Millionaire Hero (Freeman Brothers 4)

It made me laugh at the time, but now that I stood in the kitchen grinding beans for the second morning in a row, it felt more meaningful. Not only did the coffee taste much better, but just breathing in the smell of the beans as they were ground reminded me of Nick. It made my heart warm, and I felt taken care of. He really was trying in every way he could to let me know he was there for me.

I was still upset about Minnie and the stunt she had pulled with the wedding planning, but I felt much better about everything else after my conversation with Nick. I could feel myself falling for him a little more every day. But I was in no way ready for a wedding. Not to anyone. And certainly not just because I was pregnant. What we had right now was nice. It was thoughtful and fun.

That was enough for me right then. I was happy about the way he reacted to the news about the baby. It was better than I’d even allowed myself to consider, and for now, I was going to take that as a blessing. I just wanted to live in the moment.

The taste of the decaf coffee did well tricking my body into thinking it should be awake, and I was relying on that lasting throughout my pregnancy. With one mug already in me, I poured another and started breakfast. As I ate, my mind went to Trish. After much soul-searching, I’d come to the conclusion over the last few days that she really was my best friend. Which meant I should call her.

I wasn’t planning on revealing the baby news to anybody but Nick for a little while. My plan was when I told him about the pregnancy, I would tell him I wanted to keep things quiet for at least the next couple of months while we worked through the situation together. Not revealing the pregnancy until the three-month mark was already considered traditional, so it made sense.

But blurting it out in the middle of the kitchen at the racing compound in front of almost everybody in his family, save only his father, Gus, kind of threw that plan right out the window. It was all out in the open now, so it was probably time to go ahead and tell Trish. I didn’t want her to hear it from someone else and be upset I didn’t tell her myself.

“Bryn! I’m so happy to hear from you. How are you doing? Please tell me you’ve just been so busy heating up the sheets with Nick Freeman you haven’t been able to come up for air.”

“Not exactly,” I said. “But I do have a lot to catch you up on.”

“Oooo, that sounds juicy,” she said.

“Why don’t we have lunch tomorrow? Are you available?” I asked.

“Of course I am! You just tell me where and when, and I’ll be there,” she said.

Right as she was saying it, I heard a knock on my front door. I held back a massive sigh so she didn’t think it was a commentary on her and rubbed my eyes with my fingers. Minnie up to her tricks.

“I’ll shoot you a text in the morning and let you know,” I said. “But right now, I’ve got to go. There’s someone at my door.”

“See you tomorrow!” Trish said happily.

I was tempted to not even open the door. The delivery driver would just leave whatever it was this time sitting on the porch and head on his way. I’d still have to deal with it one way or another. Unless I called Nick and told him what his mother did. Then he could deal with it. Or call her and make her come pick it up.

There was another, softer knock, and I walked over to the door.

Standing up on my toes, I looked through the peephole, hoping to catch a glimpse of what the driver was holding. But I didn’t see a delivery driver. And I didn’t see a box sitting on my porch.

I stepped back from the door and took a few seconds to gather myself and figure out how I was going to handle this before opening the door. Minnie lifted her head and looked at me. Her expression was chagrined and remorseful. In front of her she clutched a large pale yellow gift bag filled with tufts of mint green and creamy ivory tissue paper.

“Minnie,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

She looked up at me. “You have every right to tell me to leave if you want to. I wouldn’t blame you. But I would appreciate if you didn’t.”

I wish I could say I immediately stepped back and let her into my home. But I didn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to. After what she put me through, I was hesitant to let her get any closer to me. But she truly did look like she felt bad, so I finally let out a sigh and stepped back, gesturing for her to come inside.