If Only (6 page)

She laughed, her voice hoarse and her eyes filling with tears. Her hands tugged affectionately on his short dark hair as he looked up at her, his brown eyes twinkling.

He grinned boyishly as he continued speaking, “Now you listen to me, young lady. You’re giving your mama one heck of a time. After all she’s doing for you! Give her a break for the rest of the day. Who knows? Maybe there’s a pony in it for you.”

Bree laughed as she reached for her husband. She settled her head against his muscular chest and closed her eyes. “Come here, you knucklehead. You’re going to give this child a complex if it turns out to be a boy!”

He crossed his arms against his chest and looked at her with determination in his eyes. “Trust me, it’s a girl. A father knows these things.”

She stuck out her tongue playfully at him. “Long live the king,” she murmured, cheekily.

He laughed as he wrapped his arms around her, and then he turned to look at the clock on the nightstand. Winking playfully at his wife, he murmured, “And don’t you forget it, woman.” He peered down at the watch on his left wrist and then looked at his wife. “I’m going to duck out for a little while.”

Bree watched her husband as he got off the bed and walked over to the large walk-in closet to retrieve his leather bomber jacket. “Going to see your other woman?” she interrogated with a giggle.

He crooked a finger at her and gave her a flirtatious wink. “You’re just one of many, baby,” he joked. Scott stepped back to the side of the bed and tucked Bree in, wrapping the blankets around her lithe frame.

“No one else would put up with you,” she smirked.

Giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, he asked, “Do you think you’ll feel up to some breakfast later?”

She nodded with enthusiasm. “By the time I woke up yesterday after you had left, I was starving!”

He grinned as he slipped his jacket on. “That’s my girl! I’ll bring something back. Any requests?”

“Anything that won’t eat me,” she replied with a grin.

Scott gave her a sly wink and tucked his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “Get some sleep, baby.” He took his hands out of his pockets just long enough to blow her a kiss. “I love you, Red.”

Bree chuckled as she blew him a kiss in return. “I love you too, you goofball. Drive safely, handsome!” she murmured sleepily as she laid her head back against the pillow and closed her eyes with a happy smile on her face.

* * * *

Scott’s lips were moist and warm as he rained gentle kisses on her face and forehead. His strong hands roamed freely down the long length of her body, caressing her womanly curves. His lips followed their path, his soft kisses tracing the outer curve of her ear, brushing against her bare shoulders and down the small of her back.

Bree rolled over in bed, groaning with feminine pleasure as heat consumed her body. Moisture pooled at the apex of her thighs, her breath beginning to come in short gasps.

He gave her a wicked grin as his arms grabbed her by the waist. “Hey, sexy,” he drawled with a devilish glint in his chocolate brown eyes.

Her arms circled his neck as she brushed a kiss against his temple. “Hey, stud,” she murmured with a breathless chuckle.

“I have come with sustenance for my pregnant princess,” he proclaimed as he lifted two Styrofoam cups out of a cardboard drink holder. He handed one to Bree and watched her as she blew on the steaming liquid.

She looked up to catch her husband staring at her. She blushed. She had known Scott long enough to know what was on his mind. She had been so afraid that when he discovered her pregnancy he would no longer desire her, but it seemed as though just the opposite had happened. He seemed to be more attracted to her than ever. For the first time in a long time, a man found her sexy and desired her, and she was discovering she was enjoying that feeling.

“Ooh, hot chocolate with whipped cream!” she exclaimed after lifting the plastic lid of her cup and peering inside. A warm feeling rushed through her body, and Bree reached over to examine the paper bag holding their breakfast. She laughed at herself when her stomach rumbled with hunger. She looked up to see her husband grinning at her. She shrugged her slender shoulders, embarrassed. “What else did you bring me?”

Scott grabbed the paper bag from her grasp and held it behind his muscled back. “No way, woman. Where’s my reward?” he demanded.

She sat cross-legged on the bed quietly for a minute, as if she were thinking intently on what it was he could possibly want. “Hmm,” she murmured. “I want my food now!” she insisted.

He made a buzzer sound, indicating she had given him the wrong answer. “No. Try again. Do you need a hint?”

