Chapter 16
Sixteen
Paisley knew she should be sleeping. Mentally and emotionally exhausted after the events of the day, tucked safely in Ty’s arms, she should’ve been completely unconscious. But her brain was going ninety miles an hour, careening from one thing to another like a pinball.
Ty loved her. He loved her. He loved her.
It echoed through her head like the most glorious refrain.
He wasn’t letting her go. He wasn’t ending things.
She didn’t want to do long distance. He wouldn’t do as well in the city, and he’d need the continued support of Harrison and Sebastian.
She could work anywhere. She wanted to decide all the things, right now, to lock this down so that the warmth of his skin against hers and the feel of his heartbeat beneath her palm was her every night and the mission of making him smile was her every day.
No more waiting. No more angsting. But it was too soon for all that.
Hours after a kidnapping was not the time to make major life decisions.
“You’re thinking so loud, it’s echoing off the ceiling.” His voice was rusty with sleep.
“Sorry,” she whispered, pressing a kiss to his chest.
He resumed the lazy circles on her back, a gesture somewhere between soothing and arousing that had sent him into sleep after a stupendous and athletic round of makeup sex. She mirrored the motion on his chest. Neither of them could get enough touching. “What’s on your mind?”
Paisley snuggled in closer against him, twining her leg with his. “I want to sell my house.” The hand stroking her back stopped. “I was thinking about it already before today. Yesterday? Whatever. I don’t think I’ll be able to go back to living there after everything that happened.”
“You could always turn it into an AirBnB for a while, to give yourself time to be sure.”
“I mean, maybe, because that would actually be a good investment. But I am sure. You’re here, so that’s where I want to be.
” When he didn’t immediately respond, her heart leapt into a frantic tattoo.
“Not that I’m forcing my way into just moving in with you without asking. I’m not trying to rush things.”
His bark of laughter interrupted the panic.
“I don’t think anybody can accuse us of rushing things.
Twenty years is quite long enough.” With a heave, he rolled to face her, tucking her hair back behind one ear.
“If you want your own place, that’s fine.
I pushed you into moving in with me without actually asking what you want, and you’ve had a lot of stress and changes.
I completely understand if you’d rather have some room to breathe.
But if that’s just out of some sense that I need space from you, forget it. I’ve had space. I don’t want any more.”
The growing erection pressing against her belly underscored the point. Paisley wriggled against him with a smirk. “I can tell.”
“Minx.” He gently nipped her mouth, wrapping his arms around her. “I want to find our place. We’ll need a bigger one, with a proper fenced yard for Duke, a bedroom with an actual door, a deck for entertaining—”
Paisley tipped back so she could look at him, sure he was being facetious. “You want to entertain?”
“With you? Yes. Everything’s more fun with you. Anyway, there should be a master bath, with a big ass soaker tub for two and a walk-in shower.”
Getting into the spirit of things, she began to grin. “With multiple jets.”
“Naturally. A kitchen with actual counter space for all the cooking we’re going to do together.”
“We’re going to cook together?”
“All the time. Especially weekend breakfasts that are going to end up with us back in bed.”
“I’m definitely liking the sound of this.”
“Me, too. You’ll need an office space, of course.”
“And there should be a library.”
“We should definitely have a library,” he agreed. “One with big, cushy furniture and maybe a fireplace.”
The idea of it charmed and excited her and made her remember the drawers of books under the couch. “I found yours.”
His brows drew together. “My what?”
“Your library drawers under the couch.”
“Ah. I had to get creative with storage. There aren’t many empty walls for shelves in this place.”
Would he tell her about his favorite if she asked? It seemed a less sensitive question now. “I saw my books in there.”
“I told you I’d read them.”
She hadn’t quite believed him and had been too caught up in mortification at what those books had revealed about her in their years apart. “Yeah. Some looked like more than once.”
“Sure.”
“Why Edge of Reason? It looked pretty well loved, like there was something you kept coming back to, over and over.”
“There was. Remember how I mentioned you write like you talk?”
“Yeah.”
“There was that passage after the bombing, when Boone and Layla are trapped and think they aren’t going to survive.
” His eyes unfocused a little. “He said, ‘Home isn’t a place for people like us. It’s not white picket fences or comfortable beds or hallways lined with photographs chronicling the years and the milestones.
Home is a feeling. It’s the scent of your hair.
The feel of your hand in mine. The flash of your smile.
The sound of your laugh or the way you slurp noodles so fast they slap your nose.
It’s a thousand tiny moments that all add up to one truth: Home is you. It always was.’”
He blinked, focusing back on her. “When I read it, I could hear you in my head, and it was like you were talking directly to me. When things got hard, I’d pull it out to remind me. Because you were always home to me.”
Paisley’s throat went thick with tears. “Ty.”
Stroking back her hair, he searched her face in the dim glow of the night light that illuminated the stairs. “Thank you for letting me come home.”
She pressed her brow to his. “It was always yours. I’ve just been waiting for you to come back to me.”
For a long time, they lay there in the dark, breathing the same air, content to finally be where they were meant to. Together. Lulled by the steady rhythm of his breath, Paisley was on the edge of sleep when he spoke again.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
After a beat of weighted silence, he sucked in a breath. “Will you help me go home for real? Come with me to the celebration of Garrett’s life?”
She understood what it would cost him to go. Understood, too, what it meant that he wanted her with him. It was the next step in his journey to healing, and she was going to be right there by his side. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
Ty slid out of his truck and into the golden spring day.
Being in March, Garrett’s birthday had always been hit or miss on weather, as likely to be incessant rain and wind as sun.
But Bethany had lucked out with her planning, getting a gorgeous, warm day that called for shirt sleeves and iced tea.
