My Mistake (Stories of Serendipity #7) (27 page)

“Not really. I’m just laying here, reliving my marriage to Kevin. I could definitely do without those memories running around in my head.”

“We’ll have to make new ones to replace them, won’t we?” His sleepy smile was nothing short of sexy, and Casey’s eyes roamed over his wrinkled appearance. He’d put back on the shirt he’d put over her, and it was open over his T-shirt, since the buttons were gone. She remembered seeing him in it at the Gin, when it was all pressed and starched neatly.

Which brought back memories of the women. And his unfaithfullness.

As if on cue, a tall, leggy brunette strolled into the room, blowing on a cup of coffee. “You’re awake! Thank goodness. Brent’s been really worried about you. You had us all so worried.” Her eyes filled with concern, but Casey couldn’t tamp down the tears. She turned to Brent.

“You brought her here?” Without warning, her hand zinged out and slapped Brent across his face, leaving a stunned and hurt expression in its wake. She hadn’t slapped him nearly as hard as she wanted to, but it was the best she could do with an IV dangling from her wrist.

“What the hell, Case?” He looked at Casey like she’d turned polka-dotted, and sat up straighter. “What’s going on?”

“I was at the Gin, before all…this.” She waved her hands around vaguely, motioning towards the woman, who had flattened herself against the wall, obviously trying to be invisible. “And I saw you with her and those others. I saw you kiss…” She spat the words at him, too livid to finish her sentence.

Brent’s brow smoothed and his face fell as realization dawned.
Yeah, busted.
But instead of anger at his dawning realization she’d caught him red-handed, something else sank in her tummy. She realized then she’d read it wrong. “Who are they?” Something told her she’d made a terrible mistake.

He looked back at the woman and said. “Will you bring in the others, Lauren? So I can finally introduce y’all to Casey?” The woman, Lauren, nodded and left quickly.

“Lauren?” Something was familiar about that name, but Casey couldn’t quite place it. It only served to reinforce the knowledge that she’d grossly misread the situation.

The three gorgeous brunettes filed in and stood in a row against the wall furthest from Casey, as if she could hurt them, hooked up to her IV and weak as a kitten in the hospital bed.

“Casey, this is Lauren, Haley, and Alexis West. My
cousins.
” He’d never let go of her hand through her entire hissy fit, and at the word cousins, he squeezed it tightly.

“Cousins? But you didn’t act like cousins…the way you danced with them…” She pointed to Haley. “And the way she was touching your hair…That’s why I reacted that way. Y’all weren’t acting like cousins…” Suddenly she felt feeble and pathetic. Especially once she remembered his and Summer’s stories about weeks during the summertime at their aunt and uncle’s house with their super awesome younger cousins. Besides Nana, the only family they had left. She could feel the heat of embarrassment rising to her face, and Casey almost couldn’t look at them all.

Haley shrugged, “He’s the one who taught us all to dance.” She continued weakly, “And he needs a haircut. He’s getting shaggy, that’s all.”

“What about the kiss? You kissed Lindsey.” That had been the vet, a woman familiar to Casey. She knew what she’d seen. Although after the events of the past twenty-four hours, she was beginning to doubt her own judgment.

Brent turned to them, “Can we have a moment?” They filed out the way they’d come in, silently and quickly. He turned back to Casey. He encased her hands in his, and kissed each knuckle, seeming to gather his thoughts.

“I’ve made too many mistakes in my life regarding you, Case. But cheating’s not one of them. You have made me the happiest man in Serendipity, hell, the entire state of Texas these last few weeks. I’m not about to screw that up. Please believe me when I tell you that.” The sincerity on his face shone through unshed tears, and she felt awful. “Lindsey kissed me, not the other way around. You must have left before I shoved her off me and left her on the dance floor.” His hand stroked his hair. “I told her to leave me alone, for good. I’m so sorry you saw it. I’m sorry it happened.” He looked at her sheepishly.

“I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions,” she offered meekly.