Bree pressed her body tightly against his. She could feel his rippled muscles underneath her fingertips. She pouted as she touched his lips with one of her fingers to silence him.

“Please?” she inquired, her voice husky.

Scott sighed dramatically as he relinquished the paper bag to her. She pounced on it with a look of anxious anticipation, releasing a squeal when she examined the contents. “Biscuits with sausage gravy!” she cried.

She perused her husband with a thoughtful look. She lunged toward him, wrapping her arms around him as she exclaimed, “Thank you, baby! You’re such a sweetheart!”

He chuckled as he grimaced. “Please try to remember that when you’re in labor for eighteen hours.”

She stuck out her tongue at his remark as she opened her container of food and then poked him in the ribs with her plastic fork. “You’d better pray that doesn’t happen, buddy,” she warned. “Or you’ll be sleeping in the guest room for the remainder of our marriage.”

Scott threw his body backward onto the bed, resting his arms behind the back of his head. “Do you think it’s too early to begin talking about names?” he queried.

She placed her container onto the nightstand just long enough to shove his booted feet off the bed. “No shoes on the bed, buster,” she stated.

He sighed, gazing at her, his expression wounded. “Woman, you wear me out,” he complained.

Bree winked at him, grinning over a mouthful of food. “But you love me anyway,” she murmured. She watched her husband for a few minutes and then added as she continued eating, “Aren’t you eating anything?”

He shook his head at her question. “No, baby, I wasn’t hungry.”

She frowned. “Well, I feel bad now. So you went out just to let me sleep and to get me breakfast?”

“No, baby,” he claimed. “I had a couple of things to do while I was out.”

Bree looked at her husband, her expression curious. “Like what?”

Scott replied, “I ran to the office for a minute to remind Monica we had today off, and then I went to the bookstore to pick up a couple of books. No big deal,” he stated.

She stuck another forkful of food into her mouth while she watched her husband suspiciously. He wasn’t telling her everything. He was hiding something from her, and she was dying to know what. Deciding to change the subject, Bree asked, “Back to what you mentioned, what names did you have in mind for the baby?”

He sighed, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know. What name do you like for a boy?” he questioned, grabbing a handful of her copper curls and wrapping the loose tendrils around his finger.

“We could always name him Blake after your father,” she suggested. Scott’s father had died several years before of a sudden heart attack. “And maybe Lucas, after your brother, for the middle name,” she offered.

“That’s a good idea,” he agreed. “What about for a girl?”

“I don’t know. What do you think about Ashleigh?” Bree questioned.

Scott grinned as he murmured, “Why don’t you go ahead and say what you really want to name our daughter?”

She looked at her husband innocently—a little
too
innocently. “Why, whatever do you mean, my darling husband?”

“I don’t know just who you think you’re kidding,” he said. “You and I both know you’re dying to name this kid Mariah if it should turn out to be a girl.”

She stared at her husband with mock surprise. “Why I never even thought about that!”

Bree sighed as he glared at her, crossing his arms against his chest. She had to admit it, she was busted. She slowly lowered her gaze. Her husband knew her way too well. Looking up, she saw Scott’s self-satisfied smirk, and she wanted to reach across the bed and smack that smug expression right off his face.

He reached over and grabbed Bree by her waist, pressing her body up against his as he nuzzled her neck. She giggled as she snuggled closer to him, her head burrowing against his chest.

“So what are we doing today, my love?” she questioned.

He reached over and touched the tip of her nose with his finger. “That’s for me to know and for you to find out.”

Bree was in the process of giving her pigheaded husband a piece of her mind when suddenly her attention was diverted by the changing weather outside. She leaped off the bed and raced to the window for a better look. “Look, Scott,” she said dreamily, “it’s snowing!”

He watched her with a funny grin on his face as she danced around their bedroom. This morning she had changed into a long-sleeved pink nightgown that brushed against her ankles as she walked. Her bare feet were frolicking lightheartedly across the carpet, adorned with pale pink nail polish.

She whirled around to see Scott eying her intently. She could only imagine what she must look like. Her hair was probably scattered in all directions, her face all scrunched up and red. She self-consciously tried to pat her hair down as she crossed her arms against her chest. She looked over at him and grinned. Sighing with happiness, she ran into his strong arms.