As he looked the rest of the way up the drive toward the neat farmhouse where she’d grown up, Ty remembered others just like it, walking shoulder-to-shoulder with his best friend, tossing a football and laughing while they decided what trouble to get into for the afternoon.
Welcome home, brother.
The phantom sound of Garrett’s voice had a chill racing over Ty’s skin, despite the warmth of the sunshine filtering through the trees just beginning to leaf. He hadn’t been back since the funeral, and he’d run from that. His one visit to Bethany in Athens after that hadn’t ended much better.
A hand slid into his and squeezed. Paisley tipped her head against his arm. “Well, this certainly brings back memories.”
The image in his head expanded, like a camera pulling back for a wider-angle view. And there she was, her sun-streaked ponytail swinging, her grin flashing as she and Bethany took off for the double swing in the big oak tree.
“Yeah.” Feeling more grounded, Ty tightened his hand around hers and strode toward the house.
They were early. But he had no idea how big this shindig was supposed to be, and he’d wanted a chance to speak to Bethany before everyone else arrived.
Nerves hummed beneath his skin as he rang the bell and waited.
The faint sounds of a female voice were answered by a deeper male tone.
The door swung open to reveal one of Bethany’s dads.
Dr. Gordon Bristow’s dark face split into a broad smile at the sight of them. “Ty Brooks. It’s good to see you, son.”
“And you, sir.” He accepted the firm handshake.
“And Paisley! Oh, my goodness, girl, it’s been forever. Come give me a hug.”
She stepped inside, giving him a squeeze and a smile. “It’s great to see you, Doc.”
“Come on through to the back. Bethany and Paul are fussing with the last of the setup.”
They trailed him through the house. Dimly, Ty noted new paint on the walls, a new sofa, and the same ancient chair by the fireplace that Dr. Bristow’s husband refused to part with.
Then they were outside again, and there was Bethany, cheeks flushed and glowing, glossy black hair gleaming in the sunshine, looking happy as she argued with her father over the placement of a picnic table.
The sight of her struck Ty dumb, even when Bethany turned and saw him.
“Ty!”
He didn’t know what to do with her delighted smile and was saved from figuring it out when her gaze slid over to Paisley and down to where their hands intertwined.
Bethany actively squealed and danced in place before racing over to throw her arms around Paisley.
They traded enthusiastic hugs and what he thought of as girl greetings, and when Bethany pulled back, her deep brown eyes were misty.
“Garrett would be so happy you two are back together.” She waved a finger between them. “And don’t think I’m gonna let you out of here without hearing how that happened.”
Ty shifted on his feet, not knowing how to respond. He didn’t know how to talk about Garrett without the clawing pain of loss.
As her father discretely slipped back into the house, Bethany reached out to clasp Ty’s hand with a knowing look. “He wanted you happy.”
“I know.” Willing down the knot in his throat, he tried for a smile that probably came off more like a grimace. “He wanted you happy, too.”
“I am. I mean, of course, I wish he was here every day and that I wasn’t doing this alone. But I’m doing what we wanted.”
Ty was missing something, but he recognized her intensity. “Doing what?”
Her smile dialed up to beaming. “I’m pregnant.”
If an actual bomb had gone off in the backyard, he’d have been less shocked. For several long moments, his mouth simply opened and closed with no sound. Even Paisley seemed at a loss for words.
At last, he managed, “You’re…I…who?”
Bethany laughed. “It’s Garrett’s baby.”
“But…how?” Garrett had been dead for two years.
“IVF. I’ve had fertility issues for years. We were going through all the treatments for more than a year before he was killed. It was my second round. There’s a high rate of miscarriage. I lost three before he died. But we had two viable embryos left, and I decided to use them. This one stuck.”
“Garrett’s baby?” Stunned, Ty started to reach out and touch her stomach, but pulled back.
She grabbed his hand and laid it over her belly. “Garrett’s baby. You’re going to be an uncle.”
He could feel the gentle swell of it beneath the blousy shirt that had camouflaged the bump. A sign of life. Of a hope he’d thought long extinguished. A piece of the man he’d loved as a brother all his life.
“Oh my God. Oh my God!” He scooped her up into a massive, spinning hug, then abruptly set her back down, worried he’d break her. “Are you okay? Is altitude bad for the baby? Are you feeling sick? I’ll get some ginger ale. Can you have ginger ale?”
Bethany practically wheezed with laughter, her long-lashed eyes glittering, and he couldn’t even care it was at his expense. He was too consumed with this bubbly, buoyant feeling in his blood. It took him a few moments to recognize the alien sensation as joy.
Paisley got in on the hug train again. “This is amazing! How far along are you?”
“A little over four months. So, I feel confident in actually announcing it. That’s what today is about. I’m glad y’all got here early, though, so I could tell you first.”
“What do you need?” Ty demanded. “How can I help?”
“I’m good. I’ve sold the house, and I’m moving home. My dads have always wanted me to join the practice, and they’re over the moon at the chance to be active grandpas. Plus, Garrett’s family will want to be involved.” She laid a hand on her belly. “This baby will be incredibly loved.”
Already thinking about all the things he wanted to teach the kid and stories he wanted to share about Garrett, Ty’s throat went thick again. “Yeah.”
The doorbell rang again.
“Host duty calls.” Bethany squeezed Ty’s arm and brushed a kiss to his cheek. “I’m glad you’re here.” She looked to Paisley. “Both of you.”
As they watched her walk into the house, Paisley cuddled up close. “You okay, Galahad?”
Looking at the door where Bethany disappeared, he nodded. “Yeah. I think maybe I finally am.”