Page 26 of Tiny Precious Secrets (The Brothers of Calloway Creek The Montanas #4)

Asher

The past two weeks have been unpleasant to say the least. Not just because I haven’t seen Allie, but because life with Bug hasn’t exactly been a bed of roses.

When she’s home—which isn’t much as she’s practically been living at Mel’s—she’s moping around.

I really thought she’d come around after getting used to the idea.

But she’s fighting it, unwilling to give in to the major changes coming.

It could just be that she’s getting closer to losing her best friend.

Or leaving the only house she’s ever known.

But my greatest fear is that she just won’t accept the fact that there’s a woman in my life.

And I honestly do believe it has more to do with Allie than it does the babies.

I overheard her talking with Mel on the phone about becoming a big sister.

I dare say she even sounded excited about it.

But it’s not enough for her to be on board with the twins, she needs to be on board with Allie.

I have my job cut out for me. And getting the most important person in the world to me to accept the other most important person may well be the most significant undertaking of my life.

Excitement courses through me as the cab pulls up to Allie’s parents’ house. Even Bug manages to crack a smile when she sees Charlie and Marti waiting for us out front. As soon as the cab comes to a stop, she’s out the door, racing over to give them hugs.

Bex, Charlie’s dog, is all too happy to lick Bug’s face as she sits on the porch stairs. It warms my heart to see all of them together, and I know it will be good for Bug to be around family again.

Movement to the left draws my attention. The air crackles when I see her. I didn’t think it was possible for her to look more beautiful than she did a few weeks ago. But, damn, she does. And she’s visibly showing now. I dart over to her, loving how her face lights up with a full-on smile.

Allie has changed. She was always fun to be around when we got together in the city, but there was always something missing.

Something under the surface that kept her from completely letting go and being her true self.

I know now that something was Christopher.

And although the pain of him will never fully disappear, this Allie is on a whole other level.

She’s full of hope and wonder and dare I say… happiness.

I cup her face with my hands, look down into her blue eyes, and lower my lips to hers. “God, I’ve missed you.”

It’s hard to kiss when we’re both smiling so much, but we manage.

I don’t even care that we have an audience.

We don’t have to hide anymore. And Bug needs to see this.

She needs to understand how I feel about Allie.

How every time I look at her, I see my entire future.

I see fifty years or more of loving her.

I see growing old together with our kids, grandkids, and maybe even a few pets.

I see everything I’ve ever wanted but didn’t know was possible.

I put a hand between us when our lips part. “I can’t believe how much you’ve grown.”

“Ugh. Don’t remind me. If I’m this big at almost sixteen weeks, imagine what I’ll be like at thirty-seven.”

I trace her jawline with my finger. “You’ll be even more beautiful than you are right now.”

“You say that now, but—”

I put two fingers against her lips to shut her up. “I’ll say it every day, sweetheart. Because there is nothing more beautiful than you growing larger with our children.”

She kisses my fingers, then lowers my hand from her mouth and motions to Bug. “Did you talk to her about the sleeping arrangements?”

“She’ll stay in one of your parents’ guest rooms.” I squeeze her hip. “She wasn’t thrilled that I’d be staying in your apartment, but she’s going to have to get used to it sooner or later.”

A look of sadness washes over her. “She’s still upset.”

“I’m not sure upset is the word I’d use. Brooding maybe.”

“I should go say hello.”

I lace our fingers together as we walk over. Bug’s eyes go to our entwined hands, then to Allie’s stomach.

“Hey, Darla,” Allie says, trying to sound chipper. “How was your flight?”

“Boring.” She turns to Charlie. “Want me to take Bex for a walk?”

I take a step toward my daughter and whisper, “We talked about this. Do not be rude to her.”

She rolls her eyes and turns back to Allie. “Our flight was boring because the Wi-Fi wasn’t working and the meal sucked and the landing was a tad bumpy.” She looks back up at me. “ Now can I walk the dog?”

I flick my wrist. “Go.”

“Give her time,” my sister says, looking empathetic. “Lots of changes going on in her life. Not to mention she’s a teenager and that alone makes her difficult.”

I want to agree, but I can’t. Because Bug has never been difficult. Compared to horror stories I’ve heard from friends and co-workers, my daughter has been a dream. Until now.

Chris and Sarah come out to greet us, and Sarah goes along with Bug as she walks Bex down the sidewalk. Bug seems to like Allie’s parents. She likes Allie’s brothers. She likes Allie’s house. She just doesn’t like Allie.

