Unexpected Lovers (21 page)

Chapter Nine

“I love you, Brett, and tell Ryan I love him, too,” Whitney said, standing next to the small set of steps that led into the jet. Brett had brought Whitney, Laura and their father to the airport, but Ryan was at work.

“I love you, too, Whit. We completely understand your need to go home and help Laura.”

She looked at the small window several feet away where she could see Laura’s profile. “Thanks. It means the world to me.”

Brett ran his hand down her arm and then pulled her into his embrace. “It’ll be all right. We’ll be here when you’re ready to come back. Maybe we can come out and visit in a couple of weeks.”

“I’d love it if you could. I shouldn’t have to stay there too long, I hope. A couple of months at the most, I would think.” With a small sniff, she stepped forward and kissed him.

“You’d better get going. This trip will be taxing enough on her.”

She headed up the stairs, but glanced behind her one last time and lifted her hand to wave. Once inside, she took one of the leather seats next to her sister. The stairs retracted and the door closed, echoing the loneliness creeping into her heart.

I’m leaving my heart behind.

“Are you okay, Whitney?” Laura asked.

“Yeah. I guess.”

“You should have stayed here with him.”

With him? You mean with them.

“You need me, honey. I’ll be there for you. They’ll still be here when I get back.”

“They?”

Shit. I don’t want to have this discussion with her right now.

“Brett and Ryan. They live in the same house where I stayed so I always think of it as their house.”

“Oh. I can see how you would. Kind of like having a brother living with you and Brett.”

“Mmm…yeah.”

Drop it, Laura. I can’t go into this. You aren’t strong enough nor is it a good time with Matthew’s death.

“How much have you got for the baby?”

Sadness reflected in Laura’s eyes. “Not a lot. Matthew and I had planned to go shopping when we got home from this trip,” she whispered as tears welled up in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. You need to grieve,” Whitney replied.

“What am I going to do without him, Whitney? He was my life.”

“I know. Your heart will heal in time. Don’t rush anything.”

“I can’t even imagine myself with anyone else. I’ve been with Matthew since high school.”

Laura continued to talk and reminisce about her life with her husband, the coming baby, and everything in between while Whitney held her hand and listened.

“You’ll stay at the house with me, right?”

“Of course.”

“I love you, sis.”

“I love you, too, Laura. You should rest. It’s been a long day.”

Laura nodded and leaned the chair back before she closed her eyes.

Within an hour, the plane touched down in Los Angeles, and their father had the two of them hustled into a car headed for their parents’ house. The plan was to spend the night there and then go to Laura’s the next day.

The only thing Whitney could think of was getting on her cell and calling her men.

When the car pulled up to the house, Whitney saw the door fly open and her mother rush out.

“Laura, honey. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Mom,” Laura answered. The look on Laura’s face gave Whitney pause.

What the hell?

“You need to rest, Laura. You’ve been through so much the last few days.”

“What do you care? You couldn’t even leave your little social parties to be there for your daughter!” Laura yelled as tears streaked down her cheeks.

“Laura, please. You don’t understand. You’re distraught and…”

“Leave me the hell alone. I don’t care what your excuse is. You should have been there for me.” Laura raced up the front stairs and into the house.

“Aaron?” her mother asked.

“Don’t start, Alice. You should have come with me to her bedside. She needed her mother, and you had your own agenda,” her father said before too went inside.

“Whitney?”

“It doesn’t matter, Mom. You’ll have to work this out with Laura.” After she walked into the house, she found her cell phone and headed up to her old room.

When she dialed the house, Brett answered.

“Hey, baby.”

“Hi. We’re home, or should I say back at my parents’. This isn’t home anymore. Home is where you and Ryan are. God, I wish I would have stayed there with you.”

“I know, honey, but your sister needs you.”

“I need you—you and Ryan.”

“Well, hopefully it will only be for a couple of weeks and you’ll be back here in my arms where you belong.”

“I miss you already. I missed you before we even left,” she whispered. One finger traced the pattern on her bedspread.

“I miss you, too, baby. God, I want to hold you so bad.”

A heavy sigh rushed from between her lips. “I should go. We’ll be going to Laura’s tomorrow. It’s going to be a rough day. Dad is taking care of the arrangements for her, but she’ll still have to go through his things and all.”

“Take care of yourself, too, Whit.”

“I will. Stop being such a doctor, Brett.”

“I love you. This is me talking, not the doctor.”

