She traced the outline of Kurt's name with her fingertips. "It's nice."
She moved his arm around and looked at the others. "I love this one."
"The mermaid?"
"Yes." She pulled her gaze from his arm to his face. "But none of these have color. The mermaid would have been pretty in color."
"Nah. I don't want color on me. I save the paint for the bikes."
"I see." She went back to the tattoos. "And what's this one? Poetry?"
He shrugged. "Just some words."
She read them. "'No matter how long gone, you'll always be here. A heartbeat close. A whisper's near.'"
She took in a deep breath at the power of those words. "That's beautiful. What's it from?"
"I wrote it."
Her gaze snapped to his. "You did?"
"Yeah."
"Wow, Brady. It's amazing."
"It's nothing."
He'd looked away from her, but she tipped his chin and made him look at her. "It's not nothing. Those words have meaning. That when someone goes away, they're always in our hearts. And no matter how much time passes, they will never pass from our memories. That with every beat of our hearts, every breath we take, we remember those we loved and lost."
"That was the point, yeah."
She settled against him. "So, you really are an artist."
He laughed. "I don't think so."
"You don't give yourself enough credit."
He smoothed his hand along her back. "Thanks."
She could tell her praise made him uncomfortable, but she really was impressed.
"It's been a good day," she said.
"I'll say. Won money and got laid."
She shook her head. "I can see how those two would be meaningful for a guy."
He looked down at her. "Oh, and not for you?"
"I liked winning money." He cocked a brow, and she laughed. "Yes, Brady, the other part was pretty good, too."
"Pretty good?"
"Yes. And I'm really happy that you won a big jackpot in the poker run. What will you do with the money?"
"Pay for some equipment for the bike painting I do. The rest I'll tuck away in my savings account."
"And you're saving up for?"
"To open my own custom bike painting shop."
She sat up to face him. "I never knew you wanted to do that."
"No reason for you to know. But that's why I've stayed in Hope. I have the job at Carter's shop, and it pays me well enough to save money. Plus the rent at the apartment over the shop is cheap, and I can work on some nights and weekends taking bike paint jobs."
"Oh, I see. What's your timeline to open your paint shop?"
He shrugged. "Whenever I have the money."
"Do you have a location in Hope where you intend to open your shop?"
"I never said I was going to open the shop in Hope."
She hadn't expected to hear that. "Really. So you might consider moving out of town?"
"Maybe. I don't know. I haven't given the where of it a lot of thought."
"Huh. Interesting." She swung her legs over the bed. "I need to go to the bathroom. Excuse me for a minute."
Megan closed the door behind her and stared into the mirror. She knew she'd abruptly fled the conversation with Brady. She didn't really have to use the bathroom, but she did anyway since she was already in there, and staring at herself in the mirror wasn't providing any answers. Plus, she needed the time to get her head on straight.
She'd imagined this entire day--and possibly her entire relationship with Brady--as something blissfully romantic. When in reality it was nothing more than physical chemistry between them. She needed to remind herself that there was nothing going on besides that.
Brady had long-term plans for his future, and those plans didn't include her.
When she came out, he smiled at her.
"Ready for round two?"
"Actually, I'm kind of tired."
"Oh. Sure." He climbed out of bed and, much to her regret, he got dressed. She did, too, and he went into the living room and gathered up Roxie.
All the while, she mentally berated herself for kicking this gorgeous man out of her house--and her bed.
He turned to her. "I had fun today. Thanks for coming along."
"Thanks for asking me."
He scooped his arm around her waist and tugged her against him, brushing his lips across hers. "See you later."
She couldn't resist laying her hands on him just one more time. "Sure. See you, Brady."
When she closed the door behind him, she laid her head against it.
Dumb, Megan. You are so dumb.
They could be having round two right now. Followed by round three.
He wasn't a forever kind of guy. She'd known that going in. So what did it matter that maybe he wasn't going to stay in Hope long-term? That didn't mean she couldn't enjoy some fun, hot sex with him in the meantime.
