Sweet Talk Boxed Set (Ten NEW Contemporary Romances by Bestselling Authors to Benefit Diabetes Research plus BONUS Novel) (34 page)

“Our bodies are amazing vessels, Jade,” Brianna said. “Some women don’t know they’re pregnant until they’re five or six months along, and I’m sure lots of them have wine now and again. Is this your first missed period?”

“I think so.” She was too overwhelmed to think straight.

While Savannah and Brianna planned Jade’s baby’s life, she and Riley sat on the couch waiting for Max.

“You know that if you are pregnant, it’s okay, right, Jade? You’re just freaking out because it’s your wedding day.”

“If you’re asking if I’ll be happy about a baby, yes. I’ll be ecstatic, but…” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “I lost his necklace, and now if I’m pregnant, I messed that up, too.”

“Oh Lord. I can tell you right now that you’re pregnant. Forget the test, because you are
never
this emotional. I guess it could be because you’re worried about your dad, too, but something tells me that this has to be pregnancy hormones.”

“Riley! You’re not helping,” Jade snapped.

“I’m just being honest. Look at you. You’re
weeping
, Jade. You never cry, much less weep.” She put her arm around Jade and hugged her close. “You’re so cute when you’re pregnant.”

“Stop it!”

Max flew through the front door with a little white box held over her head. “I’ve got it! Into the bathroom, ladies.”

Jade headed for the bathroom. The girls hurried behind her. Savannah and Brianna giggled and whispered as they pushed through the bathroom door behind Max and Riley

“Hey, can I just pee by myself?”

“Sorry,” they mumbled as all except for Riley filed out.

Jade’s jaw dropped open.

“Oh, come on. Really? I can’t even stay?” Riley pleaded.

Jade pointed to the door. “Out. I love you, but I need a minute.”

“Fine.” Riley pouted and closed the door behind her.

Jade stared in the mirror.
Pregnant? No, this is just a mistake. It’s stress
. She read the instructions on the box.

“Jade?” Max’s voice came through the closed door.

“Did you do it yet?” Riley yelled.

“No. I’m thinking.”

“Thinking is totally overrated. Pee on it already,” Savannah said. “I want to know if I’m going to be an auntie or not.”

“Fine. Gosh, you guys, go away from the door.” Jade smiled despite her worries. She squatted over the stick and did her business, then set it on the counter and washed her hands.

She took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door. Riley practically fell into the bathroom. Max, Savannah, and Brianna laughed as they stumbled over one another and piled in.

“Gosh, you guys.” Jade shook her head. “You’re like…”

“The best friends
ever
,” Riley offered.

Jade’s cell phone rang. She ran out to the coffee table and picked it up.

“Hi, Mom.” Jade watched the girls hovering over the sink.

“Honey, we’re back at the hospital.”

Jade’s hearing fogged over. She sank silently down to the couch as her mother explained.

“Your father had chest pains again, and we rushed him right over. They’re checking him out now.”

Daddy
. She listened to her mother, and when she ended the call, she barely registered the girls yelling, “You’re pregnant!”

REX WAS IN his father’s bedroom, looking at a photograph of his parents, when Adriana walked in wearing a pretty pink dress.

“What are you doing, Uncle Rex?”

“Just looking at a picture of your grandma and grandpa when they were teenagers.” He picked her up and set her on the bed beside him. “You look like a princess in that dress.”

“Thank you. I’ve seen that picture before. That’s Grandma Adriana. I’m named after her. Daddy said that other than Mommy and me, she was the most beautiful girl in the world.”

“Your daddy was right, but I’d add Aunt Jade to that list, too.”

Adriana blinked up at him through long, dark lashes. “Why do you look sad, Uncle Rex?”

“I’m not sad. Just thinking. See the necklace your grandma is wearing?” He pointed to the Dance of Two Lovers necklace around his mother’s neck. “I think we lost it.”

“Oh. I lost a necklace once and we found it in the dryer.”

“The dryer. Hm. Now, that’s one place I haven’t looked.” Rex kissed the top of Adriana’s head.

“Before Mommy found my necklace, I was sad. Daddy said that it was just a thing, and that things don’t fill our hearts—people do.”

Rex had heard Hal tell him that many times over the years. How could he have forgotten such a simple truth?

“Your daddy is a smart man.”

Adriana wiggled off the bed. “That’s what he says about you, too.”

