Full Circle (Rockin' Country #3) (22 page)

“As good as can be expected,” she told him as she leaned up for a kiss. “She’s talked to him once, and he told her not to wait on him, but that he was committed to giving it another try when he gets out.”

“Pretty presumptuous if you ask me.” Garrett shook his head. “I love him, he’s my best friend in the world, but he can’t keep doing that to us, especially to her. There’s only so many times you can fuck up before people stop forgiving you.”

“Are you there yet? You’re not gonna forgive him.”

“I want to.” Garrett ran a hand over his cheek. He hadn’t shaved in days, hadn’t wanted to. They’d had to deal with the record company, the fans, and, once again, the tabloids. “I want to believe he wants better for himself, but this time he’s got to stick with it. We can’t keep doing this shit. Chris is ready to quit, Brad’s pissed as fuck, so am I, but I love him…he’s my brother.”

“I understand.” She hugged him around the waist.

“At the same time, I want to be able to trust him with you, with our child. I mean we’re having a baby in less than two months. He needs to clean his act up and get his shit together. I thought with Shell he was going to do that, but now, I don’t know.” It was hard to explain to her how he was feeling. He wanted Jared there. He had all the baby stuff to put together in both houses, and he’d thought he’d be doing that with Jared. Sharing in this whole process with his best friend was one of the things he’d been looking forward to the most, and now, it was on hold. Everything was on hold while they tried to get him healthy, but for the first time ever, Garrett wasn’t sure if they’d ever be able to get him healthy and keep him that way.

“Don’t give up on him,” Hannah begged. “The guy you know is in there. He needs to find himself. I think this time, above any of them, he’s ready, and he’s willing.”

“I’ve thought that every fucking time and been made a mockery of. Caring about someone who does this type of shit to themselves sucks.”

“You care about me, don’t you?” she asked softly.

Putting it in those terms gave him a new perspective. If anyone knew what Jared was going through, it was his wife, and if she said she saw something different in him this time, he would have to believe her. “I do care about you, I love you, and I’m going to trust you.”

“Good, because I’m not sure Shell’s going to. He has a lot of groveling to do with her if he wants to get back in her good graces. She’s broken, Garrett, and I’ve never seen her like that before.”

It was a hell of a thing. Them being so happy because they were in a great relationship and expecting a child, and then looking at the two people they loved most in the world tearing each other apart. “They’ll figure it out.”

“I hope so, because I can’t take it if they aren’t happy. They’re our family. They are Everett’s family.”

Garrett hoped in the end the two of them would figure it out, if not for themselves, then for the nephew they would share.

*     *     *

“Go get it!” Garrett yelled to Havock as they strolled on the beach the next morning.

“He’s missed this.” Hannah giggled as the dog ran to the edge of the water, grabbed the ball, and then ran back towards them.

“I have too. I love Nashville because it feels kinda like that’s where we got our start, meaning you and I, but there’s a part of me that loves this place more than I can say. I can’t wait to bring Everett out here and teach him how to swim and see if he can surf, teach him how to toss balls to Havock.”

Hannah grabbed his hand and entwined their fingers together. “I can’t wait for that either. You’re going to make a great dad.”

“I hope so.” He sighed as he grabbed the ball from where Havock had dropped it, reared back, and threw again. “I worry about that, ya know? The only thing I’ve ever taken care of is him.” He pointed to their dog.

“You take care of me,” she reminded him, scooting so that she could wrap her arms around his waist as best she could. “I’ll be glad when we can have a real hug again.”

Over the past few days, her belly had grown. Everett was measuring large, and there was talk that she could possibly have to have a C-section, but they were waiting until closer to time to make that decision. “I can still wrap my arms around you.” He demonstrated by doing just that.

“But I can’t wrap mine around you.” She pouted.

“Don’t worry, I always got you.”

She knew he did, in everything, but she was nervous. The birth of their son was one thing, but the situation with Jared bothered her, because it bothered the people closest to her. With everything she had, she wanted this to work out for all of them. She wanted everyone to be as happy as she was—if that could happen at all.

“I know, I never worry about that.” She leaned up and kissed his jaw.

“C’mon, it’s getting windy and cold out here. Don’t want y’all to catch a cold.”

She smiled secretly to herself. Since they found out it was a boy, it had become y’all instead of you. Everything would work out, she knew it would, but she also knew she needed to trust that the universe had a plan for all of them.

