Not Planning on You (Danvers #2)(50)
As Gray approached them, Suzy noted that he didn’t seem surprised to see them all there. She’d a sneaking suspicion that Nick had called him. What had she really expected? Gray was his brother; of course his loyalty was with him first and foremost. Her sister, though, could have given her a little warning. She idly wondered what her sister and Nick were doing together anyway. She knew they pretty much despised each other so why did they keep turning up together?
“Nick, Beth, can you give us a few minutes please?” Gray asked.
She knew it would be childish to object as her sister and Nick walked to the other side of the garage as Gray asked. He looked down at her without touching her and Suzy noticed how tired he looked. There were lines of fatigue around his eyes that weren’t usually there and his shoulders were bent as if he were carrying the weight of the world on them.
“Baby, what’re you doing?”
Sometimes she hated being a girl because she was helpless to stop the moisture gathering in the corner of her eyes. “I don’t know, Gray. I just need to get away for a few days. I need to go back home where I can…breathe again.”
He leaned his forehead against hers, closing his eyes as he searched for his next words. “I’m so sorry about this mess. I still don’t believe that this baby is mine. I don’t trust Reva to even give me her full name without lying about some part of it.”
Suzy let her crutches fall back into the van as she put her arms around him and just held on. Her emotions were in complete turmoil, but she knew that he needed her right now as he never had before. Gray was a strong man, but he was floundering. Something like this was probably enough to knock the feet out from under even the strongest man.
“Gray, I love you.” As his head jerked up to look at her with wonder, she continued, “It’s because of that love that I have to leave now. If I stay here with you, you will be worried about me and unable to figure out what you need to do about Reva. I don’t know if that’s your baby she’s carrying or not, but I know you need to decide what you’re going to do.”
“Suzanna, you have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear you say those three words. I promise you that we will be ok. When this baby is born there will be a paternity test and if it does turn out to be mine, then I’ll support him or her financially, as well as be a father. I won’t be marrying Reva nor will she be living with me. It would not be fair to a child to live in such an environment. I just have a gut feeling that something isn’t right with this whole thing and I need to find out what it is.
Suzy had to wonder if it was a gut feeling he was really having or wishful thinking. The Reva that he’d described seemed very different from the emotional woman she’d met in the bar tonight.
Looking very vulnerable, he said, “I just need to know you will be here. I know that I’m asking a lot, but you’re my life and I can’t lose you now.”
Suzy tenderly caressed the face of the man she loved so much and was helpless to deny him the reassurance that he so desperately needed at this moment. “I’m just going home, Gray, I’ll be there when you finish here.” She could feel the relief rolling off of Gray in waves.
“Thank God. If you must go, please go to our house.” As she started to protest, he silenced her with a finger on her lips. “I bought that house for us; it is your home. I’ll be home in a few days and I don’t want to worry about you trying to navigate any stairs while I’m away.”
Suzy couldn’t find the strength to argue over this request. Gray’s lips took hers in a kiss so sweet and full of love that she felt her heart melt. At that moment, she didn’t think it was possible to love another as much as she loved him. She only hoped her heart would survive the fall-out if something happened.
Nick and Beth walked back up to them and Suzy was surprised when Gray told them what had happened with Reva. Nick swore violently, his face flushed with anger. “Gray, man, I know you aren’t going to just take her word for it. The woman is a nut and if she’s gotten herself pregnant, there is no way it’s yours. For one, I know you wouldn’t be that careless and she sure wouldn’t have kept that a secret this whole time. She’s ringing all of our damn phones off the hook daily for months and doesn’t say a word? She’d have taken out a banner ad right after she found out if that were true.”
Beth had moved close to her sister since recovering from the shock of Gray’s words. While he and Nick continued to discuss what was going on, Beth looked at her with a mixture of anger and sympathy. “Sis, how are you holding up?”
Suzy gave her sister a weak smile. “It is what it is, there is nowhere else to go but forward.”
“Is it very wrong of me to want to kick a pregnant woman’s ass?” Beth asked.
Unable to control her laughter, Suzy looked at her sister and held her fingers apart. “A little bit, but thanks for the thought.”
The men finally wrapped up their conversation and Gray pulled her close for one last bittersweet kiss. “I’ll call you tonight. I love you, baby.”
Suzy felt shy about saying the words in front of an audience, but she knew that Gray needed to hear them. “I love you too. Try to get some rest today.”
The breath left her body as he picked her up in his arms and deposited her into the seat. “I’m not taking the chance on you hurting yourself trying to get into my brother’s mini-van.” With a smirk, he looked over at Nick. “Nice wheels, bro.”