Authors: Erin Nicholas
Marc met her eyes. The woman across from him had become his mother at a time when he’d never believed he could be happy again, and she’d made sure he remembered the happy times with his family before they died as well as ensuring he had hundreds of happy memories since.
He cleared his throat. “That’s not very specific,” he teased. “I think you’re trying to get out of answering.”
She smiled and shook her head. “No, it’s true. But I can be more specific. I love seeing one of you succeed at something that means a lot to you. The night you opened the restaurant was as thrilling for me as it was for you guys because I could see the pride and happiness in your faces. I love seeing you laugh, I love giving you gifts, I especially love seeing you and Luke together. Your friendship is so important to both of you. That might be what I like the best.”
Marc had a hard time swallowing the bite of cookie he’d just taken. She wanted to see them both happy. She loved seeing him and Luke together.
Terrific.
He wasn’t surprised. He’d always known that he and Luke were the most important things in Karen’s life. He had never felt that Luke ranked higher or meant more just because he was hers biologically. Marc had been equally important and loved without question.
Coming over here, asking these questions, had only served to confirm what he already knew—a relationship with the woman he wanted so much he could barely think straight would effectively end the friendship that meant the world to him. Not to mention hurt his mother, the woman who had given him everything good in his life.
Maybe that’s why he’d come. He’d needed that confirmation. He had to keep Sabrina away from Luke but he could
not
fall for her himself.
In fact, it was even more obvious now that he had to get her out of Justice. If she stayed, it wasn’t just Luke’s heart he was worried about.
“Hey, Mom.” Luke came in through the back door. “I have to—” He stopped when he saw Marc. “Didn’t know you were here.”
“It’s cookie day,” Marc said, lifting a snickerdoodle. He had to make light here. He couldn’t look at Luke and see the man who had proposed to the woman he’d just seriously made out with. He couldn’t look at Luke and think about Luke putting his hands on her the way he had. He couldn’t look at Luke and think about punching him in the face.
Luke was his brother.
And punching him would upset their mom.
“My favorite.” Luke took the chair next to Marc and reached for the last cookie on Marc’s plate.
He let him take it without argument. They’d always shared everything. In spite of growing up under the same roof, they’d very rarely disagreed. In fact, Sabrina and Luke’s constant need to say
how high?
when she said
jump
was the only thing they’d ever really fought about.
“So who’s running the restaurant if you’re both here?” Karen asked as the oven timer went off and she rose to take care of the cookies.
“It’s a well-oiled machine,” Luke said. “Though the kitchen would fall apart without Marc.” He gave him a pointed look.
Marc shrugged. “I’m a fantastic teacher. The kitchen staff can make it through pre-dinner prep without me.”
When Karen’s back was turned Luke narrowed his eyes. “I need to talk to Mom,” he said in a low whisper.
“I know.” Marc knew exactly what Luke was here to tell Karen. The same thing he’d told Bill. Prematurely.
“Get lost.”
“Why? I already know the happy news. And by the way, are you insane?”
“Insane to want to take care of the woman I love? The woman who needs me? The woman who I haven’t been able to take care of for four years?”
“You’ve missed that then?” Marc hissed back. “You’ve missed having her call you every time she broke a frickin’ nail?”
Luke leaned closer, scowling. “This is a little more than a damned broken nail. She’s been living in shit holes, barely making it, now she’s been robbed, some asshole knocked her up—” He stopped and lowered his voice again. “Now I can do something about all of that.”
Marc glanced at Karen but she was taking her time moving the hot cookies to a cooling rack and then dropping new dough onto the cookie sheet.
He made sure his voice was no more than a whisper. “You think it’s your fault? Because you weren’t there when all this bad stuff happened to her? That the past four years have been nothing but misery and it’s all because you weren’t there?”
Marc wondered what Luke would think of Sabrina’s multiple roommates and the things she’d learned, the cities she’d traveled to, the odd jobs she’d had. He’d probably hate them all. There was no way he’d see how interesting that made her.
“I know that she’s made some pretty stupid decisions without me and I now have the chance to manage the consequences,” Luke said.
