Destiny Undone: The Complete Series Box Set (36 page)

“I’d love to!” Her voice brightened and a smile crept onto my face, too.

“Are you going to be okay tonight?” I wanted to be with her, but in light of the pregnancy news, I had second thoughts. Maybe she’d want to stay with Mills tonight, but either way, I’d call her after their conversation with Fallon and see what was up. I really wanted to kiss her face tonight. Truthfully, I wanted a lot more than that, but it was best to keep those thoughts at bay for the time being.

“Oh, Gabe, I’ll be fine. Talk tomorrow?” She sounded less stressed than when she first called me. Maybe a booty call was what she needed.

“Call if you need anything.”

“I will. I’m pretty sure Fallon is a decent guy. I guess I’ll find out soon.”

For Mills’ sake, I silently echoed the sentiment.

“All right, beautiful… I’m here if you need me.”

“Thanks, babe. Night,” she replied, and then hung up the phone. I leaned back on the sofa and let out a long sigh. If it wasn’t one shit-storm, it was another with these girls. Oh well, could be worse. At least Pepper wasn’t the one who was pregnant.

“Are you ready for this?” I stroked Mills’ arm. She was a nervous wreck and I couldn’t blame her—she was just a kid. We sat in Fallon and Aven’s driveway for at least twenty minutes, trying to summon up the courage to walk in there and tell Fallon he was going to be a father. The news was still hitting me in waves as I continued to process everything. I couldn’t imagine how Mills must have been feeling.

I looked over at her as she stared blankly up at the front door. I wondered what she was thinking. I could have yelled at her but what good would that have done? She was likely to get more than enough scolding down the road—most likely from our mother. Wait, her mother. It was still sinking in that Evangeline wasn’t my biological mother—not that she was much of an adoptive mother to me, either.

I pushed those feelings to the back of my mind. I had enough on my plate and I didn’t need to unpack all those unresolved adoption feelings, too. Although, one fleeting thought brought a smile to my face—the thought of Evangeline as a grandmother. She was going to freak the hell out. For whatever reason, she still pretended she was in her twenties—an image that would be much harder to maintain when your child was going to have a child of her own.

“I wonder how your mother’s going to feel about this,” I blurted out. I knew Mills really didn’t need one more thing to think about, but my internal musing had popped out before I could stop myself.

Mills shot me a dirty look. “She’s your mother, too, Pepper, and I don’t want to get into that right now.”

I stroked her hair. “I know, I’m sorry. I just really wish I could be a fly on the wall when you tell her.”

“Pepper, stop! I’m already freaking out and you’re not helping. It’s not good for the baby!”

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry.” I looked at Mills and squeezed her hand. “Should we go in?”

“Okay.” She let out a long sigh. “I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

I nodded, and we got out of the car and walked up the steps to Fallon’s door. Mills fidgeted and I felt really bad for her. She’d assured me she and Fallon were really in love and their relationship wasn’t just a fling, but I also knew that didn’t necessarily translate into being ready to be parents.

After a few silent moments, Mills took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. The housekeeper let us in and led us through the massive house to Fallon, who was in his studio, mixing music with some friends. Fallon thought of himself as a musician/producer but I’d never heard him play an instrument, or sing a song for that matter. He did know all the local talent, though and he’d helped me find a rocking DJ for Mills’ party, so maybe he had some promise. I glanced at Mills. She looked like she was about to throw up, and I was pretty sure it had nothing to do with morning sickness.

I’d always been protective of her and in that moment, she looked so grown up, but also so small and fragile at the same time. She had her oversized Coach purse on her arm and tottered in her stacked heels. She wore a slate gray mini dress that had a silky, black ribbon along the bottom and absently, I thought, “Hey, she looks pretty good in my dress,” but, now wasn’t the time to get territorial about some clothing.

She found her voice as Fallon looked surprised as he turned to greet us. “Hey, Fallon. I need to talk to you… privately.”

“Sure, just a second, babe. Hey, Pepper! Didn’t see you there. What’s up?” Fallon nodded his head along to the beat playing over his mixer and his small posse of four friends bounced along with him, giving us friendly nods. All I could think of was how disrespectful kids had become. If I’d ever nodded to our guests at home, Daddy would’ve been so disappointed. Daddy. Well, he never really was my daddy now.

