Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Clover
“You can relax,” Van said. “It’s really okay.”
I brandished two fresh bags of ice, one for his shoulder and one for his knee. “I know you’re okay, but this will make you okayer.”
He was half reclined in the corner of the couch, where I put him as soon as we got home. We’d been watching a movie, and I was on an ice routine with him. I bent over his leg, tucking the bag of ice cubes against his joint. Next, I snugged the second bag under his shoulder.
Studying my handiwork, I nodded. “It’s time for another dose of meds.”
“Clover. Relax. You’ve been hovering. You need to rest too.”
“I’m fine.”
“You didn’t hit the ground, but you still fell on me. Are you sure…” His gaze brushed against my stomach.
I put a protective hand on my abdomen. Other than tender boobs and nausea until the late afternoon, I didn’t feel pregnant. I didn’t look it quite yet, either. “The nugget is only the size of a lentil. One website said a baked bean.”
“A baked bean can be twice the size of a lentil.”
“Right? I got a little confused. Like, which legume is it, then?”
He chuckled, his eyes crinkling. I’d seen a new side of Van today. He had chatted with my family, played ball, and just seemed so much more relaxed than normal. The Van from the few Wagner family dinners I had attended wasn’t nearly as easygoing. Only then I hadn’t known it wasn’t the real him.
Awareness skittered through me, and I backed up.
“Hungry? I have the munchies, and Poppy sent us home with a ton of food.” We’d left to rehab Van’s knee before the crew dug into the food again.
I scurried to the kitchen and said over my shoulder, “Usually, we’d play kickball for forever, end up bickering—playfully—about the score, then we’d eat again.
Sometimes, Jensen even brings out another pack of burgers, and we start all over again. ”
I dug through the fridge and grabbed the plates that Poppy prepared. Chips sounded good, so I stuffed those under my arm.
When I returned, Van had his eyes closed, his head tipped against the edge of the sofa. He really was good-looking. His hair had grown out slightly since he’d trimmed it. The longer style fit him. Made him seem less severe and untouchable and more…touchable.
I stopped and took a step back. If he was resting, I wouldn’t wake him.
He cracked an eye open. “Where are you going?”
“I thought you were resting.”
“I’ve been on mandatory rest since we got home.”
“Because I crashed into you.” I sat and took the plastic covering off the plates. Each had a plastic fork, cookies, brownies, a hamburger, and my cookie salad. “I should’ve been more aware.”
“We collided.” He opened the chips and dug out a giant crinkle-cut chip. He held it out to me. “It was an honest accident.”
I snatched the bag out of his hands and dug around inside. “I like the big ones.”
“I know.”
Surprised, I tipped my head. “How?”
He lifted his good shoulder and dug out another, smaller chip. “Just something I noticed.”
“Oh.” My chip-size preference was a tiny detail, but he’d noticed. Don’t look into it too hard, Clover. “Want me to heat the hamburger?”
“Nope.” He took a big bite. The muscles in his jaw flexed with each bite. A little furrow crossed his brow as he studied his food, like he was deciding what to eat next. He started to lift his gaze.
Damn, I was staring. I grabbed the remote. “What should we watch next? Do you like computer movies?”
“What exactly are computer movies?” The humor in his tone wasn’t teasing.
“Um, Office Space?”
“Computer adjacent, and I love that one. What else?”
Emboldened that he wouldn’t give me a hard time about the term I used, I thought of more. “Ready Player One.”
“You’re batting a hundred.”
I bit back a smile and chewed the inside of my cheek. “iRobot?”
“Office Space is more my speed.”
“Satires about the uselessness of die-hard processes in the corporate environment and how it demeans the employees?”
“There’s a reason I’m working for myself. For better or worse. I like explaining myself if it’s valid. I didn’t like explaining myself to do a job I was hired to do.”
That suited him. Meanwhile, I liked clocking in and out and leaving my job behind. “Figured it was time to strike out on your own?”
“I tried before. I’m starting again because I had to dissolve the one I built with Hillary when she cheated on me.”
“Oh, damn.” I detested this Hillary. “Elijah never mentioned that.”
“Yeah, I’m not surprised,” he said flatly, then clenched his jaw until a muscle popped. “Anyway, I’d much rather be on my own. She wanted to recruit all the investors with dollar signs in her eyes, and I wanted to be more prudent. That wasn’t our money.”
“But she thought so?”
“She kept it like it was. I used everything I had to settle up so I wouldn’t get sued or arrested.”
