He nodded. “You are so wise.”
“That’s not exactly what you used to call me,” she said. “Wisecracker. Wisea—”
He chuckled. “You can’t worry about the years you lost…”
“No, we can’t,” she said.
He sighed. “We can worry about now, though,” he said. “And I’m worried about Bob.”
“And he’s worried about Brett,” Sadie said. “Do you think we should be doing some scheming?”
“You aren’t already?” he asked.
She chuckled. He knew her so well. “I was thinking about having another party.”
“My birthday is over,” he said. “And yours was months ago. What will we celebrate?”
“Whom,” she said. “Whom will we celebrate…”
“You obviously have some idea.”
“Of course.” She patted his arm, then she leaned down and nuzzled her cheek against his soft white beard. “Don’t worry. We’ll make sure that there is no reason for anyone to worry about anyone…” But a little flutter of nerves passed through her stomach. She hoped that she wasn’t making her husband a promise she couldn’t keep.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Trish never failedto surprise Brett. He’d thought she would be so emotionally fragile after visiting her father’s grave that she wouldn’t be able to deal with her mother and her ex-husband. Maybe part of him had even worried that they would manipulate her again like they once had, and that she might wind up leaving with them. That was why he’d tried standing between them and her.
He hadn’t wanted her to leave. The very thought of it had made his chest ache like his heart was being ripped out. She belonged here. But her mother had never seen that, and so he’d worried…
But she hadn’t needed his protection. Or Frankie’s. She’d handled the visitors on her own. Just as Frankie had said, she’d been fierce and fearless.
Or so he’d thought, but he saw a flicker of something cross her face as she turned to head into the house. “Are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes, but we need to tell everyone else what just happened.”
“We should take an ad out in the paper,” Frankie said. “I wish I had taken a video of you telling them off. You were amazing.”
Trish smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I still don’t trust them,” she said. “And we need to tell the others what happened.”
“We’ll get everyone together,” Brett assured her. “Why don’t you lie down for a while? Take a nap.” He didn’t like the way she kept rubbing her belly. Was she having contractions and just assuming that they were false?
“I’m not tired,” she said.
“I don’t think I could have handled going that round with your mother,” Frankie said, “and I’m not pregnant. Brett’s right. You should take it easy for a bit. Watch your blood pressure.”
She uttered a groan of frustration.
“We know you’re tough as nails,” Brett assured her. “But you visited your father’s grave today and then came back for this…”
“Oh, that’s right,” Frankie said. “I knew I should have gone with you.” She glanced at Brett. “Did you go?”
“We just ran into each other there,” he said.Like it was fate or something.Usually a thought that fanciful wouldn’t have entered his head. But there was something about Trish that had him feeling it was all inevitable, that no matter what he’d planned for his life, it was going in another direction, one he’d never envisioned for himself.
“That must have been hard, Trish, and then coming home to those two…” Frankie shook her head, and her big eyes were full of admiration for her cousin.
Brett was in awe, too. “It was a lot, Trish, and as tough as you are, you’re also carrying two babies. You need to make sure that you don’t overdo it, for their sakes. I know they’re the most important thing to you.”
Clearly, the babies had meant nothing to her mother, which had infuriated Brett. After seeing them on that monitor and feeling them kick from time to time, they were so real to him and already had their own little personalities. The girl was going to be feisty like her aunt Frankie and her mom while the boy was going to be the quieter, more contemplative one. Kind of like him…
