What Might Have Been: Daniels Brother #4 (Daniels Brothers) (22 page)

“I didn’t mean to bother you, if you’re busy.”

“It’s fine. Really. If someone comes up to talk to Max, they can wait. He’s supposed to be at lunch anyway, but it got canceled at the last minute.” Abby pulled out one of the big chairs and took a seat. “How’s your day going?”

“Not bad, so far. Of course, it would be going much better if we both would’ve blown off work and stayed in bed all day.” He’d lowered his voice and it reminded her of the way he’d hummed in her ear as he’d slowly washed her body earlier that morning in the shower.

Abby felt her cheeks heat as she remembered everything they’d done a few hours earlier.

“You’re blushing, aren’t you?” he asked.

“Yes. You can’t say things like that to me while I’m at work.” She fanned herself with one hand, trying to get the coloring in her face to go away.

He laughed. “I love it when you blush, baby.”

Whenever he called her
baby
, her belly did a little flip. If he kept up the flirting, she was never going to recover.

Abby knew she needed to change the direction of their conversation. “What all did you do today?” And before he could answer she added, “And don’t say think of me.”

Trent chuckled. “You know me too well.”

Abby grinned. She did know him well. Even though they’d been apart for more than a decade, he was still the same amazing guy he’d always been. “I do. So don’t give me a line, because I’ll know.”

He sobered. “It’s never just been a line with you, Abby. I hope you know that.”

“I do.” That was the problem. If he was just giving her a line, she could pretend the feelings she was experiencing regarding him weren’t real.

“Good,” he said, and she could tell he was smiling again. “And to answer your question, it’s been a fairly boring day up until about a half hour ago.”

“What happened a half hour ago?”

He told her about Trinity coming into his office, and then about his phone call with his brother. She knew it would happen. The Daniels family was close like that. Seeing it happen and having her be the one on the opposite side of things, however, was an entirely different matter.

“Maybe us seeing each other isn’t such a good idea,” she said, even though she felt her heart breaking just thinking about it.

“Don’t talk like that. Emotions are running high right now. Give everyone a couple of days to digest everything and I’m sure it will figure itself out.”

“What if it doesn’t?”

“It will.”

Abby grinned. “Always so confident.”

“In this I am.”

“Why?” she asked. “You can’t tell me that you have a shortage of women knocking down your door, Trent Daniels. I know better.”

“Jealous?” She could imagine him waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Abby rolled her eyes. “I’m just saying that I’m not the only fish in the sea.”

“You are as far as I’m concerned.” His tone was matter-of-fact.

How could he be so sure? They’d only spent one night together. Well, two nights if you counted him holding her in his arms the night before as she’d cried herself to sleep.

“Does that scare you?” he asked.

“A little.” Not as much as it probably should have. “There are so many things—”

“We’ll figure them out.”

There was no use arguing with him. “And your family?”

“They want me to be happy.”

Abby knew the rest without him having to say it. She’d seen it in his eyes the night before, felt it in every touch of his hands, every brush of his lips against her skin. Trent might like to flirt, but he was being dead serious. She was who he wanted and he would move heaven and earth to make it happen.

Her history with his brother was a huge stumbling block, as was the fact that she didn’t technically live or work in Ohio. Her life, her career, was in New York.

“Abby?”

She blinked and cleared her throat. “Sorry.”

“Where did you go?”

“Just thinking about all the things I have to do to this afternoon. I should get back. Max is probably off the phone by now.” She hated to lie to him, but there was no reason to beat a dead horse. They’d talked about all this before.

“Okay. I’ll see you tonight. Did you want to go out, or would you rather stay in?” he asked.

As tempting as staying locked inside her apartment was, she needed a change of scenery. “I think I’d like to get out of the house, if you don’t mind.”

“I’ll pick you up at six thirty. Be ready.”

The way he said it made her laugh. “I will.”

Almost as soon as she’d disconnected the call, the conference room door swung open and Max barged in. “There you are.”

She held up her cell.