“I’m glad you’re a free man. Mind if I ask what it is that you do?” I leaned forward to dig into the chips. It was well into the evening, and my appetite had roared back.
“I’m a software development engineer, but the business I’m launching is consulting.”
“Is it easy?”
When he pinched his brows together, I panicked.
“I mean, not easy. Not at all. Just that launching your own company might be fairly easy, as far as starting your own business goes. You must have a large network, know people, and then there’s the low overhead.
Right?” I crinkled my nose. “I didn’t mean to diminish what you’re doing. ”
He exhaled, and understanding lit his eyes.
“It’s all right, Clover. It’s not your fault I can be defensive.
I can tell from your tone you weren’t being insulting.
” He gave me a small smile that eased my concern.
“It’s easier than going into an office. As for getting clients, enough to earn a living, that can be a little tougher.
Especially when bridges got burned in the breakup.
” His jaw hardened again for a second. “It’s been a slow climb back into the game, and only time and reasonable rates will change anything. ”
“That sucks.”
“It sucks less now that I can actually work all day.”
“I’m glad I’m easier to live with than your mom and dad.”
“Sometimes, I wondered if living on the streets would be more productive.” He shoved a brownie into his mouth. Elijah would say his brother was a lazy couch surfer, but nothing about Van held up that accusation.
“You didn’t pay rent, so you were their unpaid labor?”
He nodded, confirming my suspicions.
Time ticked by, and we finished our meal. The silence was comfortable, pleasant. I could go for more nights like this.
Van set his plate on the coffee table. “Somewhere between a lentil and a baked bean, huh?”
Sudden shyness took over. With the wedding, the move, and the new job, life had been hectic.
I hadn’t had a chance to do more than exchange quick texts with my sisters.
There’d been no long dinners to talk about my situation.
No meetups. Other than today, I hadn’t even gone to their houses.
It was like the pregnancy was my own to deal with, and I guess it was.
“A small bean that resembles a tadpole.”
“So it’s going to look like my brother?”
I laughed. “I hope it’ll grow out of it.” I put my plate next to his. “I have my appointment this week.”
“Yeah? What does that entail?”
I didn’t care if he was asking to be nice or if he was really interested. I had someone to talk to about it, and I had some nerves to process. “I don’t know for sure. According to what’s online, everything. Physical, blood work, and maybe an ultrasound.”
“Exciting.”
“Yeah. I think it will be.” My smile was hesitant. I had been talking myself down from excitement. I had my job and living situation to figure out first. “It still doesn’t seem real.”
“But it is.”
I nodded, a lump forming in my throat. Fear threatened to rise up, but I stuffed it down. I had a good job and a lot of siblings close by. There’d be a roof over my head no matter what. “I should probably look for an apartment.”
He pushed a hand through his hair like he was still used to it being longer. “Shit, yeah. Me too.”
“Are you staying in the area?” Did I sound hopeful? I had a lot of family, but after today, Van was like a friend.
He shrugged. The bags of ice shifted, and he put them on his plate. “Maybe. It’s cheap here.”
“Daisy said rental hunting was rough. So Alder bought them all.”
“He’s going to hook you up?”
I grinned. “He can hook us up.”
“Connections. Nice.”
“Use ’em if you got ’em.”
“You have a lot. Your family seems…really amazing.”
“They are, and they’re a lot of help.” I held my hands up like I was innocent. “I earn what I have fair and square, though. Don’t worry about me stealing off with any ill-gotten gains.”
“You mean the blood money you earned from the shale trade?”
“It’s the bribes for pretending a brine spill didn’t happen.” I put my fingers on my lips. “I shouldn’t even joke about that. Geez, I just started my job, and I don’t want people thinking I would do that or cover up for it.”
“Especially when you’re so shady in the first place.”
I giggled and collected the plates, ice bags, and chips. His dry humor was my type of humor. “Want to find Office Space while I put these away?”
“I can help you.” He got up and took the ice from me—the heaviest items.
“You’re supposed to be resting.”
“I’ll get stiff if I stay still too long. I need to move, and I’m not sitting on my ass while you work.”
“Are you sure you’re related to—” Dammit. “Sorry. I don’t want to keep bringing him up.”
I rushed to the kitchen, dropped the paper plates into the garbage, and tossed the chips on the counter. The thunk of the ice packs hitting the sink resounded loudly in the quiet kitchen.
When I turned, I rammed into his broad chest.