Page 71 of Brooke's Bliss
Brooke set the coffee down in front of hersister-in-law and wondered if Bay and Shane were already riding the fences.They’d been out of bed before she woke up, and the night before had beenweirdly tense when they’d gotten home and settled Rachel into the guestbedroom.
Bay and Shane had been weird.Not with her.They were sweetand affectionate and made sure Rachel had everything she needed.But she’d feltthe tension.
They hadn’t even tried to get in her pants, and she worriedit had something to do with what was said the night before.Did Shane not feelthe same way Bay did?When Bay said what he had about how they felt about her,had Shane been upset?
Rachel looked down at the coffee.“Do you know how long it’sbeen since I sat in the quiet and enjoyed a cup of coffee?”
She felt for her sister-in-law.She settled in across fromher.The foreman’s house was cozy, with three bedrooms and a nice-sizedkitchen.“Well, I think this coffee is excellent.Beth stocks it for Trev, andshe sent some over.You know Trev is made of caffeine, right?At least that’swhat Beth says.So this coffee is truly fine.”
Rachel’s lips turned up faintly, and she brought it to herlips.She took a sip and her eyes closed.“Yes, it is.”
Brooke tasted the rich roast and sighed.“It’s ready beforeI wake up.Did you get any sleep?”
“Is it wrong to say I slept better than I have in a longtime?”Her sister-in-law sat back, and her gaze went to the big windows thatshowed the expansive ranch.“Ethan is teething, and Max and Rye are trying toexpand the business, which means they’re gone a lot of the time.They’ve beenmaking excellent money with breeding, but it requires them to be on the road alot.Paige is about to be out of school for the summer, so I’m going to havethree kids and this pregnancy to deal with, and now I wonder who the hell yourbrother is.”
She knew who Rachel was talking about, and for once itwasn’t Max.“Rye feels the need to be in control.He has to be the responsibleone.Not that Max isn’t, but he can let things go that maybe he shouldn’t.Ryecan’t do that.When our mom died and our dad walked away, Rye took on the taskof getting a job that had hourly requirements while Max took care of thebusiness.Do you think Rye wouldn’t have preferred the other?I assure you hedid, but when timesgottough, Rye was the one whostepped up.And Max took care of all the stuff like making sure both Rye and Iwere ready for work or school.I often wonder if we would have survived if oneof my brothers hadn’t stayed.They’re not capable of functioning without eachother.”
Rachel nodded.“Oh, I know.They’re halves of a whole.”
Bay and Shane were the same.Did Shane understand howimportant he was?Or did he think he was nothing more than the guy who did themundane tasks?Did Bay understand that he brought more to the table thanartistic genius?“How do you handle it?”
“I don’t know that I am right now.”Rachel put her coffeedown.“I’m tired.I’m frustrated.I’m anxious.I’m also feeling shame because Iknow they’re trying.I’m going to love this baby, but I thought we were done,and I don’t blame Max.I knew he was scared about the procedure and I stillslept with him, still let myself get lost and didn’t think about anything butfeeling sexy and young again.You know when I talked about the pond lastnight?”
“Yep.It was too much information, but then there was a lotof that, and some of it was from me, so I think we should go with it,” Brookereplied.
Rachel put a hand on her barely-there belly.“I know wherethis one was conceived and exactly who his bio dad is.I went out to that pondfor some peace and quiet and then Max showed up and it was like that first timeall over.I didn’t think.I only wanted to feel that way again.”
“Rachel, you’re not old.”
“Maybe not,” her sister-in-law allowed.“I guess the betterway to put it was I wanted to feel like something other than a mom.I soundterrible.I love my kids.”
“Of course you do.”Tears pierced her eyes, and she reachedout for her sister.“Have you talked to them about it?How you feel?”
“Have I told myhusbandshowunhappy I am with the current state of affairs?No.I don’t want them to know.I’m supposed to be happy.Everything is supposed to work.We love each other.That’s supposed to be enough.”
Brooke squeezed her hand.“Damn, I think I’ve been aroundLogan enough that I know what to say to you.Rachel, the story didn’t end whenyou saidI do.It started there.You can’t have four kids in sevenyears without a whole lot of change, and change requires one thing.Communication.What if Max and Rye are feeling the same thing but it’s comingout in different ways?”
Rachel’s brows rose.“What do you mean?”
“I mean for you it’s anxiety.You feel the disconnect.Youfeel like you’ve become nothing more than a mom, and the wife part is aboutservice instead of intimacy.I bet they feel it, too.”Brooke groaned as acouple of hard revelations hit her.“Damn it.When Rye feels anxious, he triesto control things.He feels like if he’s in control, he can handle it.But hewon’t ask for help.And what is something he can try to control?”
“You.Or at least the world around you,” Rachel said.“Maxis worried about money.I told him I didn’t think we needed to worry, but wecan’t always go to Stef.”
“Yes, you can.I assure you, you can.”Stef had more moneythan he would ever know how to spend.His money made money at this point, andher brothers and Callie were Stef’s family.No one would question Stefinvesting in his brothers’ business.Any more than they asked why he sponsoredartists from time to time.Stef might never have been a starving artisthimself, but he cared about them.
Would Stef be interested if she started her own business?Ormaybe wanted to invest in helping her change things up?
“They’re worried about paying for college for four kids.”Rachel sighed and sat back.“I’m worried about having four kids under the ageof eight.I need to admit something to you.”
Brooke already knew.“You were excited I was coming becauseI would babysit for you, and having me in a tiny house of my own on theproperty would make that super easy.Especially since I didn’t have a boyfriendand my job was in shambles.”
“I didn’t know about the job.I thought you would come for anice long visit.”
“I’m not upset about that.I love my niece and my nephews,and I will help you out.I’m pretty sure that’s why Beth offered up thisplace.”
Rachel’s eyes narrowed.“Yes, I believe so.”
Oh, she did not want to start a range war between those two.Beth wouldn’t be able to handle it.She was sweet, and while she had grown inconfidence, she wasn’t ready for Rachel’s fury.“She’s got three kids, too, andHope is having a hard time with nausea.”
