Holiday Homecoming (4 page)

Ryan turned
his head to look at her. He could see her becoming the center of
his world, but making that kind of commitment to anyone still
scared the hell out of him. He wasn’t even thirty yet. He told
himself he had years before he had to start thinking about settling
down with a wife and kids, but he knew Brianna would have found the
man she was looking for by then and their friendship would have to
take a backseat to her new life.

“So, you think
about gettin’ married and havin’ a couple of kids?”

“Sure. Don’t
you?”

He hadn’t
allowed himself to think about the possibility… until now.

“You know me.
I’m too busy havin’ a good time to think past tomorrow.” He cursed
when he realized he was just feeding into her perception of him.
Maybe he didn’t want to be that guy anymore. Maybe it was time to
change, to commit to the right woman and think about—

“I’m surprised
you didn’t bring anyone to the party tonight,” Brianna said,
turning down the street leading to the midwife’s house. “What
happened to what’s her name, that girl you met at Jimmy’s a couple
of weeks ago? Mandy… Mindy… Michelle.” She laughed. “There are so
many, it’s hard to keep track.”

His hand
curled into a fist. He’d enjoyed the company of beautiful women all
of his life, and he had no regrets, but he wished he saw at least a
flicker of annoyance when she mentioned the ladies in his life.
“Her name was Miranda, and we only went out a couple of times.”

She laughed.
“What happened, she didn’t do it for you? Not adventurous enough in
the bedroom?”

He saw the
wicked gleam in her eye and he realized she was having fun teasing
him about his sex life. He realized how far apart they were. The
thought of her having sex with another man made him see red, yet
the prospect of him taking other women to bed amused her. “It never
got that far. I just wasn’t into her.”

“Since when
has that mattered to you? I always assumed if she had a pulse, she
was fair game.”

“Come on, I’m
not that bad.” He hated that he had earned her low opinion of him.
She was right; he indulged in sex with women he didn’t care about
too many times to pretend he wasn’t guilty of being out of control.
His perspective had just started to change. Every time he closed
his eyes and moved in to kiss someone, he saw Brianna’s face, felt
her arms curling around his neck, drawing him closer. He got lost
in her sweet body every night in his fantasies when his head hit
the pillow. What the hell was wrong with him? He was becoming
obsessed with his best friend. How had he let this happen?

“No, you’re
much, much worse.” She smiled as she slapped his chest to let him
know she was teasing, but he grabbed her hand and held it against
his heart.

His heartbeat
double-timed as the dark interior of the car closed in on them. He
wanted to kiss her, if only to prove to himself that their
connection wasn’t as powerful as he remembered, but when she gave
him a quizzical look, he released her hand. He wanted to blame the
alcohol coursing through his body for his inability to control his
reaction to her, but he knew it was more than that. She got under
his skin, and he didn’t know how the hell to break free of the hold
she had on him.

Evan Spencer
came up behind his girlfriend and drew her into his arms. He felt
her body tense and his heart ached. They were drifting further
apart and he didn’t know how to get back what they’d lost. She was
the love of his life, his girlfriend for the past five years. He
always assumed she would be the mother of his children someday, but
he began to fear that day may never come if they didn’t figure out
how to find their way back to each other.

“Alisa and
Liam must be so scared and excited,” she said, looking out at the
lit trees lining the walkway. “I know I would be, if I were in
their position.”

He knew she
was ready to settle down. She was in her last year of veterinary
school, and with plans to join her father’s practice, she felt it
was the perfect time to start planning for the future.
Unfortunately, Evan was at a completely different place in his
life. He’d just taken over his father’s company and his workload
had doubled. They barely had time to make love anymore, much less
plan a wedding.

“I’m sure
everything will be fine, Erika.”

She turned in
his arms and he saw something in her eyes that terrified him. “Do
you really think so?”

He knew she
wasn’t talking about Alisa and the baby anymore. She was asking him
whether he thought they would be okay, whether their relationship
would survive. “Of course I do.” He leaned in to kiss her, but she
braced her hands on his biceps to push him away.

