All I Ever Wanted(52)

"I've wanted to. Started to. But then I told myself, what good would it do?"

"It was something I had the right to know. We can't have secrets like that between us, Arabella. Secrets will always come out and undermine trust."

"I'm sorry. All I can ask is for you to put yourself in my shoes and try to understand what I was going through at the time." She looked at him through a blur of tears. "And right this minute."

Grady nodded and put his arm around her, pulling her close. She leaned her head on his shoulder, letting her tears flow. "This is so hard, but I'm glad that you know now, Grady." She felt his intake of breath. He reached over to the toilet-paper roll and gave her a long piece. Thankful, she blew her nose and blotted at her eyes.

"Funny, if not for this concert, you would never have found out the truth. You would have gone through the rest of your life thinking the worst of me. God, that would have been such a tragedy." His voice sounded distant, as if he were trying to process everything all at once.

"You're right," she admitted, and felt him tense up. "But at least you know what I was going through at the time." 

"I can only imagine." He nodded absently, making her heart constrict. For the first time, everything in her life seemed to be coming together. And in one afternoon, their bubble of happiness had burst like a giant balloon, raining like tears all around them. Arabella swallowed hard, wishing she'd had the courage to tell him sooner.

"I have an interview to do in less than an hour. I just hadn't seen you all day and wanted to stop by for a few minutes," he said. While there wasn't any anger in his tone, Arabella felt him pull away and it scared her to the bone. But she knew he needed time to digest the loss of the baby.

Grady kissed her on top of her head and stood up, offering his hand for assistance. "I'll give you a call later," he said, but made no mention of coming over.

Arabella nodded. "Okay." She followed him to the door, and when he drove away she felt a sense of loss. She put a hand to her chest, wondering if anything could ever be the same.





 CHAPTER FIFTEEN



IF YOU COULD READ MY MIND,

Jesse splashed water at Grady. "Who the hell pissed in your Cheerios?"

Grady wiped the warm droplets from his face and shot a glare at Jesse. "I have a lot on my plate, okay?" He stepped into the hot tub on the other side of Jesse, wishing Arabella was in the tub and not his brothers. They'd rehearsed so much yesterday that they'd decided to take a well-deserved day of rest to save up energy for the concert, which was set to go off in two days.

Grady needed a soak in the bubbling water, but he wanted Arabella in his arms more.

"I think we all really know what's making you cranky, bro," Oliver said. "Why in the hell have you been keeping your distance from Arabella?"

"I've been busy!"

"Not in the middle of the night," Oliver said. "We know you've been staying here instead of the beach house. What gives?"

"None of your business," Grady growled.

"Uh, it's my business when you don't have your head screwed on straight two days before we perform," Oliver said. "Not to mention that we all care about you." He hesitated. "And Arabella too."

"Want to talk about it?" Jimmy asked.

Grady sighed but shook his head. "No." He couldn't tell them what Arabella had revealed to him. He was still trying to wrap his head around the loss of a baby he hadn't known about. And it wasn't just the loss-it was the realization that he hadn't been with Arabella while she went through what had to have been a horrific event. So young . . . damn, he should have been at her side.

"Is she gonna leave after the concert?" Jimmy persisted. "I thought she sold her business and wanted to stay here."

"She did. I don't think she'll leave," Grady said, wishing he had a beer in his hand. He knew his brothers loved her, but it hit him hard how much they'd missed her too. She was the sister they'd always wanted and now they had her back, and he could tell that they didn't want to lose her again either. She was a bright spot of energy and brought laughter with her.

"Grady," Oliver said, "if you're stressed about the concert, don't be. We've got the show down pat. We could do it with our eyes closed . . . backward and sideways. The sound system is perfect. I've checked it, like, a million times. Our suits are super smooth and so are the hats. I know we'll sell out of them at the concert."


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