*     *     *

“Are you sure this is where it was supposed to go?”

Garrett did his best not to snap at Brad. He knew Brad meant well, but if the truth were being told, he hadn’t wanted to do this with Brad. His whole plan all along had been to have a day with his dad and Jared to do this. Putting the baby furniture together in his son’s room seemed wrong without Jared. He and Jared had done everything together from the time they were little kids. It fucking hurt to do this without him.

“Dude, read the directions. It obviously goes there; you’re holding it wrong.”

Brad stood up, red in the face. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a drink.”

As he left, Garrett sighed. Chris sighed too. “You’ve gotta cut him some slack. We miss Jared too, and we both know that if it were up to you, he’d be here helping you.”

“It’s nothing against the two of you, you’re family just like he is….”

“But he’s the brother you never had. We get that.” Chris scooted over. “It’s a shitty situation all the way around, but I have to tell you, I’m happy he’s finally getting the help he needs. It’s been coming for a long time.”

“I know. He’s needed it, no matter how he’s acted about things. Still doesn’t make it any easier.” Garrett shook his head. “You didn’t see him. I keep seeing him lying there. I keep feeling my fingers down his throat, forcing him to throw up that shit. It’s gonna take some time, that’s all.”

“And that’s what we’ve got here, bro. All the time we need. We’ll get this put together, and then you and Han can finish whatever it is you need to finish. Nobody’s asking you to entertain us. We get it.”

Brad made his way back into the room, carrying a can of Dr. Pepper. “Thought you might be thirsty.”

Garrett accepted it and sat it on the ground while he finished tightening a screw. When he finished, he popped open the can and took a long drink. “Thanks,” he swallowed. “Fucker,” he added on the end.

It was that word that made them laugh. It broke the tension and let them all know that things would be okay.

*  *  *

December

“D
o you remember our last Christmas?” Hannah asked as she and Garrett finished decorating their tree at their house in California. They were late in getting the tree up, it was already the second week of December, but they’d been able to finish all of their Christmas shopping early. Hannah was beginning to get more tired as the weeks went on, and Dr. Willis was almost positive Everett was going to come early. They were expecting him right after the first of the New Year now; there was even some speculation he would come the last week of December. The C-section had also been decided on, and that was one thing Hannah was
not
looking forward to.

“I do.” He smiled over at her. “You got me that awesomely amazing guitar, and we spent a night in front of the fire in Nashville.”

“That was a good time, wasn’t it?” She reached up to put some of the last tinsel on the tree.

“Here, babe, let me grab that for you.”

She gratefully lowered her arms. Anything she did now put a lot of strain on her back, and she hated that, but it was one of the pitfalls of being pregnant. “Thanks.” She pressed her hands to her back and stretched, trying to ease some of the pressure.

He finished and turned to face her. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” She groaned as he put his arms around her waist and used his hands to massage the tender spot he knew hurt her more often than not. “He’s getting so big, and I’m not very big to begin with. It’s harder to breathe now; I feel like he’s getting cramped.”

That was one of the reasons they were thinking he might come early. He was quickly running out of room, and she was quickly becoming more uncomfortable. “As long as you both are healthy, I’ll be happy either way.”

Turning around in a circle, she smiled, clapping. “We did it. Everything is up.”

“Where did Havock go?” Garrett asked as he also turned in a circle. Their boy hadn’t liked them moving everything around and cluttering up the living room.

“Last I saw, he was headed upstairs. Probably in the nursery.”

“It’s so weird the way he’s been hanging out in there, almost like he’s already ready to be a guard dog.” Garrett shook his head. “But I do have to admit, it makes me feel good to know that he’s feeling protective.”

“I agree.” Hannah stretched out her back again. “If you have the rest of this, I think I’m gonna go take a bath, if that’s okay?”

“Sure, go soak your back. Maybe you’ll feel better.”

*     *     *

Hannah slowly climbed the stairs, not liking the way she was out of breath, but for now this was her new normal. It was hard to catch her breath at odd times, and she had to laugh at herself before pregnancy when she thought she was so out of shape. Making her way past the nursery, she smiled as she saw Havock lying on the rug in front of the crib. It was obvious he was looking forward to being a new big brother guard dog.

She got to their bedroom and shut the door before she began taking her clothes off. Even clothes felt tight on her right now. There was plenty of room in them, she made sure of that because she couldn’t stand anything on her stomach, but at this point, she was uncomfortable in everything.