Hearts at Play(37)

Brianna wondered where they were going that evening. Hugh had texted earlier and said to dress up and to feed Layla a little something before he picked them up.

“It sounds like this is serious. How do you feel about him?” Her mother searched her eyes, and as her mother’s hand flew to her mouth, Brianna knew she’d seen the answer written all over her face. “Brianna, you love him,” she said from behind her hand.

Heat spread up her neck and cheeks. She held her mother’s gaze and nodded.

“Oh, Bree!” She wrapped her arms around Brianna and whispered, “Do I ever get to meet him?”

“Maybe Thursday. At Layla’s party, if that’s okay?”

Layla walked into the kitchen. “What’s happening at my party?”

Brianna and her mother exchanged a smile. Brianna crouched down to speak to Layla. “Would you mind if Prince Hugh came to your birthday party?”

“I would like that.” She spun in a circle with her arms out to the sides. “Are you gonna kiss him?”

Jean covered her mouth and said quietly, “I forgot to tell you that she’s been very focused on you kissing your special friend.”

“I’ll try not to, Layla.” But I’m not making any promises.





Chapter Thirty-Two


FRESHLY SHOWERED AND dressed in a tuxedo, Hugh stood in the expansive walkout basement of his house. His legs were planted hip distance apart, his arms crossed, muscles flexed. The room was perfectly appointed with rich furniture and a seventy-two-inch television, complete with surround sound and two smaller televisions on either side of the larger one so he could watch multiple shows at once. It was a media setup that most guys would love. Hugh never watched television. He read sports updates on his phone and couldn’t stand to sit and stare at a television. Before Brianna books had held his attention. Now even his reading time was minimal—and that was just fine with him.

The carpet still looked model-home new, and the walls were a pristine color that hovered between latte and cream. A fully stocked mahogany bar graced the corner of the room, and beyond that, the entrance to the gym stood ajar. The nine-foot ceilings and wall of French doors overlooking the perfectly manicured lawn and gardens gave the room an airy, open feel, and still, it felt flat. Lifeless. Stale.

He imagined a large coffee table, five feet wide and close to the floor. Something Layla could kneel beside and play her games or color, or whatever put a sweet smile on her lips. He had been roaming the house for the last hour mentally redecorating. Fitting Brianna and Layla into his life. He walked upstairs and into the office that he never used. It was far too big for an office and would be better suited as two rooms, a library and a darkroom for Brianna’s photography, which he hoped she’d one day have time to enjoy. She was too damn good at it to let her talents go to waste.

Hugh pulled out his cell phone and called his father as he crossed the living room.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Hugh. How’s my boy?” Hal Braden’s deep voice never failed to bring a smile to Hugh’s lips and fill his mind with warm memories.

“Good, Dad. I miss you. How are you doing?” Hugh had been thinking about his father, remembering the way his father used to chide him for riding the horses hard and fast. If I were that horse, I’d buck your ass right off.

“I’m good. The ranch is going along well. Construction is done on Treat and Max’s house. It’s gorgeous, of course. Leave it to Treat to create a spectacular living space, and Max has put some real nice finishing touches on it. Rex and Jade’s place is equally as beautiful. You’ll see them when you come out next weekend for Savannah’s engagement party. You are coming, aren’t you?”

His brothers had both bought property in Weston, and now, as Hugh thought about his family, he wondered why he owned seven houses and not a single one in Weston. He thought about logistics, mulling over the distance to the airport, race locations, and, of course, Brianna and Layla. Would they want to move away? Their friends were in Richmond, and Brianna’s mother lived there, too. He pushed the thoughts away for now and returned his attention to his father.

“Yeah. I’m coming. Is it okay if I bring someone? Two people, actually?” He settled into the couch.

“You can bring anyone you want; you know that. It’s always been your choice. Why would this be any different?”

He knew damn well that his father had already put two and two together. But just as his father would never tell him what to do with his life, he would walk with the same cautiousness around matters of Hugh’s heart. “I don’t know. I guess because it’s Savannah’s engagement party. Maybe I should call her and ask if she’d mind.” He ran his hand through his hair.

“Probably a good idea, though I can’t imagine she’d give a hoot.”

He heard a smile in his father’s voice.

“Your last race is this weekend. This is about the time of year when you get itchy for the next adventure. How’re you holding up?”

His father knew him too well. In previous years, it had taken Hugh a solid month to settle back down and not feel the need to drive fast or party all night. Hell, that part of him never really settled down until recently, and it was exactly why he had phoned his father.

“I’m holding up just fine with regard to racing, Dad, but I kinda have something else on my mind.” He checked his watch. He had to walk out the door in five minutes if he was going to pick up Brianna and Layla on time. “I met someone, Dad. Someone I really like.” Love, damn it. Someone I love.

“I might have heard something about a woman.”

Hugh closed his eyes. Of course you have. The phone call with Treat came back to him.

“And if I heard right, a child, too.” Hal’s voice carried no judgment. He had always been careful not to tell his children what to do, but he never failed to point out his thoughts in subtle ways. Ways that usually ended up revealing more about the person’s hidden feelings without them even knowing it.

Now it was Hugh’s turn.

“Brianna. She has a daughter, Layla.”

His father inhaled deeply and then blew it out slowly. “Well, children are blessings. How do you feel about Brianna?”

He had so many memories of driving his father crazy by wrestling in the living room with his brothers or sledding over the fields his father had told him to stay off of—but where the other kids sledded was too slow for thrill-seeking Hugh. He could hardly believe his father coined children as blessings, even if his father’s love was limitless. Rascals, maybe. Pests that he loved, definitely. But just blessings with no mischief wrapped around it? Five boys and one feisty girl couldn’t have been easy on him as a single father. Although now that Hugh thought about it, he couldn’t retrieve one memory where his father made him feel as though he were a burden.

“I love her, Dad.” There. He’d said it. He hadn’t even told Brianna yet, at least not in so many words. Hugh had never told a woman he loved her before. He’d always been too independent and self-centered to put a woman’s needs ahead of his own. Until Brianna.

His father made a hmph noise. “And Layla?”

“That’s kind of why I wanted to talk to you. I don’t understand what’s going on with me. I’ve only spent a little time with Layla, but I swear, Dad, I have loved her since I fell for Brianna. It’s like because she’s Brianna’s daughter, she’s automatically in that love zone. Is that totally wacked or what?” He paced again, waiting for his father to tell him that he had no business with a woman and a child because he had no idea what love was, or he was too self-centered. And maybe he’d be right. Hugh had no idea if what he was feeling was crazy or not. He didn’t wait for his father’s answer. “Every time I think of not being with them, it’s like someone reaches into my chest and tears out a piece of my heart. It’s pretty messed up, right?”

“Well, son. You’ve always known when things were right in your life. I remember when you were home on a college break and I asked you what business you wanted to go into. You had no idea. You looked at me like I look at Max when she talks about that damn interweb.”

“Internet.”

“Whatever,” his father said. “So I asked you what brought you happiness no matter when you did it.”

“And I told you that I loved racing more than anything even though it was supposed to just be a hobby that I did on weekends and in my spare time. Then you told me to do it. I remember.”

“I raised you and your brothers and sister to love with your whole hearts. God only knows why it took each of you so long to realize that, or to allow yourselves to love. That’s probably my fault, too. But you, Hugh, you love completely. So all you have to do is ask yourself if Brianna is the woman who makes you happy no matter what. And then you need to think hard about that little girl, because there will be times when she’s a teenager and she sneaks out of the house or brings home some crappy guy who only wants to get in her pants, and you gotta know in your heart that even when she lies or when she goes against your words, you’ll love her through it. No matter what.”