Chapter 15
Blue had come home from Jay’s and headed outside to her parents’ gardens. She’d then walked with the dogs, trying to make sense of the mess her life was in.
Picking herbs, she crushed them in her hands, the air filling with their spicy scent.
New York was her home. Could she go back there now?
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. Blue pulled it out and looked at the screen. She didn’t recognize the number.
After unlocking her phone, she read the message that had just come through.
It’s me, Jay. Have you told your parents yet? Need me to come with you?
How did you get my number?
Jay Haddon
Pretty much anyone who passed me on the street would have your number, Blue.
I don’t give it to just anyone.
Jay Haddon
I’m not just anyone, though, am I?
That made nausea swirl in her belly. He was her baby’s father, that’s who Jay Haddon was.
Jay Haddon
Have you told your folks? Because I’ve told the Dukes.
I will tell them.
Jay Haddon
I can be there in minutes and tell them with you.
I don’t need you to do that.
A bark of laughter coming from the house behind her made her look at the open door. She needed to go in there now and tell them.
Jay Haddon
Do you want me to be there when you tell your parents?
No.
Jay Haddon
No, thank you.
Jay Haddon
Are you one of those people who never sits on anything?
Jay Haddon
If it’s something that’s important and affects my life or those around me, then yes, I’m one of those people.
Sigh.
Jay Haddon
Text me when it’s done.
Have you read your DNA test results yet?
Jay Haddon
No.
***
Jay Haddon
That’s a lot of question marks, and I’ve been busy.
Sounds like an excuse to me.
Jay Haddon
Tell your family.
She didn’t reply and pocketed her phone again. When she walked back to the house, Finch was waiting outside for her.
“Have you eaten today?” he asked.
Her brother watched her constantly. It was almost as if Finch thought she was having the baby today.
“Stop it,” Blue hissed, moving closer.
“What?”
“This micromanaging shit.”
“It’s called concern,” her brother gritted out. “Until you tell the family, I’m the only one who is watching over you.”
“I don’t need watching.”
He folded his arms and stared at her.
“Hello!”
That was her sister’s voice.
“Birdie’s here with Sadie, who you adore, Finch. So go and see her and leave me alone,” Blue snapped. “I’m just going to wander through the garden some—”
“No, you’re telling them now.”
“What? No, I’m not ready,” Blue said, her voice rising several octaves.
“Now, Blue. Mom will have some stuff to help you feel better.”
“I’m pregnant. I’m pretty sure it’ll take about five months before I feel better,” she snapped back.
He simply wrapped his fingers around her wrist and started walking. She had to follow or end up on her face.
“Let me go, Finch. I had already decided to tell them today, so you don’t need to drag me in there.”
He pushed her in front of him gently and then nudged her through the door.
“Come, sit. Finch, you can make those horrid coffees for you three, and I will make Hamish an herbal blend,” Meadow McAllister said. Today she wore a white caftan. She’d piled her hair on top of her head and poked several daisies through the bun.
Blue’s father wore a matching kaftan—her parents always dressed the same—and was seated with a smiling Sadie on his lap.
Her parents loved kids, and she knew they would not judge Blue for being pregnant.
That wasn’t the McAllister way. Her family was accepting of most things and lived their lives prioritizing peace, love, personal freedom, and nonviolence.
But she knew that some in town would judge her. Not a lot, but a few.
“Nothing horrid about my coffee, Mom,” Finch said after nudging Blue down into a chair.
Birdie had been watching her brother, but her eyes were now locked on Blue, questioning.
“What’s going on, Blue? I’ve felt like something wasn’t right since you returned to Lyntacky,” Birdie said softly as behind her, their parents and brother argued about the devil that was coffee and the harm it created to your internal organs.
“I’m okay, Birdie, but I have something to tell you.”
“What?”
She looked at her youngest sister and saw the happiness she hadn’t known was missing in her life before she met Sawyer.
“Why didn’t you tell us what was going on with you, Birdie?” Blue said suddenly.
She was the McAllister with the sweetest temperament, which meant her siblings had taken advantage of that nature plenty when they were growing up. They’d also left her here to deal with their father’s illness.
“Nothing was going on with me,” Birdie denied.
“Liar. You were gambling and talking dirty on the phone to make money to pay for Dad’s medical bills. Why didn’t you tell us?”
The argument taking place behind them had now moved into processed foods. Sadie, Blue noted, was on the floor, while Finch was debating with his parents. He was retrieving pots and a wooden spoon from the cupboard for her to bang. The noise in here would be deafening shortly.
“Who told you about that?”
“Sawyer, at your wedding, I just didn’t tell you I knew. He thought your older siblings, and I quote, ‘should get their heads out of their asses’ where you are concerned. He was right.”
Blue had felt guilty and knew Sawyer’s words had been justified.
“What is that noise?” Sawyer stomped into the kitchen dressed like a disgruntled lumberjack who slept in his clothes overnight and had woken to the realization that there was no coffee in the house.
“Did you manage to fix that hose, Sawyer?” Blue’s father asked.
“Yes, but it won’t last. I’ll bring you a new one next time,” her brother-in-law said. “Are you making that coffee or just staring at it?”
“Relax, bud, I’m getting there,” Finch said. “I was just sorting your kid out with something to do.”
Although both big men, they could not be more different. Where Sawyer was un-groomed, her brother was the opposite. Shaved and clean, he smelled good, and his clothes were never torn or stained.
“I’m sorry, Birdie. I should have done more. We should have tried harder.”
