Page 28 of Laying His Claim
Violet refused to let him go that easily. “How’s she settling in with the knowledge that you two have a baby together?”
“It was a huge shock at first,” he answered truthfully. “But that’s only normal, right? I mean, it’s not every day you wake up after having been asleep almost as long as Sleeping Beauty, to find out you’re a mom!”
Violet nodded in emphatic agreement.
Justin went on, “But she settled in right away. They took to each other immediately, and she learned fast, you know, the basics. How to change a diaper, how to warm up a bottle. And this is on top of all her other challenges, learning to master her own body again, after coming out of that coma. She was really brave, and I’m proud of her.”
“So you think she’s open to being his mother long term?”
He paused awhile before he answered. “There’s no doubt in my mind that she loves him, and he loves her. Call it maternal instinct or whatever. But she cares about him and wants him to thrive. She would never allow him to come to any harm.” The moment those words came out of his lips, his mind flew back to the incident with the open front door. No, he decided, there was no way Jalissa would have been that careless. Surely there’d been a misunderstanding. Maybe, for some reason, the lock on the door had popped? He would check on it when he got home.
“What about the two of you?” Violet’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “You two getting along?”
He thought about their kiss and felt his face go hot. “Given the circumstances, I think we’re doing okay. We could be better, but—”
“You mean she hasn’t fallen for the Tremblay charm as easily as she did the last time?” Violet teased.
“I guess not,” he answered ruefully. He remembered the way it had felt to kiss her, to hold her close and feel her body grow warm and pliant under his. To feel his need rise within him and for her body to answer his call. He knew he was flushing, because Violet gave him a triumphant smile.
“You’re in love with her.”
“That’s what Finn said. What is it with you two?” he asked irritably.
The surprise on his sister’s face made him realize he’d made a big mistake. “You’re engaged, Justin. You were planning to get married and raise your child together. And after her accident, you were there for her, fighting for her life and the life of your baby. You want to tell me that’s not love?”
There it was again, that lie about the engagement. He’d known from the moment it had left his lips a year and a half ago that it would have come back to bite him in the ass, but it had all been worth the risk. He hated being untruthful with his sister, but he answered lamely, “Well, it’s not that. It’s just with all that’s happened, and after all this time, it’s been hard to reconnect. Hard to find what we’d had before her accident. Especially since she doesn’t remember our relationship.”
“You two aren’t sleeping together yet?”
As if,he thought. “I don’t think she’s ready for that yet. Physically or emotionally.”
“And once she’s strong enough, once she’s ready, do you think she’ll want to?”
Again, there was the memory of Jalissa’s kiss, and the flashing images of the looks she often gave him, many of which he couldn’t interpret, but a few he knew in his heart were curiosity and desire. He couldn’t bring himself to answer.
Violet downed the last of her drink, and in a twin-like echo, he followed suit. Their empty glasses sat side by side on the coffee table in front of them.
He recognized the look on Violet’s face and knew at once that she was on the warpath. When she had an idea in her head, she didn’t give up.
“Brother, have you considered that it would help Jalissa get her memory back if you tell her what really happened that night? Before she rushed out into the night and had her accident?”
He winced. His memories of that night were so clear that it was as if he’d slipped back along the space-time continuum and was there again, in his original Montreal apartment, in the living room, having a raging fight with Jalissa. About him and her, about their baby. About her never wanting anything to do with him again. “I want no ties at all!” she’d screamed at him.
He remembered her storming around, so enraged that she couldn’t even find her backpack or the keys to her motorbike. He remembered grasping her by the arm, clad in her usual tight-fitting leather biker’s jacket and pants, begging her to calm down and think for a minute. “Think about it,” he’d begged. “It’s not just about us anymore.”
But the old Jalissa, tempestuous and reckless, hadn’t even spared him a few seconds to plead his case. She’d located those damn keys, wrenched her arm from his grasp, stormed down his driveway and hopped onto her cherry-red Kawasaki. Then zoomed out into the road to meet her appointment with destiny.
He wondered what would have happened if he’d forcibly held her back, if only for a moment. If he’d kept her from leaving, pleaded with her one more time to listen, to hear him out. Would things have been different? Would the accident not have happened?
And if it hadn’t, where would they be now? He, Jalissa and—most importantly—Seb?
Violet knew him well enough not to interrupt his thoughts, but waited until the thoughts that chased each other across his face came to settle.
“I don’t know,” he finally admitted. “I don’t know if telling her about everything would be in her best interest.”
“Is it that? Or is it thatnottelling her is inyourbest interest?”
He felt his shoulders slump. “God, Vi, you’re an astute little wench.”