“It’s okay. I know I’ve got a lot of work to do to earn your trust. But I’m willing to do it. One thing I’ve learned from all my mistakes is that nothing worth having comes easy.”

Casey felt about two inches tall. Brent had sacrificed his own safety and his freedom to save her from Kevin, without even thinking about it. He worked every day to rescue horses from a life of abuse and neglect. He had never shown her a harsh word or unkindness. He showered her with love and attention every spare minute of his day. And at night, he held her close to him, not asking for anything in return.

She didn’t realize she was weeping until Brent’s thumb wiped a tear from her cheek. He didn’t say anything, just watched her as she battled with her emotions.

A rapid knock at the door preceded a harried doctor with a clipboard. “Mrs. Conway?”

“It’s Ms,” she corrected with a shudder. She wanted to change her name as soon as possible.

“I’m sorry. Ms. Conway, I have some news for you before your release. Are you feeling better?” She nodded, so he continued. “This may be sensitive information, if you’d like, your guest can wait in the lounge.”

“No, I’d like him to stay.” She didn’t want to be away from Brent again, ever.

“Well, then. It appears that you’re pregnant. It’s still early, about three weeks, but when we ran the tests and scans, it showed up. I’ve got some recommendations for OB/GYNs here.” He handed her a sheet of paper with a list of names. “And a prescription for prenatals here.” He handed her a smaller slip of paper covered with illegible writing. “Do you have any questions?”

Mute, she shook her head, before the doctor made his excuses and left the room. To her horror, Brent grabbed her face between his hands and started covering it with kisses.

“Brent, wait. Stop.” She pushed him back, and was dismayed as she watched the childish jubilation turn to pain at her rejection. “Brent, I’ve had four miscarriages. It won’t take.” Her tears welled up again, and she cursed her hormones.

“Shhh…That may be, but I love you Casey. I want to be there for you through all of it. Don’t cry. It might work. I’ll go with you to the doctor and see if there’s anything different that we can do this time. If not, I’ll still be there for you. You are doing things that only you can do. You are pregnant.” He stroked her cheek and smirked at her. “I’ll never be pregnant. Ever.” She laughed at the idea of Brent, belly huge with child. “You are a fantastic woman. If this doesn’t work, I’ll be here to support you, no matter what. Do you understand that? I love you.”

She nodded, emotion stealing her ability to speak. “I love you, too Brent.” She pulled him closer for a kiss of promise, for their future together.

C
asey finally convinced Brent to go home and shower if he was going to insist on spending the night. When her mother got there, completely hysterical about Kevin, he agreed to leave as long as Gloria was there to watch her. Suppressing her eye roll at being treated like a child, Casey watched him dart out the door before turning to her mother.

“Mom.”

“Sweetie…I had no idea…”

“Nobody did, that’s why it was so brilliant. Act like a helpless ass for twelve years and then turn psycho.” She again shuddered at the memories of Kevin touching her, having sex with her, putting his hands on her body. She’d had to recount everything for the police, and it had been humiliating: talking about their marriage, their divorce, his stalkerness, everything that led up to the kidnapping. She certainly didn’t want to continue rehashing it all.

“I’m so sorry you went through that.” Gloria was obviously trying to keep it together for Casey, like she always had. Casey could remember times past when her mother had apologized for her father’s actions, totally incapable of changing them.

“Mom, it’s not your place to apologize. I’m the one who married him, and now he’s gone. It’s over.”

Tears spilled from Gloria’s eyes as she gripped her daughter’s hand. “I’ve never been very good at protecting you, have I?”

“Mom, don’t…” She spread her fingers across her mom’s cheek and watched her mother’s tears spill between them. “You don’t have to feel guilty about any of this. Or Dad. It’s done. I’ll be okay. I promise.” She could feel her own tears, but managed to hold them at bay. She didn’t want to talk about any of it anymore. Seeing a way to change the subject, she said, “I’m pregnant.”

