25. Brynlee
Deacon is the love of my life, but my tribe...
They’re my soulmates.
—Brynlee’s Secret Thoughts
Iwait a few days until Everly and Gracie are back with the guys from Maine before I send my text.
Brynlee
Any chance we could get everyone together tonight?
Lindy
Everyone, everyone? Like the guys and the kids? Or just the girls?
Maddox
Am I supposed to be on this text?
Brynlee
Yes.
Everly
Ohh. You’ve been forgiven for Apartment-swap-gate?
Callen
Is that your attempt at turning this into Watergate?
Kenzie
Do you even know what Watergate was, Callen?
Callen
You don’t need to be a doctor to know history, Kenz.
Gracie
Who let them in here? I vote them off the island.
Brynlee
I included them, and yes, bring the guys and the kids.
Gracie
We’re not all fitting in the condo, Brynnie.
Maddox
We’ll all fit in ours though.
Lindy
Ohhh . . . Those are fighting words.
Everly
Shit. No throwing stuff in front of the kids. I don’t need Jaxon throwing shit at his sister because he sees one of you do it. Got me?
Brynlee
No. Not the penthouse either. The lake house next to Jace’s.
Lindy
Did you buy a house and not tell us, Brynn?
Everly
Holy shit! You did, didn’t you?
Maddox
Worse.
Brynlee
How do you know it’s worse, Madman?
Maddox
I’m like God. I know everything.
Lindy
More like the Wizard of Oz, pulling the strings behind the curtain. Impressive until you see who it really is.
Maddox
Never heard any complaints when the curtain gets pulled.
Kenzie
I think I followed that innuendo, and I think I may have just vomited.
Everly
We’ve got to do something about your gag reflex, Kenz. It’s getting worse.
Callen
I volunteer as tribute.
Gracie
You are so gross.
Callen
This isn’t new news, good twin.
Kenzie
Whatever. You better FaceTime me so I get to hear the news.
Everly
Wait. What does Maddox know that we don’t, and why are we meeting at a lake house?
Maddox
You want me to tell them, Brynnie?
Brynlee
I’ll see you guys at seven. I’ll order pizza and get beer.
Callen
Shit. She’s feeding us and watering us. It must be bad.
Everly
Watering? What is wrong with you? Did Grandma drop you on your head as a baby?
Gracie
No. I blame football. He’s taken too many hits.
Brynlee
It’s Deacon Kane’s house.
Lindy
The new hockey coach, Deacon Kane?
Everly
What the hell?
Gracie
Oh my God. He’s who you were having sex with on the couch?
Maddox
Seriously didn’t need that visual.
Callen
I’m okay with it.
Gracie
Too far, Callen.
Callen
No such thing.
Maddox
Tell them or I will.
I look down at the screen, then kiss my husband before walking outside with a smile.
Brynlee
He’s the man I married.
Then I power my phone down and relax before the chaos ensues later.
In all fairness, they took the whole I got married without them thing pretty well.
I mean, I may have heard my fair share of jokes from Easton and Lindy about copying them, but they all came from a good place.
Now, as the sun sets and the kids run around in the grass, Deacon wraps his arms around me from behind and looks over at our guests, who are mostly sitting on the outdoor sectional, sipping wine and beer. Or in the twins’ case, water. “I guess that was the easy part,” I murmur, fortifying my nerves before I break the rest of my news to them.
Deacon presses his lips to my temple. “You could wait until you get the results back.”
“No. Our moms have managed to put a wedding together for us less than two weeks from now. I want to spend that time with the girls, finding dresses and picking flowers, and I don’t want to hide anything else from them. I might need them more than ever, depending on the results.” I close my eyes and soak in Deacon’s strength. “I love you.”
“You’re the strongest woman I know, Brynlee Kane. You’ve got this.”
“I haven’t changed my name yet,” I tease.
“But you will,” he assures me, and he’s right. I will.
We move over to where everyone is gathered.
This group of men and women, who in so many ways are every bit my family, some by blood but all by choice... These people mean the world to me.
“Hey guys,” I clear my throat as we walk over and wait for the talking to stop.
“Ahh, hell. Are you pregnant too?” Lindy asks. “Someone get Kenzie on FaceTime because I can’t deal with Everly, Gracie, and Brynlee all pregnant at the same time. I’m going to need reinforcements.”