Treat walked into the room with a grave look in his eyes. He scooped up Adriana. “Rex, it’s Earl. He’s back in the hospital.”

Rex pushed past Treat and pulled out his cell. His big fingers fumbled with the screen as he called Jade.

“Rex?”

He heard the fear in her voice. “I’m here, baby. Where are you?”

“We’re pulling into the driveway.”

“I’m there.” He blew past Treat and Hugh and bolted down the driveway.

Jade jumped from Max’s car and ran into his open arms, sobbing. “You were right all along.”

“Shh, baby. He’s going to be okay.” Rex wasn’t a praying man, but on the way to the hospital with Jade pressed to his side and his heart in his throat, he prayed to anyone and anything willing to listen for Earl to be okay.

Chapter Ten

“ANGINA. SERIOUSLY, EARL?” Hal teased. “You couldn’t do better than that? And you call me a sissy.”

Rex knew his father was just trying to lighten the mood. Their entire family and their children, as well as Jade’s mother and brother, were crammed into Earl’s hospital room. They were keeping him overnight to monitor his heart rate, and Jade was a distraught mess. Rex wanted to get a few minutes alone with her, to reassure her that everything would be okay, but there were too many people.

Shannon was trying to keep the kids entertained with Max and Brianna near the doorway. They were playing with rubber gloves that Ben had made into balloons for them. Steven was eyeing Shannon with a look of lust in his eyes that made Rex want to smack him upside the head, and Treat and Hugh were huddled off to the side, talking with Savannah and Jack.

“Angina is still better than broken heart syndrome,” Earl teased.

“I wish you did have broken heart syndrome, Earl. You scared the daylights out of me,” Jane said.

Jade clung to Rex’s chest and he cocooned her within his arms.

“What can I do, baby?” Rex asked. “I’m sorry about the wedding.”

“It’s okay. I should have listened to you in the first place. I don’t even care anymore.”

“Of course you care. You’re just upset.” Rex pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head.

“I’m scared,” she whispered.

He felt his heart crack open. Her pain was his pain. Her sadness became his.

“He’s going to be okay. You heard Ben.”

“I shouldn’t have put off planning the wedding for so long. I should have let you plan it.”

“Don’t be silly. You’ll have your wedding, and it’ll be everything you dreamed of.”  Rex’s muscles corded tight, knowing that on top of her father being readmitted to the hospital, Jade’s dream wedding had fallen apart.

“What you kids don’t understand,” Hal said, “is that none of that wedding crap matters.”

“Dad,” Rex warned. He didn’t need a lecture or a joke. He wanted to give Jade the perfect wedding she deserved, and right now, he wanted to carry her out of this room and hold her until she felt better.

“Son, haven’t I taught you anything over the years? Your love for Jade and her love for you is what matters. Love exists in our hearts. It can’t be scheduled or created, and it sure as hell isn’t stronger or better because you promise it will be in our backyard. Love just
is
, and that girl of yours knows how deep your love runs.”

Hal set his large hand on Jade’s shoulder. “Jade, your father is one stubborn bastard. He’ll probably be around for another thirty years, but whether he walks you down the aisle or watches from a chair won’t make your marriage to Rex mean any more than it would if you married him at the top of the Taj Mahal or in the middle of the desert. The sooner you kids learn that, the better.”

Rex wiped tears from Jade’s cheek. “I’m sorry, Jade.”

“No. He’s right.” Jade covered Hal’s hand with her own. “I know that. I’m just overwhelmed, and I’m sorry about the necklace, Hal. I know how special it was to you.”

“Necklace?” Hal shifted his eyes to Rex in confusion.

“I…I lost the Dance of Two Lovers necklace.”

Treat and Hugh moved between Jade and Hal, as if their presence might somehow protect her from whatever Hal’s reaction might be.

“You didn’t lose it. That necklace can’t be lost,” Hal said, surprising them all.

“Dad,” Rex said, “we’ve looked everywhere.” He tightened his grip on Jade.

Hal waved a hand. “Hear that, Earl? They’ve looked everywhere.”

“Hey, one day they’ll be old enough to be as smart as we are. Until then, humor them.” Earl bought Jane’s hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to it.

“It isn’t lost, just like Hope wasn’t sick.” Hal ran a hand through his hair and shook his head.