Marc glanced at Karen again but she was either oblivious to the conversation or was ignoring them on purpose. “How exactly are you going to
manage
the fact there’s a baby coming? That’s a done deal.”
“I can make sure everything goes well from here on out.”
“That’s why she’s here,” Marc said exasperated. He had to consciously lower his voice again. “She came back to Justice to make sure everything goes well from here on out. She’s here so Kat can give her the advice she needs, so she can live somewhere she can afford to support the baby.” As he spoke, he was surprised to find he understood Sabrina’s motivations. She’d made some good decisions in coming here. But she was underestimating herself. And she wasn’t the only one. “You really don’t think she could do this on her own?”
“She doesn’t need to.
I
can help her do this.”
Marc thought about that as he watched Luke break his cookie into smaller pieces. Luke had things good. Things went his way. He’d dreamed of having a restaurant and he had one. He’d planned to buy a house and live his life in Justice, and he was. He’d intended to stay close to his family and he saw them almost every day.
The only part of his plan that hadn’t fallen into place was Sabrina.
She could do this alone. Luke might even know that. But if she did, it would be coloring outside of the lines of Luke’s picture-perfect vision.
Everyone knew that Luke was focused. He always had been. When he made a plan he stuck to it. Even with the restaurant he had a hard time thinking outside of the original plans. Now that the business was a reality, and was exactly as he wanted it, he didn’t want to change anything. Marc had thought about and proposed at least a dozen ideas for expansion or additions or changes. Luke said no every time.
He didn’t like change. Marc knew it came from having so many foster kids in and out of his life early on. But that was also where he got his need to take care of others. It was why he’d wanted Marc in their family permanently. It was why he reveled in being able to run a business that took care of the town. It was why he so despised the idea of how Sabrina had been living—where he couldn’t fix everything.
Sabrina was a part of his plan that had taken a detour. Now that she was back, Luke wouldn’t be able to think about anything but the fact that she was supposed to be his wife. It didn’t matter if she was pregnant with another man’s baby or that she hadn’t come back for Luke or that she’d only said
maybe
to his proposal. In Luke’s mind it was going to happen. For better or worse.
Even if she’d made out with his best friend.
Luke wasn’t stupid. He had to have sensed something was going on behind the bar when he’d walked in earlier. But it wouldn’t matter. Nothing would derail his plan to marry Sabrina.
Except Sabrina.
She could say no. Yes, Luke would try to talk her into it, even manipulate her a little. But she was the final decision maker.
Marc was going to have to make sure she made the right decision. She had to say no to Luke. For good.
“Will you be my best man?” Luke asked quietly.
Marc looked from his plate to his best friend. He’d always been Luke’s best man. And vice versa. He nodded and said honestly, “If Sabrina walks down the aisle with you, I’ll be there.”
There was no way in hell Sabrina was walking down the aisle with Luke.
“You know,” Luke said. “Sabrina is the only thing we’ve ever fought about.”
Marc sighed. “Yes. I’m aware.”
“Hey, Mom,” Luke said.
Karen turned from her cookies, an innocent look on her face. Marc rolled his eyes. Even if she hadn’t heard every word, she’d known he and Luke were talking about something big in those low, tense voices. But she wouldn’t pry.
“Sabrina Cassidy is back in town.”
Karen’s eyes and smile widened. “Oh, that’s wonderful. Why didn’t you bring her over?”
“She’s over at Kat’s getting settled. Unpacking,” Marc said.
He glanced at Luke thinking maybe he shouldn’t make it so obviously that he knew exactly where Sabrina was and what she was doing. Luke frowned at him but said nothing.
“So she’s staying for a while?” Karen asked. “That’s great.”
“Mom, you should know that I proposed to her this afternoon.”
Marc swung his head to stare at Luke. What the fuck was with telling everyone about that?
“She hasn’t said yes,” Marc said.
“She hasn’t said no,” Luke replied.
Karen’s gaze went from one son to the other. “What’s going on?”
“She’s moving back to Justice and I want to be with her. So I asked her to marry me.”