“I’m not so
sure anymore. We used to be happy. There was a time when I had no
doubt we’d end up together, but so much has changed since
then.”

“Don’t say
that.” He felt panic rising. He was used to being in control.
Everyone who’d known his father, Luc, in the early days said Evan
was a carbon copy of the old man, but he felt powerless when he
thought of Erika leaving him. He loved her. He
needed
her.
“We’re just going through a rough patch. We’ll get through it. We
just need to give it some time, you’ll see.”

She shook her
head, looking as miserable as he felt. “We’ve been saying that for
the past year. When do we decide that it just isn’t working
anymore? Maybe…” She touched his face. “Maybe we just have to
accept that we weren’t meant to be together. We want different
things out of life now.”

“No!” He
gripped her hands in his and was surprised to realize that his felt
ice cold by comparison. “You don’t mean that. We’re perfect for
each other, you know it.”

“I used to
think that, but you’ve changed, Evan.”

His mouth was
dry as he searched for the words to stop the runaway train that was
about to destroy his life. “I haven’t changed that much. I’m still
the guy who loves you, who would do anything for you.”

A tear slid
down her cheek. “You can’t give me what I need. Not anymore. I need
to find someone who can.”

Evan couldn’t
breathe. He’d given the last five years of his life to this woman.
She helped him grow into a man he could be proud to look at in the
mirror. She was his best friend, his lover. Hell, she was his soul
mate, the only woman in the world who could make him happy, and now
she was telling him she didn’t think he could make her happy
anymore. “Don’t say that,” he said, trying to control his emotions.
They were in the midst of a party, with his family and their
friends only a few feet away in the next room. “This isn’t the
right time to have this conversation.”

She shook her
head and said, “It’s never the right time. Isn’t that part of the
problem?”

He knew he
hadn’t made as much time for her as he should, and he wrestled with
the guilt every day when he heard the sadness in her voice, but he
had a multi-million dollar company to run, and famous artists
depended on him to guide their careers. It seemed everyone wanted a
piece of him, and there was nothing left for her.
Damn it, how
had he let this happen?

“Look, I’m
sorry, okay? I know things haven’t been easy lately, but maybe
after the holidays we could sneak away for a few days… get a little
R & R… re-connect.” He felt like a drowning man trying to grab
on to the life preserver floating just out of his reach.

She looked at
him a long time before she said, “Don’t you think it’s a little too
late for that?”

He watched her
walk away. It couldn’t be too late. He wouldn’t let it be too
late.

Liam walked
into the room and felt the cold fist of fear render him speechless.
Alisa looked like a prisoner to the pain gripping her body as she
winced and cried out, squeezing her mother’s hand as Sierra wiped
her forehead with a damp cloth.

She looked up
at him and tried to smile through the pain. “There you are. I
thought you and my dad were off somewhere, conspiring to load me
into the car against my will.” She rubbed her distended stomach.
“Even two big strong guys like you probably couldn’t carry me out
of here in this condition.”

He pulled a
chair up beside the bed and took her hand. “Maria’s on her way,
sweetheart. She didn’t feel comfortable driving, so Ryan and
Brianna went to pick her up.”

“I hope she
gets here soon,” she said, glancing at her mother. “The
contractions are only a few minutes apart.” As if on cue, another
one started and she gripped his hand, squealing through the
pain.

“Just try and
breathe through it, honey,” he said, brushing the damp hair off her
forehead. “Just like they taught us.” Liam took a few deep breaths,
trying to control his own anxiety. He was on another continent when
his daughter was born, and until Alisa came into his life, he’d
never imagined he would experience the miracle of watching his baby
come in to the world.

He was excited
and terrified at the same time. Trey’s words continued to haunt
him. He was right. So many things could go wrong. If anything
happened to his wife or baby, he knew he couldn’t live with the
pain. It would be like losing a part of himself, the best part.

