If any of those people got hurt because I put them in this man’s path, I would never forgive myself, Bryan included.
“You know what? I know how I’m going to repay you for all this stuff,” I said.
“You don’t have to repay me. It’s not for you anyway. It’s for my little niece or nephew that I’m going to spoil relentlessly,” Anna said.
“Nope. I’m going to repay you, but not monetarily. I’m going to help you find a man.”
“What?” she asked flatly.
“Yep. I’m going to hook you up with someone. Anna, you’re a workaholic. Liking your job or not, you work too damn much. You don’t take any time for yourself. You need a stress release, and we both know the best kind is a good man,” I said.
“And you think you’re going to help me find a good man,” she said.
“I found you Drew, didn’t I?” I asked.
“I found Drew. When I came to visit you last year over the Fourth of July.”
“Semantics. We’re going to find you a good man who knows how to treat you right,” I said.
“Drew treated me just fine.”
“Funny, I never said anything about that.” I grinned at my sister, and she rolled her eyes at me. I knew she was still stuck on Drew, but if she wasn’t going to make the first move, there was nothing I could do. I didn’t know Drew well enough to poke him on his end, and I was tired of watching those two dance around one another. I would help her find someone to spend her time with, and it could go one of two ways. Either it would give her the stress release she needed, or it would help her see how much she missed Drew.
Either way, it distracted me from this crap that had kicked up in the gallery. And I was looking for any type of distraction from it.
“Well, I appreciate the help,” Anna said.
“Perfect. Now, where are those damn diaper pails?”
Chapter 9
Bryan
“Morning, handsome. What are you doing already dressed?”
The sound of Hailey’s voice always put a smile on my face in the morning. I loved waking up to her body pressed against mine. She always had her leg snaked in between my thighs, and my hands always seemed to gravitate toward her belly. Her musky smell in the morning drew me to her. It reminded me of all the things we had overcome and how she was still lying here in my arms. I loved burying my face into her neck and drinking her in, kissing her shoulder until she stirred before slipping between her legs and reminding her of how breathtaking she was to me.
But I was anxious to check on the house today, and I was hoping I could sneak out before she woke up.
“Sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t mean to wake you. Just got some foundation work to check up on today.”
“On a Sunday?” Hailey asked.
“Unfortunately. It shouldn’t take long. I’m not laying it myself, but I need to make sure it’s being done properly. We officially open a project tomorrow, but it’s supposed to be rainy on and off all day. If we pour today, we can tarp the concrete and get it set before the bad weather rolls in.”
“That makes sense,” she asked. “Just don’t be too long. This is our day off together, and we promised each other we wouldn’t work.”
“Well, how about this? I could come back with something wonderful to eat for lunch, and then we have a naked movie marathon?”
“Bryan, you know we never get through movies when we do one of those,” she said, giggling.
“That’s the point,” I said with a grin.
I slipped my shirt over my head before I walked over toward Hailey. I sat down on the edge of the bed as she smiled up at me, giving me her sweetest tired gaze before I pressed a kiss to her forehead. She was angelic in the mornings, untainted by her insecurities and rejuvenated with a good night’s rest. They were fewer and farther between with her now that she was so far into her pregnancy, but I could tell by the look in her eye that last night had been a good night.
“Did you sleep well?” I asked.
“For the first time in awhile,” Hailey said.
“Good. You just keep getting some rest, and I’ll be back by lunch. I promise,” I said.
“I guess,” she said. “If you insist.”
She burrowed back down into the covers, and I pressed one last kiss to her cheek. I didn’t actually have foundation work to do today. There was some going on, but that wasn’t where my sights were set. I was going to go check on the house and see how it was going, especially since I had finally gotten Foreman Jack that damn wallpaper.
I wanted to see if they had put it up yet.
I grabbed my things and left Hailey in bed as I traveled to the site. I was anxious to see what type of progress the guys had made. We were within days of having this entire thing finished, and I was getting excited. I couldn’t wait to reveal the surprise to Hailey nor could I wait to start furnishing the place. I would put all the most comfortable furniture in it. I was finally going to be able to move my child’s nursery furniture I had made into the nursery. I could feel my excitement bubbling in my stomach as I crested the hill, and when I finally pulled up to the house, I felt a sense of relief wash over me.
There wasn’t one worker outside, which meant they were all inside working on the interior.
I shut off my truck and hopped on out. I took a walk around the house, surveying it from the outside. I headed in through the french doors that had been installed in the dining area and stepped right into the smell of drying paint. I was shocked at how much progress had been made, and everyone turned to wave at me as I slowly walked through the house.
“Bryan! Hey, man. What’s going on?”
“Hey there, Jack. I wanted to stop by and see how things were coming along,” I said.
“You wanted to check on the wallpaper,” Foreman Jack said.
“That obvious?”
“Nope. I’ve just known you that long. Come on, I’ll show it to you.”
“You’ve got it up already?” I asked.
“That was the first room I worked on when we all transitioned to the interior. I think you’re going to like how it turned out.”
I followed Foreman Jack through the house and took in everything around me. The walls were this neutral blueish-gray, and the baseboards and crown molding were this vibrant cream color. It reminded me of the walls of Hailey’s gallery, and it made me smile. I knew she would love the neutral color scheme because it would give her a chance to really add color to the rooms she wanted to switch around and change.
But something was nagging me in the pit of my gut.
I followed the foreman up the stairs before we turned down a truncated hallway. There was a door on either side of me, and Jack reached for the one on the left. I reached for the one on the right and tossed it open, finding a fully-stock bathroom across the hall from the nursery.
“That little one’s eventually going to grow up and need their own bathroom. Figured we’d go ahead and put one in.”
“Is ours this nice?” I asked.
“It’s nicer,” he said with a grin. “Come on. Let’s get a look at the nursery.”
I left the bathroom and wandered across the hall. I stepped into the nursery and took in the wallpaper I had ordered specifically for this room. It was finished expertly, and it shocked even me how good it looked. It didn’t look like wallpaper at all, and the pictures Hailey had drawn on the nursery at our current house were replicated perfectly.
It looked like she had come in and painted it herself.
“Holy shit. It looks incredible,” I said.
“It really does, and I’m not one to toot my own horn,” Jack said.
“How much longer do you think you guys are going to need to complete the house?” I asked.
“The painting’s gonna get done today, and we’re gonna have to let it dry through tomorrow. Tuesday, we’ll lay carpet down in the bedrooms, and then Wednesday and Thursday are gonna be hardwood floor days. I’ll come through and take a real hard look at things on Friday, and if everything checks out, then it’ll be ready for you to fill with furniture.”
“I can’t believe it’s almost done,” I said.
“You told Hailey yet?”
“If I’d told her, she’d be with me,” I said.
“Still keeping it a surprise?”
I could hear the anxiousness in Foreman Jack’s voice, and it did have me worried. I knew I was terrible at keeping secrets, but I figured I was doing a pretty good job with this one. But with Hailey’s growing distance, I started to wonder if it was because she knew I was hiding something from her. It would make sense, especially with her pregnancy hormones. If she thought I was hiding something from her, she could’ve twisted it around in her head to be something bad. And even though I had lied to her to keep a positive surprise from her, I had lied to her this morning.
I had lied to my beautiful wife and the mother of my child.
“You think I should tell her now?” I asked.
“I think you know her better than anyone else. But I know the last time I tried surprising my wife with something, she admitted she thought I was cheating.”
“What?” I asked.
“Yeah. Wanted to get her a new wedding ring set for our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. I was meeting with someone who would personally design it and everything. She thought I was slipping out and fucking another woman.”