I straightened up, swallowed hard and steeled myself before stepping up to Fallon. “She wants to talk to you now, Fallon. It’s important. We need to talk now.”

He shot me a questioning look, then turned back to his pack of buddies. “Okay, okay. Be back in a minute, guys.”

He dropped a quick peck to Mills’ cheek then took her hand and weaved through the house to the terrace. He glanced back at me following them, as though silently wondering why I was here but I kept my cool and didn’t give any indication of what was going on. This was Mills’ moment of truth. Not mine.

Fallon took us outside onto the back deck off the living room that overlooked a series of three swimming pools. The first was Olympic-sized, the next a training pool with an endless wave and finally, a kind of lagoon pool with a floating bar. I’d seen the view before, but it still struck me as beautiful in that moment as I stared out and tried to be as inconspicuous as possible.

I tried not to watch over them but I’d promised Mills I’d stay close by. He looked over at me nervously and I heard him ask, “What’s happening? Is this about your sister?”

“No, it’s about me and you. I asked her to be here.”

“So… are you breaking up with me?” Fallon had gorgeous, dark hair, like his sister, with big, dark eyes and perfect, olive-toned skin. He was quite a handsome guy. I couldn’t help but wonder what their baby would look like.

Mills couldn’t seem to answer for a moment and she just stared at him thoughtfully. “No, that’s not it,” she finally spat out. She moved across the deck and put her purse on a nearby table then turned back to face Fallon. She looked even smaller than usual next to his well over six foot frame.

“What is it, Mills? You’re starting to freak me out.”

“It’s that—well, I don’t know how to tell you this, except to just say it.” I could practically see her trembling, but she finally took a deep breath and spoke. “Fallon, I uh… we uhm… we’re having a baby.” She let a small smile grace her lips as she looked up and waited intently on his reaction.

“What?” He took a step back, a look of sheer horror on his face.

“I know it’s—” Mills started and then stopped when she saw the sharp look Fallon gave her as he glared down at her. I stepped closer, anger building in my stomach.

“What do you mean
what
?
We’re
pregnant!”

He snorted. “No, you might be pregnant, but I’m not. You’re tripping, girl.”

“I’m tripping?” she said. “Fallon! We’ve had sex a gazillion times! I told you to use a condom, but you were too freakin’ horny to listen. Now here
we
are…
we’re
pregnant!” Mills started crying as soon as she stopped speaking and I rushed over to her and gathered her into my arms. She instantly broke into body-wracking sobs against my chest.

A fierce, protective anger seized me and I glared at Fallon, suddenly wishing I had something sharp to throw at him. I hadn’t thought he’d respond like this and obviously, Mills hadn’t seen this coming, either.

Fallon returned my fiery gaze. “There’s no way I’m accepting what you say. You girls are wrong. I can’t be involved in this. I’m too fucking young to be a dad.”

Mills pushed away from me and stopped sobbing as she rounded on Fallon. “What? Too young? You’re not too young to fuck me, you piece of shit!”

Go, sis!
She was only saying what I’d been thinking.

Fallon scoffed. “How do I even know that baby is mine? God only knows how many guys you’ve been fuckin’!”

“Oh, my God! You know it’s yours. I was a virgin, you asshole!” Mills cried out.

I’d heard enough. I couldn’t take anymore and I stormed across the deck, reared my arm back, and delivered a whipping slap across his smug face as hard as I could. “Don’t you ever talk to my sister like that! She’s no tramp and you know it. You’re just too fucking weak to accept your responsibilities.”

He held his cheek and his expression was a mix of shock and amusement. “Like you, you mean?”

“Fuck you, Fallon. You’re not good enough for Mills or the baby.” I turned to my little sister, who’d resumed crying her eyes out. “Come on, sweetie. You don’t need this piece of shit hanging around. We’ll figure this out together.”

Then I heard Aven call out in the background, “Pepper? Is that you?”

“I’m out here, Aven.”

Aven stepped out onto the deck. “I didn’t know you were coming—” Her voice fell away as she shifted her gaze between Mills and me squared off against her brother, who now sported a red welt across his jaw.

“Yeah, sorry, I should have called but we’re not staying. Mills and I are leaving. Right now.”