A scowl crossed his face. “I guess I don’t need to ask who it was.”

She stood and made her way toward the door. Instead of answering him, she asked a question of her own. “Were you able to find out anything?”

He knew she was referring to the call he’d been on for the last hour and a half. “Yes. We’ve narrowed things down to the who. Now all we have to do is figure out the why.”

“Emily?” Abby asked, referring to Max’s father’s personal assistant. Make that former personal assistant. She had made a mess of everything else. Why not this as well?

“Yes.” Max ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “I’m still trying to understand why Dad gave her so much control when she clearly had no clue what she was doing.”

Abby shrugged. “Maybe he didn’t think he had a choice.”

“He could have called me.”

“Sometimes it’s hard to admit when you need help. Especially to the ones you love.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Max said.

She tilted her head down and raised her eyebrows as if to say, ‘so?’

He snorted. “You do nothing for my ego.”

Abby waved her hand in front of her, dismissing his comment. “Like you need any help with your ego. It’s big enough as it is.”

He rocked back on his heels and grinned at her.

She rolled her eyes and exited the room.

Max followed. “Have you had lunch yet?”

“Have you forgotten so soon that I was in there on a personal phone call? Wow. Your memory’s slipping.”

It was his turn to roll his eyes. “Food, Abby. Have you eaten food?”

“I figured I’d just grab something out of the vending machines downstairs and eat at my desk.”

“I’ll take that as a no.” He took hold of her arm and redirected her toward the elevator. “This way.”

“Where are we going?”

“I’m starving. Both for food and for some decent company.”

Abby halted in her tracks. “Hold on. If we’re going out, I need to get my purse.”

He waited for her to run back to her desk and retrieve her purse from one of the drawers.

“Got everything now?” he asked.

She was tempted to stick her tongue out at him. “Yes. Come on, let’s go before I change my mind and decide I’m the one who needs some decent company.” Abby delivered the last sentence with a smile.

He chuckled as he pushed the button for the elevator. “What would I ever do without you, Abby? You’re the one who keeps me grounded.”

She didn’t respond, but her thoughts drifted to Trent. His business was here. There was no way he could move to New York. In fact, she knew that if he did, he would hate it.

It was then that she realized her feelings for him were just as strong as his were for her. Despite what was going on with his family, she was thinking about a future with him.

The elevator doors opened and she stepped inside. How had her life changed so drastically in such a short period of time?

***

Almost as soon as Trent hung up the phone with Abby, his mom called. He’d known it was coming, but that didn’t make it any easier. “Hey, Ma.”

“How are you doing?”

Her question caught him off guard a little. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? You’d tell me if you weren’t, right?” Paul was right. She sounded really worried.

“Of course.”

She continued as if he hadn’t answered. “Chris called me this morning. Well, Elizabeth called and made Chris get on the phone.”

Trent’s chest vibrated with amusement. He could see his sister-in-law doing that. She was extremely stubborn when she wanted to be.

“He told me about Abby and what happened. The baby. He also said you were there with Abby when she told him.” His mom paused for a long moment. “I could tell there was something between the two of you when she was here Sunday for dinner. I may be worried about Chris and what he’s going through right now, but that doesn’t mean I’m any less worried about you.”

“I’m fine, Ma,” he said again. Compared to Chris his issues weren’t even a blip on the radar.

“Are you? Really?” For some reason she didn’t believe him.

“Yes. Other than being worried about Chris and Abby, I’m good.” That wasn’t entirely true, but his mom didn’t need to know that. She had enough on her plate already.

“How is Abby? I thought about calling her, but I didn’t know if she’d want to talk to me.” The hesitancy in his mother’s voice unsettled him. His mother was usually a rock, especially in uncertain situations.

“She’s afraid we all hate her. I’ve been trying to convince her that’s not the case.”

His mom was quiet for several moments. “While I don’t understand why she kept this to herself all these years, I don’t hate her. I don’t think your brother does either, as hurt and angry as he is right now.” Her voice got quieter as she continued. “I remember what it was like to be twenty. I can’t imagine being single and finding out I was pregnant. Maybe I would have done the same thing. I don’t know. We can never know until we are in that position.”

