“Maybe…” She pointed her finger at each of us. “You three better keep that to yourselves. I still don’t know for sure, and I haven’t told my husband. I’m picking up a test on the way home and taking it. Hopefully before Braxton gets home.”
Elliot drew an “X” over his heart. “I’ll take it to the grave, girl.”
She narrowed her eyes on Mia and then me. “Promise me.”
“My lips are sealed,” Mia told her, and I nodded.
“This conversation never took place. Now, get your slutty ass home and piss on a stick so we can find out if I’m going to be an auntie again.”
She pinched my arm, hard, making me yelp. I slapped her on the ass when she got to her feet. But before she picked up her purse, she bent and put her lips to my ear, hissing, “You’re one to talk, hoebag. I saw how your face turned green even as you were stuffing your mouth with those fried pickles.”
“Nevi!” I squeaked, turning pleading eyes on her. “Don’t you dare!”
“Lips sealed, little sister.” She kissed my cheek then practically skipped out of the restaurant, her bodyguard right behind her.
“What was that about?” Mia asked, watching her go curiously.
“No clue,” I lied, and her green eyes narrowed on me. For a second, it almost felt as if it were Aunt Emmie giving me that look, and I picked up my phone so I could avoid her gaze.
I’d put my phone on silent when we’d sat down to eat. The three missed calls and texts from Jordan waiting on me made me smile. I couldn’t wait to get home and tell him our news.
Twenty-Four
Jordan
I knew Arella had a busy morning, so I didn’t rush after my meeting. There was something I’d been putting off, but I knew I couldn’t do it any longer and still expect Drake Stevenson to respect me.
He and Lana knew I was with their daughter, but as Arella had suspected, he wasn’t openly welcoming me into the family like he used to do. I needed to fix that because I knew how important her family was to my girl.
Pulling into the Stevensons’ driveway in Santa Monica, I stepped out of my car. The garage door was open, and Drake was standing over a ’67 Corvette. It needed to be restored, and Arella told me it was a project her dad had talked about taking on in the past. Lana had bought the old classic for him as a Christmas present, and he’d slowly been working on it since then.
Beside the car sat a pack ’n play where Nevaeh’s son was sitting up, chewing on a soft version of his grandfather’s expensive new toy. Drake had turned to look at me when I’d first pulled into the driveway, but he’d just as quickly dismissed me and gone back to his task.
Stuffing my hands into my pockets, I walked into the garage. Had I ever been this nervous when having to make multimillion-dollar deals? No, but then again, this was probably the most important deal of my life. If this man didn’t give me his blessing, would Arella even marry me? Her parents were important to her, and I knew that her father was her ultimate hero.
“What do you know about emission testing?” Drake asked in greeting as he stared down at the engine of his classic toy.
“I think you don’t have to worry about that if the vehicle is a ’75 or older in this state,” I told him. “But I could be wrong.”
“Huh,” he grunted. “That’s good, I guess.”
Conrad spotted me and let out a loud shout. I walked over to him and crouched down. He was a drooling machine, and when he grinned, I saw the flash of a tooth that must have recently come in. “Hey there, little man. Are you helping Grandpa?”
“G-Pop,” Drake corrected. “Since Nevi won’t let me teach him to play the guitar yet, I figured I needed to find something else we could play with while bonding.”
Realizing there was no way to just ease into this conversation, and it didn’t look like he was going to help me out in that regard, I pushed down my nervousness and pulled the small box out of my pocket. When I held it out, he stiffened, his blue-gray eyes so much like his daughter’s becoming hooded. “I know I’ve made mistakes in the past few years. I understand why you don’t think I’m good enough. But I swear to