Sometimes the nontraditional "Whee, let's have fun, anything goes" side of her clashed with the traditional "I want the house and the kids and the dog and the happily-ever-after" side. And tonight she'd let the traditional side of herself win. Which was too bad, because she sure had been having fun with Brady.
She pushed off the door and turned off the light, heading to her bed.
Alone. Because she was an utter dumbass.
Chapter 16
EMMA HAD TEXTED Megan Tuesday morning and told her Des would be coming over to her house with her baby that afternoon. She also said Jane and Chelsea were visiting after school. So Megan texted Sam to see if she'd be done with work in time to go with her. Fortunately, Sam had a light day, and her deliveries would all be taken care of in the morning, so they made plans to meet over at Emma's around four, which should coincide with Chelsea and Jane showing up as well.
Megan couldn't wait to see the babies. She hadn't seen them since right after their births, and she was sure they'd changed a ton already.
And they would give her something to occupy her mind, since she hadn't spoken to Brady in a few days.
They'd had such a great time together, and could have probably continued to do that if she hadn't had a major freak-out and all but thrown him out of her house for no good reason at all.
She sighed and focused on her customers, deciding less thinking about men and more concentration on business was much better for her emotional state. By the time she closed up for the day, she was more than ready to spend the afternoon with her friends.
Sam came by and picked her up a little after three thirty.
"I don't know about you," Sam said after Megan climbed into the car, "but I am so ready to have a glass of wine with the girls."
Megan laughed. "Rough day?"
"You have no idea. First, I delivered a half dozen centerpieces for a business meeting that the coordinator insisted were not what she ordered. I have it written down. It's exactly how she ordered it, and she was a total pain in the butt about it. So of course I had to dash back to the shop and redo the centerpieces according to the client's 'new' specs, which weren't what she asked for originally. I was a giant sweat-ball by the time I got them back to her, just before their event began."
"That sounds like a nightmare."
"It was. But in the end she was happy, even though she was the one who couldn't remember what she ordered in the first place."
"That's always tough, since you have to go with the 'customer is always right' philosophy, even when you know they're not."
"Exactly. So now I'm grumpy and I need some wine."
Megan laughed. "You drink all the wine you need. I'll drive home."
"You're a good friend, Megan."
When they got to the driveway, Sam parked while Megan pulled out the box she'd brought with her.
"You brought muffins, didn't you?"
"Actually, they're molten chocolate cakes. It's a new recipe, and I thought I'd test them out on all of you to see if you like them."
"I'm sure my thi
ghs will love them just fine. Thanks. Do they go with wine?"
Megan followed Sam up the stairs. "Doesn't everything?"
Sam slung her arm around Megan. "I love you."
Megan laughed, and they went to the door and rang the bell.
"Door's open," someone inside hollered.
Sam opened and held the door for her, so Megan slid inside and Sam followed.
Emma was on the sofa, and Jane was sitting next to her, holding Michael.
"Hey," Megan said. "I'm going to put this box in the kitchen."
"There's wine and coffee and tea and whatever you might want," Emma said. "Make yourselves at home."
"We'll definitely do that," Sam said, heading straight for one of the bottles of wine.
Megan opted for a glass of iced tea, since she'd offered to be the designated driver.
They headed into the living room, where Chelsea, Jane, and Emma were already situated on the sofa, so Megan took a seat in one of the side chairs and Sam took another.
"Where's Des?" Megan asked.
"She texted that she's running a little late," Emma said. "Benjamin was fussy, and then it was feeding time, so she decided to feed him before she came over. She should be here any minute."
As soon as she said that, the door opened and Des came in. Chelsea jumped up to take the baby in his car seat carrier.
"Thanks, Chelsea," Des said. "Hey, everyone."
"Hi, Des," Megan said. "You should take a seat. What would you like to drink?"
"I'll have some water. Thanks, Megan."
"Coming right up. You take my chair. I'll grab another."
