Love Unclaimed (10 page)

“You’re the asshole. How far did you get with her before I came in?” Travis grabbed a sandwich off the plate. “I mean would you have done it right here on the floor, if I hadn’t come in?” He shoved a square into his mouth. “She deserves better,” he said through a mouthful of food.

“I know she deserves better. Don’t you think I know that?” He picked at the sandwich in his hand.  “Believe me; I’ve tried to stay away from her but…”

“But nothing, you either stick with her or you let her go. She loves you. She’s loved you most of her life and you treat her like…”

“Don’t.”

“Sorry, man, but I might have even swept her up years ago if she wasn’t like my sister. Hell, most guys around here would love a chance at Audree; she’s a great catch.” He laughed when Gavin growled at him. “But they know she is still hands off, even after all these years. Neither one of you will admit it or make a commitment, but Audree is yours and you are hers, whether you claim it or not.” Travis popped another square in his mouth. “So if you aren’t going to make the commitment to her and claim her, then let her go, man. She will be mad, and of course, hate you for a while, but she will be free and able to move on.”

“I hear ya.” Gavin shook his head and walked out of the kitchen.

Eight years ago…

Audree was well aware that her mother loved Gavin and Travis, but she in no way approved of her daughter’s “relationship” with Gavin. Talia had been made painfully aware of their relationship when Audree found out she was pregnant. In her sophomore year of college, came home from school as soon as she found out and told her mother and later her father, but waited to tell everyone else until when they were together at Christmas. Her parents were not happy about the pregnancy and even more unhappy with the fact that Audree would not be marrying the father of the baby, Brooks Jennings.

Audree’s parents had met Brooks and liked him very much,
as her friend,
at school. They weren’t aware their relationship had moved beyond the friendship stage until Audree dropped her pregnancy bomb. Talia knew of her daughter’s attachment to Gavin, but never said anything, hoping they would both grow out of it and move on. She’d never known that Audree and Gavin had slept together twice before her pregnancy announcement.

Audree wanted to tell Gavin away from the family because she knew he would be more affected, even angrier than everyone else and would probably make a scene. She wanted to tell him before everyone had gathered in the living room before dinner.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now, Audree? You’re pregnant with my kid and you tell me like this?” Gavin paced across Audree’s bedroom floor.

“The baby…”

“We used a condom every time! How could this happen? Why didn’t you call me right away? I had a right to know. I…”

“It is not yours!” Audree shouted at him and stopped him mid pace.

“Excuse me?” He turned and was right there in front of her.

“The baby is not yours! Brooks is the father.”

“Who the fuck is Brooks?”

“He is a friend from school.” Audree had seen Gavin pissed off before, but this was different.
This was
rage mixed with disappointment and sadness.

“A friend?  You are going to have a baby with ‘a friend’? Where is he now? Why isn’t he here with you?” He sounded frustrated and full of disbelief.

“Yes, he’s
a friend
. If you had bothered to come and see me at school or respond to any of my emails and texts you would have met him on several occasions. But as usual, you disappeared after we are together,” she snapped at him. She turned away from him, trying to calm her temper. “He is home with his family; it is Christmas, after all.”

“His family? His family, like a wife and kids? Audree, what the….”

“No! Not his wife and kids, stupid. His mother, brother, and sister are his family.”

“You are calling me stupid? You are standing there god knows how pregnant with some shithead kid’s baby and I’m stupid?”

“He is not a shithead. He is a good man. You don’t have a right to judge anyone. Look, look at us.” She waved her finger between them. “We fu… we slept together. You leave. You don’t talk to me. And I keep letting you,” she huffed. “Oh, and thank you so much for thinking so highly of me that you would think I would sleep with a married man.” She glared at him, and the anger began to vibrate through her body.

“I didn’t mean to say you would…”

“Forget it.” She threw her hand in the air dismissively.

“Just so you know, Brooks offered to marry me, but…” she looked up at him through her lashes knowing it would hurt him that another man would marry her.

“But what?”

“I don’t want to marry him. I don’t love him like that.”

“You don’t love him like that? But you love him enough to fuck him and have his kid,” Gavin ran his hands over his close-cropped head and down his face.

“Are you saying you have been celibate since the time we were together?”

“It has been months Audree and…”

“And what? I can honestly say that Brooks is only the second person I’ve had sex with.”

“I told you that...” he sighed.

“Audree, we agreed that night was complicated.” He ran his hands over his face again. “It was a rough week with the anniversary of Mom and all, and I was asleep and was dreaming about… and I needed….”

“You need to fuck me to get through your mom’s anniversary.” She regretted her words as soon as they left her lips. “I’m sorry that was horrible of me to say.”

“But it was pretty true. I’m sorry.” He walked over to her. “You’re right I don’t have a right to judge you. Are you sure you don’t want marry this guy?”

“Yes, I’m sure. We are better friends than lovers.” She saw the grimace cross Gavin’s face at the word lover. “Travis offered to marry me too, but I also told him no as well.”

“You told Travis before you told me?”

