father of their baby. But not Kyndal. Oh, no, that would be too easy. She had to fight for everything she ever had…and this was no different.
He stopped scratching, and Chesney protested by nudging him with a cold nose until he massaged her neck.
The way he’d handled the matter last night was nothing to be proud of, either. Getting a pregnant woman that angry—a woman pregnant with his baby—was heartless. Maybe dangerous? He didn’t know, but he wouldn’t let it happen again.
There was just so much he didn’t know. The thought of having a baby thrilled and terrified him at the same time—as did the thought of being married to Kyndal. He was almost relieved she’d turned him down even though it stung like hell.
Chesney laid her head back to look at him, and her brown puppy eyes seemed to soften with understanding.
He had a lot to learn. And he had to make peace with Kyndal. They couldn’t bring a baby into a world where they were fighting all the time. Chesney licked his chin as her tail thumped in agreement.
He gave Ches her breakfast and grabbed a banana for himself. Although there would only be the three of them, his mom was preparing a holiday feast and he was expected to bring an appetite.
He needed to tell his parents about the baby, though he’d prefer to wait until the pregnancy was further along. Kyndal would’ve told Jaci, no doubt, and the redhead had earned her blabbermouth reputation. With Jaci in the know, the possibility that his parents might hear the news secondhand was too great.
It was times like this when he missed Hank the most. As kids, Hank had always been the primary focus, and Chance had gotten away with things simply because his parents didn’t take the time to notice.
Not anymore. Privacy had been buried with Hank.
Today, when he broke the news of the baby, he would be at center stage, and Hank wouldn’t be there to smooth things over the way he did so well when attention was drawn to one of Chance’s misdeeds.
He tried to take a deep breath, but the air seemed to stop midway into his lungs. He needed to breathe lung-filling breaths that would take away this anxiety squeezing his core. Looking through his kitchen window, he decided that the yard didn’t seem big enough to contain his energy today. He wanted to go to the cave.
Once he’d gotten over the initial trauma of the accident, he’d started to go there often again to think or relax. Lured by its timelessness, he found comfort seeing with his own eyes that some things lasted forever. He could talk to Hank there, and, sometimes if he listened, he could hear Kyndal and him—the way they used to be.
And the dream of having his children to bring here had come true—or it would in less than a year. What a staggering thought.
“Let’s go, girl.” He shrugged into a jacket and attached the leash to Chesney’s collar.
The November air was brisk. It felt good to be outside.
Chesney pulled at the leash, anxious to dash down the path and explore territory different from the yard. He unhooked her and let her run.
Putting off the electric company last week had been a mistake. The underground cable needed to be run so he could install the new security system. He had to keep the cave secure for the little Brennan on the way.
Excitement coursed through his veins. He took off at a full-speed run.
When he rounded the corner that brought the black-hole entrance into view, he stopped and took it all in.
Damn! The place was a mess. The kids had been partying again. And the security engineer had been right. The alarm must have gone off, but he wasn’t home, so it did no good.
Beer cans and liquor bottles were everywhere. Empty bags of snacks and candy wrappers littered the entire area. More than he’d ever seen before. The crowds were getting bigger. He dreaded seeing the inside. A tightness in his gut forewarned trouble ahead.
That and the panties Chesney brought to him. She pranced about, so proud of the treasure she’d found, before dropping them at his feet.
They were small and a delicate pink, and they immediately took him back to the thong Kyndal had worn.
“I’ve never been good enough for you, and my love has never been enough to hold you.”
Her words crashed down on him again. She’d read his mind. She would end up hating him before