14. Eden
EDEN
Icouldn’t do this without Sterling by my side. Facing my family after everything I’ve done and running away feels like willingly walking into the sharp end of a kitchen knife.
The twenty-one-hour road trip back to Texas was actually pretty fun, considering we got to sink into the comfort of getting to know about each other’s family while reminiscing about how crazy our first meeting was.
When we pull into Redford Ranch, my jaw nearly falls to the floor.
“So, your family is … rich?”
He chuckles, shrugging. “I guess you could say that. Compared to some.” He reaches over to grab my hand. “What should our safe word be? For when you need a break from everyone. My family can be overwhelming.”
“Hmm … I don’t know. Shoelaces.”
“Shoelaces?”
I nod, looking down at my untied tennis shoes.
“All right, Sunshine. Shoelaces it is.”
He parks the truck in the circle driveway. I gape up at the house. Sterling’s home in Virginia Beach is a modest, middle-class house, like what my parents live in.
This is a mansion. It’s massive, with an inviting front porch and stone fireplace with a chimney up the side of it.
The red barn down the gravel road is huge. Golden fields with cattle and horses sprinkled throughout stretch as far as the eye can see. There’s a small white house in the distance. Several trucks and a yellow Bronco are parked in the driveway.
Sterling opens my door and grabs my hand, interlacing our fingers. We stayed the night in the same hotel a few hours away, where we’d spent our first night together, so I don’t feel too gross from the road trip.
“I need to pee.”
“Good news is, we have a bathroom. Several of them.”
“Do you think they’ll like me? Are they going to be mad that I’m pregnant?”
“What? No, they love kids, baby. I have two sweet little nieces.”
“I know, but—”
“No buts. My family has issues, plenty of them, but they’re not judgmental. Your brothers will be here soon with your sisters-in-law. It’s gonna go great. And if it doesn’t, we’ll leave. End of story. Your emotional well-being matters more to me, all right?”
I smile up at him, squeezing his hand tighter. “Okay. And are we pretending we’re really married and in love in front of them? Or do they know it’s fake?”
He clenches his jaw, studying my lips. “They know the truth.”
I blink up at him, trying to decipher the strange look in his eyes. He seems almost annoyed by the question.
“I really would rather not tell my brothers that it’s fake. I feel like they wouldn’t understand, and I don’t feel like explaining everything with Michael—at least not right now.”
“Hmm, so we have to fake being really in love?”
I nod.
“That’ll be quite challenging. I might have to smack your butt a few times and kiss you a lot. I don’t know if I can handle that.”
I punch his shoulder as the front door opens, and two adorable curly-headed twin girls run out.
“Uncle Sterrrr!”
“Sterrrling!”
Sterling pinches my chin before opening his arms wide for the girls to run into them. He scoops them up with a grunt.
“Ah! My two best girls. You’re so big! Are you sure you’re not turning fifteen tomorrow?”
“No, we’re almost tree!” One of the girls holds up three fingers.
“Three? You’re almost three? No way. I don’t believe you.”
“It’s true! MOMMY!”
A stunning redheaded woman is hot on the girls’ heels. She beams at me, waving as she walks down the sidewalk.
“Hi, Eden! Oh my gosh, it’s so great to meet you. You’re so pretty. My word. Sterling!” She approaches me, a wide grin on her face. “Welcome to the ranch! My name is Rosie. These little wild things are my girls, mine and Holden’s. He’s the oldest of Sterling’s crazy brothers.”
She engulfs me in a hug, smelling like cinnamon and wine. “I hope you feel welcome here. You need anything, make sure you let me know, okay?”
She pulls back, a sincere look in her eyes.
“Thank you. I appreciate it. Sterling has told me a lot about everyone.”
“Oh, did he? What did he say about me?”
“Um, he said that …”
“I told her you dated Duke in high school. Then, after Holden got out of prison, you went for the older brother who hated your guts, nearly breaking the entire family apart.”
Rosie rolls her eyes. “I didn’t almost ‘break’ the family apart. And Holden went for me! Not the other way around. I told him to get lost.” She winks at me.
“Is my wife lying to my new sister-in-law? Angel, we’ve talked about this.” A slightly older version of Sterling walks out of the house.
Sterling sets one of the girls down, and she immediately runs toward the newcomer. He scoops her up and kisses her on the cheek.
“Daddy!”
He turns to me, extending a hand. “Hey, Eden. Name’s Holden. Welcome to the family.”
Together, he and Rosie create such a beautiful family with their identical twin girls.
“Thanks for having me.”
Sterling comes up behind me, cupping my elbow. “Let’s go inside, huh? We’ve been on the road for a while. I need to piss.”
A few hours later, a gorgeous dark-haired girl shows up with an armful of baked goods that smell like heaven. After she deposits them on one of the enormous kitchen islands, she engulfs me in a hug.
“Eden! Oh my gosh, I am so glad you’re here! I’m Dolly, Sterling’s sister. You are just the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. No wonder he upped and married you! But I must say, I insist on a family ceremony on the ranch so I can cry and make a wedding cake.”
She finally pulls back, beaming at me with a wide, pretty smile.