Luke made it sound simple and Marc supposed that it was if he disregarded the fact that the reason she was here was a baby—not because she loved and missed Justice, or even Luke for that matter. Or if he ignored the fact that Justice would hold her only as long as she was afraid of doing more and being on her own. Did Luke intend to just keep her insecure her whole life so she’d stay with him?
That thought made every protective instinct in Marc surge forward.
She didn’t need anyone. She’d left home with nothing but a guitar and suitcase. She’d been on her own for four years, without even a steady roommate to rely on. She got up on stage again and again, not letting the previous failure keep her from trying.
She had allowed herself to dream, to experience things no matter what anyone else thought or felt.
He admired that.
He’d never allowed himself do any of that. He’d gone to college in Lincoln because Luke was there. He’d studied restaurant management and culinary arts because it fit in with Luke’s plans. He’d moved back to Justice and settled in because to dare to think about something else or something more would mean being ungrateful for the home and family that they’d given him.
He had this life because of them. So he would live that life—happy, grateful, and content. But Sabrina didn’t have to wonder
what if?
She’d gone out and looked to see what else there was.
“But she hasn’t given you an answer?” Karen asked, pulling Marc from his thoughts.
“No. She’s thinking about it. It was a little sudden,” Luke admitted. “But I didn’t see any reason to wait.”
“I thought you hadn’t been in contact with her over the years,” Karen said.
“I haven’t.”
“But you expected that she would just say yes?”
“She will say yes,” Luke said.
Karen looked concerned but Luke was concentrating on his glass of milk. “Well, your plans do seem to have a way of working out.”
That was exactly what Marc was afraid of. He needed to find Sabrina and show her that she wanted more—more than Justice, more than Luke could give her. Eventually she would make the right decision and say no to all of this. Then she would find the life she really wanted and deserved. No settling, no fear.
To do that, he’d need a lot of time and contact with her.
He knew he shouldn’t feel excited about that.
Luke was going to use her insecurity and her need to do the right thing to convince her to be with him. Marc was going to use her dreams and desires to convince her Luke wasn’t her answer.
They would all see soon enough which was stronger.
Sabrina stood in front of the shelves in aisle six of the pharmacy, not at all pleased with what she saw.
There was oil for stretch marks, a back brace specifically made for pregnant women and cream for cracked nipples.
Cracked nipples.
What the
hell
had she gotten herself into?
There was also a bottle that claimed to be the magic cure for morning sickness. Where had that been a couple weeks ago when she’d been kneeling next to her toilet often enough to notice the three tiles missing in the corner of her bathroom?
Interestingly, she hadn’t been sick for the past couple of days. It was past the normal time for her stomach to begin that queasy, don’t-you-dare-put-anything-in-me feeling.
It was surely a coincidence that she felt better since being in Justice. But she was going to count her blessings where she could find them.
Of course, aisle six was making her feel a different kind of sick.
There were products that talked about natural cures for constipation, arch supports for flat feet, stockings for swollen ankles—all kinds of fun things to look forward to.
Then she moved three feet to the right and she was confronted with another plethora of items that made her anxiety rise and her stomach knot.
Diaper rash cream, No Tears shampoo, baby powder with and without cornstarch, a bulb aspirator—which she wasn’t sure she understood the use of—and a rectal thermometer—which she was pretty sure she understood too well.
“Kat?” Thankfully her friend picked up on the first ring. “Are the vitamins I’m taking good enough?”
“Bree, what are you talking about?”
“I’m at the pharmacy and I’m looking at the vitamins and wondering if I need more.”
“You don’t need more than one-hundred percent of the daily allowance. Which is what you’re taking.”
“So, I’m good.”
“Yes.”
Sabrina could hear the amusement in Kat’s voice. “Yuck it up, babe. You get to go shopping with me for fat pants.”
Kat chuckled. “
Maternity
pants, Bree. Not fat pants. You’re not getting fat, the baby is growing.”
Sabrina rubbed a hand over her right buttock. “That explains the growth…in
front
.”