Nicole’s good mood popped like a punctured balloon. Brittany’s input shouldn’t matter, but there was no point in saying that. Raoul wouldn’t listen.

“When are you going to tell Hawk?” she asked. “He needs to know. I was okay keeping your secret before, but it’s starting to bother me.”

The need for him to know had gotten worse after he’d talked to her about dating for real. Now she felt as if she were keeping secrets from someone she was supposed to be loyal to.

“Soon.”

“According to Brittany, this is all total happiness, so why wait?”

Raoul looked at her. “I know you don’t agree with what we’re doing, but our minds are made up. Brittany and I are going to have a baby. That means we’ll be together.”

“I know. You keep telling me.”

“But you’re mad.”

“I’m not mad. I’m disappointed. Raoul, you’re both so young. I know it seems like everything is going to be fine, but what if it isn’t? You don’t have a backup plan.”

“I love her, Nicole. Love doesn’t come with backup plans or guarantees. You have to take it on faith. I want to be with her. I want to see her smile every day. I want to hear her voice and have her tell me what I’ve done to make her happy. I want to go to sleep, feeling her heart beating against mine. I want her to be the mother of my children. I want to experience everything in life, with her, because being with her is the best part of my day.”

It was an amazing speech, Nicole thought, stunned both by the words and the emotion behind them. At that moment Raoul wasn’t a teenager or some kid who needed a place to stay. He was a man in love with a woman.

“Okay,” she said quietly. “I get it. I’ll stop pushing.”

Probably because what he’d said had made her realize something about herself. She, too, was in love with someone amazing. A caring, sexy man who made her heart beat faster every time he was around. A smart, funny guy who made her want to believe in possibilities and hope and love. A man who might still be in love with his late wife, whose daughter was pregnant and from whom she’d been keeping a really big secret.

Lucky, lucky her.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

HAWK SCROLLED through the Web site. He wanted to plan a weekend away with Nicole after football season ended.

Somewhere nice, he thought, checking out different hotels. But he didn’t want to spend the whole time driving. He had other things on his mind. Maybe Portland. It was only three hours away and there were plenty of good restaurants. Or they could head down to the Oregon wine country and do some tasting.

In the other direction, there was Bellingham, close to the Canadian border. He’d heard one of the teachers talking about a small hotel with a spa. Now he wasn’t into the whole mud wrap, massage thing, but Nicole might be and he wanted to make her happy.

San Francisco was only a couple of hours away by plane. Still, there was wait time at the airport, time he could spend with Nicole in bed.

“Daddy, can I talk to you?”

“Hmmm? Sure.” Hawk motioned his daughter into his study but didn’t turn his attention away from the computer.

Should he ask Nicole first or surprise her? He wanted the trip to be a surprise, but women didn’t always take that sort of thing really well. She might need to make special arrangements. Raoul could take care of himself and the dog, but what about Nicole’s business? Yeah, he would have to tell her.

What if he could find a place with a private hot tub? Now that was some quality time he could get behind.

“Daddy, are you listening?”

“What? Sure, honey. Go on.”

He forced his attention away from the computer and looked at his daughter. Brittany stood in the doorway to his office.

“Like I was saying, I’ve been thinking a lot about Mom and what you two went through.”

What? When? “Uh-huh.”

“You had a very special relationship,” Brittany continued.

He still had no idea what this was all about. “We both loved you a lot. You know that, right?”

“Sure. I’ve always felt special, Daddy. Like I’m a part of something really important.”

“Good.” His attention strayed back to the screen.

“That’s why I’m excited about following in your footsteps.”

Footsteps? He clicked on a link.

“You know. With the baby and all.”

Baby?

Hawk’s gaze narrowed down to a single point of light. He heard a rushing sound, followed by the thundering of his heart. It was as if he suddenly weighed ten thousand pounds. He could barely move his head. He managed to turn so he could see his daughter.

“Baby?”

She paused, then licked her lips. “Uh-huh.” Her smile trembled at the corners. “Are you excited? I’m excited, Daddy, and Raoul is, too. Now let me explain. We’re going to be fine. We have it all worked out. We’ll do what you and Mom did. Raoul will get a full scholarship to college and I’ll move there, too. It’ll be great. I’m excited about being a mom. A little scared, but excited. Raoul’s really happy. And he’s going to pick a good school. One I’ll like, too.”

Hawk heard the words, at least he thought he did. But none of them made sense. Was it a language thing? Had she suddenly started speaking Polish or something?

“You’re pregnant?” he demanded, slowly rising to his feet, feeling the heat of anger matched only by his sense of betrayal.

She took a step back. “Daddy, don’t be mad. It’s no big deal.”

Nothing made sense. How could this be happening? “No big deal? You said you weren’t ha**g s*x with Raoul.”

She flushed and stared at the floor. “Yes, well, we were. Sort of.”

“Sort of? Not if you’re pregnant. If you’re having a baby, you weren’t going halfway. Goddammit all to hell, Brittany, how could you do this?”

She looked at him, her eyes filling with tears. “Daddy, don’t yell at me.”

“What else am I supposed to do? Congratulate you? You’re only seventeen. You’re still in high school. You’re supposed to be smarter than this. You lied to me—you’ve been running around behind my back.”

“Like you told your parents when you were ha**g s*x with Mom?”

He wasn’t going there. “This is about you. I can’t believe it. Even if you were willing to be that dumb, I can’t believe Raoul went along with it.”

“Why wouldn’t he? We love each other. We’re getting married.”

“The hell you are. You’re seventeen. You’re not doing anything but going to your room.”

“What? You can’t send me to my room.”

