Tate rifled through more of his parts and started rebuilding what he’d taken apart. He was quiet while he worked, making sure everything was tightened down before he dropped the ratchet he’d been using and picked up the rag, wiping his hands again. This time he looked up and studied my face a moment before he smiled at me.
“You can ask her.”
“What?”
“Libby. Whatever question you have brewing around in that head of yours, whatever you saw, just ask her. It’ll bother you until you get an answer.”
“I’m not sure if it’s that big of a deal.”
“Liar.” He chuckled when I bared my teeth at him. “How long have you been bossing me around?”
“Since birth.”
“Exactly. I know something’s on your mind and it’s going to nag away at you until you have answers. I can’t give you those. I ain’t tied to Lib’s side all day, so you’re going to have to ask her directly yourself.”
I slapped the saddle of the bike and rose to my full height. It was pointless trying to get anything more from him now that he’d called me out. He was also right; I needed to ask Libby if I was suspicious, but I wasn’t sure that was something Drew would want me to do. For now, I’d hold off.
“Don’t forget to eat, jackass.”
I ruffled his hair as I passed, and he barely dodged me, he was so invested in what he was doing.
“Yes, Mom.”
I left the bay, laughing, my hands in my pockets and face to the sun. I needed to find something to occupy my time or I was going to stare at the clock and count the hours until Drew got home. If he was looking for Eric, there was no telling how long that would take. Eric knew this town well, even if he hadn’t been here for a while. If that man didn’t want to be found, he wouldn’t be found.
Tate stayed in the bay working while I wandered aimlessly, looking for something to occupy my time. The air still had the smell of overheated metal on the breeze, as well as mutilated plastic. It wasn’t something that would just go away, even when the rest of the guys seemed to refuse to so much as acknowledge it. Part of me wanted to gather some of the guys together and start gutting the place just to rid us of the constant reminder.
When inspiration for a distraction finally hit, I locked myself away in Drew’s office, sat at his laptop, and started researching. There were some terms I remembered from the paperwork I’d found in Harry’s room, as well as Owen’s home. Going incognito, I typed in some of the terms and read through the findings. There wasn’t much to glean without specifics, so I moved my search to the land and the sale. There were no public records on file for the land, and in order to get a more detailed report, I wasn’t willing to give them my credit card or payment information. Not without discussing it with Drew first, anyway. Having my name on that paperwork wouldn’t be a good thing.
When I finally threw myself back in the desk chair, almost two hours had passed, and I still wasn’t any more informed than I had been when I’d begun. I sighed and started searching pregnancy and babies instead, quickly losing myself down a rabbit hole of self-diagnosis, which was a horrible idea. Having everything that could go wrong plastered over a screen was doing nothing to stop my concerns, and not having a clue how far along I was in the pregnancy only fed into a whole set of other fears I wasn’t prepared to face alone.
An hour later, and I was a mess.
“Ayda?”
Glancing up, I found Autumn standing in the door, her beautiful face clouded in angry shadows as she caught the bruises that I continued to forget about. Her frown didn’t last long, though. Her gaze had already drifted to the screen sitting open on the desk. In a blink, she was beaming at me.
“You can’t say anything, yet.” My words were fast and jumbled as I rushed to shut the pages I’d been working on. “Don’t freak out. Please.”
I held my hands up, a half smile on my lips, my fingers trembling. I hadn’t intended anyone to find out by accident. Even though Autumn and Janette were probably the first two people I would choose to tell after direct family, anyway.
“You’re…”
I nodded.
“How long?”
“No idea.”
“Have you seen a doctor?”
“I sawthedoctor, but not a specialist. Is there a specialist?” I asked, covering my face with my hands, the words falling from me so quickly they began blending together. “I’m so underprepared for this. I have no idea what the hell I’m doing. All I can see is a tiny baby with Drew’s sparkling eyes, and I melt. Everything practical goes out of the window. Then I getthis image of Drew with a tiny baby in his arms and it’s like an orgasm that smashes me off my feet. After that, the questions and concerns just flutter away. No one knows yet, either. Just Drew and me. Well, and now you, and we don’t want—”
“Jesus, Ayda, breathe,” Autumn sang, throwing her hands up in the air as she stepped closer. “This ain’t gonna happen tomorrow, sugar. I know you feel blindsided, but you’ve got months and months to get ready for this.”
“Months,” I agreed. My cheeks flamed as I looked at her again and grinned. “I’m sorry, I started searching online and freaked myself out all over again. And that stuff I said about Drew—”
“Daddy Drew does it for you. No shame in that.” Autumn wrapped her arms around me, and I rested my head on her shoulder as I attempted to find my breath again. “How did he take the news?”