“Are you
okay?” she asked when the contraction finally passed. “You look a
little pale. Have you eaten anything tonight?”

Liam fell in
love with her a little more every day and this day was no
exception. She struggled to bring their baby into the world without
benefit of painkillers and she was worried about him. There was no
doubt about it. Their kid was going to be beyond lucky to have
Alisa as a mother. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”

Sierra got up
and passed the cool compress to Liam. “I’m going to get you some
water. Is there anything else I can get you, Alisa?”

“Maybe a
rolling pin with a tea towel wrapped around it?” She tried to sit
up as Liam fluffed the pillows behind her. “I read that can help
with the back pain.”

“You got it.”
Sierra smiled at Liam, as if to reassure him. “I’ll be right
back.”

“Do you want
to get up and walk around, sweetheart?” Liam asked.

“Maybe in a
bit. Tell me the truth,” Alisa said, gripping his hand. “Are you
really okay? I know the doctor said you should avoid stress.
Worrying about me having the baby here probably wasn’t the smartest
decision in light of your condition.” A tear slid down her cheek.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think about that when—”

He kissed her
lips to silence her recriminations. Since he met her, Alisa had put
him first. She already did more for him than he could ever do for
her, even with all of his money and power. She gave his life
meaning beyond negotiating the next deal and he would never be able
to re-pay her for that.

“You made the
right choice, sweetheart. I can’t think of a better place to bring
our baby into the world than right here.” He looked around her
childhood bedroom and smiled at the framed photos of her as a child
and teen. He knew their son or daughter would one day have a room
just like this in their home, filled with the memories of a happy
childhood. “Surrounded by the people who’ll love and support him
most throughout his life.”

Alisa tried to
breathe through another contraction as her nails bit into his hand.
When the pain finally subsided, she asked, “You said
him
.
You think it’s going to be a boy?”

“It doesn’t
matter, boy or girl. As long as you’re both strong and healthy at
the end of the day, that’s the only thing that matters to me.”

She smiled as
perspiration slid down her cheek. “How’d I get so lucky?”

“I ask myself
the same question every day.” He wiped her face with the cloth
Sierra gave him. “I never expected to have this life. If you want
to know the truth, I think it’s more than I deserve.”

“You’re
wrong.” She kissed his hand. “You’re the best man I’ve ever known.
You deserve everything you’ve been blessed with and so much more.”
She smiled at the pom-poms tacked to the wall. “Do you ever think
about the kind of person our baby will be when they grow up?
Whether he’ll be more like you or me or his own person?”

He grinned.
“You said he, too.”

She rolled her
eyes. “Are you using the power of suggestion to try and influence
the outcome?”

He didn’t
respond right away, and she asked, “Is part of you hoping for a
son?”

Liam didn’t
want to admit it, but he’d give anything to be the kind of parent
to his own son that his father never was to him. He missed all of
his little league and football games. Hell, he’d been on a private
island with his mistress the day Liam graduated from an Ivy League
school.

“I told
you—”

“I know what
you told me. Now I want the truth.”

“Having a
daughter has been amazing. It’s given me some serious insight into
what it takes to keep a lady happy…” He returned her smile. “I
wouldn’t trade one single second with my little girl for anything,
but…”

“But?”

“I’d give
anything for a chance to do with my son the things my father never
cared enough to do with me.”

“Do you wish
we’d found out the sex of the baby when we had the chance?”

“No, I’m glad
we waited.” He kissed her lips. “But I gotta admit, I can’t wait to
find out.”

Alisa held
Liam tight as she caught a glimpse of her father hovering outside
the bedroom door, obviously reluctant to intrude on their private
moment. “Come in,” she said, raising her hand. “I wondered where
you were hiding.”

“Liam, you
mind if I have a minute alone with my daughter?”

“Of course
not.” Liam stood up and bent to kiss Alisa’s cheek. “I’m gonna call
Ryan to make sure they found Maria’s house.”