A Heart Decision (30 page)

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it a fetish, but I
wouldn’t mind looking at your naked tush for the rest of my
life.”

“What about wiping it?”

“As long as that includes spanking it.” She wiggled
her eyebrows as she gazed down at her ring. “Speaking of
diapers—”

“Right. We need to talk about that, Brina. I don’t
want to take a chance on passing Huntington’s to our kids, but I
am
willing to have a family—with a sperm donor. Tony never
developed any symptoms until he was fifty-two. So, if I’m equally
lucky, our kids could be grown before I—”

“Would you shut up, already!” she snapped, making
him flinch. “Since we came in here, I’ve been trying to tell you
I’m
already
pregnant.”

He stared at her, attempting to make sense of what
he’d heard.

No. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard.
Apparently Ben had decided to stack the deck in his favor. Luke
couldn’t blame him, but damn it, he still wanted to kill the
son-of-a-bitch. “Congratulations,” he rasped past the lump in his
throat and hoisted himself off the sofa. “I’m sorry I kept cutting
you off.”

So why the hell had she accepted his ring and said
yes to his proposal if she was planning to have a family with Ben?
He spread his arms in defeat. “I assume you’ll want to marry the
father, instead.”

“Of course, I want to marry my baby’s father. Are
you suggesting I cheated on you?”

“Not at all. You were engaged to BJ. He had every
right to make love to his fiancée,” he muttered, more in an attempt
to convince himself than her. “I was the one who had no claim
on....” He raised one hand as his composure began to slip. “I’m
sorry. I need a few moments.”

He turned and strode out to the backyard through one
of the solarium’s French doors, trying his damnedest not to
completely lose it. The November wind bit his cheeks as his pulse
pounded in his ears.

He leaned forward, his hands on his knees as he
sucked in several deep breaths. This was exactly why he’d hidden
his feelings all those years. If he’d never known what it was like
to love Sabrina, it wouldn’t hurt so fucking much now.

“What are
you
doing out here?” Ben asked,
leaning against the house. Evidently, he must have come out one of
the other back doors.

Luke straightened and swallowed hard before
answering, “Truthfully, I’m gettin’ my shit together, so I can
offer my congratulations without strangling you.”

Ben’s gaze widened. “She turned you down?”

“Not exactly.” Luke frowned. “Why are
you
out
here?”

“The same reason you are. What the hell are you
congratulating
me
for?”

“Your baby.”

Ben did a double take. “
My
baby?”

Oh, shit, maybe she hadn’t told BJ yet.

“What makes you think I slept with Sabrina, you
knucklehead?”

“Who else would she sleep with?”

“
You
, idiot!” Ben shoved his chest. “The guy
who never practiced unsafe sex until he slept with
her
.”

He didn’t dare hope it was true. If he began to
believe he could give Sabrina children, he would have a hell of a
time reconciling, again, to the idea of using a sperm donor. “I
can’t
be the baby’s father.”

“
No?
” Ben’s eyebrows lifted. “Sabrina has
half a dozen pregnancy test sticks that say otherwise. Would you
like her to show them to you?”

“She took
six
tests?”

“Well, she had a little trouble believing it,
too.”

He opened his mouth to speak several times before he
actually managed to spit out the words, “How’s it possible?”

“Did you get a semen analysis a year after you had
the vasectomy?” Sabrina asked from behind them, her arms wrapped
around herself.

Luke spun and faced her. “Why would I? My specimen
was clear at the six-week test.”

“Because the doctor can botch the surgery or the
vas deference
can spontaneously reconnect. It’s fairly rare,
but apparently it happens in about one of two hundred cases, which
is why urologists recommend a follow-up analysis a year after the
procedure. Didn’t your doctor tell you all of that?”

“Maybe.” He took his sports coat off and wrapped it
around her shoulders. “I don’t remember. It was over ten years ago.
I was pretty broke in college, so I shopped around for the cheapest
doctor I could find. I figured if my semen was clean at my six-week
check, I’d be safe.”

“Well, guess what, Einstein?” Ben smacked the back
of Luke’s head. “You’re not safe or
sterile
. The
congratulations go to you, asshole.”

