The Baby Contract

He was the one I initially hired to protect my sister, but I didn’t like how he worked or his attitude. In the end, he got Harper’s stalker, but only after he’d taken Lane.

He blamed me for that because after I fired him, I hired a bodyguard for Harper, but didn’t hire anyone to watch the stalker.

It was unfortunate what happened to Lane, but it wasn’t my fault. In fact, it solidified my belief that Archer wasn’t the man to protect my sister. If he couldn’t protect his own woman, how could I have trusted him to protect my sister?

“Archer and I are working to give Emery a brother or sister,” Lane said.

“How wonderful. All our kids will be close in age,” Lucy, Ethan’s wife, gushed.

I wanted to puke.

Don’t get me wrong. I think families are wonderful. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be working so hard to keep mine with Harper intact.

But love and happily ever after seemed like a hoax perpetrated by romcoms and greeting card manufacturers.

Sure, Dane and Ethan seemed happy now, but it was early in their marriages. I wasn’t so sure my parents’ marriage would have survived if they lived. At the time of their deaths, there had been a lot of fighting. I suspected that when Harper left home, they’d have split.

“Bran. Right on time,” Ethan said when he saw me.

I shook his hand. “I’m ready to finalize this deal.”

“Don’t you mind us,” Lane said, cooing at the baby. “Dane is waiting for you.”

Ethan gave his wife and baby a kiss and I did my best not to roll my eyes. I followed him into Dane’s office.

Dane was holding his phone up as if he was making a video call. “Look at you, Diana. What a big girl.”

Good God. He was talking to one of his kids.

“I think we should sign her up for Mensa,” Dane’s wife Bridget's voice came over the phone.

Dane laughed as he looked at us. “I’m sorry. I’ve got to go. I’ll be home for dinner.”

“Say bye daddy.”

Dane switched off the phone, setting it on his deck. He grinned. “Life is fucking good.” He motioned for Ethan and me to sit. “So, where are we on this deal?”

“We’ve gotten the permits for the mixed use.” Ethan handed me and Dane each a paper. “There is some grumbling by the neighborhood about increased traffic, but I think we’ve quashed that down by pointing out the additional jobs and how the project will bring in more business to the existing businesses.”

I looked over the paper, finding everything in order.

“Troy says they’re ready to begin construction,” Dane said.

Troy Manion was Dane’s best friend and father-in-law, but he had an excellent reputation, so I had no qualms about his taking on the job.

I didn’t have a job in this project except to provide money as an investor. “Are there any changes to the budget? Any anticipated issues that could affect the cost?”

“Not so far. There is some talk about the price of steel going up, but so far, it’s within our budget allocation,” Ethan said.

“We’ve also had some interest in the commercial sections. Some of them are pretty froo froo, but I’d like to offer the spots to locals first. For one, it will smooth out any concerns in the neighborhood, but second, I’d like this to be an opportunity to help new or smaller businesses.” Dane handed me another packet. “Ethan is in agreement. Here is some data we collected.”

I took the packet. “Froo froo businesses tend to be upscale and successful, whereas new or smaller businesses aren’t so much.” I glanced through the information, deciding I’d review it in more detail later.

“True, but this section of the beach isn’t high scale froo froo.”

“Not yet,” I said.

Dane sat back and studied me. “I’m not interested in displacing people, Bran. I don’t want people to be forced out because they can’t afford to live there due to us and corporate greed.”