Beyond Broken (The Bay Boys #3) (32 page)

But she’d expected her period a few days ago and when she voiced her concerns to Kyra, her best friend had brought over a test, just to be sure.
 
For the first time, Maddie had to confront the idea that she could be pregnant.
 
Until a few moments ago, she’d still been in denial.

“We’ll make you a doctor’s appointment, okay?” Kyra whispered, wrapping her arms around Maddie’s trembling body.
 
“Just to know for sure.”

Maddie latched onto that idea.
 
“Yeah, maybe it’s just a faulty test.”

Kyra’s lips pressed together.
 
Even as Maddie said the words, she still knew the statistics.
 
She knew that these tests were usually correct.
 
And she had missed not one, but two periods already.
 
The signs weren’t pointing in her favor, but she still wanted confirmation.

And Caleb…

God, how would she tell Caleb?

“T-this wasn’t the way it was supposed to be,” Maddie whispered into Kyra’s shoulder.
 
“I have another year and a half of school left.
 
I have my internship and my job.
 
How can I possibly have a…a
baby
?”

“We’ll figure it out,” Kyra said.
 
“Let’s just be sure first.”

One doctor appointment later, Maddie wasn’t just sure.
 
She was pregnant.

*
   
*
   
*

“What?” Maddie’s mom asked, wide-eyed.
 
She looked like she’d just been slapped across the face.
 
If Maddie didn’t feel so sick, she would’ve found her expression comical.

Thomas sat next to Mom on the same couch that had always been in the house for as long as Maddie could remember.
 
Unlike her mother, he looked about ready to do murder.

“I got the results from the doctor yesterday,” she murmured, looking down at her lap where her fingers were fiddling.
 
She’d chewed her fingernails down even though she’d never had the bad habit before.
 
“I’m two months along.”

“I can’t believe this,” her mom said, brows furrowing.
 
“I didn’t even know you were seeing someone.”

Thomas was still quiet and Maddie cast him an anxious look.

“I wasn’t seeing him, technically,” she admitted, deciding that she may as well be honest, even as her cheeks heated to unbearable degrees.
 
They would find out eventually.
 
“It’s Caleb,” she said, looking at Thomas.
 
No flicker of recognition lit his eyes until she said, “Caleb Montgomery.”

Thomas went red.
 
“That fucking bastard!” he exploded, rising from the couch.

“Thomas!” her mom scolded.
 
“When you’re under my roof, you’ll watch that mouth of yours!”

It was like Thomas didn’t even hear her.
 
He pointed at Maddie and stalked closer.
 
“How did you even meet him?
 
Where?”

Maddie looked down.
 
“When my car broke down…it was his garage that repaired it.
 
I’ve been doing his bookkeeping to pay off what I owe him.”

“That’s not all you’ve been doing obviously,” Thomas said, his tone quietly furious.

That
stung.
 
A lot
.
 
And then she got pissed.

“How dare you say that,” Maddie said, hands trembling as she stood up from the couch.
 
She poked his chest so he would back up.
 
“You have no right to judge me!
 
It was
my
choice.
 
You think I haven’t been agonizing over this ever since the possibility that I could be pregnant even entered my head?
 
I haven’t been able to sleep!
 
I haven’t been able to eat!
 
I never planned for this to happen.
 
And the least you, my own brother, can do is not attack me when I already feel like shit!”

Thomas looked stunned by her outburst.
 
Then he looked downright aghast when she burst into tears.
 
Sobs racked her body.
 
She was exhausted, both physically and mentally.
 
She’d shed more tears this past week than she had her entire life.
 
She’d been up for almost 50 hours straight.
 
She’d gotten only a handful of hours of sleep ever since she peed on that damn stick and she was at her breaking point.

Maddie felt his arms come around her and he buried his head in her hair.
 
“I’m sorry, Mads,” he whispered.
 
“I didn’t mean it.”

“Yes, you did, you asshole,” she whispered, but her arms came around him regardless.
 
She heard a small, hesitant laugh come from him.
 
Just like that, they were fine.

When they pulled away, Maddie saw her mom crying.

“I’m sorry,” Maddie told her, coming to sit down on the couch beside her, wiping at her own cheeks.
 
“I never wanted to disappoint you.”

“Oh, honey,” she cried, reaching out to touch her cheek.
 
“You’re an adult now.
 
And this is your decision.
 
We’ll stand by you no matter what.”

Maddie wouldn’t lie.
 
She’d spent a lot of time thinking about how easy it would be to make it all go away.
 
She could go on with her life with no disruptions.
 
She could continue school and get her degree on time.
 
She wouldn’t have to be a single mother trying to support herself.
 
She wouldn’t have to move back in with her mom or brother.

But Maddie knew what her decision would always be.
 
She was keeping the baby.
 
It would be difficult, but Maddie would have no regrets.
 
She knew that if she decided to get an abortion, there wouldn’t be a day that would go by where she wouldn’t wonder, where a part of her wouldn’t mourn.

“What did Caleb say?” Thomas asked, his voice tightening when he said his name.

Her heart thudded in her chest.
 
“I haven’t told him yet.
 
I haven’t seen him for a while and I wanted to tell you two first.”

“Do you want me to go with you when you do?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Maddie shook her head.
 
“No, I think I need to do it by myself.”
 
She shot him a look.
 
“Without worrying that you might punch him mid-conversation.”

“He knocked up my baby sister,” he growled.
 
“He has it coming.”

That night, Maddie stayed at her mom’s place in her old room.
 