“He kind of figured it out on his own when he came to visit me and noticed I wasn’t drinking and I was eating all of the time. He also thought it was yours, but I straightened him out, by telling him that you wouldn’t make such a mistake.” Her fear of telling him had turned to anger. He didn’t have a right to claim her as his own, when he refused to make a commitment to her.

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“I assured him that
you
were always very adamant and careful with protection, so there was no way for the baby to be yours.” She saw the hurt spread across his face and heard his gasp.

“I just…”

“I didn’t plan on getting pregnant, Gavin. I didn’t plan to have a relationship with him or anyone else, but…. Brooks and I are friends. We have known each other since the beginning of freshmen year. We met in an English class. The professor partnered us up for a project. We are together all of the time, and he is one of my best friends. One night, I was having a melt down over…” she looked at Gavin and dropped her head. “I was really upset and he was comforting me and one thing led to another. We only did it that one time and both decided that we were better as friends.” She didn’t tell him was a night of heavy drinking on the anniversary of their first kiss. She woke up crying over him, and, their fight in the barn.

“And does this friend intend to be here for you and the baby?”

“He is a foreman at a construction company during breaks until he graduates from school; he is the main source of support for his family. He works part-time while going to school too. His dad left when Brooks was like twelve and he has a younger brother and sister who count on him. I wouldn’t ask him to leave them. We agreed that the baby would stay here with me and he would stay there. He had never really planned to have children of his own, so he will be as involved as I want or need him to be. He will, of course, support the baby financially, but he is not sure about being a father.”

“And you are okay with this?”

“Yeah, I am. I want the baby. He said he would have supported me whatever decision I made, but I wanted to keep the baby.” She stepped away from him. “Who knows if I’ll ever have the chance to have another without…,” she tapered off as she turned and looked at him.

“Audree,” her mother called from the doorway, where she had been eavesdropping, but Audree knew she was there. “We are getting ready to serve dinner.” She stepped up to her daughter and gave her a squeeze while eyeing Gavin.

“Okay, I’m going to freshen up and I’ll be right down.” She smiled at her mother and disappeared into the bathroom.

“If you had made her yours years ago, and she wouldn’t be in this mess, alone.” Talia put her hand on Gavin’s shoulder. “And I don’t want you sleeping with my daughter anymore. I won’t tell Spencer or Clint; I will leave that to you if it becomes necessary. But it is not fair to lead her on,” she said before turning and walking down the hall.

“I’m not leading her on; I love her,” Gavin whispered. Talia smiled, pretending she didn’t hear him. “But I sure as hell don’t deserve her.” He looked back toward the closed bathroom door before he dropped his head and followed Talia’s retreating shadow down the hall.

***

Brooks was true to his word; he fell in love with Eva the moment she was placed in his arms. Although he wouldn’t be moving in with Audree, remaining in Fresno with his family, he visited once a month and video chatted with Eva and Audree every night. Eva spent one month of every summer with her father. Audree used to stay for the whole month too, but as Eva got older, she knew they needed their own time together. Although he was not always physically present in Eva’s life, he was very much a part of her life and very much her father.

Gavin had met Brooks at the hospital the night Eva was born. He tried his best to hate the man, but couldn’t when he saw the love Brooks had for Audree and Eva. He knew they were friends and that they would always have the bond of Eva to join them. But Gavin had known he was jealous of Brooks giving Audree the baby that he had always wanted to give her. Gavin fell in love with Eva the moment he held her and swore from that day on that he would be a part of her life, even if it was only as her Uncle Gavin.

He loved her like she was his own and knew he would lay his life down for her and her mother. If he could only convince himself that he was worthy of Eva’s mother, he’d marry her in a heartbeat and make them a real family. Unfortunately, Gavin knew Audree deserved better than the ruthless man Malcolm Montgomery had created. Without Gavin’s ‘silent partnership’ in the ranch and rehab Audree risked losing the ranch all together. The startup of the business put a financial burden family with the land itself used for collateral. Gavin knew his father was chomping at the bit for Audree’s investment to fail so he could swoop in and take the land. Much to Gavin’s delight Audree was very successful, her business was growing every day, and he would continue any and all financial support to keep Audree’s dream alive and operational. And to keep the land his mother wanted Audree to have away from the scheming grasp of his father.

Present…

Eva stayed at the party for about an hour; she danced with everyone, except Gavin, who still hadn’t shown up. Eva was upset he hadn’t come to dance with her and put up a fuss for about two minutes until Audree threatened to take her horse riding privileges away from her. With a kiss and hug to her mother, Ruby and Travis she pouted all the way to her grandfather’s truck. She apologized to Audree for her behavior and Audree promised to have Gavin call her and say goodnight. She kissed her daughter and her parents goodnight and waved until they disappeared from view.

Audree returned to find the barn party in full swing. About fifty people were spread out on the makeshift dance floor, crowding the bar and sitting on the stacks of hay spread around for just that purpose. This party had gotten Audree thinking she could make some improvements and make this a more permanent rental place. She would have to talk to Ruby later about her new business venture idea. The new barn over at the rehab center housed the ranch’s horses; this ‘old’ family barn has become more of a storage area after the partying ended after Clint and Audree had grown up. There had been a few parties for friends and family, but nothing significant.
Yet.