Rise: Contemporary Romance (Creamy's Bakery Book 2) (8 page)

Chapter Thirteen

Carly

Sitting at the doctor’s office, my nerves are a wreck. I haven’t told either of the guys that I might be pregnant because I’m not sure what that will entail for our future. I want to make sure that I’m one hundred percent positive before I approach Max and Noah with this information.

“Carly, it’s good to see you.” Dr. Renee walks through the small door to the exam room. “How have you been?”

“Great!”

Dr. Renee has been my regular gynecologist since college and is one of the best doctors around town. With chart in hand, she takes a seat in a nearby chair.

“So.” She sets my file on the counter in front of her and turns toward me. “You think you may be pregnant. When was your last cycle?”

“About seven weeks ago.”

“Okay.” She pulls off her stethoscope and places it on the front of my chest, listening to my heartbeat. Moving around to my back, she places the metal to my ribs. “Take a deep breath in.”

I suck in a long breath, expanding my ribcage and allowing her to listen to my lungs. After a few heavy breaths, she comes back around and faces me.

“Let’s order some bloodwork and see if that’s the case.”

I nod my head. “How long will it takes to get the results?”

“We’ll have news for you by tomorrow. If you are, we’ll schedule a follow-up appointment to get you started on prenatal vitamins and give you some information about your health and wellness for a good pregnancy.”

She leaves the room, and it’s not long before a female nurse comes in to draw some blood. Once she’s finished, she makes certain they have my correct contact information.

“Dr. Renee will give you a call as soon as she has the results.”

“Thank you.” I leave the office in a daze and sit in my car for a while before cranking the engine. Wondering what I’ll do if I’m pregnant, I finally head home, my head swimming with thoughts of raising a baby. The corners of my mouth lift as I think about the prospects of having a little boy or girl to raise.

~**~

“Hey, baby.” Noah pulls me into a hug as soon as I walk through the door of his and Max’s place. “I hope you’ve brought an appetite. I’m making dinner.”

Noah kisses me deeply as I shut the door behind me. “Mmm.” I moan into him as he releases me slowly from his embrace. “I’ve got an appetite, but I doubt that’s what we’re having for dinner.”

“Maybe after dinner dessert.” Noah winks at me as we walk back to his kitchen. Max is seated at the long bar that separates the kitchen from the dining area.

“Beautiful Carly.” He stands up and moves toward me, opening his arms wide and pulling me into him.

“Max.” I breathe out his name as his warm arms pull me close to him. Noah comes up behind Max, wrapping his arms behind him and pulling both of us into him, basically crushing Max between us.

“I didn’t know we were having a Max sandwich for dinner.” I chuckle softly and Max’s eyes light up.

“Sounds good to me.” Max reaches back and puts his hand on Noah’s head. Noah places a kiss on Max’s neck with a glimmer in his eyes.

“Not quite.” Noah smacks Max on the ass as he walks back toward the stove. “But I hope you both think braised beef is suitable since our appetites appear to be on something a bit more raw.” Noah stirs something in one of the pots over the burner.

“It sounds wonderful.” I give Max a quick wink, promising to explore that sandwich idea later. “Thank you for making it. Anything I can do to help?”

“Will you grab the salad I’ve placed in the fridge? This is almost ready.”

“Sure.” I pull out the bowl of fresh lettuce, carrots, and tomatoes sitting on the top shelf.

“I’ll set the table,” Max chimes in, moving toward the cabinet with a new purpose. We settle quickly into a comfortable routine as we bring everything to the table and sit down to dinner a few minutes later.

An easy quiet settles over us as we enjoy the dinner Noah has prepared. The beef and potatoes are scrumptious and very filling.

After several minutes, the boys seem to notice I’m not as talkative as usual. My mind is still thinking about the pregnancy test and what my life will look like with a baby in the picture. And even more frightening is the thought of what having a baby will do to my relationship with Max and Noah.