Megan went into the kitchen and poured water from the pitcher she knew Emma kept in her fridge, then brought it out and set it on the table. Since it didn't look like she was going to get a chance to hold the babies anytime soon, she took a peek at Michael, who Jane was holding, and at Ben, who was asleep in his carrier.
"They've both gotten so much bigger already."
"They do grow fast," Des said.
"He's doing well?" Megan asked, dragging one of the chairs over to sit next to Des.
"He's doing so well. I don't want to say perfect, because that would be arrogant of me."
"Oh, go ahead."
Des laughed. "Fine. He's perfect."
"Of course he is." She looked over at Emma. "And how's Michael?"
Jane looked down at the sleeping baby in her arms, then up at Megan. "He's perfect, too."
Emma laughed. "That he is."
"Makes me want another one," Jane said.
"Bite your tongue," Chelsea said. "Ryan and Tabitha are the perfect ages now, at ten and seven."
Jane nodded. "Exactly. The ideal ages to add a new little one to the mix."
"Will would enjoy having a baby in the house, wouldn't he?" Sam asked, then took a long swallow of wine.
"He would love one. We've talked about it. He loves my kids, but I have to admit I wouldn't mind adding to the family with another baby. And if I'm ever going to do that, it needs to be sooner rather than later."
"How do the kids feel about that?" Emma asked.
"Tabby bugs me all the time about having a baby. She'd love a little sister or brother. As you can imagine, Ryan is completely uninterested and cares more about football and baseball than having a sibling." Jane looked down at Michael. "And now, holding this one, I feel the urge."
"And who will shop with me if you're off having babies?" Chelsea asked.
Jane rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. You and Bash will be popping out babies of your own soon enough. And wouldn't it be fun if we were pregnant together?"
"Please. We have to get married first."
"And when exactly is that event going to occur?" Des asked.
Chelsea shrugged. "We're working on setting a date. First we had to get moved into the new house. Now that that's done, the wedding is next."
"You're not getting any younger, you know," Jane said.
Chelsea slanted a look at Jane. "And neither are you, since you and I are the same age."
"Exactly my point. Which is why I'm thinking of having a baby now rather than later."
"And Bash and I will get around to that. After the wedding." Then she added in a whisper, "Hopefully after the wedding."
"What does that mean?" Emma asked.
"Oh . . . nothing." Chelsea picked up her glass of water.
"You're not drinking wine, Chelsea," Megan said, just now noticing that. Chelsea always had a glass of wine at these get-togethers. "Are you . . . ?"
Chelsea shrugged. "I might be. Which would be extremely bad timing, since we haven't even set a date for our wedding yet."
Jane handed the baby back over to Emma, then turned and took Chelsea's hand. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah. As someone who has taken her birth control conscientiously her entire adult life, I find the possibility of being pregnant utterly ridiculous. But I had to go off the pill for a while because of medical reasons, and I thought we were being super careful. But . . . maybe not."
Megan looked over at Sam, who had by now emptied her glass of wine and was sitting there smiling. "You're being quiet."
"I find the idea of Chelsea being knocked up supremely amusing."
Chelsea shot a glare at Sam. "I am not amused."
"Oh, come on, Chelse. You are the great planner. You even made a list of all the traits of the perfect guy before you fell in love with Bash and that ridiculous notion was tossed out the window. And then you had to have the perfect house before you could plan your perfect wedding. Everything in order, ya know? It would be a great irony for you to end up pregnant before you could have the biggest wedding the town has ever seen."
Chelsea stared at Sam, and for a second Megan was certain that Chelsea was going to burst into tears. But she ended up laughing.
"You know what? You're right. Irony is a bitch sometimes."
"And how do you think Bash would react?" Emma asked.
"Are you kidding? Bash is so damn eager to have a baby he'd be thrilled. And frankly, the whole ordeal with finding the right house and having the renovations done has been exhausting. At first I thought planning this huge wedding would be the greatest thing ever. But now? Honestly? I just want to be married and start our lives together."
