If anything else, I would have to keep feeding her and bringing her food.
She trusted me.
If that’s what it took to get the girl to eat, then I’d do whatever it took to make it happen. Even tell my boss my girl needed lunch and I had to bring it to her.
I’m sure he’d love that.
“Give me a sec to call Wake. He was on the way to our house with Tex,” I said to Dory.
I heard Shine say ‘Tex?’ and then Dory explain quietly who Tex was as Wake answered the phone.
“Change of plans,” I said to Wake. “Can you come out to dinner with us? My brother ended up coming into town.”
“Sure.” He paused. “Where?”
There were a few places he wouldn’t go, according to the last time I’d invited him out to eat with us. One of those places being the restaurant on the bay that he’d sent us to last time.
“What do you suggest?” I asked. “We’re not picky, and I’m fairly sure my wife won’t be able to eat a single thing anyway after stuffing her face so full of cupcakes.”
“Worth it.” Dory patted her belly.
I looked down to see her belly do a slow roll, indicating that our child was, indeed, doing somersaults inside of her.
Smiling, I pressed my hand to the side of her belly where I’d seen the movement, and the baby kicked.
I snorted and pressed in more firmly. Which he didn’t like at all.
The boy already liked his space.
Just like his father.
“Head downtown,” he said. “I’ll meet you in that parking lot along the bay, and we’ll walk from there.”
“Ten-four,” I said and hung up before addressing the rest of the room. “Wake suggested we head downtown,” I said as I eyed Dory. “That all right with you?”
Again, she was a bit wary when it came to restaurants, but she’d eat just about anything if I ate it first.
Which ended up happening more often than not at this point.
I’d order something for me, eat enough of it to show her it was okay, then transfer the plate over and start on the other order of uneaten food that she’d ordered.
It was a weird game we played that worked really well for us.
“Sounds great.” Dory smiled. “Do y’all want to ride with us?”
Shine and Iris agreed, and we met Wake downtown where we then walked to the restaurant that ended up being on the beach.
“Wow,” Dory breathed as she saw the sunset we were walking up to. “This is gorgeous.”
CHAPTER 23
Am I taken? Yeah, taken for granted.
-Dory to Bram
DORY
“This is gorgeous.” I must’ve repeated for the thirtieth time that day.
But seriously, the restaurant on the beach really was beautiful. But the sunset went from a bright yellow to a deep orange, and now to shades of purple and almost brown. It was seriously breathtaking.
Wake snorted. “I think you need to expand your vocabulary.”
I flipped him off, causing him to laugh.
When I shifted my gaze to Shine, I saw that he was staring at me with confusion on his face.
“What?” I asked.
He gestured to me. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you flip anyone off before. Or say ‘fuck.’”
“I curse.” I snorted. “I just usually don’t do it around anyone, because it draws attention to me, and that’s not something I generally want.”
Shine looked like he’d been hit.
Iris patted his chest and leaned into him as she reached for another slice of bread.
She ate half of it before offering the rest to Shine.
I eyed the bread and really wished I could have some.
I’d gotten a lot better about eating lately, but some things, like shared food in the middle of the table, were a hard no for me still.
Bram flagged the waitress down and said, “Do you think you could bring us another basket of bread?”
The waitress snagged one quickly and brought it back, and before she could put it in the middle of the table, Bram caught it and placed it directly in front of him.
That’s when my chest warmed.
“Thanks, baby,” I whispered quietly.
“Damn, I forgot that you couldn’t deal with people touching your food.” Shine looked down at the roll in his hand. “I’m an ass. I’m sorry.”
I felt something warm and sweet start flittering through my chest.
Another crack in the wall of my heart repaired itself at Bram’s brother’s words.
“I’m getting better.” I shrugged, looking at Shine. “Six months ago, I wouldn’t have even considered eating here, let alone eating a piece of bread.”
Shine’s head tilted. “Explain to me what we can do to make things easier when we have family get-togethers. I’d like to make sure we make things better. So that you’ll come and actually enjoy yourself.”
So that was how we spent our next thirty minutes as we ate our dinner. I explained things about myself to someone besides Bram. And Shine listened as if his life depended on it.
And I knew that he actually cared.
In the end, after my explanation, I knew that from now on, Shine would be different with me.
Once he knew what’d happened, because I’d all but blurted it out to him and Iris, he’d become sympathetic to my plight. And horrified that I had a brother that was disgusting.
“Let’s talk about other things,” Bram suggested. “Like how we’re going to find the dude that’s fucking with my wife.”
“I can get down with that.” Wake dropped into a seat at the end of the table, fitting right in with the two Crow boys.
And so we did.
Over dinner, we discussed how we were going to find him. What we would do differently, how the new security system would work for our house, and other things that pertained to the person we knew nothing about.
In the end, it was a hurry up and wait scenario. Until the man struck again, we wouldn’t be able to do a thing.
CHAPTER 24
I like my men how I like my coffee. Sliding off the roof of my car as I drive away.
-Dory’s secret thoughts
DORY
So shit got weird over the next few months.
One, I got as big as a house, and got bigger every damn day.
I was now on month eight and a half of my pregnancy, officially thirty-six weeks pregnant, and counting.
Two, after Shine’s invite down to Florida, the Crow family was down every weekend. As in, there wasn’t a single day that our guest bedroom wasn’t utilized since.
First it was Shine, then it was Haggard and Sophia. Followed by Easton and Banger, Tide and Coreline, Price and Sabrina, Bram’s parents, Derringer and Reedy. Will and Cannel came last with their kids. And then the brother brigade started all over again.
Jeremiah and Gracelynn had sent their condolences on their inability to come down due to their bakery’s business, but they’d sent cupcakes in their stead. And let me tell you something, I’d gained damn near thirty pounds in those few weeks. So, I wasn’t sure how much I liked his apologies.
Though, Bram always said that I looked more and more beautiful with each day that passed.
Though we both knew damn well he was lying, that my ass was definitely growing, and the stretch marks were becoming rather unsightly, I chose to take his lies and bask in the glory of being pregnant.