Chapter 37
CHARLOTTE
My whole body unclenched the second I saw Jameson and Sadie pull up outside and climb out of their car. Finally, people I could talk to without fear of being signed up for a charity luncheon, baking contest, or cattle-themed fundraiser.
Sadie beamed when she saw me, her arms full of diaper bags, toddler sneakers, and a baby carrier.
“Charlotte, thank God. I only just got here, but if I have to listen to one more woman try to tell me about her award-winning brisket recipe, I was going to fake my own death and that was just what I got on my way in.”
I laughed, stepping closer for a hug. “I’m counting five people right now who’ve offered to teach me their signature casseroles so far.”
“Oh honey,” she said with pity that was almost affectionate. “You’re fresh meat. They’re frothing.”
“At least they smell nice,” I whispered, seeing three of them watching us with hawk-like interest.
“That’s because they wear perfume like armor,” Sadie murmured through a clenched smile. “Never let them spritz you. Whatever it is, it does not come off.”
I laughed, but before I could reply, I realized that Trent and Jameson were gone. Just… vanished. A minute ago, I’d seen them talking at Jameson’s car, but they weren’t there anymore and they hadn’t come inside either.
I groaned. “Do men think disappearing is some universal hobby?”
Sadie snorted. “Yes, but give them a minute. I know Trent and Alex are close now too, but Jameson is the OG. They’re probably doing some secret handshake in a corner somewhere.”
I snorted into my drink trying to hold back my laughter. “I’d pay money to see that. Good money.”
She winked at me. “All these houses have security cameras. Ours in California, yours in Chicago, even these here on the ranch. We’ll catch them in the act eventually and we’ll have video footage.”
Together, we drifted toward the quieter side of the room.
As we went, Sadie introduced me to a couple of women she said I should know, and each introduction was like a strange, glittering ritual involving air-kisses, perfect posture, and practiced smiles.
I nodded, made polite conversation, endured three comments about my ring, and one not-so-subtle nudge about keeping the Shepard boy in line.
Sadie tugged me away again, sighing dramatically when I tensed up, ready to defend him with everything I had.
It wasn’t his fault Savannah had stepped out of line in the first place.
Even though I was thankful she had, because her loss had definitely become my gain, it didn’t feel like something they should be judging him for.
“Okay, enough,” Sadie murmured. “If I don’t get you out of here, they’ll have you chairing the Christmas gala by tomorrow. Either that, or you’ll be in prison for assault.”
I exhaled in relief. “Thank you. Although Trent would never let me chair a gala if I didn’t want to. He won’t let me get bullied into things.”
Sadie’s eyebrows arched. “Do you even know how many times you’ve brought him up in the last five minutes?”
A flush crawled up my neck. “Not that many.”
“Sweetheart.” She gave me a look that was so knowing, it made me want to douse my face in my alcoholic lemonade. “Don’t worry. It’s cute.”
“It’s embarrassing.”
“It’s still cute.”
I groaned. “I can’t help it. Everything is just so new and exciting.”
She hooked her arm through mine. “I was the same way when Jameson first came back into the picture. Harlan had just told him that he had to get married and my parents had cut me off. It was a mess, but I was still so obsessed with him that I didn’t really care about much else.”
I laughed, some of the tension easing out of my shoulders. “God, I forgot how weird our families are.”
“Worse now that they get along,” Sadie said dryly. “I swear, my mom talks to CC on a near daily basis. Those two have more pictures of my kids than I do.”
We wandered toward the windows where there were less people jammed together. The more we chatted about family and marriages, however, the more tempted I was to ask the question that had been sitting like a stone in my stomach.
Eventually, I decided to just do it. I wanted to get over this. But somewhere deep inside, lodged between my heart and my ribs, was a fear I hadn’t been able to shake so far. I just needed to know if it was justified.
“Can I ask you something?”
Sadie perked up. “Of course. Anything.”
“It’s about Savannah.”
Her shoulders dropped, but not with annoyance or surprise. The expression on her face was more like resignation. “I figured this was coming.”
