The Bakery Sisters (43 page)

“There's no problem,” Raoul said. “I love your daughter, Coach, and I want to marry her.”

Nicole groaned. The kid was not helping.

“I'll kill him,” Hawk muttered. “Get him away from me.”

Nicole pointed to the front door. “Go inside. I'll deal with this.”

“I don't need you to fight my battles.”

She wanted to scream. “You're all so stubborn and convinced you're right. None of you are willing to look at anything rationally.” She pointed at Hawk. “You were so determined to teach your daughter a fairy tale. Why? So what if it was hard? You and Serena loved each other and you had a great marriage. Isn't that what matters?”

Hawk started to speak. “Shut up,” she snapped. “I'm not done.” She turned on Raoul. “And you've bought into the fairy tale. Yes, you've had a hard life and you don't want to give up your child, but you're setting yourself up to fail. You're not being realistic.”

Sheila whined again and pushed her nose into Nicole's leg. Nicole glanced down at her. “This is not a good time.” The dog whimpered and walked to the front door.

Just then another car came tearing around the corner. Brittany parked behind her father's truck. Nicole groaned when she saw the coupe was overflowing with what looked like a lot of personal belongings.

Hawk swore. “I told you to stay in your room. What are you doing here?”

“I hate you, Daddy. You're mean and I'm never going to forgive you.”

Nicole closed her eyes and prayed this wasn't what she thought. Apparently God was busy.

“I'm moving in with Nicole and Raoul,” the teenager announced. “Raoul loves me and Nicole might not get it, either, but at least she's willing to listen.”

“You will get your butt back home this minute,” Hawk told her.

“No, I won't, and unless you're going to drag me there by my hair, you can't make me.”

“I can and I will. You're not seeing Raoul again. Do you understand me?”

“Barn door? Meet horse,” Nicole muttered.

Hawk turned to her. “You're not helping.”

“How surprising.”

Brittany climbed out of her car. “Daddy, you don't understand and until you do, I don't want anything to do with you.”

“You can't stay here,” Hawk told her. “I won't allow it.”

“You don't love me. If you did, you'd be happy for me.”

“Happy that you're throwing your life away? Oh, yeah, this is great. All my dreams have come true.”

Raoul stepped toward Hawk. “You won't talk to her that way.”

“What are you going to do about it, kid? Take me on. You think you can win?”

“Yes.”

“Stop it,” Nicole snapped. “Neither of you are helping.”

Sheila whined again.

Nicole moved between Raoul and Hawk. “There is a lot to consider here and no good solution is going to come from beating the crap out of each other. Besides, if anyone gets to be violent tonight, it's me.”

“There's nothing to consider,” Brittany said, sounding whiny and stubborn. “Raoul and I are getting married and we're going to be very happy together.”

“You're not getting married,” Hawk growled. “You're still seventeen.”

“Why not?” Brittany asked, pushing Nicole aside and standing up to her father. “What's the big deal? You did it and it was fine. Or were you lying? Why are you so upset, Daddy?”

Nicole saw the trapped look in Hawk's eyes. While she was annoyed for how he'd ignored her before, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him now. Besides, she loved the man.

She took a deep breath. “We all need a little time and space. Brittany can stay, but only until everyone cools off.”

Brittany stuck her tongue out at her father.

“That was so mature,” Nicole muttered and held up her hand before Hawk could explode. “In Jesse's room. If I catch either of you trying to share bed space, you're both out. Is that clear?”

The teenagers looked at each other, then reluctantly nodded. Nicole moved in front of Raoul.

“I want you to look me in the eye and give me your word,” she said.

He drew in a breath. “I give you my word I will not sleep with Brittany under your roof.”

“Raoul!” Brittany stamped her foot.

“We have to do the right thing.”

“I'm not giving my permission for this,” Hawk muttered. “Brittany needs to come home.”

“What are the odds of that happening?” Nicole asked.

“You're saying I can't control my daughter?” he demanded, then shook his head. “Don't answer that.”

