“And he broke your heart.”

“That’s the problem. He didn’t. When he proposed, I accepted, not because I loved him more than anything, but because I didn’t think anyone else would ask. I didn’t want to die alone.”

Claire had always been the emotionally sensitive one of the sisters and her eyes filled up with tears. “Oh, Nicole. I wish you’d called me and talked to me.”

“I hated you then, remember?”

Claire dismissed that reality with a flick of her fingers. “Still, I would have listened.”

Nicole didn’t bother pointing out she wouldn’t have called. “I knew the marriage was a mistake within the first couple of months, but I was too proud to say anything or do anything. So we stayed together. By the time he slept with Jesse, I was emotionally divorced already. It still hurt, but I was so much more angry at her than him. That says something.”

“I know. So it’s different with Hawk?”

Nicole thought about the sexy, stubborn, difficult, amazing man she’d gotten to know over the past few months.

“More than different. Hawk makes me crazy in the best way possible. I just have to be around him and I can’t catch my breath. He makes me laugh, we talk about stuff. He’s fun and responsible. He cares so much about his kids and yet he has an ego the size of the Titanic. He’s…”

“Perfect.”

“No, but he’s perfect for me.”

Claire clutched her tea. “I’m going to cry again.”

“That’s getting really boring.”

“You try being pregnant. The hormones are a nightmare. Sometimes I feel like a character in a horror movie. My point is, you’ll get through this. The situation with Brittany will be resolved and then you and Hawk can get back to being in love.”

It hurt to think the truth, let alone say it, but Nicole wasn’t going to lie to herself. “He’s not in love. He likes me, but I’m no Serena.”

“Does he want a replacement for her?”

“I don’t think he wants anything romantically. In his mind, he’s had it all. A wife, a kid, a great career. He’s not interested in more children and he’s not looking to get serious.” He was everything she wanted and nothing she could have.

“Maybe he’ll change his mind.”

“Maybe.” Nicole wasn’t holding her breath for the possibility.

“You can’t give up hope.”

Nicole shook her head. “You can’t give up hope. I’m very comfortable with the process.”

“You’re going to walk away?”

“I’m going to see how this plays out. That’s all I can do.”

NICOLE HAD a restless day. She ended up cleaning bathrooms, which only went to show how bad things were. She hated cleaning bathrooms. But it beat wandering from room to room, wondering what was happening with Raoul and Brittany and wishing Hawk would call and say he wasn’t mad at her anymore.

Wanting to hear from him was so pathetic, she told herself. She was a totally self-sufficient, self-actualized woman. She’d been successfully running the family business since she was a teenager. She didn’t need Hawk’s approval. So what if he was blaming her rather than taking responsibility himself? She didn’t care.

Except she did. She cared a lot and she missed him. She also missed Raoul, which was weird. The kid had only been living with her for a month or so. Even Sheila seemed to be moping a little.

Rather than indulge in self-pity, Nicole collected cleaning supplies and attacked Raoul’s bathroom. She made the tub sparkle, the shower doors streak-free, then started tidying up the long counter. There was a half-open box of condoms just behind the cup dispenser. She shook the box.

“Should have used them every time,” she murmured. That would have solved a lot of problems.

Of course condoms weren’t a hundred percent effective. So they might have always used them.

Nicole stared at the box. Condoms failed. She and Hawk used condoms. Except for that last time. Not that she could be pregnant. It was the wrong time of the month. She was sure of it.

Panic was a funny thing. Sometimes it came in big rushes, but sometimes it started so small it was hard to recognize the feeling. Sometimes it was nothing more than a flicker that grew and grew until it filled the room and made it impossible to breathe.

The phone rang.

Nicole jumped then ran to her bedroom.

“Hello?”

“It’s Raoul.”

Relief was instant and sweet. “Where are you? Are you okay? What’s going on? Did you try to get married? Did you consider that using a fake ID invalidates the marriage? When are you coming home?”

There was a slight pause, then he said, “That’s a lot of questions.”

“Answer them in any order. No. Start with telling me if you’re okay.”

“I’m okay. We both are. We’re not married, we didn’t try.” He paused again. “There’s no baby.”

Nicole sank onto her bed. “You’re sure?”

“Yeah. She got her period. Brittany isn’t pregnant.”

Thank God, Nicole thought. “Are you okay with that? Is she?”

“We’re good. She was a little upset at first, but now she’s better. I’m…” He cleared his throat. “I started thinking about what you said before. About something going wrong. Me busting up my knee or something. I got scared. I’m glad there’s no baby. Is that bad?”

“Of course not. You’re still in high school. Why would you want to take on that kind of responsibility?”

“I still want a family.”

A place to belong, she thought, recognizing the longing in his voice.

“I’m your family,” she said. “I miss you. So does Sheila. This is your home, Raoul.”

“Still?”

“You mean because you took off in the night and didn’t give me any warning except a crappy note?”

“I’m sorry about that. I wanted to tell you but Brittany was afraid you’d try to stop us.”

“She’s a smart girl.” Spoiled, but smart. “You’re still welcome to live here. Although we’re going to have a long talk about the rules. There will be some new ones. When are you coming home?”

“Today. Brittany’s on her cell phone with her dad. They seem to be getting along again. She’ll be moving back home.”

That was a relief, Nicole thought. “She’ll be happier there,” is what she said, followed by, “Drive safely.”

“I will.”

“Good.”

“I would have done it,” he said. “I would have taken care of her and the baby.”

“I know.”

“I’m glad I don’t have to right now.”

“Me, too.”