“I love you, too. I’ll try and call tonight and tomorrow. Is Ryan off?”

“Yeah, he’ll be home, but I’ll be working.”

“I’ll call again before bed tonight so I can talk to him for a few minutes.”

“I’ll tell him.”

After a couple of more ‘I love you’s’, she hung up the phone and stretched out on her bed.

No one except her father knew of her relationship with Brett and Ryan. She wanted to tell them—needed to, in fact, but she held back. Not knowing if they would understand, the thought of being an outcast by her family wasn’t something she wanted to contemplate.

“And what the hell is up with Mom? She’s never been the overly loving type mother, but to turn her back on the needs of her daughter for her social events?” Whitney shook her head and sighed. Dinner would be ready soon, and hunger gnawed at her stomach. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast, but unfortunately, she knew the meal would be a strained affair.

Without meaning to, Whitney drifted off to sleep until her mother knocked on the door of her bedroom and announced dinner.

“I’ll be right down.”

The moment she stepped into the dining room, she could feel the thickness in the air and the uncomfortable tension.

“Uh. How are you doing, Laura?” she asked her sister as she took the seat next to her.

“I’m fine,” Laura answered, but didn’t meet Whitney’s eyes.

Whitney squeezed her fingers and met her father’s gaze over the table. “Don’t ask,” he mouthed.

I hate this.

“When are we leaving tomorrow, Laura?” she asked.

“Early.”

“Okay. I’ll set my alarm.”

“Have you talked to Brett and Ryan?” her father questioned.

Heat crawled up her neck and splashed across her cheeks when Laura and her mother each gave her a quizzical look.

“I talked to Brett before I fell asleep. Ryan is at work. I’ll call back before bed.”

“Brett seems to be a really great guy, Whitney. I’m sure you’ll be happy together. You know I hated Eric anyway.”

“I know, Laura,” she said with a smile. Her sister had never been quiet about her dislike of Whitney’s ex-husband.

The rest of the meal passed in uncomfortable silence and when she could, Whitney excused herself and went to her room.

Within seconds of her dialing Brett’s house, Ryan picked up.

“Hey, princess.”

“Hi. How did work go?”

“Fine, but I wish I would have been there when you left.”

“I wish you could have been, too. I miss you terribly.”

“I miss you, too, princess, but you’ll be home soon, right?”

“I hope so, Ryan. This separation is killing me. We only got reacquainted a few days before I came back here again.”

“Everything will be okay. I love you and so does Brett. We’ll be fine.”

“I know. I want both of you to hold me so badly.”

“Soon.”

“Not soon enough, but I better go. We’ll be heading to Laura’s in the morning and the next several days are going to be hard. The funeral is set for the day after tomorrow and then I’ll have to go through all of his things with her. I can’t even imagine what she’s going through. I’d be so lost if either you or Brett were gone.”

“Okay. We’ll talk to you again soon. Call when you can.”

“I will. I love you.”

“I love you, too. Sleep well.”

After she hung up the phone, she went into the bathroom to take a long, hot bath. It would be a long night without her men there to hold her.

* * * *

Two months. Two months of pure hell since she’d seen Brett and Ryan. They hadn’t been able to come out to Los Angeles and she wasn’t sure she wanted them to. Not because she didn’t love them or because she wouldn’t kill to see them again, but because she still hadn’t told her sister about her relationship. It was now or never.

“Laura?” she called as she walked into the living room.

“Hey, sis. What’s up?”

“I know I told you I would be here for you, but it’s time for me to go back to Arizona.”

“Its okay, Whitney. I understand,” Laura said. “I’m sure Brett misses you terribly.”

“Yeah, and I miss him, too,” Whitney replied after she took a seat across from her sister. “There’s something I need to tell you though, and I pray you understand.”

Laura’s eye narrowed and she tilted her head to the side. “Spill it, sis. Something is obviously bothering you.”

“Do you happen to remember the guy who flew with you to the hospital?”

“Vaguely.”

“His name is Ryan O’Rourke. Actually, Brett and Ryan are cousins. Their mothers are twins.”

“Okay. Now you’re confusing me.”

“Brett and Ryan live together. Well, Ryan rents an apartment over Brett’s garage.”

“Yeah.”

“When I stayed there with them, I got really close to them. Both of them.”

 
A moment later, her eyes widened in realization, and her mouth formed a small oh. “Oh my God, Whitney! You’re attracted to both of them, aren’t you?”