He was actually going to be a father? No. He shook
his head. Not unless....“Before you get too excited, Princess, we
need to have a prenatal test for HD done.”

“She said you’d say that,” Ben told him.

Sabrina shook her head. “My answer is, absolutely
not.”

“But if we don’t—”

“No
buts
about it! There’s no point, since I
refuse to abort our child—no matter what birth defects he might
have or diseases he could potentially develop. And besides, you
just decided you don’t want to know if you’re a carrier. If the
baby tests positive, it would be the same as if you went for the
screening yourself.”

His emotional barometer bounced back and forth
between dread and elation. The decision was out of his hands. He
had no choice but to hope for the best. “Then we’re having a baby
and getting married.”

“Yes, although, I’d prefer to do those things in the
reverse order.”

“Sounds like a great idea.” He pulled her into his
arms and merged his mouth with hers.

“Would you two knock it off!” Ben shoved Luke’s
shoulder. “It’s hard enough seeing you two happy together.”

He recoiled from Sabrina, knowing exactly how shitty
BJ must feel.

“You have the rest of your lives to suck face when
I’m not around.”

“I’m sorry.” Luke said. “You’re right.”

Ben rubbed his arms and stamped his feet. “Let’s go
inside. Dante mentioned dinner would be served in a few
minutes.”

“Thanks.” Luke held Sabrina’s hand and smiled
sideways at his buddy as they walked back to the solarium door.
“For everything.”

Ben merely shrugged.

“You okay?”

“I’ll live.”

So
not
okay. “I’m sorry.”

“You keep saying that.” Ben pulled open the door and
held it for them. “What exactly are you sorry for? Loving Sabrina
your whole life and never saying anything? Letting me be her fiancé
just long enough to know what I’m missing? Or are you simply sorry
for preventing me from marrying the woman I’ve loved for over ten
years?”

How about all of the above
? “Beej, the last
thing I ever wanted was for you to get hurt. Mostly, I’m sorry I
wasn’t a better friend.”

“And how could you have been a better friend? ”Ben
asked as he stepped into the house behind them.

Luke stood back and spread his arms wide. “For one,
I could’ve stuck to the guy code. You called first dibs on Sabrina
when you proposed, and I should’ve honored that.”

“And I knew damn well she was in love with you, so I
never should’ve proposed.”

“If you had each followed the true guy code,”
Sabrina interjected, “both of you would’ve walked away, and I’d be
marrying no one.”

“Except I’d rather see you happy with Luke than
someone else,” BJ said, pain flickering in his gaze.

“Bullshit. You’d prefer she was happy with you.”

“Okay, so you’re right.” Ben released a humorless
chuckle, shaking his head. “But that was never gonna happen, pal.
She’s always loved you. No matter what I ever did, that would never
change. Let’s go eat.”

As the three of them strolled toward the dining
room, Luke punch BJ’s arm lightly. “We just don’t want to lose you
as our friend, okay?”

“That, also, will never happen.” Ben said softly,
wearing a sad smile. “Whether you like it or not, you’re both stuck
with me.”

Sabrina smiled. “That’s a relief, because our baby
needs a godfather.”

Ben glanced around the ornate hallway and smirked.
“Don’t you think Tony or Dante are more qualified for the role of
The Godfather
?”

“Nah. They’re mostly legit.” Luke laughed. “Besides
you have more money, so our kids will get better birthday gifts
from you.”

“What a pragmatist.” Ben snorted.

“Hey, you’ve been bitchin’ at me for years that I
won’t let you buy me expensive toys. You have permission to spoil
our kids rotten.”

Ben glanced at Sabrina and then back at him. “What
about your wife?”

“You’re already paying for most of her dream
wedding, which, if I had my way, would be a quick trip to
Vegas—
tonight
. You also insisted our honeymoon would be your
wedding gift to us. After that, you’re through.”

“Oh, come on! You have to let me buy her something
for her birthday and Christmas each year.”

“Fine.” Luke raised his hands in surrender. “But you
can’t show me up. You have a five-hundred-dollar limit for each
occasion—not five hundred
per gift
.” He pointed at Ben’s
face. “You ever spend more on her, without my okay, I’ll kick your
ass from here to China.”

“And if you ever deny her something she really
wants, I’ll kick yours, first.”