No sooner has she said it than Gracie holds up her phone with Kenzie’s face, half asleep on the screen. “Got her.”
“Umm... what?” Kenzie asks from what looks like behind a desk somewhere in the hospital.
“Brynlee’s pregnant, Doc,” Callen groans.
“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” Kenzie asks, clearly concerned.
“I’m not pregnant,” I reassure everyone but especially Kenzie, since she’s the only one besides Deacon and I who knows the potential complications that would come with that. “But I do need to tell you something.”
The group quiets until all we hear is the kids’ laughter as Cross and Everly’s daughter chases her brother and Lindy and Easton’s son.
“So... I took a test this week,” I tell them, while I try desperately to control the trembling in my voice. “I should have the results back in a few days. But I wanted you to know now. I wanted you all to be prepared for whatever the results are.”
Callen moves to say something, but Gracie rests her hand on his, stopping him.
“I love you all so much, and I hate that I haven’t told you before, but I had to come to terms with it on my own first,” I tell them all, fighting back tears. “A few months ago, I found out my biological mother died from complications of Huntington’s disease.” I put my hand up and stop everyone from asking questions all at once. “In case you’re not familiar with it, because lord knows I wasn’t before all of this, yes, it’s hereditary, and no, there’s no cure.”
I stop before I start to cry, and Deacon wraps his arms around me.
“If you’ve got questions, call me, and we’ll talk later,” Kenzie offers. “I’m proud of you for getting tested, Brynn.”
“Now what?” Maddox asks, having not moved from his spot at the back of the group. “What can we do, Brynn?”
“Now, nothing. We get ready for a wedding ten days from now. Now Everly tailors my wedding dress tomorrow. Now we watch those beautiful babies smile while they make a mess of the cupcakes I picked up from Sweet Temptations earlier. Now we live, and we love, and we don’t waste a single second—because life is too damn short.”
I kiss Deacon’s cheek and pull away, then make my way down to where Kerrigan is chasing Jax and Griffin and join in on the chase, needing a little bit of their beautiful innocence to wash away some of my grief right now.
Deacon
It feels like half my damn team is watching me once the girls close ranks around Brynn after her announcement. Easton Hayes, both Wilder brothers, and Nixon Sinclair all stand around with Brynn’s cousin Maddox and Callen Sinclair rounding the group out. And right now, I don’t give a shit about talking with any of them.
“You need anything, Coach?” Nix asks while the others give me space.
“A crystal ball would be nice,” I tell him because what else am I supposed to say?
Yeah. I need my wife to be healthy.
I need her not to die.
I need a long lifetime with her.
But I don’t tell him any of that. Brynlee is the only person who gets those words, so I settle for, “I need to know she’s going to be okay, no matter what that test says.”
“She will be,” Easton Hayes, Lindy’s husband and I think Brynn’s cousin, if I’m following her fucked up family tree correctly, tells me. “You don’t know that group of women yet, Coach. Individually, they’re so fucking strong. But together... they’re a sight to be seen.”
Callen laughs a dry, emotionless sound. “Wait until you see them pissed off as a unit. I’ve never seen anything like it. They’ve got our girl.”
“My girl,” I correct him with a fucking scary note of possession in my voice that this motherfucker better hear.
“Your wife, Kane. But we all love her. She’s been my friend since we were three years old. That doesn’t change because she’s married. She’ll always be my friend. They’re all like sisters to us,” he tells me, and I’m not sure if I want to hit him or not.
“Thank God, you’re a good athlete, Callen, because you’re a fucking shit communicator,” Cross tells him as he watches his wife and kids down by the lake.
“Dude, you weren’t there, Wilder. Maddox, Nix, and I were. Our whole lives have been intertwined with those women. Even Easton didn’t come into the picture until middle school. I love them all like they’re my damn sisters. That’s all I’m trying to say.”
Ares elbows Callen. “Dude, I’d just stop. No man wants to hear you love his wife—myself included.”
“Jesus Christ, your wife is my niece, for fuck’s sake,” Callen snaps back, and my head swims.
“The fuck?” I ask. “Are all you fuckers related in this goddamn town?”
“Pretty much,” Cross answers.
Maddox hands me a beer. “You’ll get used to it.”
