Sacred Waters (29 page)

He frowned at Braydon, wanting more of an explanation as to why Sammy had been having a difficult time. Were her parents okay? Did something happen with her job? Was someone sick or God forbid, her? The door to the small bathroom opened and she stepped out and paused when she saw them all standing there waiting for her.

A moment of unspoken yearning passed between them and then she blanked her expression, but not before Colin caught the look of pure regret and desolation in her eyes.

His mother bustled back to the hall and sternly said, “Well, what’s everyone just standing around for? For the love of Mike, boys, let the poor child use the loo in peace. Come on, I put on a fresh pot of coffee. Bitter outside.” She turned and hustled back into the kitchen. As they all followed she barked, “Braydon, take Sammy’s coat.”

Colin had yet to say a word. He simply watched the two of them, wondering what this was all about. Had they somehow gotten back together? Had Samantha’s feelings changed?

A look passed between Sammy and his brother and he scowled. They seemed to be sharing some sort of silent exchange meant to be kept a secret from the rest of them. Sammy gave an uncertain nod then her fingers went to the zipper of her coat. Colin watched her eyes, mentally begging her to look at him, see him. He waited, never taking his gaze off her face, but she kept her eyes averted from his stare.

Their mother grabbed a handful of mugs from the cabinet and set them on the table. “What a pleasant surprise it is having you back in our home, Sammy! I must tell you Braydon has not—”

Colin flinched and quickly turned at the sound of several mugs crashing to the floor and shattering into pieces. His mother’s face paled and her fingers fluttered to her mouth. Quieter than he ever heard her speak she said, “Mother of God, is that a McCullough in there?”

Colin quickly turned back to his brother and Sam to see what the hell she was talking about and almost stumbled on his arse. Samantha’s stomach was swollen to a size that seemed impossible for her small frame to support. There was no doubt in his mind what he was seeing. She looked at him and the apology he saw in her eyes broke his heart. That was his child. She was carrying his child!

He nearly took her in his arms and swore, but paused as it occurred to him that she was at the end of her pregnancy and had kept this from him for nine bloody months. He gave her a furious look, as her betrayal became a living thing snaking through his veins. She immediately looked away.

“Braydon, tell me you just found out about this and that is why none of us have known,” his mother admonished.

Braydon’s look of shock at her misunderstanding matched his own.

Samantha cleared her throat. “Um, it’s been a really long ride and I’d like to have a moment to speak with Braydon in his room if you don’t mind. I promise we won’t be long. I know you have a lot of questions and I’m so sorry to spring this on all of you like this, but if you will excuse us for a moment…”

Her confidence and words faltered when she again glanced at Colin’s stormy expression.

Braydon chimed in and said, “Just give us a moment to settle ourselves from the ride, Mum. We’ll be back down in a little bit and I promise we’ll explain everything.”

He took Sam’s elbow and gave Colin a pointed look before they left. Colin and his mother stood stock-still and watched them go.

As he heard Braydon’s bedroom door closed he turned to his mum and said, “I’m going to change. I’ll be back down in a bit.”

* * * *

Sam sat on Braydon’s bed and watched him pace as they each waited. The sound of Colin’s footsteps followed. The opening and slamming of his bedroom door was the only warning they had before he marched into Braydon’s bedroom through the connecting bathroom and crashed the door into the wall. She tried not to cringe at the look of disdain he shot her. She knew he would be upset.

“Somebody better start talking,” he growled. She’d never seen him like this. He seemed so different, harder.

“Col—” Braydon began, but Colin cut him off.

“Why are you even here, Braydon? This has nothing to do with you.”

Braydon stiffened. “Oh, okay,” he snapped sarcastically. “I’ll just head back downstairs then and tell Mum you’ve got everything under control. Don’t be a bloody moron! And if it weren’t for me, she wouldn’t be here. It wasn’t easy convincing her to come, you ingrate.”

Colin shot her a look that was so severe she had to look away. “You kept this from me on purpose.”

“I thought you joined the church. How was I supposed to know you didn’t? It wasn’t like you left Saint Peter’s and came knocking on my door.”

“How could you keep this from me?”
he roared and Braydon hissed his name in warning.