A smile pulled at the sides of Trent’s mouth. His mom was an incredible woman. But he’d always known that. “Did Chris tell you the two of them are going to New York this weekend?”

She was quiet for too long.

“Ma?”

“Yes. Your brother did tell me. I understand why he wants to go, but I do wish he’d let someone go with them. I just don’t want them to be alone. Either of them.”

While Trent felt the same way, he tried to soothe his mom’s fears. “Maybe he feels like it’s something they have to do alone. I mean . . . it was their baby after all.”

“You’re not telling me anything I haven’t told myself, son. Unfortunately, that doesn’t ease my worry. I know your brother. He may seem like a tough guy on the outside, but inside he’s a big softie and this has hit him hard.”

That was true. The last time he’d seen Chris anywhere close to this was when he had walked in on his best friend in bed with his wife. It took a lot for Chris to lose his tough guy exterior, and Trent was pretty sure this was the biggest blow he had ever received.

“I should go,” she said, although it didn’t sound as if that’s really what she wanted. “Your dad and I have some errands to run this afternoon and I’ve been on the phone for most of the day talking to your brothers.”

Trent strolled over to the tall filing cabinet along the far wall, cradling the phone against his shoulder. “Tell Dad I’ll be over Saturday to help with the flower beds.”

“All right.” She paused. “And Trent?”

“Yes?”

“I love you. I love all my boys and I always will. No matter what. Remember that.”

He’d begun digging through the drawer, but he stopped when he heard the catch in her voice. “I know, Ma. We love you, too.”

It was almost as if he could see her smiling through the phone. “Call me if you need anything.” She hesitated. “And give Abby a hug from me.”

“I will.”

After saying goodbye to his mother, Trent returned his attention to the files in front of him. It was strange how the human brain worked and what triggered a memory. When his mom mentioned Chris and Abby’s upcoming trip to New York, he’d started thinking about the city. The people. The cars. The cameras everywhere. It reminded him of the reason he’d had the security camera installed in the first place.

Three years ago, they’d had some mulch go missing. The only reason he’d noticed was that they were a much smaller crew back then and ten bags meant a lot more to the bottom line than they did now. He’d called a security company and had them install the camera.

What he was looking for now was the invoice from the security company. It would have a date on it. Something told him that was important. He didn’t know why, but if he’d learned nothing else from his big brother Paul, it was to always follow your gut even if it didn’t make sense at the time.

After spending almost twenty minutes searching through the filing cabinet, Trent moved into the storage room. He knew it was in the building somewhere. He only had to find it.

It took him almost two hours going through eight different boxes, but he found it. He scanned the papers several times, hoping something would jump out at him. What, he had no idea.

An hour later, he was no closer to figuring anything out than when he’d walked into the storage room. Trinity had come to check on him once. He’d made some excuse about wanting to double-check something for a client. She’d offered to help, but he assured her that he had it under control. He hated not being able to trust anyone.

Putting everything back in the boxes, including the paperwork he’d been staring at for the past hour, he ambled out of the back room with the date of March tenth seared into his brain.

“Find what you were looking for?” Trinity asked as he passed by her desk.

“Yeah.”

She frowned and he realized that hadn’t come out sounding all that confident.

“Just took longer to find than I thought it would.”

Knowing he needed to get her mind off what he’d been doing, he asked for an update on the Keller job. She’d been putting some figures together for a new water feature they wanted to add. 

At five thirty, he locked up and headed home. If he and Abby were going out, then he needed a shower and a change of clothes. While digging through boxes wasn’t as dirty as field work, he felt as if he’d been coated in a layer of dust.

He got ready as swiftly as possible. Even though he’d spoken to Abby a few short hours ago, the desire to hold her close was increasing with every breath. In three days, she and his brother would be flying off to New York. He had no idea how that would go, and he wanted to solidify his position in her life before then. She needed to understand that he wasn’t going anywhere.