“What’s going on?”

I didn’t hesitate to fire back the answer. “Mills is pregnant and Fallon is trying to say it’s not his.”

“What? Fallon? What the hell?” She turned to face her brother and crossed her arms. “What are you trying to say? You know Mills isn’t like that at all. Idiot.”

“You’re my sister. You’re supposed to back me up.” He turned his glare from us to Aven but she put her arms around Mills, who was finally starting to calm down.

“You need to go inside and tell those punks to go home so you can have a real conversation with your girlfriend.”

He made a gesture to show he was washing his hands of the entire situation. “I don’t have time for this shit. I’m out.” He walked away and nobody called after him. I let Aven hang onto Mills while I rummaged through her purse for some tissues. She needed them since her makeup was running all over face.

Aven still glared at the door her brother had disappeared behind. “Give him some time to think about things. He’ll do the right thing, I’m sure of it. If he doesn’t, I’ll kick his ass.” Aven hugged her again and then I took over to wipe up her makeup.

“I can’t believe he thinks that way about me—and what he said to you, Pepper. I’m sorry. I swear I never said that. This is all my fault. I can’t believe how stupid I’ve been.”

“No, no. Not another word. This is a baby we’re talking about here. It takes two people to make a baby. Don’t think like that.” I hugged her and smoothed her hair.

“I want to go home. I might as well talk to Dad. He’s probably going to throw me out.” She grabbed her purse and walked towards the French doors that led into the house.

I hurried to follow her, knowing her new resolve wouldn’t last long and stopped briefly to squeeze Aven’s hand on the way. “Thanks, girl. I so appreciate you.”

“I’ve got your back, Pep. Take care of your sister and call me if you need me. I’ll keep you posted on this jerk.”

“Thank you. That means a lot.”

Mills and I drove to Doug’s house in silence and pulled up briefly outside. His car was is in the driveway. I glanced at Mills and behind her big sunglasses, I could tell she was afraid, but she didn’t need to be. Doug would never put her out or cut her off.

We pulled into the driveway and I smiled at her. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”

She leaned back against the seat and sighed. “How could I let this happen? I’m supposed to be so much smarter than this.”

“You are smart, but sometimes we follow our hearts and don’t listen to our brains. It happens, Mills. You won’t be the first or the last. All you can do now is be a good mommy.
That
I know you can do.” I gave her a warm smile, and we both got out of the car.

“You’ll stay with me, right?” she asked when we got to the front porch.

“I’ll be here every step of the way, but I’m not moving back in right now. I’m only a phone call away if you need me though and I’m sure Doug is going to be nothing but supportive.”

She nodded in agreement, but her lower lip trembled for a moment as she pushed the front door open and we went inside. We walked across the hall and found Doug in his study. I loved this room. It overlooked the ocean and there was a wall of bookcases that held shells we’d collected over the years. It was kind of a hobby of his but he was no ordinary shell-hunter. He preferred scooping up shells from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico rather than sifting for shells on the beach, except when he was with us. As kids, we’d spent many days looking for blue, pink and multi-colored seashells on the shore.

“Hi, Pepper, Mills. Nice to see you girls home. What are you up to today?” He took off his silver-framed glasses and tossed them on the desk.

Before either of us could answer, Mills broke into a sob and collapsed down onto the couch with her face pressed into her hands. Without wasting a second, Doug jumped up, sat by her side and put his arm around her.

“Hey, what is it? Is it your mother? Did she do something?”

Mills shook her silky, blonde head. “No, Daddy. This has nothing to do with her. This is all about me.” Her head was still in her hands but her tears had subsided. She lifted her head and wiped them off her face. “Daddy, I’m… me and Fallon…”

I sat down on a nearby chair and tried to stay quiet and out of the way. I wanted Mills to do this for herself.

“I’m pregnant, Daddy,” and then she started sobbing again.

My heart was breaking for her, and I felt beyond helpless watching her fight through the pain and tears. I knew Doug would do the right thing, but I couldn’t help but hold my breath while I waited for him to speak.

He froze on the couch for a second and then stroked her hair. “I’m glad you told me, Mills. I know it took courage to come to me like this. I’m here. Pepper’s here. We’ll get through this together.”