“Watch me. You’re going there right now and you’re going to stay there.”

She started to cry. “Daddy, no. Why don’t you understand? This is what we want.”

“You’re too young to know what you want and apparently you’re too young to have any judgment. I expected better of you, Brittany.”

“That’s how I feel about you. You’re being horrible.”

Too little, too late, he thought, knowing he wasn’t feeling it all now, knowing it was going to get worse. Pregnant? This was a disaster. What about her future? What about college? A kid would screw up everything. How had this happened?

He shook his head. He knew all too well how it had happened. He’d been there, done that, bought the T-shirt. Or bag of diapers.

“I’m going to kill him,” he muttered.

Brittany grabbed his arm. “Daddy, no. I want to marry Raoul.”

“No way. Just so we’re clear. You are going to your room and you’re going to stay there. You are not to see Raoul or talk to him or text with him. You’ll have no contact. The only time you’ll leave this house is when I drive you to and from school. You won’t see your friends, nothing.”

She glared at him. “Locking me up isn’t going to make me any less pregnant. I hate you.”

“You’re not my favorite person right now, either.”

“Nicole wasn’t anything like this,” she yelled as she stomped toward the stairs. “She didn’t scream or anything.”

Everything went cold and dark. Hawk fought to not put his fist through a wall.

“Nicole knows?”

Brittany ignored him and ran up the stairs. He followed her and caught her just as she entered her bedroom. He grabbed the door before she could slam it.

“Nicole knows?” he asked again.

Brittany stared at him with all the loathing a seventeen-year-old could generate. “Yes, she knows.”

“For how long?”

“About a week.”

He released the door and his daughter slammed it.

A week? Nicole had known and not said anything? She’d gone to that dinner, had listened to him say he wanted to date her and all the damn time she’d known his daughter was pregnant and hadn’t said a word?

THE NIGHT WAS COOL and clear. Nicole sat out on the front steps, staring at the stars in the sky. She was feeling restless and emotionally on edge and knew the cause. Jesse.

She missed her sister. Jesse might lie, steal the family cake recipe and sleep with Nicole’s husband, but she was still her sister.

Raoul stepped out onto the porch. “You okay?” he asked. “You’ve been out here a long time.”

She smiled at him. “I’m the grown-up. I’m supposed to worry about you.”

“You’ve been quiet a lot lately.”

“I’ve been thinking about Jesse.”

Raoul knew the basics of what had happened. “Still no word?”

“None. She’s not going to get in touch with me. Why would she? I made it really clear I wanted her gone.”

“But you didn’t?”

“I don’t know what I wanted. I guess I wanted her to be different.” Like that was going to happen.

“You could go after her,” he said.

“I’ve thought about that. I can’t decide. Should I let her grow up on her own? Is it better to let her see what life is really about? Then I remember she’s my baby sister and she’s pregnant and maybe this is all too much.” There was a child to think of. Nicole’s niece or nephew. There was a connection. She just didn’t know where her responsibilities started and stopped or how much more pain her heart could handle.

“Sometimes people have to find their own bottom,” he said.

She shook her head. “Don’t you dare get all twelve-step on me.”

“I won’t.”

He moved to the other end of the step and sat down. Sheila followed him, her movements slow. At her last checkup the vet had said it was just a matter of days until she had her puppies. Nicole already had plenty of towels and newspaper on hand.

“I won’t know if I’m doing the right thing until it’s too late. And if letting her go is the wrong decision, how do I fix it?”

“Why is she your responsibility?” he asked.

“Because she always has been. Even when I resented everything about her, I took care of her. I raised her. I wish I’d done a better job.”

“You were a kid yourself.”

“Still, I’m the reason she is how she is.”

“Not necessarily. Maybe she was just born that way.”

“That would be nice,” Nicole said, resting her forearms on her knees. “Then it wouldn’t be my fault.”

“It’s not now.”

“It feels like it is.” She looked at him. “Sometimes you’re very wise.”

“Growing up on the street does that.”

“Then be smart about Brittany and the baby.”

“Get off me about that.”

“I’m not sure I can. I know you love her, but jeez, Raoul. Get a clue.”

Sheila lay down, then got up and walked over to Nicole.

“What’s the matter, baby?” she asked, stroking the dog’s heaving sides. “Is it close to your time?”

Sheila didn’t answer. Raoul’s eyes widened. “Is she going to have her puppies?”

“I don’t know. The vet said—”

A truck screamed around the corner and slammed to a stop in front of her house. Hawk jumped out of the vehicle and stalked toward the house.

She could tell by the way he moved that he was more than angry.

“Get inside,” Nicole told Raoul as she scrambled to her feet.

“What?”

“Get inside now. I’ll deal with this.”

“I’m not afraid of him.”

“Then you’re an idiot. You have a future that depends on you still being alive. Get in the house.”

But it was too late. Hawk took the stairs two at a time, grabbed Raoul by the front of his shirt and pulled him to his feet.

“What the f**k were you thinking, sleeping with my daughter? I’m going to kill you. You got that? When I’m done there will be nothing left. The biggest piece of you won’t even fill an envelope.”

He vibrated with fury.

Nicole pushed between them, but Hawk wouldn’t let go of Raoul’s shirt.

“Stop it,” she yelled. “Just stop it. Hawk, take a step back, now. I mean it.”

Sheila whined and moved closer to Nicole. Hawk ignored them both.

“This is between me and him. Back off, Nicole. You and I will talk about what you did later.”

“Let’s talk about it now,” she said, knowing she needed to distract Hawk before he did something they would all regret. “I knew. That’s what you mean, right? I knew Brittany was pregnant and I didn’t tell you.”