Her mother’s eyes lit up behind the tears, and she offered a weak smile. “That’s wonderful news, Honey.” Casey knew that Gloria was trying not to state the obvious. She’d been privy to all of Casey’s miscarriages, although not necessarily all the emotions that went with them. She patted Casey’s hand, and Casey squeezed back.

“It’ll be okay, Mom. Brent’s nothing like Kevin. Even if it doesn’t take…” She couldn’t finish the sentence. Knowing she was the one who brought up the topic didn’t make it any easier to talk about. Thankfully, a knock at the door interrupted her. She looked up to see Lindsey, and then wondered when she would be able to go back to sleep.

“Hey there…” Lindsey offered, hope in her eyes. She was dressed like a vet, in jeans, worn boots, and a blue polo shirt with her office logo on the breast. Casey didn’t respond. She couldn’t think of a thing to say, simply marveled at the woman’s nerve, to come to her hospital room like this.

“I came by to apologize.”

“I’ll go get some more coffee. I’ll be right back, Hon.” With that, her mother deserted her.

“Apologize for what, exactly?” Casey was tired, on pain meds, and in no mood to do any work whatsoever for this apology.

“For making passes at Brent, especially after I knew he was with you. What you saw at the Gin…”

“I know what I saw at the Gin.”

“Well, he had already made it clear that he didn’t want me, and I just kept on…I was drunk. I know that’s not an excuse, but I never would have done it without the liquid courage.” She’d been looking at her feet while she talked, but now she looked up and her blue gaze met Casey’s. “He’s so much happier now that he’s with you. It makes him more attractive, I guess. I’d never really thought of him that way until y’all got together. Now he’s just plain yummy.” She smiled hesitantly, at Casey, who was trying to keep her glower on, even though she completely agreed.

The thought of Brent being happier with her in his life mixed up her feelings. On top of the mix, she was glad, because making him happy was a good thing. But underneath that, she knew she had a green-eyed monster to deal with. If him being happy made him more attractive to others, then she’d be fighting women off him for the rest of her life.

The rest of her life. Yeah, she wouldn’t mind that.

It was the next morning by the time Brent was finally able to take Casey home. He was desperate to get her out of this hospital and in his bed where she could rest and be safe. Her mother was there, and had apparently had time to digest their news.

“Maybe all those other miscarriages were God’s way of not letting Kevin make a baby with you? Maybe he likes Brent better for your baby’s father.”

Brent liked the sound of that. The idea of God liking him for anything was humbling, but he’d grab that bull by the horns and hang on for the ride.

He’d stayed with Casey while she rested, and when they finally discharged her, he took her home with him.

Home.

With Casey here, it finally was a home, and he was looking forward to expanding and building onto it with her wishes and dreams in mind. Or even building her a new one. He just needed to figure out what was in her mind.

He ignored her faint protests, as he carried her inside his house, gently kicking Mooch out the door, and laid her on the bed. This was where she belonged. Right here with him. Forever. He would prove it to her. Silently, he changed her out of the clothes the hospital had given her, and drew a bath for her.

When it was ready, he lowered her into the tub and began washing her, thinking about anything besides seeing her naked under his fingers in his bathtub.

“Brent?”

“Yeah?” His voice was gravelly, and he cleared his throat and tried again. “Yeah?” Now it was squeaky.
Smooth, Cowboy.

“What are you thinking about?” She looked at him and the uncertainty in her eyes made his stomach lurch.

“Um, the horse’s feeding schedule, things I can try to socialize the mare, how much hay the pastures would yield this year, stuff like that?”

“Why?”

He smiled wanly. “It’s to keep my mind off what I want to do to you.” He turned her shoulders so she would quit looking at him like she was fixing to cry, and started scrubbing her back gently.

“What do you want to do to me, Brent?”

He took a deep shuddering breath. “Honestly? I want to haul you out of this bathtub and make love to you twelve ways to Sunday.” His hand stopped scrubbing her back. He couldn’t stop the images and control his movements at the same time. “But with everything you’ve been through, and you being pregnant and all, I don’t think I should.”