“I’m not trying to tear open old wounds,” I added quickly. “I know it’s none of my business, but I just feel like I’m walking into a story halfway through and trying to pretend I know the ending.”
“That makes sense,” she said quietly. “I had plenty of questions about Jamie’s story myself, so don’t worry. I get it.”
“I’m not jealous. I just…” I trailed off, trying to find the right words. “I just want to know that he’s okay. That he’s really over it. Over her.”
Sadie blew out a slow breath. “I wish I could tell you something neat and tidy, but the truth is, I wasn’t here. I was in boarding school when they started dating and in college when they broke up. I barely knew her.”
“Oh.”
“But I do remember him after everything fell apart. And honestly? He seemed more upset about the baby part of it than the relationship.”
That hit me right in the sternum. “Really?”
Sadie nodded, brushing hair from her face.
“Trent has always wanted kids. A whole crew of them running around the ranch. Little cowboys and cowgirls with dirty boots and sunburned noses.” She smiled softly.
“That’s always been his dream. Not the girl or the perfectly packaged romance. Just the family.”
It felt like someone had wrapped their fingers around my throat and started squeezing. “Is that true?”
“Yep,” she said without even having to think about it.
“One day, he’s going to be a great dad. The best. That’s all he’s ever wanted.
I don’t think he ever would’ve even married her if she hadn’t been pregnant.
He rarely ever even said her name after, or the baby’s.
He just kept talking about how he thought he finally had a family of his own. ”
“Could it be because it hurt too much to say their names?”
She shrugged. “Maybe, but I just don’t think that was it.
If you ask me, and you are, so I guess I’m justified in saying this, he was over her before she even told him about the baby.
He just thought he was doing the right thing by marrying her after he found out.
I wouldn’t worry about it. I really don’t think he’s hung up on her. ”
The right fucking thing. Of course. What is it with this guy and denying what he wants just to do what he thinks is right? No one is that freaking honorable. Really.
“Do you think he still wants that?” I asked quietly. “Kids. A family.”
She grinned at me. “Honey, I know he does. Do you have any idea how much time he spent at our house when I was pregnant with Hailey and Briar? He was on the freaking phone to Jamie when I told him about Reagan and Alexa. He practically lived in our house after each birth just to help out. He is going to be a real good dad. Just you wait and see.”
My heart squeezed so hard that I had to suck in a breath at the mental image my mind conjured up without even trying.
Trent with a baby on his hip, teaching a toddler to brush a pony, corralling muddy little monsters around the yard with that amused, patient look he got when he was teaching someone something. Mostly me these days, but still.
“Yeah,” I said finally. “I can see that being true.”
She touched a hand to my arm. “Don’t spend another minute of your life thinking about Savannah, okay? She’s ancient history and it’s not because my big brother is callous or uncaring. I don’t know what he saw in her at first, but I just think he figured out pretty fast that it wasn’t going to—”
A shriek erupted from across the room. Two toddlers—hers—were climbing the dessert table like gremlins, desecrating it. Sadie groaned. “I swear, I turn my back for two seconds…”
I laughed. “Go, I’ve got Reagan.”
She handed over the baby carrier without hesitation, already sprinting toward the chaos. I looked down at Reagan—wide-eyed, curious, and so tiny—and my chest ached in a way that felt new, but also as dangerous as it was beautiful.
This wasn’t just Trent’s dream. It was mine too.
I didn’t even hear him approach. One second, I was rocking little Reagan against my shoulder, breathing in that warm-milk baby smell, and the next, Trent’s shadow slid over us.
“There you are,” he said softly. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“Sadie and I have been trying to find a safety zone.” I looked up and he was smiling at me, but it was a different kind of smile. The kind that curled at the corner of his lips like I was exactly what he’d been secretly hoping to find. Then his gaze dropped to the baby in my arms.
Something flickered across his face, either surprise or wonder, and then something else, something sad he tried to hide by smoothing the smile back into place. I shouldn’t have, but for a heartbeat, I let myself imagine it, him walking up to me like this one day and finding our baby in my arms.
