“Lucy and I have a history. We’ve been together a longtime, and we chose not to tell anyone because we liked our little bubble. Our lives are both so busy and chaotic that having this space where only we existed was peaceful, we didn’t want to interrupt it.”
At least that had been the truth before they’d had the biggest interruption of all. There was no way he could tell her that the night Ivy had called to tell him that Hope needed him immediately, he’d been with Lucy in that blissful little bubble. Or that when he was away helping Ivy and Hope, Lucy had lost their baby, and he’d left her alone during the most horrible moment of their lives.
He knew his sister well. She’d blame herself and feel guilty when there was nothing to be guilty for. It had happened. It was done. The only regret he had now was how he’d handled the situation with Lucy afterward.
“We’ve let our little secret go on too long, and now everyone thinks this is a big shock and surprise, when really, all along it’s only ever been Lucy for me.”
This seemed to appease Hope because she let out a heartfelt sigh, reached for his hand, and squeezed. “Okay, that was romantic enough that I believe you,” she said with a small smile and shiny eyes. “Well, shucks.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “That was kind of beautiful, big brother. I think you should use it in the groom’s speech.”
He chuckled and shook his head. He could not imagine the kind of wedding that was currently being planned for him and Lucy. The little chapel in Vegas seemed more enticing than ever.
“Whelp,” Hope said, patting her belly. “I’d say I’ll be on my way, but I’m pretty sure I’m permanently molded to this couch now, so you might be stuck with me for a while.”
“Fat chance, sis,” Joel said, getting to his feet and sticking out his hand. He was hitting the gym before Lucy got home,and then he planned to take his fiancée out for dinner. “Let me give you a hand. If that doesn’t work, I’ll get the crane from the building site to swing over and give you a?—”
Hope’s foot found his gut before he could finish the sentence.
Afew hours later when Joel arrived home after a hard session at the gym, the first thing he smelled was onions, and he knew immediately something was wrong. Dropping his gym bag, he b-lined it to the kitchen where he found Lucy, back turned to him, as she chopped onions at the counter.
“What happened? What’s wrong?” The panic flaring in his chest made his voice sound more demanding than he meant to be.
Lucy stopped chopping, her shoulders slumping in defeat. Without thinking, he took her shoulders and gently turned her to face him. His heart seized when he saw her wet lashes and shining eyes.Please let that be the onions.But he knew better.
If Lucy was cooking, she was upset.
“What happened?”
She snorted a small laugh. “Me. I happened. I’m such an idiot.”
“Never. Not possible. Not in a million years could you ever be that.”
Her head dropped against his chest, any animosity between them from the night before forgotten, and he ran his hand down her back.
As sick as he was over her being upset for any reason, the fact that she was leaning on him for comfort filled hissoul with something that had been missing for a long time. “You want to tell me, or should we cook first?”
Depending on what was bothering her, she’d either want to decompress by cooking in silence, or she’d want to get it off her chest first then debrief every detail while cooking together. At least that’s how he remembered it.
“I told Vanessa everything.” Her voice was muffled against his shirt.
Okay, talk first, it was.
“Told her what?”
“Everything, Joel. Well, almost everything. Not about—” Her hands swirled in front of her open mouth, but no more words came out.
He knew the words she was choking on. She might have told her sister about their marriage, but even though she’d saideverything,she hadn’t told Vanessa about their baby.
Her fist thumped his pec, then she clutched his t-shirt. “One minute we’re bitching about how unfair our mother can be, and the next I’m telling her every detail of our Vegas whirlwind like I’m catching her up on a soap opera.”
“I see.” He contemplated his next words carefully as he kept the steady rhythm of his hand rubbing her back. “Did it feel good? Telling her?”
“Yes. Until I remembered that it’s Vanessa and these days, she comes with over one million social media followers who eat up every detail of her life like its life or death. Nothing in her life is a secret.”
His hand halted halfway back down. “I don’t know about that. Everyone has secrets.”
Lucy drew back, her gaze meeting his and narrowing. “You think she has secrets?”
“I think,” he said, cupping her face as he swiped the wetness off her cheeks with his thumbs. “That Vanessa hasbeen in the public eye for enough years that she understands what to feed her followers and what to hold back. She loves you, and she wouldn’t betray your trust by disclosing your private life to everyone.”