Her mom fed her until she was stuffed to the gills with lasagne and bread and salad.

“You’re pregnant now, honey.
 
You need to eat for two,” she’d told her.
 
And Maddie couldn’t argue.
 
She’d been neglecting her health for the past week and now that a little bit of the anxiety was lifted after telling her family, she felt a little better.

That night, despite having a full belly, she only slept for a few hours and when she woke up in the morning, she knew that she had to tell Caleb, regardless of what he might say or do.
 
Still, it didn’t stop her from feeling like she was preparing for battle as she showered and dressed.

Either way, she knew he wouldn’t take the news well.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Caleb was distracted as he made his way up to the office.
 
He didn’t notice the familiar car in his parking lot or the knowing, pleased look that Brian shot him as he passed by.
 
He’d had a long morning and afternoon of boxing up his house after he’d dropped Peter off at school and he still wanted to make some headway with the restoration.
 
He was almost finished, although it had been slow going for the past few weeks.

After Peter moved in with him and he fully realized that he’d been sleeping on a couch in a house that he hated, he’d made an easy decision.
 
He needed to move.
 
He needed to put the past behind him and get his shit together.
 
And yes, maybe his uncle had loved that house.
 
And yes, it was the house that Caleb had spent most of his life in.
 
But they were miserable years for him and he’d been holding onto the house for all the wrong reasons.
 
His uncle was gone.
 
He was the only one left and he couldn’t live there.
 
Not anymore.
 
He just couldn’t believe that it had taken him this long to realize it.

When he opened his office door and saw the woman who’d been plaguing his thoughts for the past two months sitting in her chair at the desk he’d made for her, his brain temporarily short circuited.
 
He stared at her, wondering if he was finally losing it, wondering if he was hallucinating.
 
Because no woman in her right mind would come back to him after what he’d done.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, his tone coming out unexpectedly harsh.

Her lips pulled tight for a brief moment and Caleb knew that he’d hurt her, but she rose from her chair to stand before him, something like frightened determination etched into her features.

Caleb quickly shut the door.
 
“I didn’t mean for it to sound that way.
 
You just caught me off guard.”

It wouldn’t be the first time
, he thought.

His eyes drank her in.
 
Frowning, he realized that she’d lost a little weight.
 
Her cheekbones were more prominent, her clothes fitting looser.
 
Peering at her face, he saw dark circles under her eyes.

“You look terrible,” he told her.

Maddie almost smiled.
 
“You were always so charming, Caleb.”

Her voice still sounded the same, lyrical and sweet.
 
Caleb felt something fill inside him that had long been drained.
 
He realized that this was the first time he’d seen her in his office since that night.
 
His gaze automatically trailed to the floor, where he’d last seen her, bound to the desk, naked and waiting.

His gut clenched with dark lust.
 
Voice thick, he asked, “What are you doing here, Maddie?”

She bit her lip, eyes straying to the door like she longed to leave, which didn’t make sense because she’d come here willingly.
 
He certainly hadn’t begged.

Then Caleb realized something else.
 
She was nervous.
 
Caleb slowly approached her, steps evenly measured, until there was only about a foot between them.
 
This close, he could smell her and see every endearing freckle on her face.

“What is it?” he urged.

“I—I was just passing by and…” she started, swallowing.

“Bullshit,” he said, his tone low.
 
“What’s wrong?
 
Are you in trouble?”
 
He couldn’t think of any other reason why she’d be here.
 
His eyes flicked down to her pink lips and watched as she licked them nervously.

His hands clenched at his sides.
 
Fuck, he still wanted her.
 
After two months, he felt starved.
 
Needful.
 
Strung out.

“Or maybe,” he said slowly, “you came for something else.”

Her eyes, sweetly wide, jumped up to his in shock.
 
“Caleb.”

He might never get another chance to taste her lips, so he did something stupid and leaned down.
 
His hand came to grasp the back of her neck and he brushed his lips against her own, softly at first, goddamn chaste to some.
 
No tongue, just the feeling of her soft flesh against his own.

She shuddered when he deepened the kiss.
 
She’d turned him into a kissing fiend.
 
He’d gone almost a decade without kissing a woman and then Maddie came along and he couldn’t get enough.
 
But she tasted so sweet and if Caleb wasn’t careful, he’d become addicted.
 
He feared he already was.

Ever so slightly, she softened against him, as though she couldn’t help herself.
 
Maddie felt it too, whatever this weird pull between them was.
 
They were both helpless against it, reduced to nothing more than thoughtless animals.

She mumbled something against his lips.
 
Feeling like he was drugged, he whispered, “What?”
 
Then he kissed her again, not wanting to go a second without feeling her against him.

But she pulled away.
 
With kiss stung lips, she looked up at him, took a deep breath, and said the words that would change his life forever.

“Caleb, I’m pregnant.”

His brow furrowed.
 
“What?”

“I was a couple months late, so I took a test last week.
 
And then a doctor confirmed it a couple days ago,” she said quickly, eyes turning glassy, words that didn’t make sense tumbling from her lips.
 
“I’m pregnant.”

Maddie looked terrified, but she watched him carefully.
 
And when her words finally hit home, he backed away, running a hand through his hair.
 
A thousand different thoughts streamed into his mind at once.
 
Overwhelmed, he said, “We used a condom.
 
It can’t be mine.”

Hurt and hot fury flashed over her face and Caleb already knew he’d said the wrong thing.
 
He winced when he realized what had just come out of his mouth.