Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 41725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 209(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 209(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
“Okay, I was willing to be sympathetic yesterday, boo,” Fen said, grabbing the phone from my hand. “But you’re making a mistake. Dr. Love Machine has had a bad scare. He needs you. They all do.”
I shook my head. “I’m not going to burden him with all this drama. Not when he’s already been dealing with Cleo and emotions are high.”
“That is exactly when he needs you most, you freaking idi—oooh.”
Fen’s insult cut off when my phone buzzed in her hand, and both of us glanced down at Grant’s message.
Grant: Dammit, get your ass home. Now.
I blinked at the screen, and my heart thundered up into my throat. “He’s mad,” I whispered, standing up on shaky legs and gesturing toward the door. “I should probably—”
“You should definitely.” Instead of being concerned about me like a true friend, Fen simply grinned. “Angry comfort sex for the win. Get it, babydoll.”
I really doubted Grant Brighton was in any mood for sex, but clearly, he was ready to have things out with me, one way or another. And although the way he’d taken pains to include me at the robotics field had made me feel warm and hopeful, there was nothing like a family emergency to remind everyone who the actual parents in the situation were.
Who the actual family members were.
Those girls were Grant and Liza’s daughters, not mine.
I held my emotions in check while I drove over to the house. Then, as uncomfortable and awkward as it was, I forced myself to ring the doorbell instead of letting myself in.
Jacey answered the door. Her forehead crinkled in confusion. “Why are you ringing the bell? Did you forget your keys or something?”
“Brody’s being an idiot,” Grant’s voice sounded from somewhere in the living room. “He thinks he’s a guest in our home now.”
Jacey’s eyes narrowed with teenage scorn. “A guest? Since when?”
I ignored this and stepped inside. “How’s Cleo? Can I see her?”
She nodded and pointed toward the living room. When I came around the corner, I saw the reason Grant hadn’t greeted me in the foyer and called me names face-to-face. Poor Cleo was curled up in a ball with her head on his lap. Grant’s hand brushed through her short, wavy hair, and her bandaged hand lay propped up on a pillow next to her. Her eyes were half-lidded and glazed. Liza was nowhere to be found.
I moved to kneel in front of her, ignoring Grant’s presence as much as I could. “Hey, sweet girl. How are you? Are the meds keeping the pain away?”
I reached out to brush her hair out of her eye, accidentally brushing my fingers against Grant’s. Our eyes met for a second, but I looked away before I could decipher the emotion in his expression.
Cleo’s eyes began to leak. “Brody, where were you? Dad said you’d make me cinnamon chocolate milk when we got home, but you weren’t here.”
Oh, god. My chest felt like it was going to cave in. “I’ll make it right now, love. Stay right here.” I stood up but froze as soon as Grant reached out to grab my wrist.
“Make it small. She needs something in her stomach, but I don’t want her to have too much. She’s going to pass out in a minute when the meds fully kick in.”
I nodded and raced to the kitchen, moving by rote memory through the steps to make her the special drink. When I got back to the living room, Grant had sat her up and propped her against the back of the sofa.
“Here you go. Let me help,” I said, sitting on her other side to make sure the drink didn’t spill. As soon as she’d finished it, her eyes drooped more, and Grant stood with her in his arms to carry her to bed.
“Wait, Dad,” Cleo mumbled as he began to move away. “Brody, will you be here to make more chocolate milk tomorrow morning?”
I pressed a hand to the ache behind my breastbone. I hated that she doubted that for a single second. That I was the one who’d made her doubt it by not being there when she needed me. I’d promised Jacey that I would never walk away from my girls, so it was beyond time for me to put my fears aside.
“Yes, sweetheart. Of course I will.”
“M’kay.” Cleo cuddled deeper into Grant’s chest. “G’night, then. Love you.”
“Love you, too,” I said, covering my breaking heart with as much of a smile as I could muster.
Grant pinned me with an intense glare. “Wait for me in my office while I check on the other girls. Do not leave.”
I nodded. I headed across the hall to his office and took a seat on the small sofa where I’d sat when Grant interviewed me four years ago… the same spot where he’d asked me to be his husband just a few weeks back. So much had changed since then, but the most essential ones had not. I wanted this house to be my home. I wanted the Brightons to be my family.