“I won't.” She touched his arm. “At least we'll know where they are. Raoul gave me his word. I believe him. Do you?”

Hawk nodded slowly.

“You two, go upstairs,” Nicole said. “You can get Brittany's stuff later. Raoul, see if Sheila's hungry.”

The kids went inside.

Nicole waited until they'd left, then turned to Hawk.

“This is all your fault,” he muttered.

She glared at him. “How is that possible? Brittany got pregnant on your watch.”

“You shouldn't have gotten involved.”

“In what? Their lives? Raoul was living in an abandoned building. Was that okay? I'm thinking it's where all the trouble started.”

“I don't want this,” he said, not looking at her. “Any of it.”

Did that
any of it
include them? The night got very cold.

“Hawk,” she began, but he shook his head.

“I can't talk about this now. You wanted them, you got them. I need to think.”

He walked toward his truck.

“Wait,” she yelled. “You can't just walk away.”

“Why not? It's done.”

Was he crazy? They hadn't even begun.

She started to go after him when the front door burst open.

“Hurry,” Raoul called. “It's Sheila. She's having her puppies.”

 

“T
HE CIRCLE OF LIFE
is a whole lot messier than I'd realized,” Nicole said several hours later as Sheila licked her sleeping puppies. The birth had gone smoothly and now there were three tiny, blind newborns nestled against their mother.

Sheila had handled it all like a pro, asking for nothing more than a little company as she delivered her litter. She'd allowed Nicole to move her to a clean bed and had accepted a light meal.

Raoul and Brittany huddled together on the side of the box Nicole had prepared.

“You did good,” Raoul told his dog. Sheila looked up, her eyes half-closed. She thumped her tail once, then was still.

“You have babies,” Brittany whispered. “That was totally incredible.”

Nicole had to agree.

She looked at the teenagers sitting across from her on the floor. Were they even ready for the responsibility they were facing? Did it matter? One way or the other, in about eight months it would be here.

H
AWK WAITED UNTIL
the next afternoon to return to Nicole's house. He figured everyone could use the time to calm down. He ignored the fact that the person who probably needed the time most was himself.

He hadn't slept the previous night—he'd barely stopped pacing. He couldn't shake the anger and sense of betrayal directed toward everyone involved.

Brittany had lied to him. She'd looked him in the eye and flat-out lied. How was that possible? They'd always been close. He'd given up his career to be with her when they lost Serena. She'd always seemed like she had it together, but that wasn't true. And if she'd lied about sleeping with Raoul, what else had she lied about?

He couldn't think about Raoul without wanting to strangle the kid. Being Brittany's boyfriend was one thing, but sleeping with her was something else. Still, he knew he couldn't talk to Raoul until he could imagine the conversation without wanting to beat the shit out of the kid.

Strangely the one who bugged him the most was Nicole. She'd known and hadn't told him. What the hell was up with that? She was the adult in the situation. She should have handled things better. Okay, sure, they'd asked her not to say anything, but so what? He was Brittany's father and he had the right to know.

He pulled up in front of Nicole's house and stared at the structure. What he didn't want to admit was the person he was most angry with was himself. This had happened on his watch. He'd always prided himself on being a father who was involved, who knew the truth. He'd secretly pitied those parents who weren't as cool, as involved. But it had all been a giant joke on him. Where had he screwed up?

When he couldn't find an answer, he left the car and walked up to the front door. Nicole opened before he could knock.

She looked tired and apprehensive. Despite the raging emotions inside of him, he found himself wanting to pull her close and hold her. He wasn't sure if the action was supposed to make her feel better or him.

“I figured you'd drop by,” she said, stepping back to let him in. “You missed the big excitement. Sheila had her puppies.”

“How many?”

“Three. Two girls and a boy.”

He nodded, then glanced toward the stairs. “I want to talk to Brittany.”

“I figured. Are you going to yell at her?”

“Probably.”

Nicole sighed. “Not a great way to start the conversation. You might try listening.”

“She has nothing to say that I want to hear.”

“Then why talk at all?”

He didn't have an answer for that. Nicole shrugged, then headed upstairs. A few minutes later, she returned, without Brittany.