She wasn’t about to argue with Hal about something he loved so vehemently—that she
knew
was lost. Instead she simply apologized. “Well, I am sorry, and I hope I find it someday.” Jade turned to Rex. “I love you.”

Rex pressed his cheek to hers. “Baby, I love you more than words can express.” He looked around the room. Treat and Hugh remained an unnecessary protective barrier between them and his father. He didn’t need their protecting, but he took comfort knowing that if something were ever to happen to him, his brothers would step in and protect Jade from everyone and everything in his absence.

He watched Brianna rubbing noses with Christian while the little boy giggled. Layla and Adriana sat on chairs beside each other, flipping through books Max had magically pulled out of her purse. His sisters-in-law were amazing mothers, just as he knew Savannah and, someday, Jade would be. Jack’s arm circled Savannah as they whispered something to each other. He wished Dane and Lacy were there, but no one had been able to reach them all day. Maybe his father was right and things didn’t have to be perfect. They just had to
be
.

His mother’s voice whispered through his mind again—
Dress
—and it spurred him into action.

“Hey, Treat. Can you take care of Jade for me for a few minutes? I have to go pick something up.”

“’Course. Whatever you need.” Treat stepped in beside Jade.

Rex lifted Jade’s chin and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I forgot to call our cousins. They’re probably wandering around the yard. I’ll be back as fast as I can, okay?”

As Rex walked out the door, his father’s hand landed on his shoulder. Rex stilled. His father gave him a quick nod of approval, as if he knew what Rex had in mind, which would be a miracle in and of itself, considering Rex wasn’t even sure.

Chapter Eleven

“WHERE IS HE?” Jade checked the time again. “It’s been almost two hours since Rex left.”

“Did you give him your news yet?” Max shifted Dylan to her other hip.

“What news?” Treat asked.

“Nothing,” they answered in unison.

“That’s a whole lot of
something
in that
nothing
. Rex texted me a few minutes ago. He should be here any minute,” Treat said. “Hugh, Jack, and I are going to grab something from the car. We’ll be right back.”

“Treat?” Max held a hand up in question.

He strode casually across the floor and reached for Dylan. “Want me to take him?”

“No. I’m just wondering what you guys need from the car.”

“Oh.” Treat looked at Jack, who looked at Hugh.

The right side of Hugh’s lips quirked up in a crooked smile. “I have a surprise in the car for Jade and Rex, and I thought it would be a good time to give it to Jade.” Hugh grabbed Treat’s and Jack’s arms and dragged them from the room.

“What the heck was that all about?” Max asked.

“Hey, he’s your husband, not mine. Apparently, my future husband thought now was the perfect time to disappear.” Jade checked her phone again. She’d texted Rex twice but hadn’t heard back.

“I learned a long time ago not to even to try to figure out a man. How much trouble can they get into in a hospital?” Savannah laughed and read a text message that had just vibrated through. “Jade, I have to return a call. I’ll be back in a sec.” Savannah left the room and came back and grabbed Hal. “Dad, I might need you.”

“I think I’ll take the kids to the bathroom now that there aren’t so many people around.” Brianna reached for Layla’s hand. “Max? Shannon? Why don’t we take them all at once and get it over with. Let’s give Jade’s family a little privacy.”

With everyone gone except Steve and her parents, the room suddenly seemed
too
quiet. “Dad, do you want me to get you anything?” Jade asked.

“No, darlin’. I’m just fine. I’m sorry I messed up your wedding, honey.”

“You didn’t.” Rex strode into the room and reached for Jade’s hand. He had two garment bags draped over his shoulder. He tossed one across Earl’s legs. “Put that on after we get out of here.”

“What?” Earl grumbled, and snarled at the garment bag strewn across his legs.

“Where have you been?” Jade asked. “I’ve been texting you.”

Rex guided her to the other side of the room and pulled the curtain closed separating them from her family.

“Rex?” she pushed.

“Take your clothes off, baby.”

“Hey!” Earl growled from behind the curtain.

“I’m marrying her, Earl. Knock it off.”

“Rex, what…?” Jade leaned on his shoulder as he pulled down her shorts and took them off, leaving her cowgirl boots on. Then he took her top off and carefully withdrew her beautiful wedding dress from the garment bag.

“Oh my God. Rex. What are you doing?”

“Marrying you. We don’t need things to be perfect, Jade. We just need each other. I love you, and if you want to marry me, then put that hot little body of yours in that wedding dress. We don’t have much time.”