Deciding not to open the garage, Austin parks the truck in the driveway and makes his way up the steps. His beagle, Duke, is waiting anxiously for him.
“It’s just you and me right now, bud, but how would you feel about a brother or sister?” he says, crouching down, eye-level to the dog.
Duke barks in response, happily wagging his tail in excitement.
?
??Yea, that’s how I feel too. You’ll be a great big brother,” Austin says, rubbing Duke’s head before standing and walking toward the back door. “Come on, go do your business.”
As he waits for Duke to come back to the door, Austin glances around the living room and where it opens into the entryway, dining room, and kitchen. He can still picture Nikki in this space, her small body tucked in the corner of his couch, reading a book: the same position she was always in at her apartment.
Running a shaky hand through his hair, he sighs as he looks up at the ceiling and the exposed beams over the living room.
“Not again. I can’t do it again.”
A small scratch jerks his attention back to the door, and he lets Duke return inside before tossing the six-pack into the fridge and heading upstairs to the bedroom.
Exhausted from the day, Austin tugs off his shirt and tosses it onto the floor, then flings his tired body onto the bed.
Adding to his bitter thoughts of Nikki, his dreams are plagued by visions of his past. Ashley, the first woman he ever fell for, haunts his mind as he tries to escape her hold. Her parting words echo through his mind, reminding him why second chances are no different than the first time around.
“You gave me what I wanted when I needed it and now I’m done. I’ve found someone better and really, did you expect me to marry a construction worker?”
“What are you talking about?” Austin had asked her. “You’re the one that wanted to get back together after we broke up after high school.”
She had run her hands down his chest to his waistline - and that should have been his first clue that she was up to something.
“Yes, well I was lonely, and you know that we were good together. Granted, it took far more convincing than I expected. But I needed someone to take care of me and now… I’ve upgraded.”
“God, Ashley, I thought we were going somewhere. I was thinking about proposing!”
She laughed and then pushed his chest gently.
“Propose? With what? A piece of plastic? Look, Jeremy can give me the life I want and I’d be stupid to give that up.”
Little did she know that he had just made his first million in the three years since he graduated college. His designs were being sought all over the country and he had crews all over.
“Jeremy is your step-father and that’s fucking disgusting. How long were you sleeping around behind my back?”
An incessant pounding on the door wakes Austin from his tossing and turning. Nightmares of Ashley had been happening far more frequently since Nikki left, and visions of her always left him on edge.
Yelling from atop the stairs that he’s coming, he finally opens the door after the third round of pounding.
“What?” he commands, opening the door and realizing that Avery is standing on the other side. Softening his features, he relaxes slightly before apologizing and ushering her inside.
Avery is his half-sister from an affair his father had while separated from his mother. She was a surprise to him and his five other siblings, but she was loved no less. His parents had been searching for her for years, ever since they had learned she existed. Despite the family’s determination to show her that she deserved the love they were bestowing on her, she was just now learning to accept it.
She was also pregnant and engaged to his best friend, Logan.
“You look like shit,” she begins, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing her eyes.
“Yes, well I slept like shit and your friend turned my world upside down, so I’m sorry if I’m not quite as chipper as you are this morning.”
Tucking her chin to her chest, she murmurs, “Don’t be an ass.”
Sighing, Austin takes a deep breath and shakes out his arms before reaching forward and wrapping her in an embrace.
“I’m not trying to be an ass. What can I do for you this morning? Do you want something to eat?”