“Hi, Dolly. Great to meet you too.”
“This is my handsome fiancé, Sam. He was Duke’s best friend before I stole him and made him become my best friend.”
A tall, good-looking man with reddish-brown curls walks up behind Dolly, carrying several aluminum pans. He sets them on the counter before offering me his hand.
“Nice to meet you.”
I shake it, feeling Sterling’s presence behind me. He and Sam shake hands as well.
“By the way, congrats, you two. When is the wedding?”
Sterling hugs Dolly, who flashes her left hand toward us. A sparkly diamond blinks in the overhead light.
“We haven’t set a date, but I want all my brothers and my new sister there! When will you be able to make it?”
Hearing Dolly call me her sister right after we met, when our marriage is a complete sham, makes me feel like I need to vomit.
I thought they all knew it was fake?
Maybe Sterling sent out a group text to let them know I don’t want my brothers to know and she’s practicing the act.
Through everyone’s chatter and the sound of the twins’ laughter, the doorbell rings. If I thought I needed to vomit before, the urge is worse now.
I might crap myself and then vomit.
Sterling grabs my hand, leading me toward the front door. “You ready?”
I nod, gripping his hand tightly. I swallow over the lump in my throat as we walk toward the foyer. I have to force myself to release the exhale in my lungs as he opens the door.
“Hello. Welcome to the ranch.”
My two brothers, Adam and Dan, along with their wives—Harley and Lucy, respectively—are standing on the front porch. A wave of relief passes over all their faces when they see me standing beside Sterling.
“Eden,” Adam says, his voice shaky. His eyes travel over my frame, taking stock of my appearance.
Emotion swirls inside of me, a mix of guilt and anxiety.
“Hi.” I step out, crushing him and Dan in one big hug.
My two older brothers squeeze me tightly. Adam sniffles into my hair while Dan does his best to hold back his tears.
“I’m sorry,” I cry.
“It’s okay, sis. It’s okay,” Dan says, emotion clouding his voice.
Finally, they both pull back. I see their red-rimmed eyes, wiping the tears away from my own.
“We’re just glad you’re okay,” Adam insists, patting my shoulder.
Harley and Lucy step up next, crushing me into another hug with more sniffles and tears. Even Harley, who usually has a tough exterior, is crying now.
“Sometimes, you just gotta run away to find yourself, right, sis?” Harley whispers.
She and Lucy have been amazing sisters-in-law over the past few years after marrying my brothers. Harley and Adam fell in love after she ran away from her abusive foster home, and Lucy and Dan were roommates and best friends before slowly falling in love with each other.
“I’m okay now, I promise. And I want y’all to meet Sterling. This is his family’s ranch. I haven’t known him for long, but he’s been helping me out and taking care of me pretty much since I disappeared.”
Adam and Dan turn their eyes on Sterling, the softness disappearing. My brothers aren’t violent men by any means, but they can be protective.
Sterling extends a hand to Adam first. “Pleased to meet you.”
“Adam Wesson. This is my wife, Harley.”
Dan steps up next, shaking Sterling’s hand. “Dan. This is Lucy.”
“We’ve got a brisket smoking and a bunch of food. Is it just y’all four?”
Adam nods. “We left the kids with our friends, Kenna and Levi.”
I wish they’d brought them, but I understand why they felt it would be better to come alone, not knowing exactly what they were getting into.
“Um, before we go inside, there’s one more thing I’d like to tell you.” I wrap my hand around my lower belly.
Harley gasps, eyes widening. Adam and Dan both look confused.
“You’re pregnant,” Lucy guesses with a knowing smile.
I nod.
Sterling seems to brace himself when Adam and Dan both glare in his direction. Dan clenches his fist and takes a step closer, but Adam’s face pales as his eyes drop to where my hand rests on my stomach.
I bolster all my courage, inhaling as I open my mouth to drop the next bomb on them by telling them the baby isn’t even Sterling’s.
“It’s not—”
Sterling cuts me off, wrapping his hand around mine and resting the opposite one on my lower back. “It wasn’t the plan. But I can promise you that I’m going to take care of them both.”
He looks from Adam’s eyes back to Dan’s, his gaze unwavering. I shut my mouth, swallowing over the lump in my throat.
“It’s a boy.”
Harley looks up at Adam, pats his shoulder, and walks over to pull me into another hug. “You’re going to be a great mom.”
Lucy nods in agreement, her eyes shiny with tears. “The best mom.”
Adam and Dan are still eyeing Sterling. They glance at each other, and I know my brothers well enough to know they’re not at all happy that this man knocked me up. They probably think he convinced me to run away since I’d never done anything like that before.
I want to tell them the truth, if only to take some of the heat off of him. The fact that he’s willing to start off his relationship with them by making them direct their displeasure at him makes me feel even more confused about us.
“Let’s go in and keep talking, shall we?” Sterling opens the door and gestures for them to enter the house.
We follow in after.
As we’re making our way down the hall to where his family is in the kitchen, he leans down to whisper in my ear, “Are your shoelaces untied?”
I shake my head, looping my arm through his. “No, you tied them really tight and secure.”