Page 16 of Twice in a Lifetime

She lifted her shoulders in a shrug and looked at me like that was the stupidest question she’d ever heard. “I dunno. He’s the only one I know.”

Christ, she was adorable. “Well, Jerry’s a very handsome unicorn.”

That seemed to make her happy, and she grinned so big her chubby cheeks nearly squished her eyes closed, then she wasskipping off as quickly as she appeared, dragging Jerry along behind her.

I twisted my head to look at Blythe and raised my eyebrows. “Jerry?”

She shrugged, the mannerism the exact same as what her daughter had just done. “That one’s been headstrong since she came out of the womb. She gets something in her mind, she won’t be swayed. She heard the name Jerry somewhere, liked it, and that was that.” She came closer and lifted her hand, placing it on the top of her son’s head. “Why don’t you take Doc out to the backyard and let him run around a bit? Keep an eye out, make sure he didn’t give himself a concussion bashing into that door.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said before letting out a whistle and patting his thigh to get the stocky dog to chase after him.

“I brought this,” I said, lifting the bottle of wine I was still clutching as a wave of nerves crashed into me. It wasn’t lost on me that this was the closest Blythe and I had been in twenty years, and you would have thought by the way my stomach was twisting and my skin was tingling, like it was suddenly too tight for my skeleton, that I was a clueless virgin alone with a girl for the very first time.

“I, um, hope it’s okay. I wasn’t sure if you preferred red or white.”

“Yes,” she answered, snatching the bottle from me like a kid going after the last piece of cake. My mouth fell open on a rusty laugh. I hadn’t forgotten her dry sense of humor, but it was different, hearing it again for the first time in so long. “Come on in. I’ll open this up, and maybe I can be talked into sharing.”

I let loose another chuckle. “Sounds like you need that more than I do.”

She cast a glance at me over her shoulder, those turquoise eyes flashing. “It’s a day ending in Y, so, yeah, I need it.” Shemeant it to come off as a joke, but my chest still clenched as I remembered that she was doing this all alone and why, due to everything she’d lost recently. I didn’t know how the hell she was still standing, let along functioning. Then again, Blythe had always been so damn strong.

I closed the door and trailed after her, my gaze moving down and taking her in. She’d changed out of her scrubs into a pair of cropped jeans and a T-shirt that sported the name of the university she attended on the front in faded burgundy letters. Her denims looked at least a size too big for her, but I could still make out the roundness of her heart-shaped ass as I followed behind her like an eager puppy. I noticed her feet were bare and her toes were painted a vibrant, tropical pink. Her hair was down now, but untamed, the strands somewhere between wavy and curly, and all wild.

She was dressed for comfort, for a night at home with her family. Nothing about her screamed that she’d put much effort into her appearance because it wasn’t necessary. She was effortlessly beautiful, even with the faint smudges beneath her eyes that I could tell she tried to hide with a bit of makeup.

The house smelled like heaven. The scent of garlic and herbs permeated the air, creating an aroma that made my stomach growl, reminding me I hadn’t eaten anything since the protein shake and banana I had for breakfast.

Blythe had always been a master in the kitchen—her cooking rivaling even Detty’s—and I couldn’t believe I was finally getting the chance to taste it again.

Chapter Nine

Blythe

Ilifted my wineglass to my lips for a sip, only to discover it was already empty. If I didn’t slow down, I was going to get drunk, and I needed to keep my wits about me, at least as long as Rhodes was in my house—or, rather, my brother’s house.

Dinner had consisted of chicken enchiladas—one of the meals that had been taking up space in Tristan’s freezer—homemade Spanish rice, and charro beans. My kids managed to make a dent in the meal, and with Rhodes here, there wasn’t a leftover in sight, so maybe my brother would finally quit bitching about my stress cooking and his lack of freezer space.

Sitting at the kitchen table with him and my kids was... surreal. There was no other word to describe it. I’d been convinced I would never see this man again, and now we’d managed to share a meal. I couldn’t say the evening had been comfortable, but it hadn’t been the worst.

The conversation between the two of us might have been stilted, but between my three kids, they managed to keep things from getting too awkward. It was clear that Ainsley likedRhodes, but then, my baby girl liked everyone. It was Avett and Adeline I was most surprised by—Addy, especially. Avett was a friendly kid, but he was usually so into his own thing that it took a lot for someone to catch his interest the way Rhodes had.

While Adeline was quieter about it, as was her way, I could see her curiosity in Rhodes had been piqued, and she’d spent dinner asking questions, trying to get to know him.

More than once I wished that Tristan didn’t have to work late, knowing his presence would act as the barrier I needed between Rhodes and me, because, like my kids, I was way too curious about the man sitting across from me. And if history had taught me anything, having those feelings would lead nowhere good.

I had no business wanting to know more, wanting to dig deeper and see what the past two decades had been like for Rhodes. That interest should have been severed when he told me we didn’t have a future before walking away from me for good. But I wanted to know what his life was like now. I wanted to know about his time in the Army, and how long he’d been out. I wanted to know if working for Lincoln was everything he used to think it would be. I knew that being a part of the Alpha Omega team had always been a dream of his, then, as he got older, a goal he was determined to work toward. Despite how badly he’d hurt me, and how much I wanted not to care, I was still happy to see he’d made that particular dream come true.

I’d made a conscious effort for years not to ask my best friend, Sunny, about her oldest brother. I’d made her promise never to bring his name up. At first it was out of spite, then necessity. After enough time had passed, I convinced myself I didn’t care. I had a life of my own, a good one, and there was no room for Rhodes Bradbury.

If only I’d been able to get the damn man out of my head. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried, thoughts of himmanaged to creep up when I least expected it. It wasn’t that I didn’t love Elliott. I really did, I just couldn’t stop my brain from making comparisons every now and then.

Guilt ate away at me whenever that happened. I felt like the worst wife in the entire world, simply because of thoughts I had no control over. Who knew my husband never suffered from the same crisis of conscience.

“So, you were like, a real-life soldier?”

Avett’s question pulled me out of the past, and I set my empty wineglass on the table, pushing it back so I wouldn’t be tempted to pour a third glass, and leaned forward in my seat to better hear Rhodes’s answer.

“Yeah, little man. I was a real-life soldier.”

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