What Might Have Been: Daniels Brother #4 (Daniels Brothers) (18 page)

Abby felt about two inches tall. “I know. I’m sorry.”

He blew out a breath. “You said she’s in New York.”

She nodded. “Yes. She’s buried in the children’s section of a cemetery in Brooklyn. I didn’t like her being in the city, but I wanted her close by so I could go visit her.”

Chris scraped his chair across the floor and stood. He paced back and forth several times, stopped, looked at her, and then went back to pacing. When he turned to face her, hands on his hips, the look on his face was almost scary. “I want you to take me to see her. I deserve that much. You owe me that much.”

Abby didn’t know how she felt about taking Chris to New York to see Kaylee’s grave, but he was right. She did owe him. “Okay.”

He looked as if he’d been ready to argue his point home, so when she immediately agreed, it took him a few moments to shift gears. “I want to go as soon as possible.”

“We can go whenever you want.” Max wouldn’t be happy about it. Not about her going, but that she was going with Chris. Alone. Max would want to come with them.

“This weekend?” he asked. Although it sounded more like a statement than it did a question.

So soon.

“Sure. I’ll call tomorrow and make the flight arrangements,” she said.

He didn’t move for a long time. “I should get home to Elizabeth. She’ll be worried.”

When he started for the door, Abby stopped him. “I really am sorry, Chris. I never meant to hurt you. No matter what, you didn’t deserve that.”

Chris paused long enough to let her say her piece, then marched out the door, leaving his half-eaten slice of pizza sitting on his plate to grow cold.

More than anything, she wished she could go back in time and change things. But she couldn’t. What was done was done. All she could do now was try and make it right for him. If Chris needed to go to Kaylee’s grave, then she’d give him that.

Abby cleaned up and put the pizza in the refrigerator. She made sure everything was turned off and secured for the night before heading to her bedroom. Absentmindedly, she went to the closet and removed the shoebox that contained the little bits of her daughter she had left.

She reached into the box and removed the tiny stuffed bear Max had brought to the hospital for Kaylee. It was pink and fit in the palm of her hand. She set the box aside and curled up on the bed, tucking the bear under her chin.

Chapter 14

Trent had tried to keep himself busy. Hell, he’d even started going through the junk in his garage that had been piling up for the last five years. The good news was that he was making progress. He could see the wall again, at least. The bad news was that it had done nothing to keep his mind off Abby.

He took the box cutter he’d been using and sliced through the tape of another box. As he opened the flaps, his cell vibrated in his pocket. Concerned it might be Abby or Chris, Trent dug the phone out of his pocket. Elizabeth’s name lit up his screen.

“How’s my favorite sister-in-law?”

She released something that sounded like a mix between a laugh and a sigh. “Ask me that again in an hour or so.”

Trent stopped what he was doing. “Everything all right?”

“It will be, I think,” she said. “I just got off the phone with Chris. He’s on his way home.”

“I take it his talk with Abby didn’t go well?” Trent reached for a stool nearby and sat down, the box forgotten.

Elizabeth made an unintelligible sound. “I guess that depends on how you look at it.”

He waited for her to go on.

“They talked, and at least he seems to have gotten some answers. But . . .”

“But?” he prompted.

“Chris wants to go to New York and see where his daughter is buried. They’re making arrangements to fly out this coming weekend.”

Trent’s mind raced with concern for Abby. For Chris. And even for Elizabeth. People he cared about were hurting and he felt as if his hands were tied.

“I take it you don’t want him to go?” Trent asked.

“It’s not that. I understand his need to go. I just . . . he wants to do this by himself. Just him and Abby,” she said, sounding defeated.

“Elizabeth, Chris would never do anything to hurt you. You know that, right? He would never—”

This time he didn’t miss her snort. “I’m not worried about him cheating on me with his ex-girlfriend. What I’m worried about is Chris being in New York falling apart, and me being six hundred miles away, unable to be there for him.”

There really wasn’t anything Trent could say to that. He knew exactly what Elizabeth was feeling in that respect. “Talk to him when he gets home. Maybe he’ll change his mind.”