"The first thing you should probably do is find out if you're pregnant," Des said.
"I have an extra pregnancy test or two still hanging around here," Emma said. "You know, if you want to find out today. While we're all here."
"You keep pregnancy tests just lying around?" Chelsea asked.
"No. They're from when I thought I was pregnant with Michael. I took a test but I was too early. Then I bought a lot more tests so I took another. Then when that was positive I took another."
Des laughed. "I did the same thing."
Emma looked over at Des and grinned. "I'm so glad I'm not the only weird one."
"You should definitely take the test, Chelsea," Jane said. "First, you need to know, and second, we need to know."
Chelsea took several swallows of water. "I'm not sure I want to know."
"You want to know," Megan said. "I think. Or at least, if it was me, I'd want to know."
"Fine." Chelsea stood. "I'll go pee on the damn stick."
"Awesome." Emma got up and handed the baby to Megan. "I'll go with you. You'll want someone to hold your hand."
"This day isn't turning out at all like I expected," Sam said. "It's so much better. Anyone want wine?"
"I'm good with water," Des said.
"I'm perfect now that I'm holding a baby," Megan said.
"Fine. More wine for me." Sam stood and left the room. Just as she did, the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it," Sam said.
"It's probably Molly," Jane said. "She said she'd be late."
Megan looked down at Michael, who, despite being handed around, had stayed asleep. He was so sweet with his pink chubby cheeks and the way his mouth made sucking motions even in sleep. He looked li
ke a tiny cherub with hair. She breathed in that baby powder scent and, if possible, her uterus did a tumble.
Okay, maybe not, but there was something about holding a baby that made her hormones go haywire.
"He's awfully cute," Sam said as she walked by with her glass of wine in her hand and Molly behind her, also with a glass of wine.
"He is," Megan said. "So is Benjamin. I can already see the two of them getting into all kinds of trouble when they get older."
Des grinned. "So can I. Logan and I have talked about that. I think the two of them are going to be thick as thieves."
"And judging by the looks of them already--very dangerous to girls' hearts."
"Yes," Jane said. "I feel bad for all those female Hope babies. They'll all be vying for the new generation of McCormacks."
"Oh my God."
Megan looked up at the high-pitched sound of Chelsea's voice emanating from Emma's master bedroom. She looked from Jane to Des to Sam to Molly, and they all grinned at each other.
"I was filled in by Sam in the kitchen," Molly said.
"I'm going to assume that meant a positive on the pregnancy test," Des said.
Emma came out a few seconds later, sporting the same grin everyone else was wearing.
"Chelsea's going to need a few minutes," Emma said.
"So that's a yes?" Megan asked.
Emma nodded, then whispered, "I'll let her tell you, though. And it's possible she's taking a second test, because I'm not sure she believed the first one."
Megan handed the baby back to Emma, who laid him in the nearby cradle. Des put a sleeping Benjamin in the Pack 'n Play Emma had provided.
And now they all waited for Chelsea.
Sure enough, it took Chelsea about ten minutes to surface from the bathroom. And when she did, she had a very stunned look on her face.
"Okay, so I peed on the stick--two of them. And they were both positive."
"Congratulations, Chelsea," Jane said, coming over to give her a hug.
There were tears in Chelsea's eyes as everyone went over to hug and congratulate her.
But she was laughing through the tears. "I think I might need to sit down."
She sat on the sofa and took several sips of water.
"How do you feel?" Emma asked.
"Stunned, mostly. I mean, I knew it was a possibility. I was late. But we were careful, you know? I've always been careful. And this isn't part of the plan." She looked at all of them. "Oh my God, I have to talk to Bash. I can't believe you all knew before Bash."
"I think he'll be fine with it," Megan said. "All things considered, this was kind of a fluke."
Chelsea let out a short laugh. "I'll say. But I really have to talk to Bash. And I'm going to need to plan a very quick wedding. A very quick, elaborate wedding, because no way am I skimping on the . . . everything."