Worth the Risk (Carolina Rebels 5)

“Yeah, baby. That’s awesome.” Raelynn’s lackluster response makes me realize she doesn’t seem as excited as the rest of us. “Say goodnight to Bree and Mr. EJ. It’s time for your bath.”

Jackson loses a bit of his smile, but he does as Raelynn asks. A moment later, they head upstairs. I focus on Bree.

“Now, time to say DaDa, princess.” She yawns. Figures. I’m obviously not as exciting as Jackson. “We’ll get there,” I reassure her. I stand and take her upstairs because it’s about time to get her ready for bed, too. Bree said her first word. I can’t believe it. Sure, it wasn’t DaDa and it was only part of Jackson’s name, but I’m counting it as a legitimate word. I’ll have to call Ma tomorrow and tell her.

Bree takes a little while to fall asleep. By the time I’m walking out of her room, Raelynn walks out of Jackson’s room.

“I am so sorry, Elias,” she whispers.

I frown as my brows pull together. “For what?” Did I miss a major mishap?

“Her first word should not be associated with us. I’m just an employee here and it seems wrong that—”

“Raelynn,” I interrupt, not caring where exactly she’s going with this. “Her first word could’ve been ‘no’ or baba or anything else and I wouldn’t have cared. I’m just happy she said something we understood. You don’t need to be sorry about anything. You and Jackson are going to make an impact on her life because of how much time you spend with her. It’s inevitable. Don’t feel bad or whatever when something like this happens. It doesn’t bother me.”

“Are you sure? Because I’m pretty positive it would bother me.”

“I’m sure.”

She nods. “I’m sorry for being so crazy-like. I worry too much.”

“It’s okay. Come on.”

Raelynn follows me downstairs and into the kitchen, where I plan to have a snack. “Can I ask you something?” she says.

“Sure.” I open the refrigerator doors to scan the shelves.

“You haven’t mentioned this, and I’ve been meaning to ask, but what am I supposed to do if Bree’s mom shows up?” I freeze. “Is she allowed to see Bree? Or...I don’t know. I don’t mean to pry, I swear, but I don’t want to be unprepared or do something wrong either.”

I close the doors of the refrigerator and take a deep breath as I face a nervous-looking Raelynn. “You won’t ever meet Bree’s mom.” Her eyes widen a bit at this. “She’s dead.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Raelynn plops into one of the seats at the table, looking a little lost and upset.

Forgetting about my snack, I take the seat next to her. “I dated her on and off, just saw her here and there. She dropped off the face of the earth one day and then in February, I find Bree on my front porch with a note from Vicky. I knew where she lived, so I drove over there, freaking out obviously. You can’t drop off a one-week-old baby at my house, tell me she’s mine, and that I’m now solely responsible for her without expecting me to ask questions.

“When I get there,” I take a deep breath, remembering all the sights and sounds from the horrible part of that day, “she had been found dead of an apparent overdose. I didn’t know her that well, so I had no clue she had a drug problem. It seems she was able to stay clean long enough to have Bree and that was it.

“My mom had to fly down here because we were about to leave on a road trip. I didn’t want to leave her, but at the same time, it was too fucking crazy to wrap my mind around, so I didn’t mind losing myself in my job for a little bit. Anyway, I probably should’ve told you sooner, but it’s not something I enjoy talking about.”

Raelynn gives me a little smile. “That I completely understand.” She sighs. “I guess you should give me Henry’s number.”

“I’ll text it to you. Have you figured out how you’ll do it?”

She shakes her head. “I know I want to talk to him one-on-one first. But as far as introducing them? No idea. Jackson sounded freaked when he called me today and I just keep thinking Jackson isn’t going to know how to process this or he’ll want nothing to do with Henry or,” her eyes water, “he’ll like Henry more and then Henry will steal him from me.”

Without thinking too much about it, I reach over and take her hand. “Raelynn, that won’t happen. You’ve been his entire world for all of his little life so far. He isn’t going to give you up for someone new. I mean, maybe he would for me because I took him skating today and he really loved it.”

She laughs. “If you take Jackson, then I’ll just steal Bree from you,” she warns.

“Okay, okay. Let’s keep our own kids.” Her smile has me smiling. She’s way too freaking pretty to live in my house all the time. I’m even attracted to her complex personality that I haven’t even begun to figure out yet. And for some reason, at this exact second, I hear Derek in my head, You have the hots for your nanny, don’t you, EJ? I shove that thought out of my head. “If you need help with anything, let me know.”

“Thanks, Elias.” As if she suddenly realizes we’re holding hands, she pulls her hand out from under mine. “I should do some schoolwork. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Good night.” With a lingering gaze, I watch her walk away.

Brayden returned, and then we left for two games. Now, it’s Sunday, we’re home, and there’s another game tonight. Raelynn, Bree, and Jackson are going. Jackson is beyond excited. Right now, though, I’m enjoying some time with Bree. We all sit on the floor. Jackson and Raelynn play with Legos while Bree and I play with blocks. We’ve been mostly quiet. As quiet as we can be with a nine-month-old and a five-year-old.

“I have a meeting tomorrow,” Raelynn says out of the blue.