Beauty from Surrender (36 page)

I take my screaming nephew from Evan and I have no idea what to do with him, so I sit in the recliner and begin to rock. I try his bottle again and Evan is right. He does not want an impostor. "Little man, you're gonna get really hungry if you don't wise up and take this bottle. I'm betting your buffet won't be back until late."

I continue trying his bottle and he eventually gives in, but I'm pretty sure he's pissed off about it. "I get it, Aidan. You like the real thing. We all do, but you gotta cut your mum some slack."

He finishes off the whole bottle and is asleep before I can burp him, but I prop him over my shoulder and pat his back anyway. Doesn't bother him—he's out cold and never budges.

Evan's both pleased and shocked when he returns from feeding Celia and Mila. "How the hell did you do that?"

I didn't really do anything. He caved. "He wasn't the least bit happy about it, but he's a man. His stomach eventually won out over his anger issues."

"Thank God. I didn't want to listen to that all day. I was ready to send him home with you." Evan plops on the couch across from me. Mila crawls onto his lap. "Is it nappy time for you now, little girl?"

She begins to twirl a lock of hair around her finger and I recognize that as her ritual for when she's sleepy. "She has the hair-twirling thing going on. It shouldn't be long until she's knocked out. If you can get Celia down, you might have a chance at getting a break."

"Celia's good to go. She's watching a movie in her bedroom, so she'll be asleep in three minutes."

Evan has this down pat. "I don't guess I've ever told you, but you're a great dad."

"Well, I never thought I could see you with kids, but I gotta admit, you look like a natural over there holding my boy."

I like the way holding this baby makes me feel. "If I'm not a natural, I hope I'm a fast learner. Laurelyn wants babies. At least two or three. Maybe more. I'll be thirty-one in a couple of months and I don't want to still be having kids when I'm forty, so I figure we won't wait long before we start trying."

Mila is already out cold but Evan continues holding her instead of putting her down on the couch. "My brother, the rich playboy, is getting married and talking about having kids. You did it, bro. You got your cake and you get to eat it too. I'm happy for you. Laurelyn's a special girl and she'll make you really happy."

This is the first serious moment I've shared with my brother since the day he came over and told me about Aidan coming. They're few and far between because that's not the kind of brotherhood we have, but now feels like the right time to ask him what's been on my mind. "I need a best man. You think you're up for the job?"

"You think I can't keep up with a ring and make a toast?"

"I think you have the capability to do both, or I wouldn't have asked."

"Does this mean I'm your best friend?"

He's provoking me. "No."

"Yeah, it does. Say it."

I should've known he'd pull some kind of shit like this. "It doesn't mean anything."

"Say it, or I won't do it," he threatens. Even at twenty-eight years old, he's such a little prick.

"I have plenty of friends I could ask."

"But you didn't. You asked me, so admit it. I'm your best friend."

"Yeah, you're my best friend. Happy?" I feel defeated.

"Yeah, BFF," he laughs.

"Damn. Your kids are more mature than you are."

And that's how my day is spent while the girls are out shopping for the wedding. My brother gets me up to speed on marriage and fatherhood. I would've once thought such a conversation would be boring as hell, but not today. I'm excited about it and can't wait to experience it for myself.

I'm on the floor with Aidan when Laurelyn and Emma come in. The minute he sees Emma, he is no longer content with me and begins throwing another one of his screaming tantrums. I pick him up from the floor and pass him off to his mother. "Here, take your titty baby."

"Jack Henry! I can't believe you said that."

"It's true, Laurelyn," Emma agrees. "Aidan is a boob man." She goes to the couch with him and pulls a blanket up over her chest for coverage and begins nursing him. It's her third kid and she quit going into another room after Mila was born. It seriously freaked me out the first few times she did it in front of me, but I guess I'm used to it now because it doesn't bother me anymore. "I hated to leave him all day, but I needed to have a selfish moment and get away for a while. He wasn't terrible, was he?"

"We had a man-to-man chat and I talked him down from the ledge."

Emma gives me an apologetic look. "That bad, huh?"

Yeah, it was pretty bad for a while but I hate to tell her how her kid showed his arse. "Maybe for a little at first, but he got over it."

"Let me guess. Evan dumped him on you?" She knows her husband well.

"Nah. He was busy with the girls so Aidan and I did some male bonding. I haven't gotten to see him much since he's been born. After he got over his little pissed-off spell, he was fine until he saw your boobs. Then he was done with Uncle Jack."

Laurelyn is shaking her head and I suspect I'll be in trouble about the titty baby and boob comments when she gets me alone later, so I make an attempt to smooth it over. "Did my beautiful bride find a dress?"

She immediately begins beaming and I'm certain that's a good sign. "I did."

I know she won't tell me, but I ask anyway. "What does it look like?"