“No, he won’t.”

Trent could have argued, but he didn’t see the point. She was right. The chances of Chris changing his mind were slim. His brother was stubborn once he’d made up his mind.

“Can I ask you something?” Elizabeth asked with cautious edge to her voice.

“You know you can.”

“Are you and Abby . . .”

He rubbed the back of his head and looked up at the sky. Trent knew what she was asking. “I don’t know.”

“But you want to be,” she said, filling in the blanks.

“Yes.” A simple answer, and an honest one.

“I figured as much.” She hesitated. “I don’t want to overstep here, but if my short conversation with Chris was any indication, I think Abby is going to need someone tonight.”

The urge to go to her had been haunting him all evening. “I don’t know if I should. She might need time—”

“Trent. Stop second-guessing yourself. Heaven knows, I did enough of that when I first met your brother. If you want to be with her, then be with her. We all make mistakes in life. That doesn’t mean we don’t deserve to be happy.” His sister-in-law knew what she was talking about. She’d spent five years with a man who knocked her around before she’d finally gotten out.

He decided to be honest. “A part of me feels like I’ll be betraying Chris.”

She was quiet for a long moment. “If the shoe were on the other foot, what would you want him to do? Would you want him to not go after what he wanted, be with who he wanted to be with, because there was history between you and the woman?”

Trent thought about it. Would he mind if one of his brothers had come to him and wanted to date one of his ex-girlfriends? Granted, Trent had never had a relationship with a woman that had come close to what Chris and Abby once had. Even so, he knew the answer. If she was what Chris or Gage or Paul wanted, he wouldn’t begrudge them that.

“Thanks, Elizabeth.”

“Anytime.” He could almost hear her grinning through the phone.

Trent laughed. “You called me for some support and you end up giving me advice. Some friend I am.”

“Friends are there for each other. Plus, I’m not only a friend. I’m family.”

He smiled. “Have I told you lately how happy I am that my brother manned up and married you?”

It was her turn to chuckle. “No. Can’t say that you have.”

“Well, I am. He’s one lucky bastard.”

When they both finished laughing, she said, “Now, get off the phone and go comfort your woman. I have a feeling she’s going to need you.”

Trent stood and tucked the stool under the wooden bench that ran the length of one wall. “Call me if you or Chris needs anything.”

Before Trent ended the call, he was locking the house up and heading toward his truck. It struck him as he was backing out of his driveway how amazing his sister-in-law really was. She had every reason to hate Abby. Not only was she Chris’ ex, but Abby had hurt him. Instead, she’d been sympathetic. But that was Elizabeth.

It didn’t take Trent long to reach Abby’s apartment. He parked his truck, locked it up, and jogged to her door. All the lights inside were off, but he knew she was home. Chris hadn’t left all that long ago and her car was still in the lot.

He rang the doorbell twice, but there was no answer, so he tried knocking. Right as he was about to give up, the door opened, and Abby stood there clutching a tiny stuffed bear to her chest. Her eyes were bloodshot. She’d been crying again.

Without a word, Trent walked into the apartment. He closed the door, turned the lock, and then crushed her against him. “I’m here.”

Her sobs broke free. “Why? You should hate me for what I did.”

“I told you. I could never hate you. Never in a million years.” He glanced around. “Were you in your room?”

She nodded.

“Come on.” Without waiting for her response, Trent took her hand and headed down the hall to her bedroom. He led her over to the bed, turned down the covers, and encouraged her to get in. Once she was settled, he sat down on the mattress, facing her.

“How did you know to come?” she asked.

“Chris called Elizabeth on his way home, and she called me.”

Abby cringed. “I bet she hates me.”

Trent nearly growled. “Would you stop with all this talk of people hating you? No one hates you, Abby.”

“Chris does. And he should. He has every right to.”

“I highly doubt that,” Trent said.

“He’s not happy with me,” she whispered.

Trent brushed the hair away from her face. As conflicted as he was about everything that was going on, there was one thing he wasn’t conflicted about. He wanted to be where Abby was. “He needs some time.”

