her lap, the coffee in her hands suddenly forgotten. Her guilty expression tugs at his chest and he instantly knows that she has been ignoring him on purpose.
“I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Or at all, he thinks to himself.
Surprisingly, she stands from the table and wraps her arms around his waist and arms that hang limply at his side.
“I’m glad that you’re here.”
As she steps back he narrows his eyes at her. “Really? You could have fooled me.”
“I’m sorry. I know I haven’t been around much.”
“Non-existent is more like it,” he argues.
Everleigh huffs a deep breath and blows it through her mouth as she continues, “Yes, and I’m sorry. I only wanted you to have everything you ever dreamed of. And when that dream started coming true I didn’t want to stand in your way. So, I let you go. I never expected you to come back. What could be better than your dream?”
“You are, Everleigh. There is no dream without you,” he replies as he leans forward and presses his lips against hers in a deep kiss that pours out everything that had been buried inside.