Little boots. Little dimples. A little someone with his eyes.
The fantasy crashed and burned before it’d even fully formed when his mouth pressed into a tight line, the daydream popping like a soap bubble. “What is it? What happened this time?”
“We, uh, we’ve got a situation,” he said, lowering his voice.
I instantly shifted Reagan into a better hold, like I could use her to shield my heart from whatever was coming. “What is it?”
He glanced around the room first, but there were too many people, too many ears, and too much chaos for a private conversation. “I’m not totally sure yet, but Jameson got a call from Nate. Alex and your dad are fighting again. It sounds like Gregory is still involved.”
My heart thudded against my ribs. “Okay, but we’re married now, Trent. It doesn’t matter what he does anymore.”
He shook his head, his jaw going tense. “There are things you don’t know about Gregory.”
A cold little knot tightened behind my ribs. I hated that name. I hated that it still had the power to put that look on Trent’s face. “What things?”
“God, I wish Alex had just told you the truth from the beginning,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck like the words themselves irritated him. “It would’ve saved everyone a lot of trouble.”
I blinked hard. “What truth? Trent, what are you talking ab—”
“Trent!”
A pair of older women bustled toward us, smelling like perfume and powdered sugar. One of them had a plate stacked with pastry. The other already had her arms wide open, aiming for Trent like a guided missile.
He stepped back on instinct. I knew that move now, his polite, gentle, no thank you, please stay at least ten feet from my personal space sidestep.
“Oh! Which one is that, Reagan or Alexa?” the dessert-plate lady cooed at the baby on my shoulder. “Where’s sweet Sadie? I haven’t seen her yet.”
“She’s with Briar and Hailey,” I said. “I’m sure you’ll see her soon.”
“And who are you, honey?” she asked, already reaching like she might pluck the baby right out of my arms.
I tightened my grip. “I’m—”
“She’s my wife,” Trent said, sliding his hand to the small of my back. “Charlotte Shepard.”
Even now, even after rings, vows, and weeks of matrimony, hearing him say my wife still did something to me. The older women made matching squealing noises.
“Well, isn’t that something!” the perfume-cloud one beamed. “You are just darling. And holding a baby, too. I swear, I blink and another Shepard is popping out. Well, I suppose Sadie’s kids are Westwoods, but the principle still applies.”
“Not today,” Trent said quickly.
I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. They chattered at us for another full minute before finally drifting off toward the buffet again.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Trent exhaled like he’d been underwater. “Sorry about that.”
“For which part?” I asked. “The part where I nearly got adopted by random family friends, or the part where you interrupted me right before telling me something terrifying about the guy my dad wanted me to marry?”
His brow softened. “Both.”
“Trent,” I said, shifting Reagan again when she gave a sleepy sigh against my neck. “What truth was Alex supposed to tell me?”
He opened his mouth, but another person called his name from across the room.
Then another. Then someone tugged at his arm, asking where to put the spare coolers.
Someone else asked if he could fix the sound system, and oh my God, I was going to start charging people consultation fees on his behalf.
Even so, he made the time to lean in close, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. “I’ll explain. I promise. Just not here and not now.”
The warmth of his breath sent a shiver straight down my spine. I nodded because I had to, but it wasn’t because the knot in my stomach loosened. It hadn’t. At all.
Trent glanced at Reagan again, watching her hand curl up to my collarbone. “She likes you.”
I smiled. “I like her, too.”
“You’d be good at this,” he murmured.
The words were so quiet, I wasn’t sure I heard them right, but someone else yelled for him before I could even look up. He groaned under his breath. “Duty calls.”
“I’ll be here,” I said, bouncing Reagan gently when I felt her starting to go limp in my arms.
He brushed his fingers along my cheek before stepping away and I watched him go, holding someone else’s baby and feeling like I was holding a question I wasn’t ready to face. I’d always wanted kids and so had Trent, but did that mean that we would ever have them together?