We just got Noah back. Now I could be pregnant and I’m not sure whose baby it is. Will Noah leave again if it turns out to be Max’s child? What if it’s Noah’s? Will Max be the one to leave this time?

“Are you okay, Carly?” Noah looks at me with worry. “You look flushed… Is it the food?”

“No. No. The food is wonderful. I’m sorry…just carried away with my thoughts.”

“Ahh.” Max wipes his mouth with his napkin then turns to face me. “What is the beautiful Carly thinking about that is pulling her away from us?”

I want so badly to tell them, but without knowing yet, I can’t chance ruining what we have if it turns out not to be true.

“Just thinking about work. You know, the usual.” I try to cover my distraction and take another piece of meat off my fork with my lips.

“Busy days at the salon?” Noah asks, cutting into the beef on his plate. “I’d imagine your job can be pretty exciting with all the different people you see every day.”

“It can be. Sometimes, it can be outright crazy and other times, very sad.”

“What do you mean?” Max asks between bites. It’s odd to be talking about work with the guys. Usually, we discuss the club they own, but rarely do we talk about cutting hair. It doesn’t seem to be a topic they care much about.

“Well, Olivia had this poor guy come in the other day that had been to one of the discount salons inside the mall. I’m not sure what they did to him, but his hair was so chopped and uneven, Olivia had to work carefully to not remove too much more hair while keeping it as even as possible.”

“How did he look when she was finished?”

“Good, but she couldn’t save much of his hair and get a nice style for him. He left with a very short, military style look after he told her to just go ahead and shave it down. He’d been letting it grow for years to change his hairstyle into something he could fix in different ways.”

“That bad, huh.” Noah looks at me, trying to stifle a laugh.

“It’s not funny,” I say, trying not to laugh along with him. “The kid must have been around eighteen and was nearly in tears.”

Noah dips his head as I give him a cross look. “Sorry,” he mumbles and Max just chuckles.

“We can cut Noah’s hair and let him see what it’s like,” Max says.

“No, thank you,” Noah replies quickly. “You stay away from me.”

Max waggles his eyebrows, making no promises, and I just stare between my two guys. Leave it to these two to make me feel more at ease. If there was ever a doubt in my mind that the three of us belong together, it is long gone now that we’re back together.

Chapter Fourteen

Beth

“Ready?” Mason is standing in the living room talking to Nate when I come down the stairwell.

I nod my head as I step off the last stair. Amy comes from the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn for the kids. Isla comes running up to me and grabs me around the waist.

“Be good for Aunt Amy, okay?”

“I will, Mommy.”

“And play nice with Natey.”

“We’ll be fine,” Amy says, shooing us out the door. Nate heads out with us, saying goodbye as he runs to the salon to deal with an alarm that was set off. Mason opens his passenger door and helps me into his Jeep.

Once we are on the road, I finally ask where we’re going.

“It’s a surprise.” Mason turns to me with a wicked grin. I settle back and enjoy the ride, which becomes very familiar after several miles.

When we pull into the parking lot of the Junior Museum and Zoo in Palo Alto, I squeal in delight. “The zoo!”

“Is that okay?” Mason’s eyes dance as he watches my excitement build.

“I haven’t been to a zoo in forever. I’ve been meaning to bring Isla, but haven’t thought about it recently.”

“Well, we can check it out and bring her next time” he says with a grin.

I hop out of the passenger’s seat, excited like a small child. Mason comes around and takes my hand, leading me to the front gates where he gives a donation to the zoo for entrance and we walk inside.

The afternoon is a whirl of sites as we walk through the various exhibits. I’m like the kids who are around us as I explore the Buzzzz area, looking at the different bugs on exhibit and reading off all the information associated with each. Except for the spiders, which I absolutely hate, the entire display is amazing.

Mason buys us each a Coke and we sit on a park bench, watching the families milling about in the sunny afternoon weather. “So what do you think?”

“About?” I look around to see what he’s referring to.

“Bringing Isla next time.”

“She’ll love it,” I say enthusiastically.

“Maybe she’ll handle the spiders better,” he says, nudging me in the side.