Bree felt like she was walking on air as Scott recovered from his obvious surprise and spun her around in small circles, her hair flying every which way. She bathed his face in kisses, beginning at his temple and working her way down to his jawline. She had never in her wildest dreams imagined she could be this happy. She was with Scott again, the man who had always made her feel special and loved. She was married to this incredible man, and she was carrying his child.

Her life had gone from being a nightmare to being a fairy tale, and while she feared it wouldn’t last, she had never dreamed she could be so happy and fulfilled. It was almost too good to be true. She subconsciously wrapped a few loose tendrils of hair around her finger, twisting them in lazy circles. “Back to names for the baby,” she spoke, her expression dreamy. “How about we name her Mariah Lucille for a girl? After your mother.”

He nodded in agreement. “Mom would be tickled pink. I called her just this morning and told her.”

Not paying attention to what her husband was saying, she continued, “I know your mother’s death must have been extremely difficult for you. I wanted to call you, I truly did, but I was just so afraid it would be intrusive and inappropriate.” Nibbling on her lower lip thoughtfully, she questioned, “Lucy didn’t suffer, did she?”

Scott looked over at her with confusion etched on his face. “What the hell are you talking about? I just spoke to her this morning!”

Bree continued to nibble on her lower lip as she gazed at her husband. Oh, heavens. He didn’t know. She counted backward in her head and then gasped aloud, covering her mouth with one hand. It was almost Christmas! Lucy had made the announcement about her illness at Christmas while the entire family had been gathered together. From what Scott’s sister, Susan, had previously told her, it had been a miserable holiday for everyone, and it had happened years after she and Scott had broken up. She had been out of the picture by then and married to Bryan. She sat down on the bed, cradling her head in her hands. “Oh, my,” she murmured as she looked at his face. “What have I done?”

He walked over to his wife and crouched down beside the bed. “Bree, baby,” he whispered. “Honey, do you know something I don’t know?”

She nodded wordlessly as tears began to roll down her cheeks. Scott’s arms wrapping around her was nearly her undoing.
Should I tell him the truth or let his mother be the one to tell him?

*

His heart seemed to stop as he stared at his wife in disbelief. He could hear the sound of her quiet cries, but it was like he wasn’t really seeing her. His body was numb all over, and his hands started to tremble. Slowly, he sank down onto the bed beside her. Reaching over and grasping her delicate hand in his, he started piecing things together in his mind. Her entire story had seemed so farfetched at first, but now he was beginning to wonder if somehow, some way, what she was saying was really the truth. He knew she wouldn’t deliberately lie to him, but her explanation had just seemed too incredible to be believed. He had thought maybe she had simply had some kind of bizarre dream, but as he looked over at her, it dawned on him that maybe she was only speaking the truth.

*

Her husband’s fingers threaded through her own as she took a deep breath, observing his reaction. She could tell by the skeptical look on his handsome face that he was trying to figure out whether or not he should believe her. She sighed as she traced the sharp curves of his face. “I’m so sorry, baby,” she apologized. “I just didn’t think before I spoke.”

When Scott finally spoke, his voice was gruff. “How did it happen?” he asked with a huge lump lodged in his throat. Even though he didn’t really want to know, he felt like he needed to know.

She ran her fingers through his short dark hair. “She had lung cancer,” she explained. She gasped when Scott’s hand tightly clenched hers. “She made her announcement on Christmas morning at the breakfast table, from what Susan told me.”

“You kept in contact with my sister even after we had supposedly broken up?” he asked with an uncertain expression on his face.

Bree nodded slowly as she cleared her throat. “After your mother died, Susan contacted me. Talking to me seemed to help her cope with the loss. We talked about your mother and what was going on in Susan’s life. The only thing we never discussed was you,” she confessed as her gaze focused on her hands, folded in her lap. “I made her swear she would never talk about you. It was just too painful. And to be completely honest, I didn’t want to know who you were dating or whether or not you had married. I had made my choice, and, as unbearable as my marriage was, I was determined I wasn’t going to come crawling back to you, begging you to forgive me. I was too afraid you would either hate me or laugh in my face.”