Sabrina shook her head and sighed. “Let the
ass-kicking resume.”

He had no doubt BJ was putting on a brave front by
arguing with him, but if he treated his friend with kid gloves, it
would only make Ben self-conscious and increase his pain.

“Relax.” Luke hugged her to his side as the three of
them entered the huge dining room filled with his noisy,
contentious family. “Kicking each other’s asses is what friends
do.”

Christmas Eve

“What idiot planned a five-hour reception?”

Luke chuckled. “Uhhh....I think that was
you
,
Brina.”

“Oh, yeah.” Sabrina smiled as he dipped her on the
dance floor. She gazed up at the glittering chandeliers and yards
upon yards of frothy chiffon overlaying miles of white twinkle
lights draped across the ceiling of the immense, heated white tent
erected on Ben’s family estate for the wedding. It had been
decorated so elegantly, one would never guess they weren’t dancing
in a five-star hotel’s ballroom. “I guess I must’ve been delusional
that day.”

“If you recall, I was all for flyin’ to Vegas.”

“And miss this beautiful night?” She swept her hand
around the tent, enjoying the aftermath of their sumptuous
dinner.

When they’d arrived earlier that evening, the round
tables, for their almost three hundred guests, had been set with
starched white tablecloths and bright red napkins. Sparkling,
gilded stemware and gold-rimmed holiday china had surrounded the
elevated floral arrangements. Bright red and white roses, accented
by holly and sprigs of evergreens graced every centerpiece, each
holding half a dozen flickering tapers to illuminate the
tables.

“Redemption must have resembled a ghost town this
evening.” Luke chuckled.

Despite that their wedding took place on Christmas
Eve
and required their guests drive nearly two
hours to reach the Pocono Mountains
, much of the town and a
quarter of the Trenton police force had attended the ceremony. Of
course, it hadn’t hurt that Ben had booked every available room at
four luxurious lakeside resorts for all of the guests.

Their reservations included accommodations and meals
for two days and nights following the wedding, thereby giving them
all a three-day winter vacation. Luke’s Explorers were already
badgering their chaperones, Cal and his wife, Darlene, about when
they were going ice-skating, skiing, snow tubing, and
snowboarding.

“Did you know Doc Foster and his wife Abby arranged
for a tour bus to transport a group of Redemption residents here
and back?”

“That’s not surprising. Jake told me they’ve always
been involved in the community. Abby’s been running the children’s
story-hour at the library for over forty years.”

According to Samantha Rivera, her husband Nick,
their daughter, Dani, and Dani’s boyfriend, Ryan, had brought their
guitars on the bus and led everyone in singing carols for much of
the trip, turning it into a rolling holiday party.

Casey and Maggie had provided thermoses of warm
cocoa and Christmas cookies, which added to the party
atmosphere.

“Sabrina, thank you so much for inviting us,”
Harriet Klausen called as she waltzed by with Dante. “Richard is
really enjoying the music.”

“You’re welcome.” She smiled. “The night wouldn’t
have been complete without having you here.”

Apparently, Tony had graciously offered to keep Mr.
Klausen company while Harriet enjoyed herself on the dance
floor.

Luke spun Sabrina under his arm. “Did you see my
Explorers’ and the rest of the kids’ eyes when they walked in here
tonight? I’m not sure what they were most impressed by—the
decorations, the food, or the mountains of presents under the
trees.”

“Undoubtedly, the presents. Although I think Noah
and Mandy are more excited about Dusty and Mopsy staying with them
while we’re away.”

Ben had insisted, since it was Christmas Eve, every
guest should receive a personalized gift from Santa, played by a
jolly, well-padded Thomas, who’d actually grown a beard for the
occasion. As usual, Ben had been way too generous with everyone.
Each of Luke’s Explorers was going home with a computer tablet
complete with a keyboard attachment and prepaid data package.

BJ had also instructed his staff to deck out the
heated tent with more holiday decorations than the local mall
displayed. Huge twinkling Christmas trees in a rainbow of color
graced every corner, surrounded by hundreds of red and white
poinsettias. Along the sides of the tent, twelve-foot tall wooden
soldiers and gingerbread men stood sentry, while on the two ends of
the structure hung enormous lit wreaths.