Her sister reached out a hand, and Blue took it.
“You didn’t know what was going on because I didn’t tell you. So let’s leave that here.”
She nodded and then squeezed Birdie’s fingers. “I need to tell you all something,” Blue said, her voice carrying over the noise.
Sawyer threw her a look, and their eyes met. He knows. But he hadn’t told Birdie, which would have been hard on the man.
“What?” her mother asked.
“Sit down, Mom, and she’ll tell you,” Finch said from the coffee machine.
“I’ve got the coffee. You sit, Finch,” Sawyer said.
He nodded and joined his family as they all settled around the table, now silent, their eyes on her. Blue then told them about her job and what had happened.
“Those assfaces,” Meadow cried when Blue was done.
“We need to go after them,” Sawyer said, carrying two mugs to the table. “It’s not good enough to walk away, Blue. You need to make them pay.”
“Maybe,” Blue said. “But I have something else to tell you.” She was still holding Birdie’s hand, and now wasn’t the time to let it go. “I’m pregnant.”
The silence was absolute except for the gurgle of the coffee machine.
“How far along?” Birdie finally asked, breaking the silence.
“Fourteen weeks.”
“And you’ve only told us now?” her father asked. She saw the worry in his eyes.
“I didn’t realize—”
“Remember, she has polycystic ovary syndrome, so it makes her irregular, along with other symptoms,” her mother cut in. “But three months, Blue? How didn’t you notice you hadn’t been bleeding at all?”
Sawyer looked a little pale now, and Blue was sure he was humming to himself to block out the words.
“Does the father know?” her father asked.
“Yes, he does.”
“And he lives in New York?”
And here came the hard part. “He’s a Lyntack, actually.”
Birdie frowned. “But you were in New York four months ago.”
“I know, and so was he. It just happened one night, and we were clearly careless—”
“Which happens when making love, Blue Jay,” her mother said.
“You’re never careless. Why didn’t you use protection?” her father asked.
Sawyer made a noise as if clearing his throat. Not used to the open ways of the McAllisters yet, he struggled with how they discussed things like sex and a woman ovulating in the same breath as “Pass the coconut milk.”
“It happened, and we can’t change that,” Blue said, squeezing her sister’s hand harder.
“Who is he?” Finch asked.
“No need for that tone,” Sawyer said, entering the conversation for the first time. “They both had a hand in this.”
“Why are you protecting a man you don’t even…” Finch’s words fell away as his eyes went from Sawyer to Blue. “Unless you know him?”
“Jay Haddon is the father. I didn’t want to tell you, but he insisted,” Blue rushed to say.
“Jay is one of my family and one of the most honorable men I know,” Sawyer declared, his eyes still on Finch. “I’ll challenge anyone who says differently.”
Finch got out of his chair.
“You will both remember that Sadie is sitting at your feet,” Birdie warned, releasing Blue with a last squeeze of her fingers. “Behave.”
“And you were so ready to forgive your best friend for sleeping with your sister, weren’t you?” Finch hissed. “Not pregnant like mine, she just slept with the man who is now her life partner.”
“Awww, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard him say life partner,” Meadow said, not at all concerned with what was going on in her kitchen.
“I was wrong,” Sawyer gritted out.
“You should have recorded him saying he was wrong because even I know that’s rare,” Blue said to Birdie.
“He’s changed, and he’s a big softie, really,” she said, moving to her husband’s side and slipping her arm around his waist. “Stop glaring at your brother-in-law,” she said to both her husband and brother. “It’s done. Now we support Jay and Blue in whatever capacity they need us to.”
“Hello, the most important sibling is home!”
“And that’s all I need,” Blue muttered as her other brother, Lynx, walked into the room looking every inch what he was: a rock star.
She’d come home for some quiet, and now she had both her brothers to contend with, along with her parents, all living in the same household. Blue could feel the walls closing in on her.
If only the cottage wasn’t undergoing a complete renovation, she would be sleeping there.
Lynx and Finch were almost identical except for the eye color. Finch’s were brown and Lynx’s blue. But they both had dirty-blond hair that tended to curl, which gave Lynx a scruffy look and was why his brother cut his short.
They could not have chosen more different careers, and yet they were still close and the first person each other went to when they needed advice.
Some of Lynx’s fans thought he spent time in front of the mirror, creating his look.
He didn’t. He spent zero time and bought all his clothes matching—five pairs of the same jeans and T-shirts in the same style.
He changed things up with shirts or shorts, but basically, he was hopeless when it came to fashion—and refused any help Blue had offered him—
which would be a shock to his adoring fans.
“Lynx!”
Blue watched Meadow and Hamish hug their son, and then Birdie did the same. Lynx and Finch slapped palms and chest bounced.
“Hey, Bluebell, imagine me seeing you again here,” Lynx said, hugging her next. “I missed you when you left.”
“You don’t fool me. I saw all those adoring fans fawning over you,” she said.
“They’re not my family, though.” He smiled that smile that had women sighing.
“You might want to park that smile for a bit, bro,” Finch said, still looking pissed. “We have something to deal with.”
“We don’t have anything to deal with,” Blue said. “I have this covered.”
“What’s up? While you’re telling me, I’ll take a coffee, Sawyer,” Lynx said. He then shook his head. “Still can’t get used to seeing your ugly face in my parents’ house.”
“Still not used to being here either,” Sawyer muttered, turning back to the coffee maker. “And right now there are plenty of places I’d rather be.”