“Hey, that one was staring right at me. I think he had it out for me.”

Mason breaks out in a hearty laugh. “He was probably just as afraid of you.”

“I doubt that.”

My phone rings, disturbing the playful moment between us. Pulling it out of my purse, I flip it over and see a picture of Amy I snapped one afternoon. She didn’t think I was being serious and stuck her tongue out. The memory brings a smile to my face every time she calls.

“Hello.”

“Beth!” The tone of her voice sends a shiver down my spine.

“What’s wrong?”

“You need to come home, right now. Hurry.”

“Amy, what’s going on?”

“Just get here.” The phone goes silent and panic takes over.

“What is it?” Mason asks, concern in his voice.

“Something’s happened. We have to go.” I stand up and Mason is right behind me, following close as we exit the zoo and jog to his Jeep. We speed down the highway, making our way back to Nate and Amy’s place in less than fifteen minutes.

The sight we arrive to causes my stomach to drop. Several patrol cars are in the drive as we pull up. I jump from the car before Mason even puts it in park.

Running to the front door, I burst inside, frantically searching for my sister. “Amy?”

Amy comes running out of the kitchen followed by Nate and a guy with dark hair and dark blue eyes. His features are similar to Nate’s but I don’t ask them about it. I grab Amy as she gives me a hug.

“Oh, Beth. I’m so sorry.”

“Where’s Isla?” I pull away from Amy and look around for my daughter. Where the fuck is she?

“Beth, this is my brother Roman.” Nate points to the guy standing with them.

“Where’s Isla?” I demand.

Roman steps forward, attempting to calm me. “Beth, we are having trouble finding her. She’s not here.”

“JR.” My voice cracks as I utter his name. “What happened? Amy?”

“I was in the living room with the kids and had to go pee. Natey says they wanted to go outside to play on the swings. When they opened the back door, he said a man grabbed Isla and took her with him.”

“Oh, god. No.” My knees go weak and I collapse to the ground. Mason catches me before I completely pass out and carries me to the couch.

My body is shaking as Mason wraps an arm around me. This can’t be happening. This has to be another nightmare. Why am I not waking up?

“We’ve got patrols out looking right now. Turns out, JR is wanted for some drug related activity.”

My eyes widen in fright.

Roman holds up a hand to calm me. “It’s okay. We’re setting up an Amber alert and everyone knows to use caution when approaching him. We’ll do everything we can to get Isla home safely.”

His phone sounds, and he looks at the screen. “Excuse me.” Roman steps out of the room to take the call.

“Oh, Beth. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” I stare at a box of crayons on the coffee table. “JR is a bastard. I knew he was going to try something. I just wanted to believe it wouldn’t happen.”

Tears start to cascade down my cheeks. Mason pulls me tighter against his chest, and I bury my face into his neck.

“I should have known he’d find us.”

“We’ll find her,” Mason says softly, kissing me on the crown of my head. “Don’t worry… We’ll find her.”

Roman steps back into the room, clipping his phone onto the holder hanging on his belt. “That was the captain. They may have a lead on where he’s headed.”

I’m on my feet quickly. “Where? Let’s go.”

“Now hold on. You need to leave that to us,” Roman says, holding a hand up toward me. “We don’t want to cause him to make any rash moves. Just leave it to us.”

“Then what do you expect me to do?” My voice is irritated now, wondering when or if I’ll ever see my baby again.

“Wait here and stay near your phone. We’ll call you as soon as we have her.”

I look around the room, from Amy’s crying eyes to Nate’s firmly set jaw and the frightened boy holding his arm.

“Roman,” Mason says. “Where do you think he’s going?”

Roman looks cautiously between us all. I nod my head. “Where?”

“We think he’s headed toward Mexico. The drug cartel we’ve tied him too through his car sales lot is based there. We think he’s going to cross the border and set up business there with some of his allies.”

“You can’t let him take her across the border.” I’m nearly hysterical again. “You can’t.”

“We won’t,” Roman says. “I promise.”