Chapter Thirty-Six
Pacino
When I got home that night, Phoebe was passed out. I picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, and she didn’t even stir.
I held her all night long, realizing how close I came to losing her. Scared the hell out of me.
She didn’t wake up when I had to leave to head to Church, so I left her a note to let her know I was home. I don’t need her worrying about anything anymore. All the threats with my family are dead and gone.
“How’s Phoebe?” Capone asks as I walk into the room.
I’m floored. Everyone’s early. Every single motherfucker.
“She’s okay,” I say. “Still sleeping.”
“But she’s good?” Rooster asks.
Chuckling, I nod. “She’ll be back to baking for everyone soon enough.”
“She scared the shit out of me. I’ve never seen anyone that scared before.”
“Me, neither. I should’ve known they’d put her in the basement.”
“Your dad?”
I lean back with a big smile. “He’s gone.”
“What’d he want?” Jethro asks.
“To tell me what I thought of my life was a big fat lie and to save him.”
Penn leans forward. “What do you mean?”
I explain about Joanna and her father, shocked at how little it hurts. Letting her go has made me a thousand pounds lighter. I’m not carrying the burden of her death anymore.
It wasn’t my fault.
“Damn,” Kannon says. “So, uh, Phoebe told us why she hates basements. Her uncle’s really dead?”
“As far as I know.”
“Fuck. I could really use a reason to murder someone.”
The anniversary of his wife and daughter’s accident always becomes dark for Kannon. And God help anyone who crosses us during this time. Or any time, really, but especially this one.
“You’re really okay? Yesterday was really heavy,” Jethro asks.
I smile and nod. “Yeah, I’m good. Even though learning the truth about how Jo and I came to be together fucked with me a bit, I came home to Phoebe.”
“Our ray of sunshine,” Capone says.
“When I was cleaning up her wounds, she asked if I was okay when I told her about Ryan,” I say with a chuckle. “She was worried about me because he was my family. And then she asked about Scotty before panicking about the burned bars in the oven.”
“Only she would be worried about bars after being kidnapped at gunpoint,” Rooster says.
Licking my lips, I stare at the table. “She went willingly with Ryan because he promised not to kill Scotty if she did. Had no idea what she was walking into, but she risked it to save him.”
“Brave girl.”
“Braver than she knows.” I turn to Jethro. “I need about a week away.”
He frowns. “Okay. What’s up?”
Pulling a box out of my pocket, I set it on the table. Rooster tries to reach for it, but I smack his hand.
“You’re proposing?”
“I’m not wasting any more time.”
I stopped at a jewelry store on my way home last night and bought the ring. It was the first one I saw when I walked in, and I didn’t care about the cost. It reminded me of her, and I don’t want to leave any doubt that she is anything but permanent in my life.
She is my life.
“I need to be benched,” Zep says, speaking for the first time.
He’s normally the most talkative one, next to Rooster, and I notice how pale he is. “You good?”
“Not really. It’s Misty.”
Fuck. Here I am talking about getting married, and he’s got the scare with her pregnancy. “Is she okay?”
“There was another scare while we were gone. Luckily, Mama was there, but I can’t leave Misty alone again. I can take care of shit around town—”
“I’ll wait to get married,” I say.
“No, don’t do that. You need to do this. You’re finally happy, man. Don’t put it off.”
Jethro holds a hand up. “What’s going on with Misty?”
I guess I’m the only one who knows what happened. He goes into short detail about it, and everyone stays silent. Why can’t we just be fucking happy?
“They were able to stop the labor this time, but they can’t do it again. If we wait too long to get her to the hospital, we could lose the baby. Or her.”
The or her wasn’t mentioned when he told us about her condition before. “What?”
“That’s what we found out yesterday. If she starts contracting again, we have to do an emergency C-section.”
“Isn’t it really early?” Rooster asks.
Zep pales even more, and I know he’s scared. Out of his mind, and I wish there was something I could do. “Yeah. The chances of Misty keeping him or her to full term aren’t good.”
“You don’t know what you’re having?” Jethro asks.
“No. When we had the first scare, we knew there was a risk that the worst would happen. We decided we don’t want to know until he or she is born. It’s selfish, but it makes it less real.”
“It’ll be real when it happens regardless,” Kannon says. “Find out and make plans. You’ll wish you had if you don’t.”
The only person here who has any idea what Zep could be facing is Kannon. And I really hate this for the both of them. If something terrible happens to Misty, the baby, or both, Zep may end up just like Kannon. His only saving grace would be Bernie.
“I can get Misty a button to wear,” I say. “Like those old people buttons if they fall down and can’t get up, but this will be a message sent to you if something happens. No call or typing out a text needed.”
“Really? That would be great, man. Thanks.”
“And Phoebe and I can work out a plan to help out, too, if you want. We’ll watch Bernie while you’re handling shit at the hospital.”
He fights back tears and can only nod. The fear of losing the woman I love is one I’m all too familiar with. It’s still very fresh. And I lost my first love. Never a baby, though. I can’t even imagine that.
I hate that Zep’s going through this. He’s finally gotten what he’d wanted for so long with someone better than Chanel ever was. Now he might lose both his woman and his child.
“We’ll make it work,” Jethro assures. “You take care of your family, Zep. We got you.”
The meeting continues, but it’s hard to think about anything other than Zep and his family. It might not be the right time to propose to Phoebe. I don’t want to be gone if something terrible happens. My family needs me right now.
After Jethro bangs the gavel, Zep pulls me aside. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t put it off. Propose. I see the look on your face, and you need to do this. You deserve this.”
“Zep—”
“Misty’s going to be so pissed if she finds out you’re putting it off for us. I’m choosing to believe it’ll all be okay.”
I sigh and nod. “I don’t want to be gone if you need us.”
“We’ll figure it out. We appreciate everything you’ve done already.”
An idea comes to mind. “When Ryan took Phoebe, he broke the bracelet I made her. And the others were missing when we got to her. Any chance Bernie and Misty would be up for making new ones?”
He finally smiles. “I think they’d be happy to. Come on. Bernie will be so excited.”
“Is Misty… okay to do it?”
“She’s going stir crazy from bed rest. She needs something to do while being pretty much stationary.”
As long as she’s not putting herself at risk. And it gives me the perfect opportunity to do something special for Phoebe.