“What was I supposed to do, Colin? You didn’t ask for this.”

“What if I had taken my vows like I was supposed to in August? I would have been honor bound to the church and…you would have let me swear my life away without ever knowing I had a child?” he sounded so wounded her eyes glazed with unshed tears.

“You didn’t want this. You made it perfectly clear what you wanted and never was it me, let alone a child.”

She didn’t see the point in explaining that she hadn’t discovered her circumstances until October. She deserved every scornful word he could throw at her. How had she ever convinced herself it was okay to keep this from him?

“You have no idea what I want,” he whispered. “I never would have thought you capable of keeping such a thing from me.”

Tears blurred her vision and the fact that he made no move to comfort her only made her pain multiply.

A few moments of silence passed and then he announced, “I have to get out of here.”

“Where are you going?” she cried.

“I don’t know, but while you’ve had months to adjust to this news, it’s still brand new to me. I can’t be around you right now.”

The agony his words caused was worse than anything she’d ever experienced or imagined. He stormed out of the bedroom and a moment later she heard his heavy footsteps tromping down the stairs. She looked up at Braydon with watery eyes and fell completely apart.

All her strength abandoned her as he took her in his arms and held her as she sobbed.

* * * *

Kelly was nearly run over when Colin stormed out of the house. Apparently he was in another stormy mood.

“Whoa, what’s up with you?”

“Out of my fuckin’ way, Kelly,” he growled, and Kelly would have normally let him take his brooding arse elsewhere, but this was not the typical bad mood Colin had adopted since summer. This was something serious. He grabbed Colin’s arm and jerked him to a stop.

His brother smacked his grip away and pushed him.
“I said back off!”

“Whoa, Col, it’s me. What’s going on?”

Colin’s shoulders began to quake as he pulled in a hard breath. When he looked back at Kelly his eyes transformed from angry pits of deceit to broken windows of his soul. His mouth trembled and pressed together, but it was not enough to hold back his tears. For the first time in his life, Kelly saw his older brother fall apart.

“She lied to me,” he rasped and Kelly did the only thing he could think of and pulled Colin into his arms.

“Hey, hey, hey. Who lied to you?” He squeezed him fiercely as his brother struggled to stifle and swallow his building sobs.

“Sammy.”

Kelly pulled back and looked Colin in the eye. “Sammy’s here? Since when?”

Colin, apparently gaining control over his emotions once more, roughly swiped at his red eyes and stepped back, putting distance between them. “She just got here. She came with Braydon.”

“Well, that’s great!”

It was stupid for Colin to continue playing the martyr. So what if he didn’t become a priest? He was still a model Catholic. He didn’t understand why his brother insisted on torturing himself for the past months. Kelly knew why he couldn’t make his vows. What he didn’t know was why Colin had yet to go collect Sammy and make her a McCullough. It was like he’d given himself penance.

“It’s not great. She fucking lied. All this time she could have come back here and she didn’t.”

“Uh, not to sound like a dick, but you could’ve just as easily gone to her and you didn’t. So aren’t you guilty of the same thing?”

“I’m not carrying her child!”

“Whoa… What? Sammy’s pregnant?”

“Yes! And she looks about ready to pop and figured just now maybe she should share this news with me. And according to Bray, she didn’t even want to do that. He had to beg her to come here and do what was right. What I had every damn right to know nine fucking months ago!”

“Okay, settle down,” Kelly said, trying to digest all of this. “First of all, she probably didn’t find out about the baby until she was a couple of months late. By then she may have already assumed you had taken your vows. She may have been trying to protect you the best she knew how. Second, I sure as hell hope you didn’t hit her with a barrage of accusations when she told you. You know Sammy. She doesn’t have a deceitful bone in her body. This has probably been more than stressful on her. And thirdly, mazel tov! You get to be a father after all, just not the kind you thought you were gonna be.”

Colin didn’t quite look like he was ready to bust out the cigars yet. He looked pale and terrified.

“I’m not even sure what I said to her. I was just so shocked, but I know I wasn’t nice.” He shamefully bowed his head and whispered, “She was crying and I walked away from her.”

