Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 312(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 312(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Knox sat beside Holly but pulled out his cell and sent Jade a text message asking if she was okay and if he could bring her anything after the appointment. Because one way or another, Jade’s apartment was his next stop.
For the next two hours, they looked at photographs and discussed flower colors and varieties for the wedding day. Devon asked Holly if she wanted a bridal arch, which led to a thirty-minute discussion of the pros and cons of having one. All the while, Knox kept an eye on his phone, but Jade didn’t reply.
He’d already decided giving her space hadn’t been the right approach, but he’d been too busy at work to see her in person, and he couldn’t say what he wanted on a phone call. He’d been counting on seeing her today, but her silence had him on edge.
Maybe she was sleeping. The thought didn’t ease the twisting in his gut that told him that she was avoiding him. And her reasons had nothing to do with her being sick.
* * *
Pregnant. Jade stared at the three sticks, all different brands she’d purchased, just to be sure. She wasn’t stupid enough to wonder how it had happened. She was just damned unlucky when she looked at the odds.
Her cell beeped. With her stomach churning and not just from nausea, she glanced at the screen. Lauren had texted her:
Appointment over. Knox said he was going to check on you.
Thank God for good friends, Jade thought, replying with a heart emoji.
There was no way she was up to a conversation with the man who’d fathered the baby she was carrying. Not when she’d yet to come to terms with it herself. Besides, she hadn’t heard from him when he was away and though she thought she’d missed him, she now chalked it up to pregnancy hormones and being overly emotional.
So she pulled out her carry-on and threw some clothing and other necessities into the suitcase. Although she’d rather just disappear, she had to stop and talk to her oldest brother first. She pulled up her ride share app and called for a car.
Not long after, she found herself sitting across from Asher in his new office. One of the best things about her family was that they’d drop everything for each other, no matter what.
Asher rose and sat on the edge of the mahogany desk, his concerned gaze on hers. He reached out and placed a hand on her knee. “Stop the nervous tapping and talk to me.”
She swallowed hard. “I need to get away. Can I take the plane to your house on Windermere?” Asher owned an estate on the island off Eleuthera, near the Bahamas. There was no better place for her to be alone and think.
“You can go anytime you want, but I need to ask, what’s wrong?”
She breathed in and out, controlling her rolling belly. “Can it wait? I’m not ready to talk about it yet.”
He studied her. “Are you okay? Do you want me or someone else to come with you?”
She shook her head. “I just need time to think where no one can find me.”
He opened his mouth as if to ask another question, then closed it again. He paused for long seconds. “I’ll tell my pilot to fuel the plane, and he’ll be waiting when you get there.”
She jumped up from her seat and hugged her big brother. “Thank you. And thanks for not pushing me for information. I promise to talk when I’m ready.”
He set her back and kissed her cheek. “I do have conditions.”
“What might those be?” she asked warily.
“Check in daily. I need to know you’re all right, and the only way I can do that is if I hear your voice.”
Her heart squeezed in her chest. “Because you’re worried I might be like Mom?”
“No. Of course not. Why would you say that?”
She would always remember the conversation she’d overheard her brothers having when Jade was eight. They believed that, because she was a daughter, Jade was more likely to have inherited Audrey’s mental illness. When she’d grown up and had gone through therapy of her own, she’d discovered the flaw in their thinking. But it had been too many years of internalizing their words and being afraid of every mood swing she had. Her anxiety attacks had begun after hearing that conversation, and she’d worked hard to fight them ever since.
“Jade?” Asher’s voice snapped her back to the present.
“I don’t know. It was a stupid thing to say.”
Asher studied her warily, his eyes narrowed. He was smart but he couldn’t read her mind. The men in her family had no idea what she’d overheard, and she never planned to tell them. Her siblings would be devastated to know their words had hurt her. Not even Serenity was aware of the words that still haunted her.