To Greer’s surprise, Beau’s sports car was parked at the curb in front of his house. He hadn’t seen his best friend, face to face, in a good long while. His and Beau’s relationship had changed significantly when Beau married Kailey. The hospital and his wife kept the doctor far too busy.
Greer pulled his car into the driveway, watching Kailey step from the passenger side. Her doctor’s appointment. Damn, he hadn’t let himself near his cell phone all day. The thing had probably lost its charge by now.
What a selfish bitch he’d been. Greer watched her closely, trying to judge the look on his sister’s face as he put the car in gear and killed the engine. Other than her eyes looking red-rimmed from crying, he couldn’t read her expression.
As Greer slowly stepped from his vehicle, Beau came around the trunk of his car. His arm reaching then wrapping around Kailey, drawing her close to his side. Whatever was happening had to be fresh because Beau still wore his scrubs. Kailey though was in a pair of pressed blue jeans and a lightweight sweater, makeup free. His worry elevated. He had no idea she owned such simple clothing.
“What’s going on?” Greer asked, walking toward them as they headed to his front porch.
“Do I have to have something going on to come see my brother?” she asked, her playful tone not quite hitting her usual teasing cadence.
“I believe so, yes.” Greer stuck out a hand, shaking Beau’s extended one. “And you, it’s not even five o’clock, and you’re not at the hospital.” Greer pushed the house key inside the lock. They seemed to want inside his home before they broke whatever news. The way Greer’s luck was going, this wasn’t going to be good news.
“We tried to call you from the doctor’s office. We went by your office, you weren’t there, so we came here,” Beau explained.
The three and a half minutes it had taken for him to pull into the driveway and walk the twenty or so steps to the front door were a true killer. “Like I said, what’s going on?”
Kailey entered the house, turning off the security system, then partially blocking the entryway. Greer stopped dead in his tracks as he somehow seemed to understand what was happening. He shifted his gaze between Kailey and her husband. His grin stretched his cheeks as he said, “You’re pregnant.”
His sister’s wide-eyed stare burst open in a floodgate of tears. Buckets of them rolled down her cheeks, causing Greer’s grin to falter. Perhaps he’d gotten it wrong. He cast a quick, wary glance over his shoulder to see Beau smile bigger than Greer had ever seen from him in his life.
Kailey brought both hands to her eyes, covering her face. “Ignore me. I keep doing this. I’m four months pregnant and had no idea.”
Beau nodded, backing up Kailey’s confession. Greer guessed that was all right by him. A sweet baby coming to their small inner circle. Tears formed in Greer’s eyes too. Beau put a hand on Greer’s shoulder, drawing him into a hug, one he readily took. What great news.
“She does keep crying. After everything was said and done, they called me to come get her. They were worried she wasn’t safe to drive herself.”
“I tried to call you first,” Kailey said through her tears. Not too forlorn to give an accusing poke to Greer’s chest as he shuffled them all inside the house. “But you didn’t answer your phone.”
Kailey came into Greer’s arms, hugging him tight. Beau shut the door behind them. “I told you when you married him, you needed to start calling him first. What am I going to do with you?”
More than anything, Greer wished he’d been able to be there for his sister today. Kailey held on to him tightly, and he gave as good as he got. They both seemed to have a desperate edge. Neither of them knew too much about nurturing and love. Greer closed his eyes, placing a kiss on the side of her hair.
“Congratulations. I’m really happy for you guys.”
=?=
The crazy way Dallas’s heart hammered in his chest made him worry about a pending heart attack. What the hell was wrong with him? Fear made his anxiety crippling. Dallas made the turn onto Greer’s street. He had exactly twelve minutes before his shift at the gym began. That left him about five solid minutes for him to beg Greer’s forgiveness. If he couldn’t get that, at least he’d be in Greer’s presence. Dallas needed to be around Greer like he needed his next breath.
The unreasonable suffering of the last thirty-six hours required Dallas to put his bullshit aside and beg. For what, he didn’t know. But Greer scheduling the BikeBro meeting without Dallas turned out to be his undoing. No doubt, he deserved to be discarded.