“I broke Izzy’s heart, that’s if she felt for me what I thought she did.”
“You broke her heart,” he assures me.
“Apollo’s letter was telling him I was stepping aside, and he’d never find another woman as amazing as Izzy. He’s a good man, and that’s what she needs.”
“He is a good man.”
He gives me nothing more. He doesn’t confirm what I suspected at the sight of them together, at my son calling that man Dada.
“And they’re together?”
“They’re together all the time.”
“Fuck,” I hiss. “Can you stop being coy? Are they together together?”
He shrugs, the partial lift of his shoulders maddening enough to make me want to spit fire.
“I guess you’ll have to ask her that yourself.”
Chapter 33
Isabella
“He’s not going to last much longer,” I observe, my eyes tracking Andy across the yard.
“I don’t know how he’s still going. I’m exhausted.”
I grin at Sophia quickly before turning my eyes back to my son.
“You shouldn’t have gotten him Matchbox cars.”
“What?” She sweeps her hand to Andy playing with the cars on the patio. “He loves them.”
“He does,” I agree. “But he’s too young for them. The pieces are a choking hazard.”
“The only thing that boy puts in his mouth is food.”
She’s right. He had a bad habit of chewing on things, but after Raider, Lawson’s dog, yipped at him for biting his tail, he hasn’t chewed on anything else. He’s even given up bottles and moved on to sippy cups. He’s growing too fast, too soon.
“Still. He’ll have to be supervised constantly while he’s playing with them.”
“I can’t believe he doesn’t like the blue bunny I brought him.”
“If it’s not a Paw Patrol plush, he doesn’t want it.”
“So…”
“No.”
“Really? I know you want to talk about it.”
It being him, Drew O’Neil.
“I promise. I don’t.”
“So we’re just going to pretend he’s not right across the street with more muscles than sense?”
“Yep.”
“Izzy. That’s not healthy.”
“You staying in my business when you have secrets of your own you don’t want discussed isn’t healthy. Avoidance much?”
“I told you that in confidence.”
“I told you about the letter I got in confidence.” I don’t pull my eyes from my son when she huffs in irritation. “You told everyone.”
“I didn’t tell everyone. I was talking to you about it.”
“At the New Year’s Eve party where everyone was in attendance.”
“It was a long time ago.”
“Do you think my dad has forgotten about it, or anyone else for that matter?”
“I don’t think it would bother you as much if he were still in prison. So tell me what the issue is.”
“There’s no issue.”
“There is, and I think it’s that you still have feelings for him and it’s hard to go back to someone if everyone that loves you hates him because he’s a complete asshole.”
“I don’t have feelings for him.” Lie number one. “And I don’t think people hate him.”
“They certainly don’t like him.”
“Lawson certainly was ecstatic to see him.”
“That’s his brother. Of course he’s going to be happy. It’s written somewhere that you have to always love your family.”
“Do you think they’ve been in contact?”
“How should I know?” Sophia lifts her soda to her mouth, her eyes on Andy since I told her how strictly he has to be supervised with those small toys. “You know how distant Delilah has been. When I do see her, Drew doesn’t come up.”
“She’s sad,” I agree. “It’s heartbreaking.”
“And that’s why I don’t want to share my own secrets.”
I huff a laugh. “You don’t want to admit to your husband you lied to him.”
Colton and Sophia got married in a small ceremony last summer here at the clubhouse. She was a gorgeous bride. I was her maid of honor, and Colton’s son, Rick, was his best man.
“I didn’t exactly lie to him.”
“Telling him you’re no longer taking the pill—”
“I told him I wasn’t on the pill. He still wanted to come in me.”
“You told him you had an IUD inserted.”
“Details.”
“Important details,” I clarify.
She worries her top lip with her teeth. “Think he’s going to be mad?”
I look across the yard to Colton who is standing and talking with Dominic and Kincaid.
“I think he’ll be ecstatic, but the longer you wait, the greater the chances of him being upset. Take it from someone who knows. You won’t be able to hide it for long.”
“I only took the test yesterday. I wanted to do something special to announce it.”
“He should’ve been there when you took the test.”
“He was at work.”
“You should’ve waited.”
“He’s going to be pissed. He’s been planning a trip next fall. I can’t go skydiving!”
I laugh, something I haven’t been able to manage since Drew showed up several hours ago.
“People shouldn’t jump out of perfectly good airplanes anyway,” I muse. “He’s not going to be mad. What did he tell your dad when Dominic asked about kids?”
“Colton told him that if I want babies, he’ll give me a dozen.”
“There. See? He won’t be mad. Just tell him now. Hey, Colton!”
“What are you doing?” Sophia grabs the arm I’m waving at her husband, pinching me when he starts walking this way.
“What’s up?” His grin is wide. He already knows something is up because Sophia acting this way is common, but I’m not going to spill the beans about a shopping spree at Bath & Body Works, or tell him that she dented the bumper on his truck again.
“Sophia, tell your husband what we were talking about.”
She glares at me, but I keep my eyes on Andy who is still playing with his cars even though his eyes are starting to droop. His nap was nonexistent, and putting him down this early in the evening means we’re going to have a very early morning tomorrow.
“I didn’t have the doctor put in an IUD when I went three months ago.
“That right?” I can hear the humor in the man’s voice. He knows his wife so very well.
“Yeah, apparently I’m allergic to plastic—”
“The truth,” I correct. “You’re allergic to the truth not plastic.”
“What did you do, little liar?”
“I got pregnant.”
“You’re pregnant?” The whoop of joy doesn’t come out of Colton’s mouth but from Lawson who, across the yard, has wrapped his arms around Delilah and is swinging her around in joy.