She nodded. “He wants . . . we’re going to New York this weekend. To see Kaylee’s grave.”

“I know. Elizabeth told me.”

Abby didn’t have a response for that, but her stomach rumbled loud enough for him to hear.

“Did you eat dinner?”

She shrugged. “I had a couple bites of pizza when Chris was here. But then, well, I lost my appetite.”

“Is the pizza still here?” Trent asked.

“I put it in the fridge.”

He pushed himself up off the bed.

“Where are you going?”

“To warm you up some pizza. You need to eat,” he said.

Abby shook her head. “I’m not—”

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, cutting off her protest. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

Trent winked before leaving the room. He wasn’t used to all this drama. But in the deepest parts of his soul, he knew she was worth it. She always had been.

***

Abby sat with her hands in her lap, playing with the small bear while she waited for Trent to come back. She hadn’t expected to see him tonight. The fact that he was here made her feel a hundred times better, which was crazy considering they were just friends.

Okay, that wasn’t true, and she knew it. Trent meant more to her than that and considering the time they’d spent together lately, she was pretty sure he saw her as more as well. The kisses they’d shared the other night on her couch sure hadn’t felt all that friendly. They’d felt possessive and all-consuming.

But that was before she’d come clean and admitted what had happened. Now she had no idea where that left them.

A few minutes later, Trent reentered the room carrying a single plate piled high with pizza. He sat down in the same spot he’d occupied a few minutes before, and placed the plate in front of her. She looked at it, and then up at him. There must have been ten pieces of pizza on the plate. “There is no way I’m going to be able to eat all that.”

He selected a piece and brought it to his mouth. “Half is for me.”

Abby continued to stare at him while he chewed.

“Eat,” he said before taking another bite. “And don’t try to tell me you’re not hungry. That pizza in your refrigerator looked as if it had barely been touched.”

When she didn’t immediately start eating, he raised one eyebrow.

Sighing, Abby picked up a piece and lifted it to her mouth. She took a bite, and was surprised to find that she was hungrier than she’d thought. Before she knew it, Abby was reaching for another piece.

Trent smiled and grabbed another piece for himself.

“Did you skip dinner, too?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I can always eat.”

That was true from what she remembered. She had no idea how Marilyn had managed to keep food in the house with four teenage boys roaming around.

Thinking about Marilyn brought her right back to thoughts of Kaylee.

“Hey.”

Abby looked up to find Trent appraising her. She grinned, but he wasn’t fooled.

“Are you worried about going to New York alone with Chris? If you are, I can move some things around at work and go with you.”

She shook her head. “No. It’s not that.”

He patiently waited for her to go on.

“Can we talk about something else? I’m tired of crying and it feels like that’s all I’ve been doing for the last two days.” This time she tried to put a little more effort behind her smile. “Tell me about work. Is everything okay? It didn’t sound like that phone call this morning was good news.”

Trent hesitated for a moment. She figured he was probably trying to decide if he was going to follow her subject change. “Someone broke into the yard last night and stole a bunch of tools, mulch, gravel, and some irrigation hose.”

“Oh, no. Trent, I’m so sorry.” She wiped her hands off with the napkin he’d provided and reached for his hand.

“I’m insured, so everything that was stolen can be replaced,” he said.

But there was something else in his tone that she didn’t understand. “Did something else happen?”

“No.” He shook his head and sighed, which wasn’t like him at all. “The police think it was an inside job.”

She gasped, her pizza completely forgotten. “Why?”

“I have a security camera set up outside the gate. Whoever it was knew exactly where it was and they were able to disable it without it picking up anything but a blurry image of their arm.”

“It couldn’t be someone else?” she asked.

“It could, but the chances of them knowing exactly where it was and how to adjust it in order to avoid detection means they’re probably familiar with the yard. I don’t let many people back there that don’t work for me. There’s no need for them to be.” He shifted his weight and it moved him farther away from her. “The only exception is the delivery trucks. But that doesn’t make much sense either. Then again, neither does one of my employees stealing from me.”