Page 105 of When the Storm Breaks
Lila’s smile grew wider and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the good news she was about to deliver. “We’re having another baby.”
“Well, damn. That’s a shocker.” She rolled her eyes. “When are you due?”
“February.”
I did the math. She’d waited until she was three months to announce the news to me. It shouldn’t have mattered to me one way or the other, but I couldn’t help feeling hurt that she’d waited so long. Should have been used to it by now. She’d done the same thing when she was pregnant with Levi.
“Congratulations.”
Her smile dimmed. “Thanks. I would have told you sooner but…”
“I get it. You wanted to wait to make sure everything was okay.”
She nodded and changed the subject. “How’s it going? Are you having a great time?”
“Yeah, it’s all good.” I leaned against the granite counter in the big-ass kitchen, the stainless-steel gleaming and the air scented with freshly baked bread compliments of Chef Kristoff. A massive bowl of fresh fruit sat on the island. Next to it was a cheeseboard with at least twelve different cheeses, French baguettes and hand-dipped chocolate-covered strawberries the size of my fist. This was how the other one percent lived. “Is Ridge doing okay? Not giving you any trouble, is he?”
“He’s been great. We love having him here. He’s still asleep. But he’s working this afternoon.”
Ridge was staying with Jude and Lila for the week. He and Patrick still hadn’t mended the rift, and back in June after their falling out, Ridge had gotten a job at the barbecue joint we took Kate to for her 60thbirthday. “Does Noah wanna talk?”
“To his daddy? Always,” Lila said with a soft smile as if she felt I needed the reassurance that my boy hadn’t forgotten about me.
She called his name and within seconds his face appeared on the screen. I held the phone in front of me and listened to his voice as he chatted a mile a minute, filling me in on every little thing that had happened in his world in the three days since we’d last spoken.
“… and Mommy took me shopping for back-to-school clothes. Oh, and I got a new pencil case and a Spider-Man backpack. It’s black and red with a big, gigantic black spider on it.” His eyes widened and I smiled. He’d gotten into Marvel movies this summer and Spider-Man was his favorite. “I’m gonna be in the first grade.”
“What a big shot.”
That cracked him up. But all I could think was,where the hell had the time gone? How could he be going into the first grade already? I still remembered him as a baby, taking his first steps like Levi just had. I rubbed my hand over my chest. Whenever I was away from him, I missed him like hell.
We talked for another five minutes and then he said he had to go get ready because they were taking Levi on a bear hunt. And they were having a big picnic at the lake. So we said our goodbyes and I told him I’d see him the day after tomorrow. Kids were always eager to get on to the next thing so saying goodbye was never hard for Noah like it was for me.
I slid my phone into the pocket of my boardshorts and walked over to the glass refrigerator that held the drinks. It was filled with imported beers, soda and exotic juice drinks. Champagne, white wine, rose. I grabbed a bottle of beer and a couple waters from the bottom shelf then straightened up.
“Oh yeah.”
No sooner were the words out of his mouth when two hands groped my ass and squeezed. The bottles dropped to the ground. I spun around, grabbed the asshole by the collar and slammed him against the wall next to the doorway. My fist smashed into his face and I kept on punching, so fucking blind with rage, I couldn’t see straight, let alone stop to consider what I was doing.
“Brody! Stop. What are you doing?” She grabbed my arm, trying to pull me away from the guy. “Let him go, Brody.”
Her voice finally reached my ears and she yanked on my arm and dragged me off the guy.
“The fuck was that?” the guy snarled, wiping his bloody lip on the back of his arm. “He a friend of yours?” he asked Shiloh.
“Yes. He’s… my boyfriend,” she replied, her voice faint, unsure like she had no fucking clue how this could be true. “God, Kevin, I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
“What are you sorry about? You weren’t the one punching the shit out of me.” His eyes narrowed on me. “Looks like your boyfriend is homophobic.”
My jaw clenched and I tried to breathe through my nose, but I couldn’t get enough air into my lungs. My stomach was churning and if I didn’t get out of this kitchen right the fuck now, I was going to lose my shit. I brushed past Shiloh, not even sparing a glance for the asshole, and strode out of the kitchen.
Shiloh chased after me and grabbed my arm to stop me. “Brody… what happened?”
I shook my head and shook off her hold, striding away. I needed some space. The walls were closing in on me. Once I got outside, I grabbed my keys from the table next to the lounger and strode back the way I’d come, right past Shiloh and out the front door. She chased after me and grabbed my arm. I shook off her hold on me.
“For fuck’s sake. I need some space,” I gritted out.
“Just help me understand what happened.”
