Page 36 of Long Hard Ride
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DID I UPSET HER? BROOKEhas been a little off for the last two weeks. I didn’t want to lay it on too thick, because she can be so skittish. If I tell her how I really feel, I’m afraid she’ll bolt.
The bedroom door is closed. “Brooke,” I say, gently rapping. “Can I come in, baby girl?”
I hear a muffled “Sure” and enter the room. She has her back to me, and my heart fucking cracks when I see the suitcase.
“You weren’t planning on leaving now, were you?”
Brooke cranes her neck over her shoulder. Her eyes are swollen. “No. Not today, but I thought I should get started.” She sniffs.
What the fuck? “Are you crying, sweetheart?” I scoop her into my arms. “What is it, baby?”
“That’s exactly what it is,” she cries, burying her face in my neck.
I run my hand over her silky hair and down her back. “I don’t understand. What’s got you so upset?”
I scan the room, looking for a trace of whatever it could be. Did Steve somehow get access to a phone or computer? Did something come for her in the mail? Did the art committee change their minds about the painting? “What is it?”
“Are you sure you want to know? I don’t think you’re going to like it.”
“It doesn’t matter if I like it, sweetheart. If someone or something is upsetting you, I want to goddamn know about it.”
Brooke sniffles and backs out of my arms. She looks up through teary eyes but doesn’t say anything.
“What?”
She nods toward the dresser and then drops her head. “There’s a thermometer or something on top of it.”
“You have a fever?” I wave her to the bed and fluff up the pillow. “You should be in bed then.”
“I don’t have a fever, Shane. I have a baby.”
I swing around so fast my head almost snaps off my neck. “A baby?” I’m trying to compute. “You’ve had a baby at home all this time and didn’t tell me?”
“No, Shane. You and I are having a baby.”
I’m blanking out. A million thoughts, reactions, sounds, horns, lightning bolts, every single kind of sensation I could possibly have all seem to be assaulting my body at the same time. And then all at once, they’re gone.
The only things I’m aware of now are my heartbeat and Brooke. I swear to God the room fills with golden light as it hits me. “Oh my God,” I say, crumbling.
I quickly wipe my eyes and rush to Brooke. “Baby, baby, baby, we’ve made a baby,” I whisper, covering her with kisses. I can’t kiss her enough, or hold her close enough. “We have a baby coming?” I drop to my knees and lift her T-shirt, then kiss her stomach’s soft flesh.
“Yes, we do.” Brooke’s voice breaks as she tunnels her fingers through my hair. “I thought you’d be disappointed.”
“Disappointed?” I scramble to my feet and slide my hand to her stomach. “I think my heart is about to burst. I didn’t think I could feel any happier than I did five minutes ago, but—” My voice breaks, and damn it, if the tears don’t come. “Happy doesn’t even begin to cover how I feel.”
“I was afraid you’d feel trapped.”
“Trapped? I’m fucking crazy about you. Baby or not, I love you, sweetheart. This is just the icing on the cake.”
“So you don’t want to get divorced?”
“Hell no. If you were thinking of taking one foot out of this house, I’d move heaven and earth to make you stay here with me forever.”
Brooke seems confused, and it hurts me to think she had any doubts about us. In the beginning, sure, but not anymore. There’s no pretending now. We’ve become a real couple. What I feel for her now is unimaginable. “You don’t believe me? Come.” I take her hand. “Let me show you something I’ve been working on.”
I lead her out the back door. We pass by her lounge chair and pick up the footpath.