This time Kelly pushed him. Colin tripped backward, not expecting the blow. “What the fuck is wrong with you, man? She came all the way here to tell you in person and you fucking yelled at her? Jesus, I know you’ve been in a shitty mood since she left, but that’s not her fault. It’s yours, you fucking dope!”

Kelly rubbed his cold hands angrily over his face. “Where is she?”

“Braydon’s room,” he said in a barely audible voice.

Kelly didn’t even give him the courtesy of a goodbye. He simply walked into the house and left him there to stew in the misery that was his own making. When he reached Braydon’s room he knocked twice then walked in. Sam sat on the edge of the bed crying in his brother’s arms.

He walked around and nudged Bray out of the way then crouched down in front of Sam.

“Hey, beautiful.”

“Hi, Kelly.”

She gave him a teary smile. Yup, she was definitely pregnant.

“I heard you’re carrying some precious cargo.”

“I’m enormous.”

“Aw, well, that’s just because even the wee McCullough lads have big cocks. He’s probably regular size everywhere else.”

She sniffled and laughed. “What’s your excuse if it’s a girl?”

“Well, in that case, she must have her mother’s brains and therefore have an abnormally large melon.”

She laughed and punched him playfully in the arm. “Jerk.”

“Don’t worry, love, she probably has her mum’s looks too and therefore no one will think twice about her big head.”

Her chuckle was a half sob. She wiped her nose against the back of her hand and he teased, “On second thought, I don’t know. I remember you a lot prettier with a lot less snot on your face.”

He reached over and plucked a tissue from the box on the nightstand. He blotted her eyes lovingly and held the tissue to her nose.

“Blow,” he instructed, and she did.

“That’s better,” Kelly said, taking her hands and holding them away from her body. “You look stunning, Sammy, snot and all.”

“I’ve missed you, Kelly.”

“You too, love. I can’t believe you’ve got my little niece or nephew in there. It’s bloody fantastic!”

“I think you’re the first in your family to see it that way.”

“Impossible. My mother’s probably already knitted it eight sweaters since you arrived.”

She looked at Braydon and her expression said she believed the opposite. Braydon quickly reassured her, “No, Sam, you can’t go by her initial reaction. She was just shocked.”

Sam let a hysterical laugh bubble past her lips.

“What?” Kelly asked, wanting to know what had suddenly amused her.

“She thinks the baby’s Braydon’s,” she confessed and laughed again.

Bray blushed and Kelly snorted.

“Well, it looks like she has another surprise coming. What do you say we let you get cleaned up and you meet us downstairs so we can clear up Mum’s confusion?”

Her smile fell away. “What about Colin?”

He pressed his lips together. He should have punched his brother in the head while he had the chance.

Colin had done nothing but walk around the place in a perpetual bad mood for the last several months and now that he actually had a blessing before him he was too thickheaded to appreciate it.

“Colin will come around, but you don’t need his permission to celebrate with the rest of us. You’ve got McCullough blood in you now. We need to commemorate such news with some fine Irish whiskey.”

She gagged. “None for me thanks.”

“No, love, none for you.”

When Sam joined the others downstairs she looked a lot better than she had, but was still a bit unsure of herself. Like he suspected, his mother was bursting with excitement over the news. This would be her grandbaby and therefore one of the most spoiled children to ever grace their mountains.

Sheilagh and Finn eventually joined them and congratulated both Sam and Braydon on the news. No one corrected everyone’s misconception that Sam was carrying Braydon’s child. This seemed to make Sammy uncomfortable, but she said nothing when Braydon only shrugged it off.

They spent the entire day in the kitchen, laughing and telling stories of when they were babies. Around five, Luke and their father joined them. He was glad to see a smile split his father’s bearded face when he heard the news. He lovingly hugged Sam and placed his big mitt on her stomach welcoming her to the family.

They were finishing dinner when Colin finally returned. Everyone aside from Kelly, Braydon, and Sam greeted him with a smile. All the merriment that had been in Sam’s eyes moments ago vanished. Colin stood in the doorway of the kitchen as if he didn’t belong.

“Colin,” his father greeted happily. “Did you hear the news? Braydon’s going to be a father!”