“She's refusing to come out.”

“What did you tell her?” he demanded.

Nicole's expression hardened. “Absolutely nothing, but please, feel free not to believe me. Go up and yell through the door. She'll tell you herself.”

She turned away, then faced him again. “I swear, if I thought I was strong enough, I'd shake you. You do know that I'm on your side, right? Does it occur to you that I understand a little of what you're feeling? I'm not the enemy here. I am not in favor of them getting married. They're both too young and unprepared. I don't even know if they should keep the baby. But hey, go ahead. Yell at me. I'm an easy target.”

He felt stupid and ineffectual. It wasn't a comfortable combination. “I'm sorry,” he muttered. “I didn't expect any of this. She told me she and Raoul weren't having sex.”

“And you believed her?”

He nodded. “She's never lied to be before. I thought she'd tell me.”

“Not a smart assumption.”

“I know.”

She sighed. “So you're done yelling at me?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

She still looked annoyed, but he had a feeling they were going to be okay.

She was nothing like Serena, who had always deferred to him. Nicole did things her way and didn't take any crap from anyone. He kind of liked that.

She led the way into the living room and pointed at the sectional. “Have a seat. This is going to take a while.”

He shook his head and paced to the window. “At least I'm done having kids. I always told myself I was glad I'd had my family early and this only reinforces my opinion.”

Nicole smiled a wicked smile that had him bracing himself. “What?” he asked.

“You're going to have to learn to like kids a little.” She paused. “You're going to be a grandfather.”

He swore under his breath, walked to the sofa and sat down. He could feel his hair turning white as he considered what her words meant. “My baby is having a baby. How is that possible?”

“Your mom didn't have that talk with you?”

“This is not funny.”

“You're going to be a grandfather, Hawk. It's a little funny.”

He ignored that. Brittany pregnant? He'd heard the words before, but this was the first time he understood what they meant. She would be a mother. She would have responsibilities for the rest of her life. Everything had changed.

“I can't do this,” he muttered.

“You don't have a choice.”

Simple words that reminded him of another time and another conversation much like this one. Only he had been the optimistic, slightly defiant, terrified teenager.

“My dad died when I was pretty young,” he said. “I don't remember much about him except he always made my mother cry and she was a strong woman. She raised me herself, teaching me that I had to work for what I wanted and how important it was to dream big. She was always proud of me. The only time I disappointed her was when I told her Serena was pregnant.”

He still remembered the way she'd looked so sad, as if all her hopes and expectations had been crushed. He'd been determined to prove to her that he hadn't screwed up entirely.

“We made it without asking her for anything,” he said quietly. “I wanted that more than anything.” Proving himself to her had meant a lot. Did his opinion matter as much to Brittany?

“Where did I go wrong?” he asked.

Nicole sighed. “I don't have an answer. I want to say you trusted her too much, but maybe it would have happened no matter what. It's what teenagers do. At least some of them. Jesse discovered boys when she was about fifteen. I was horrified, but short of chaining her up in her room, I couldn't stop her. I tried curfews, grounding her, phoning the parents of all of her friends to find out if she was really where she said. But she found a way.”

She leaned back on the cushion. “I can't tell you the exact moment things went wrong and believe me, I've tried to look. I wanted her to have everything she wanted but our definitions of that were different.”

“My mom would be really disappointed by this,” he said. “I don't know what would hurt her more. That Brittany screwed up or that I didn't stop her.”

“Were you listening?” Nicole asked. “How were you supposed to stop her? You had no reason not to trust her.”

“I should have known.”

“Beating yourself up doesn't solve the problem.”

“Meaning don't make it about me.”

“Something like that.”

He barely knew the questions, which meant he wasn't going to find answers anytime soon.

“You're probably going to tell me not to go up there and break in her bedroom door so she has to talk to me.”

“Yes.”

He looked at the ceiling. He'd never not been able to talk to Brittany. They'd always been able to work out their problems. Why did this have to be different?

