I met his steel gray eyes, loathing the amusement in them. His lips were in a thin line but twitching at the corners. I wiggled out of his grasp. “Why are you in such a hurry?” His dark eyebrows hitched up.
“I already told you I’m leaving,” I snarled, baring my teeth like an animal.
“We would really like it if you stayed.” A glance over Kai’s shoulder showed his mom standing at the banister, her husband at her side.
“We haven’t even eaten yet,” Mr. Hart added with an encouraging smile.
I wanted so, so badly to tell them all to eff off, but my rational side told me this may be the only time to fix things with them. It shouldn’t have bothered me so much that they all viewed me as a whore. I did that to myself. I lived my life the way I did for reasons I wasn’t willing to share with anyone, so I had to settle with them thinking that about me and choose not to be offended when they did.
Hope shined in Kai’s steel eyes. The odd thing was that I also had hope. That was why I had come in the first place. His family was just that, a family. They had gone through a lot in the previous year, so I could excuse them for being taken by surprise yet again. But the greatest thing was that they were good, genuine people— nothing like my own family.
Despite my secrets, despite my fears of this road that had nothing to do with my plans, I wanted to be a part of this family that actually loved and cared. Not only for this baby who deserved this kind of unit more than anything in the world but for myself. It was something I’d never had. Something I had always longed for.
Kai seemed to sense the change in me. As his sisters sauntered down the stairs, he wrapped me in a hug that warmed my soul. But that wasn’t supposed to happen. I wanted to be a part of his family—to an extent—but being too close to him would ruin everything.
Pushing out of his arms, I glared up at him. The smirk he wore didn’t reach the sadness in his eyes, which made my chest squeeze. I wanted to scream, “Give a pregnant lady a freaking break!” but that would have made me even more crazy in their eyes.
Without saying anything, he moved aside so I could get down the stairs. I did so with my chin held high, my shoulders back. When I got to the bottom, the Harts stood in front of me, Mrs. Hart with tears in her eyes, her husband with his arm wrapped around her waist. Their relationship was foreign to me. In marriage, I had only witnessed cold callousness and deliberate cruelty. Another reason I was opposed to the notion.
I wasn’t sure I could handle her crying. Mostly because I wasn’t prepared to do so myself. No one wanted to witness my ugly cry.
“I apologize for the way I acted,” Mrs. Hart said. I didn’t know how to respond to that, but she went on. “Kai explained some things and… I’m just so glad you want to share that little life with us. We should have congratulated you just as Mia and Ava did.” She nodded to where the two now stood behind me. They both beamed at me when I glanced back.
“We would love to sit down and have a dual celebratory meal together,” Mr. Hart said with a soft smile. He was a very handsome man, his caramel hair peppered with gray strands. Kai definitely got his height and build from his dad, and probably his calm nature. He was one of those men you could feel wisdom and kindness emanating from. “If you want a little space from us, we wouldn’t mind putting you in a hotel for the night. But if you’ll let us make it up to you, we would love for you to stay with us.”
After a moment’s thought of forcing myself not to cry, I nodded. “I would really like to stay here.”
Kai’s warm hand brushed against mine, and I didn’t shy away from it. Instead, I laced my fingers with his before following his parents and sisters outside to where Cade and Pierce were waiting.
We ate together. I ate. A lot. More than I had in months. I had barbecue chicken, baked beans, potato salad, and a brat. Kai watched me with an impressed stare while I downed my second helping of the amazing chocolate torte Mia made. It was perfect thin layers of moist chocolate cake with rich chocolate frosting between each layer. It even looked pretty with swirling white frosting decorations, reminding me of a torte from one of the French bakeries by Delia’s family’s house. I could only hope I wouldn’t throw everything up later.
We chatted semi-easily about the baby. Mrs. Hart asked when I was due, how I was feeling. I told them about the rare syndrome, and Kai finally told them we would be returning to Tennessee in a few days to learn the gender. Something I was beyond excited about, especially since Kai wanted to be a part of it.
After drilling me about all things baby, they talked to Kai about his new assignment in Ohio. He spoke a little about the new mechanical engineering job and the fact that he was going to look at houses during his month off. That had them asking what our living situation would be like. Which was when I got a third piece of torte with Kai’s cloudy grays zeroing in on me.
“It’s really good, huh?” Mia asked me, interrupting her parents’ questions and Kai’s intense stare that made my skin tingle.
“It’s amazing.” I nodded around a bite. “You should open a dessert shop.”
She
