“Nah,” Finn said. “There’s no way I can walk back in there with a ring that expensive and tell the man at the counter that the woman said no. You take it or I’ll stash it in a drawer somewhere and forget about it until some girl staying over finds it hidden away and thinks I’m about to propose. No thanks.”
“It was expensive.”
“So was that Jet Ski,” Finn admitted. “And since I made you give it to me to go to that party for you, like a jerk, why don’t we call it an even trade?”
Sawyer couldn’t be
lieve his ears. He’d dropped nearly twenty grand on that Jet Ski and yet it didn’t come close to the price of Kat’s ring. But he realized this was Finn’s way of saying he was sorry. His pride wouldn’t let him voice the words, not even to Sawyer. But he meant it in his way.
Getting up from his chair, Sawyer walked around the desk and stood in front of his brother with the velvet box in his hand. “You’re sure?”
“Take it. Give it to her. Live happily ever after with the mother of my child,” Finn said, as he rose to his feet. “Yes, you’ll be my daughter’s stepdad/uncle and I’ll be her dad/uncle, but who cares about labels? We’ll all raise our daughter together in whatever weird way makes sense for us, and it’s nobody’s damn business but ours.”
Sawyer looked at Finn with amazement, and for the first time in a long time, felt the urge to give him a hug. He actually couldn’t remember the last time he’d hugged his brother. But before he could do so, Finn surprised him and reached out to him instead. He wrapped his arms around Sawyer and patted him firmly on the back.
“Be good to them,” he said. Then he turned and walked out of Sawyer’s office without another word.
* * *
Kat had a million things to do before the District shut down in a few days. She hadn’t done a single thing in preparation for the baby. She needed to clean house and buy groceries. So naturally, she was sitting on her piazza drinking tea and reading a book. It was a bestselling self-help title she’d picked up from the library. The author promised to help her identify her own self-sabotaging habits and live her best life.
So far it was stupid. But it was easier to read than think about what kind of disaster her life had turned into lately.
Some people would say things weren’t that bad. She’d chosen not to marry a man who was all wrong for her. She supposed that was for the best, even if she did have to turn down Finn in front of his family. Despite that hurdle, her relationship with Finn may have actually become better for the rejection. He’d obviously been pressured to make the proposal and seemed relieved when she turned him down.
They’d had lunch together a few days later and finally got the opportunity to talk without anyone else around. Without interfering fathers and overprotective attorneys, they’d hammered out a plan to co-raise their daughter that made them both happy. Finn agreed to pay for private schools, and would be buying a place closer to Kat, with a bedroom for nights he had custody. Kat hadn’t really wanted or needed his money, but would accept the child support payments he insisted on, given that he reduce the monthly amount in favor of setting up a trust fund for the baby that she would get when she turned twenty-one.
It was all very civilized.
And if Kat had heard from Sawyer since he’d walked out of that family dinner, she might feel better about how it was all turning out. But she hadn’t.
Perhaps she had read the whole situation wrong. Sawyer had told her he didn’t have any reason why she shouldn’t marry Finn. Maybe he’d been telling the truth. Maybe he wanted her only because he knew he couldn’t have her. She was a forbidden temptation. And now she was just a single, pregnant lady. Not very tempting at all.
The sound of the doorbell caused Kat to sit up and set the book aside. Glancing out, she noticed a black Rolls Royce parked on the street. She went to the door and opened it, finding none other than Ingrid Steele standing on her stoop.
“Mrs. Steele? I mean, Ingrid?” She corrected herself. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m paying a call on my future granddaughter-in-law,” she said. “May I come in?”
Startled, Kat took a step back and welcomed the older woman inside. “Would you like to sit on the piazza or in the house? I’ll get us both a glass of tea.”
“The piazza and tea sound lovely.”
Kat rushed into the house to get some tea and returned to find Ingrid sitting patiently on one of her patio chairs. She handed her the glass and wished she had some kind of cookies or treats in the house to offer. Unfortunately, all she’d bothered to get at the grocery store of late were saltine crackers, cereal and granola bars. She wasn’t sure if it was morning sickness carrying into the second trimester or if she was just nauseated by how awful things had become. Either way, chopped-up chocolate chip granola bars on a platter wouldn’t quite cut it for the Steele matriarch.
“I didn’t expect to see you today,” Kat began. “Or for a while, considering how dinner ended the other night.”
“Pish posh. You’re family now, dear. The other night doesn’t change that.”
All things considered, Kat appreciated the sentiment. The Steeles weren’t the average American family, but they were the closest thing she had. “She will be your great-granddaughter, of course,” Kat said, rubbing her belly. It seemed to be growing a bit more every morning of late. “But I’m just...me.”
“Well, maybe I’m old and sentimental, but I still think you’ll be my granddaughter-in-law someday.”
“You know that Finn and I aren’t going to marry, right? He never really wanted to marry me. I think he only proposed because Trevor put him up to it.”
Ingrid chuckled and shook her head. “Of course Trevor made him do it. But I’m not talking about Finn, dear. I’m talking about you and Sawyer.”
Kat looked up from her tea in surprise. As far as she was aware, no one knew about what had happened between her and Sawyer. She forced the mouthful of tea down her throat without choking and asked, “What would make you say that?”