Chris takes Bug’s suitcase. “Come on, let’s get you settled.”

We didn’t bring much, just a carry-on each.

We’ll only be here for three days. If it were up to me, we’d already be living here.

We’d be living here yesterday. But Bug only has a few more weeks with Mel and I don’t want to take that away from her with everything else going on.

I did insist, however, that she be involved in our house-hunting process.

I want her to feel like she’s part of everything we do moving forward.

If there’s any hope of her and Allie having a relationship, she needs to feel included every step of the way.

Once inside, I set my bag by the stairs that lead from the kitchen up to Allie’s apartment. What I really want to do is take her in my arms and carry her upstairs. Have a repeat of the day we went to the doctor when we spent hours upon hours worshiping each other’s bodies.

It’s evident she’s thinking the same thing when she catches me looking up the stairs. She wraps her arms around me. “Was your flight really that awful?”

I shake my head. “She likes to be dramatic.”

“Do you know that when you leave here on Monday, it will be the last time you leave as a Floridian? When you come back in two weeks, you’ll be a bonafide New Yorker.”

I swipe a piece of hair off her forehead. “I like the sound of that.”

She pulls me toward the kitchen counter. “You must be hungry if the meal sucked. Want me to make you a sandwich?”

“A sandwich sounds great. Thank you. How about I take my things upstairs and wash up?” I kiss her cheek. “Be back in a minute.”

I park my suitcase in the living room of her apartment and quickly use the bathroom, not wanting to waste any time.

When I go back down the stairs, I hear two voices in the kitchen—Bug and Allie.

I stop, wanting to give them a minute. Maybe I shouldn’t stand here eavesdropping, but the two of them need time together if we’re going to get Bug past this.

“My dad doesn’t like mustard,” Bug says.

“Oh. Okay. Let me get another piece of bread.”

I hear something being tossed in the trash, presumably bread with mustard on it.

“He doesn’t like tomatoes either.”

Allie blows out a sigh. “I guess I never knew that.” Something else gets tossed in the trash.

“Ham, not turkey,” Bug says in frustration. “Here, just let me do it.”

I close my eyes and lean against the wall, wishing their conversation would take a turn.

“Darla, there’s a lot your dad and I don’t know about each other.

Like what kind of sandwiches we like to eat, what fruit we like in our smoothies, and how brown we like our toast. But, honestly, right now, those things don’t matter.

What matters is how much we mean to each other.

All that other stuff will come in time. And Darla, I hope you know that you mean something to me as well.

I’m not trying to step on your toes or take your dad away. ”

“Whatever. Here.” I can sense the eye roll.

“That looks like the perfect sandwich. Thanks for teaching me how he likes it. You’re coming with us to look at houses, right?”

“Dad says I have to.”

“You don’t want to?”

I step into the kitchen, but neither of them sees me.

Bug shrugs.

“Buying a house is a big deal, and we want you to like it as much as we do,” Allie says.

“It’s just a house.”

It saddens me that Bug is acting this way. After all the ‘requests’ she shared with me over the past few weeks about what she desires in a house, she’s acting like it’s no big deal now that she’s talking with Allie about it.

“Your opinion is important to us.”

“ Us ,” Bug says, repeating the word like it’s a curse word.

“You say that like you’re my mom or something.

Me and my dad, we’re the ‘us.’ You’re not my mom.

You’ll never be my mom. You’re just someone he slept with and accidentally got pregnant and now he has to ‘do the right thing’.

” She emphasizes that last bit with air quotes.

I’ve had all I can take, so I stride forward. “That’s enough, Darla. You need to apologize to Allie.”

“For what?”

“You’re being disrespectful.”

“I’m being truthful.”

I sidle up to Allie and wrap an arm around her shoulders. It fucking breaks my heart that she looks sad. And it guts me that my own daughter is the reason for her sadness.

“We aren’t together because we’re doing the right thing .”

“That’s not what you said two weeks ago.” She pops a potato chip in her mouth.

Allie stiffens, and I know Bug sees it.

Bug continues, “Did you or did you not say that you were going to step up and raise them because it’s what’s in their best interest?”

I scrub a hand across my face. “Well, yes, but—”

Allie shrugs my arm off. “You said that?”

I blaze a punishing look at my daughter. “Go unpack. Now.”