Xander sighed. ‘That’s Immy.’
Logan folded his arms across his chest. ‘You just said—’
‘I said I wasn’t messing around with her anymore because we’ve decided to make a go of it, a proper relationship.’
‘Oh finally,’ Archer said.
‘What does that mean?’
‘You’ve been in love with her for months.’
‘I have not been…’ Xander trailed off because if he finished that sentence it would be a lie.
‘I guess the fire finally made you see sense,’ Archer said, swiping a banana and then having the audacity to grab a peach and stuff it in his pocket.
‘Something like that,’ Xander muttered, just wantingthem out of there now. He certainly didn’t want to scare Immy off with his overbearing, pain-in-the-arse brothers.
Just then Immy came out the bedroom, wearing his shirt and a pair of shorts, towelling her tumble of red curls and still humming to herself. She hadn’t seen his brothers yet.
‘Well, I’ll definitely have to add the shower to my top five places to have sex,’ Immy said, rubbing her head. She lowered the towel and her face blushed as she spotted Logan and Archer. ‘Oh hello.’
Xander moved over to her, wrapping an arm round her shoulders and kissing her forehead. ‘Sorry, they were just leaving. They wanted to check we were OK.’
‘I’m so sorry to hear about your shop, Immy,’ Logan said, somehow completely bypassing her faux pas. ‘Whatever you need to help you get back on your feet, please let us know. We’re all pretty practical in making, building or fixing things. You don’t have to wait for the insurance to decide to help or not. We can help now.’
‘Thank you. I’m not sure where to start and how much everything will cost.’
‘You don’t need to worry about that,’ Logan said. ‘You’re family.’
Her smile faltered a little as she looked up at Xander. ‘Did you tell them about the baby?’
He winced. ‘Not yet.’
‘Oh.’ Immy flushed and turned back to face his brothers. ‘Umm… surprise,’ she said, dryly.
‘You… you’re pregnant,’ Logan said, while Archer stared at them with wide eyes.
‘Yes, umm… Three months approximately. Well, a fraction over.’ A smile grew on her face. ‘He or she is due October first so they’ll be an autumn baby.’
She placed a hand on her belly and looked up at Xander, happiness and excitement shining from her eyes. He couldn’t help smiling too, her happiness was infectious.
‘Congratulations,’ Logan said, though he looked far from delighted.
‘It’s mine, just in case you were wondering,’ Xander said.
Logan nodded.
Archer came over to give Immy a hug. ‘That’s wonderful news, congratulations to you both.’ He clapped Xander on the back. ‘I can’t wait to teach him or her all about dinosaurs.’
Xander smiled at that. As a palaeontologist and now running his own business as a paleo-artist, Archer knew everything there was to know about dinosaurs and had spent many hours teaching Etta all about them. Brook had hated Etta’s passion for dinosaurs, hoping she would fall in love with ballet or wear pretty dresses. She’d hated that Etta’s favourite clothes were dinosaur jumpers or leggings. Once Brook died, the first thing Xander did was paint dinosaurs all over Etta’s bedroom walls, much to her delight.
‘That will be great,’ Immy said.
‘Well, we should go,’ Logan said. ‘Let us know whatyou need for the shop.’
Immy nodded. ‘I will, thanks.’
Xander waved goodbye to them and they left.