I stare at him, remembering what Brynn told me when we were at her parents’ house. “Your dad is Sam, right?”
Maddox sips his beer. “Yup.”
“He might be the first man I’ve ever been scared of,” I tell him with a little humility.
“Dude, you should meet his mom,” Nix laughs, but more importantly, Brynlee’s laugh floats up to me from the shoreline, where the girls are kicking water at the toddlers.
“You guys can all love her, but she’s mine.”
Once everyone leaves, I go on the hunt for my wife.
I should have known she’d be outside, sitting in an Adirondak chair down by the lake. A soft, white blanket is wrapped around her, while she’s staring up at the stars with a peaceful look on her face.
She tilts her head up to me once she hears me coming. “Hey.”
“Hey, baby.” I scoop her up, then sit down with her in my lap. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I’ve been run over by a tractor trailer,” she tells me, then rests her head against my chest. “Tonight was a lot.”
“Yeah. It was. What you did took strength, Brynn. So much strength.” I run my hand up and down her back, enjoying the feel of her in my arms. “You’ve got a lot of people who love you.”
“Yeah,” she agrees softly. “I do.”
“I thought I was going to have to kill Callen Sinclair there for a minute.” Fucker will never know how close he came to eating my fist.
“What?” She pops her head up, confusion visible on every inch of her beautiful face.
“He tried to tell me how much everyone loves you, but it came out sounding like he was in love with you.” I lean my head back against the chair and watch the laughter dance in her emerald-green eyes.
“Nothing to worry about there, husband. He’s like a brother to me. They all are.”
“They’re all protective of you, baby. You’ve got a good group of friends around you. People who want to be here for you. By the end of the night, everyone had pulled me aside to make sure I had their numbers. They all told me to take care of you. They all told me to call if I needed anything. I’m pretty sure Easton had to drag Lindy out of here because at one point, I think she wanted to spend the night.” I tuck her hair behind her ear and twirl the strands around my finger. “He told me they live down the street, Brynn, and she didn’t want to leave you.”
She smiles softly and lays her head on my shoulder, quietly taking it all in.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is you are loved, Brynlee Kane. You have so many people in your corner, and no matter what the test results say, you’re going to be okay.” I press my lips against her head and breathe her in. Committing this moment to memory. Holding her here, just like this, with the fireflies dancing over the lake and the falls in the distance drowning out the world. I fell in love with her in this lake.
“You sure you don’t want to just get married here, Brynn?”
“No,” she whispers without lifting her head. “I want to marry you on Block Island. It’s where our story starts.”
“It’s a pretty great story, red.” I struggle to hold back the tears burning the backs of my eyes. “And we’ve got a whole lot of chapters still to write.”
Her body shakes when she loses the battle with her own tears.
“I guess it’s a good thing the length of the story isn’t what makes it good,” she tells me as she wipes her face. “It’s how you fill those pages that matters.”
She turns and sets a tear-filled smile on me. “Promise me we’ll fill every last one. No matter how long our book ends up being. Promise me we’ll make every page count. Every word count. Even if it’s shorter than we expected. It will be the sweetest love story ever told.”
It takes me a long time to answer her, not because I don’t want to agree, but because I can’t get the damn words out.
When I lose the fight with my composure, and the first damn tear falls, I blow out a deep breath, but I can’t give her what she wants. “You promise me it’s going to be a really long book, Brynn. I don’t want it to be short. I want it to be a sweeping epic.”
Brynlee wipes the tears from my cheeks. “I can’t make you that promise, Deacon. You know I can’t.
“You have to. I want vacations and Christmas mornings. Hockey games and proms. I want Thanksgivings with your whole fucked up family because something tells me they’re pretty epic. I want more kids, Brynn, and I want you to be there the day Kennedy gets married. I want it all, baby, and I want it with you. You have to promise me you’ll be there for all of it, Brynlee. No matter what some stupid test tells us, you have to promise you’ll fight for us. You won’t give up. You won’t hide. You’ll fight.”
“I’m scared I won’t be enough, Deacon,” she admits on a sob.
“You already are, baby. And when you’re tired of the fight, I’ll fight for you.” She buries her face against my chest as tears rack her beautiful body, and I hold her, knowing it’s out of our hands. All that’s left to do is wait.