“I'm still pissed as hell at Raoul,” he muttered, “but I'm losing energy for killing him.”

“I'm sure he'll be excited to know that.”

He leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs. “I don't know what to do.”

“You don't have to do anything right now. Give it a little more time.”

Walking away went against everything he believed, but short of physically dragging Brittany home, did he have a choice?

“I'll give her another day,” he said. “Then she's going to have to face me.”

“That seems fair.”

He stood and walked to the door. “You doing okay?”

“No, but I'll survive. Sheila's puppies are a good distraction.”

“More babies.”

She nodded. “Just to be clear. As soon as she's done nursing, I'm getting her fixed.”

 

N
ICOLE HAD BEEN DEALING
with a headache on and off since Brittany had walked out with the stick that told the world she was having a baby. Now she popped a couple more ibuprofen with a big glass of water, all the while wondering if chocolate or ice cream would make the better chaser.

“I need a vacation,” she muttered, thinking that doing her quarterly taxes for the bakery had never looked so good. Math might not be her thing, but she understood it and it never talked back, slammed doors or glared at her.

She went upstairs and knocked on Brittany's door. “He's gone,” she called. “You can come out now.”

Brittany pulled her door open. Tears streaked her face. “He left? He didn't try to talk to me?”

“You said you weren't going to speak to him. He believed you. Kind of the way he did when you told him you weren't sleeping with Raoul.”

Brittany folded her arms across her chest. “You can't talk to me like that.”

“It's my house, honey. I can talk to you any way I want. I'm cutting you some slack because this all just happened, but the next time your father comes over, you
will
speak to him.”

“Not if I don't want to.”

Raoul stepped into the hallway. At least he was following the rules and staying out of Brittany's room…as far as she knew. Nicole wasn't sure she trusted either of them right now.

“Brittany,” he said gently. “Nicole is helping us.”

Brittany didn't look convinced. “You're telling me what to do.”

“Yes. Mostly because you're a minor and hey, this is still my house.”

“I don't like all these rules.”

“You're free to go home.”

Tears spilled down Brittany's cheeks. “I thought you liked me.”

“Liking you has nothing to do with this situation. You're pregnant. That means it's time to grow up and part of that is having a rational adultlike conversation with your father.”

“He's going to yell at me.”

“Something you deserve.”

Brittany turned to Raoul. “Make her stop being mean.”

Raoul looked helpless.

Nicole felt sorry for him. If they went through with the marriage, he was going to have a tough road dealing with Daddy's little girl. Would having a child help Brittany grow up or would she be one of the drama-queen mothers, insisting on always being the center of the universe? If only they didn't have to find out.

 

H
AWK WAS WAITING
in the backyard of his house, with the barbecue going and a bottle of white wine chilling on ice. Nicole pushed the gate open.

“Is it safe to enter?” she asked, crossing toward him.

“I invited
you
.”

“I thought maybe it was a trap.”

He'd called about an hour ago and asked if she wanted to join him for dinner. She'd been surprised, but had accepted. If nothing else, they had a few things to talk about.

“No trap,” he said as he pulled her against him and kissed her.

Despite everything, she melted into his embrace, getting lost in the feel of his mouth against hers. Lips pressed as heat built. Passion ignited, making her both weak and impossibly strong. The fire between them promised to heal or at least allow them to forget for the moment.

It had never been like this for her before. The speed with which he turned her on. How much she wanted him, wanted them together.

She buried her fingers in his hair and let herself lean on him. His muscles were hard, as was his erection. He dropped his hands to her rear and squeezed.

Wanting escalated into something alive and undeniable. She forgot whatever she'd been planning to say and instead slipped her hands under his polo shirt so she could touch bare skin. He was strong and tempting and everything she'd ever wanted. Their breath mingled as his tongue stroked hers, arousing with every touch.

He released her long enough to turn off the barbecue, then nudge her toward the back door of the house. When they were inside, he grabbed the hem of her T-shirt and pulled it over her head. Even as they kissed and she sucked his lower lip, he unfastened her bra and tossed it away. Then he touched her curves and she was lost.