Page 10 of A Complicated Bride

“What the heck do you think you’re doing, Bradley Simmons?” Julie stood with her hands on her hips on the walk. I came outside to meet her, fearing for the destruction of tasteful décor within if we came to blows. It had been a while since I’d needed to take a fight outside. My grin appeared unbidden at the thought. Julie’s scowl went ballistic and she stepped forward.

“It’s okay,” Tammy said landing at my side.

Then to my surprise, Lily went to Julie’s side and put a restraining hand on her arm.

“I came to visit an old friend. Make amends for past boorishness.” I kept my eyes on Julie. It was hard because I could see in my periphery that Lily watched me, studied me with interest and my blood started heating up at the scrutiny. I wondered if she knew about my illustrious history with Tammy, that I’d been the cad who came to town, charmed her, won her heart and then left her behind. I won’t say that I broke her heart. No one will convince me that her heart had been in it—not really. We were in it for fun. I’d always been about fun and Tammy had been smart enough to know this. Restless enough not to care.

This circumstance was an unusually difficult test of my cool. But what the hell? Who needed cool in the real world where pretense was a foreign concept?

I shifted my gaze to Lily and nodded at her, letting my wolf grin have its way.

“You look more at home in that outfit, Lily. And no less stunning I might add.”

“Never mind that, Brad,” Julie said. “We’re going to the mansion. You’re coming with us.”

“Ooh, can I come too?” Tammy fairly hopped in place until Roark put a hand on her shoulder.

“Not now, sweetheart.” Roark purred and then kissed her hair.

I should be taking notes on the wedded bliss oozing from the couple. I would if I hadn’t already learned that one didn’t mimic others in this fine art of being one’s authentic self. Instead, I spoke to Julie in a voice so soothing I didn’t recognize it.

“I’d love to come home with you. You’re sure you trust me in the same house as your innocent babies?”

“Only because I’ve been practicing at the shooting range and we have a full arsenal of assorted weapons from the Lamont family hunting archives. Let’s go. You can help with the bathing.”

“Oh. I can’t possibly miss this,” Tammy begged. Roark pulled her inside the door.

“Another time, hon. In fact, how about if we get moving on making some babies of our own?”

I watched Tammy spin around in Roark’s arms and give him a smoldering look, the pain of loss shooting straight through my balls and up my gut to the cavity where my fledgling heart withstood another hard lesson.

Stepping off the front stoop where I now stood alone, I approached the two women, different yet vaguely similar in that unmistakable familial way cousins had.

Lily spoke to me then. “I’m not sure I’d be brave enough to bathe twins. You have rare courage, Mr. Simmons.” Lily spoke in a theatrical, Shakespearean manner and bowed down to me, her glowing auburn tresses falling forward in elegant shiny cascades.

“My fair sweet, you haven’t seen anything as yet. For my time hasn’t arrived.”

“Let’s get going before I barf.” Julie turned on her heel and stomped back to the car.

“Are you sick?” Lily said following her and looking closely at her cousin. Lily caught up with her at the door and stopped her taller cousin, taking Julie’s face in her hands and examining her as if she were an eye doctor or a mind reader.

“Are you pregnant, Jules?”

A sickly feeling hit me then too. What if she were pregnant again? What did that mean? Not sure, since I’d never been around a pregnant woman before in my life. Ever. I wondered if upsetting her could be harmful, wondered if she should be so excited or maybe she shouldn’t be driving.

I caught up to the two women in time to see Julie’s eyes mist up and spill over. Shit.

“Don’t say anything. I haven’t---“ hiccup. “ Told Jack yet. I don’t know if I can handle another baby—“

Whatever else Julie would have said was lost in a smothering embrace by Lily who murmured calming words. Julie was bent and awkward in her shorter cousin’s embrace, but she held on and sniffled. Pushing away whatever cowardly inhibitions of indecision that clouded my head, I moved in and let my instincts take over.

Putting an arm around Julie, I leant my strength to her, stroking her back.

“Jules, it’s wonderful news,” I said. “A child, no matter how many there were, couldn’t be more lucky than to have you and Jack for parents.” I took a breath and felt the unrepenting need to throw in a kernel of levity. “I wish you two were my parents after all.”

She laughed through a sob and batted my arm away, pulling away from Lily too. Lily crinkled her nose at me in a half grin, half reprimand.

“Sorry I couldn’t make that sound like anything Shakespeare might say. I’m off my game.”