“Thanks, Nicole. You’ve been great. I couldn’t have gotten through this without you.”

She felt all warm and squishy inside. Having Raoul around was like having a better version of Jesse home.

“Hurry back,” she said.

“We will. Bye.”

She hung up. It was a good ending to what could have been a disaster. Brittany moving back with her dad was also a plus. Let Hawk deal with his little princess. She had enough on her plate right now.

She put down the phone and walked into the hallway. On the top shelf of the linen closet was the pregnancy kit Brittany had left. There were still two tests left inside.

Nicole thought about the condoms and how her luck had been running lately, then she carried the box into her bathroom.

Ten minutes later, she stared at the plastic stick.

There was still a baby, she thought, unable to believe the news. It just wasn’t the one everyone thought.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

HAWK STOOD by the garage as his daughter drove her car inside. He’d always prided himself on being in control but he’d never had to struggle so hard to keep it all together. Relief battled with anger. He wanted to hold Brittany close to prove to himself that she was all right, then he wanted to lock her in her room for the next hundred and fifty years. She’d scared the hell out of him.

She climbed out of her car and walked toward him. Her expression was wary, as if she wasn’t sure how mad he was going to be. Indecision pulled at her mouth. No doubt she was trying to figure out the best way to play him.

Nicole had been right about him taking the easy way out with Brittany. He hadn’t wanted to hear that truth and he’d taken a lot of his temper out on the messenger, but he’d been unable to escape reality. Somewhere in the past few years, Brittany had turned into a spoiled brat.

“Oh, Daddy, I’m so happy to see you,” she said, rushing toward him. “I missed you, Daddy. I missed you so much.”

So she’d decided to play the loving daughter game. He accepted her hug, patted her back, then led the way into the house. When they were in the kitchen, she walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a can of soda.

“I feel really bad about worrying you,” she said as she popped the top. “I should have called sooner. Raoul and I hadn’t planned to run away. It just sort of happened. We were talking and then we were packing and then we were gone.”

She paused and smiled, blinking her eyes. “It was very immature of me.”

Did she really think he was that stupid? Hawk shook his head. He already knew the answer to that. Of course she did or she wouldn’t be working the program so hard.

“It was a spontaneous decision to run off?” he asked.

She sipped. “Uh-huh.”

“You just happened to have a fake ID in your back pocket?”

Her eyes widened. “Um, no. It was just lying around.”

“A fake ID in your name with your picture on it.”

“I don’t know where that came from.”

Better to play innocent than come up with a crappy lie, he thought.

“Either you got it or Raoul got it,” he continued. “I’m guessing it has to be Raoul. You’d never do anything like that, would you?”

Her eyes widened even more. “No, Daddy.” Her smile trembled a little at the corners.

“It’s illegal. Getting a minor a fake ID. The police know about it. I should probably warn Nicole they’ll be by to arrest him. Damn. We’re going into the play-offs, too. If Raoul has to miss games because he’s in jail, we’ll never win. It’s his senior year, too. If he doesn’t play, the colleges are going to forget about him. But hey, he earned it, right? He screwed up and now he has to face the consequences.”

Brittany’s face crumbled. She put her soda on the counter and reached out for him. “Daddy, no. Don’t talk like that. Raoul can’t go to jail.”

“Sorry, Brittany. He has to learn his lesson.”

“No. That’s not fair.”

The tears fell faster. Normally Hawk would do anything to make her stop crying, but not this time. He felt oddly detached from the moment. She was his daughter and he would always love her, but he was tired of her calling the shots.

He turned to walk out of the kitchen. Brittany followed him, then grabbed his arm. “It was me,” she said, sobbing and gasping for breath. “It was me. I got the fake ID. It was my idea to use it so we could get married. Raoul didn’t want to. He’s really sweet, Daddy. He worships you. He would never do anything to hurt you or me.”

Hawk did his best not to think about Raoul sleeping with his daughter. While he would consider that crossing the line, Raoul and Brittany wouldn’t see it that way.

“You lied to me,” he said, his voice low.

“I know. I know. I’m so sorry. I just thought…I wanted to get married. I wanted to start my life with Raoul. I wanted us to be happy and a family. Just like you and Mom.”

He put his arm around his daughter and led her into the family room. When she was settled on the sofa, he sat on the coffee table in front of her and took one of her hands in his.

“I loved your mom more than anything,” he said slowly. “I still remember the first time I saw her. She was laughing and the sound cut through me. I knew she was the one, that we would always be together, that I would marry her. There was never a question. She knew, too.”

Brittany wiped away her tears. “Just like me and Raoul.”

He ignored that. “We got together and fell in love. We had plans. Then she turned up pregnant.”

“I know this part.”

“No, you don’t. You know what we told you. Your mom and I were worried that if you knew the truth, you’d feel you weren’t wanted, weren’t loved. I don’t know if it was the right decision, but it’s the one we made. You’ve only heard half the story, Brittany. There’s more I need to tell you.”

“Like what?”

“Like how your mom cried every night for six months because her parents turned their backs on her. How after we were married, we hardly ever saw each other. We were living in my room at my mom’s house, both working two jobs to save as much money as possible because once I went to Oklahoma and started playing football, there wouldn’t be any time for me to work.”

Brittany shifted in her seat. “But that was only for a few weeks. Then you were together.”

“Then I was at practice or in class. Your mom was alone in a strange city where she didn’t know anyone. She was given a job as a receptionist, but she was the youngest person there. She had nothing in common with the other women who were single and going out all the time. She went home to an empty house and waited for me to come home. She spent four years waiting.”