"A beautiful white dress for a bride."

That's exactly the response I expected. "You're not gonna tell me anything about it?"

"Not a chance." Shocker. "You'll find out when you see me on our wedding day."

"Telling me about it isn't the equivalent of seeing you in it before the wedding."

"I know, but I want it to be a complete surprise."

I shrug. "Whatever you want, love."

She slips off one of her shoes and rubs her foot. "Right now I just want to go back to the apartment and rest. These McLachlan women put a hurting on me with this shopping thing. I couldn't keep up with them."

"It's a genetic thing for Mum and Chloe." They will not be stopped. "Emma had to be trained and you will be too."

"We'll see." Probably won't happen. Shopping isn't really Laurelyn's thing.

She isn't making a move to sit and I take that as a sign for us to head out. "I think I need to get my bride-to-be home and run her a warm bath and then massage her feet."

She slips her shoe back on. "You have no idea how perfect that sounds."

Emma looks at Evan. "You could take lessons from your brother."

I can tell that pisses him off. Good. "Okay. Send these three kids home with them and I'll be happy to run you a bath and massage your feet if that's all I have to do—more than glad."

"You don't have to be so cranky about it."

"I'm tired. These kids have done me in today."

"So now you get what it's like for me all day, except you didn't have a human vacuum using you as a dummy."

Laurelyn and I look at one another and begin easing toward the door. I'm pretty sure neither of them notices our escape. We get in the car and begin laughing simultaneously when we look at each other because we know we'll be the same way, even if neither of us says it. And I can't wait.

***

The week has flown because I've been so busy making wedding plans. I can't believe how helpful Margaret, Chloe, and Emma have been. There's no way I could've pulled this together without their help. I will be forever grateful.

We're in a formal restaurant for our engagement dinner party. Margaret said it was going to be a few friends and family. Yeah, right. There are at least thirty guests present and that doesn't include the immediate McLachlan family.

I've met too many people to keep them straight and I've explained more times than I'd like about my career. I excuse myself to the bathroom, but it's because I need a quiet minute away from the chaos.

I'm leaning forward over the sole bathroom sink, applying a fresh coat of lipstick, when I see the reflection of a woman standing behind me. Our eyes meet in the mirror—and it's an awkward moment—but I allow her to win the stare-down when I avert my eyes. "I'm just finishing up here."

"I debated if I should follow you in here or not."

What a strange thing to say. "Excuse me?"

"I couldn't in good conscience not warn you about the man you're sitting with at dinner tonight."

She's an attractive blond, probably in her late thirties. He told me he's always dated older women and I can only assume she's one of his former companions. I've often wondered what this might feel like—running into one of the other twelve before me. I thought it might be a little easier after the whole Audrey thing, but it isn't. As I stare back into the blue eyes in the mirror, I could be sick at any moment. "What number are you?"

"He keeps count?"

Her tone is bitter. What if she's a freak like Audrey? It might be best to nip this in the bud so she doesn't get any crazy ideas. "I know all about his history, but he doesn't do that kind of thing anymore. We're engaged to be married."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you, honey. It hasn't been that long since he propositioned me in a hotel bar and took me upstairs."

I wonder what she's calling not long ago. "When?"

"It was March twentieth. I remember the date because it was my birthday."

I feel my heart and stomach swap places as my nausea increases. "I don't want to hear anymore."

"I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you, but I'd want someone to warn me if the situation were reversed. Even if he is gorgeous, you don't want to be with a creep like that."

Why does the room suddenly feel so warm? How can I feel so hot yet break into a cold sweat? Oh, everything is spinning. I reach up and begin to fan myself with my hand. "I need to sit down."

She helps me to the settee against the wall. "I think they say you should put your head between your knees if you feel like you're going to pass out."

I wasn't just feeling like I was going to faint. I was feeling like I was going to die from the pain of learning that the man I loved had been with this woman after I left and then lied to me about it. "You don't look so well. Can I get someone for you?"

It's too bad Addison wasn't feeling well tonight. I wish she were here. "Would you please go to my table and tell the woman in the purple dress that I need her without alarming everyone else that I'm not feeling well?"

"Of course. I'll be right back."

I begin to feel worse after she leaves, so I lower myself to the floor. I'm afraid I'm about to black out so I'll end up down there anyway, and it's better to be there by choice than by force.

I think I must've been unconscious for a brief moment because when I open my eyes and look up, Emma and Jack Henry are standing over me. Emma is on her knees beside me and she's holding my head in her lap while she blots my face with wet paper towels. "Calm down, Jack. She's starting to come around now. Honey, are you okay?" I blink several times but my blurry vision only slightly improves.

"She's clearly not okay because she passed out." I hear the fear in his voice. "What would've caused that?"