Legacy (Steel Brothers Saga #14) - Helen Hardt Page 0,19
doesn’t have to be anything big.”
“I’ll help you plan it,” Patty said. “We’ll have— Oh, no!”
“What?” I asked.
“You won’t be living in our room anymore, will you?”
“No,” Brad said. “After we’re married, she’ll move into the townhome with me, and we’ll finish the school year. Then we’ll move to the ranch.”
“I’ll miss you,” Patty said.
“I’ll miss you too, but you’ll probably get your own room, at least for the rest of this semester.”
Her green eyes gleamed. “That could be fun.”
Ennis turned and met Patty’s gaze.
Was that a spark that just shot between them? Ennis wasn’t dating anyone that I knew of. He’d made out with a blonde during orientation week, but other than that, I hadn’t seen him with a woman.
Patty and Ennis…
I liked the idea.
I hoped they would too.
Quiet descended on the table again when the server delivered our pizza. Now that our news was out in the open, I was happy not to talk.
I bit into a slice of Colorado’s second-best pizza with mushrooms and peppers. No pepperoni unless I knew it had come from humanely raised animals.
My mother never left my mind.
I couldn’t help thinking I was the cause of her suicide attempt. I wanted to press “pause” on this whole thing and wait until my mother recuperated.
But I couldn’t.
My little dove wouldn’t stop growing just because my mother had done the unthinkable.
Thank God she hadn’t succeeded.
I needed my mother, now more than ever.
Chapter Fifteen
Brad
The week went by without incident. Knowing Wendy couldn’t show up at my place unannounced put my mind at ease. Daphne had made arrangements with the school to live off campus, but she didn’t want to move in until we told my parents.
Which we would do shortly.
I drove up the long driveway to the ranch house. My home.
I’d called earlier to tell my mother we were coming. She was excited to meet Daphne. I hoped she’d continue her excitement after we told her our news.
Daphne was biting her lower lip, and her rosy cheeks were paler than normal.
“Nervous?” I asked.
She nodded. “Aren’t you?”
“No. Not really. We’re both over eighteen. What can they do?”
“Cut you off?”
I laughed. “Is that what you’re worried about? Listen, I’m their only child plus the only person who knows how to run this operation as well as my father does. But even if they did cut us off, I’d find a way to support you and our baby.”
She smiled. “I know you would.”
“So no worries, okay?”
She nodded again.
“Come on.” I got out of the truck and opened the passenger door for her. Then I pulled our bags out and carried them to the door.
Ebony and Brandy jumped on me when I entered.
“Hey, girls.” I petted them both.
Daphne dropped to her knees, letting both of them pepper her with licks and kisses. The smile on her face as she hugged my dogs was worth every dollar of the Steel fortune.
To me, at least.
Belinda, our housekeeper and cook, walked out from the country kitchen. “Mr. Brad! Your mother’s in the greenhouse and your father’s at the office. They’ll both be here in about a half hour for dinner. That gives you and Miss Daphne time to settle in.”
“Thanks, Belinda.” I led Daphne to the room she used a few weeks ago. “Do you need to…I don’t know. Change or anything?”
“I’ll just run a brush through my hair.”
“Okay. I’ll come get you when it’s time for dinner.”
“Brad?”
“Yeah?”
“Could you stay with me for a few minutes?”
“Sure.” I sat down on the bed and patted the spot next to me. “Everything okay?”
She nodded. “My mother… What should we tell your parents?”
“Whatever you want to tell them.”
“I’m not sure it’s a good idea to get into all that. Not yet, anyway. I don’t want to talk about it. I want to be happy about our news, and talking about what’s going on with my mother isn’t going to make me happy.”
I touched her soft cheek. “I want you to be happy, Daphne.”
“I know. I want you to be happy too.”
“You make me happy.”
She smiled, turned into my hand, and kissed my palm. The warmth of her kiss surged through me. Yeah, it turned me on, but more than that, it made me feel loved—more loved than I’d ever felt in my life.
This woman loved me. She’d love our baby with the same feverish intensity.
When Daphne Wade loved, she loved with everything she had.