The Bachelor Contract(71)

Cole muttered out a few curses and leaned on the table. “Nikki told me, she had her reasons for telling me…what I don’t understand is why you feel like you need to.”

“You were there for her when I wasn’t.”

Cole locked eyes with him. “Yeah. I was.”

Leave it to Cole to make it harder on him than it already was.

“What if I can’t make her happy? What if I just hurt her—what if the hurt between us is so big, so great, that we can’t start fresh?”

“You have brothers.”

“Huh?”

“Brothers,” Cole said again. “And yet you’re sitting here, asking me for advice?”

“Family sees the best in you no matter the cost,” Brant said honestly.

“And me?” Cole grinned.

“I’m pretty sure every time you see my face it takes an insane amount of self-control not to punch me or run me over with a car.”

“You’d be right,” Cole grunted. “On both fronts. Lying to you doesn’t help me out, neither does kissing your ass.”

At least they agreed on that.

“So?” Brant spread out his arms and sighed. “What do I do?”

Cole stared at him long and hard. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable.

Finally, Cole frowned and leaned back against the chair. “I think you have to talk about it. All of it. I think you need to lay yourself open, vulnerable, bloody, beaten, and ask her the question you’ve been avoiding since you came here.”

“What’s that?”

“Are you worth it?”

* * *



“You ready for our next date?” Brant asked, opening up the door to the limo and helping Nikki inside. She slid across the plush leather seat. He tried to keep his tone happy, light, but if she could see his face, she’d see it was pale. If she traced her fingers around his mouth, she’d feel the strain lines; if she could see his eyes, she’d see nothing but pain.

“You sound different,” she pointed out. “We can do the date another time, if you aren’t feeling up to it tonight.” She reached out to touch his thigh.

The door closed behind them. The limo moved. His heart slowed to a painful rhythm in his chest as a piercing silence filled the car.

“Brant?”

“This date…” He cleared his clogged, betraying throat and squeezed her hand. “It isn’t one of my favorite memories. It’s one that never happened. But one that needs to happen, all right?”

“Should I be scared you’re kidnapping me?” she joked, her eyes a bit watery. Could she sense his sadness? The swirling cloud of doom hanging over them, the chasm still separating them, that would be separating them until he did this?

“Can’t kidnap something you already have, right?” he answered in a sad voice.

“No.” She blinked down at their joined hands. “You can’t.”

Too soon, the limo pulled to a stop. Too soon, rain started pounding on the roof of the car.

“We’re here,” he announced, pulling out an umbrella before the door opened.

With a smile on her face, Nikki put her hand in his. He pulled her under the cover of the umbrella. His body was tense, his face tight, his eyes already filled with tears.

“Where are we?” She sniffed the air. “I know it’s raining, we’re outside, and I’m standing on grass, but that’s about it.” She ducked her head against his chest. “Brant?”

He didn’t trust himself to answer. But he knew he could at least hold her close, keep her safe from the rain even if that meant that he couldn’t keep her safe from the tumultuous emotions building up inside—ready to explode and destroy anything in their path.

Brant Wellington was a dangerous man when he lost control, and he knew, in his heart, all hell was about to break lose.

They might not survive it. But in order to make it to the end, they had to go through it.

No more numbing. No more ignoring.

He stopped walking and pressed the single, thornless rose into Nikki’s trembling hands.

“Here lies Noah Arnold Wellington.” His voice cracked. “May you fly on the wings of eagles and into your Savior’s arms.” Nikki fell to her knees, grass staining her jeans as she pressed her palms against the cement headstone. Tears poured down her face. Brant continued. “Born on August 1, 2014, died—” He couldn’t stop the choking sob that escaped.

I have everything.

I’ve lost everything.

Run.

Nikki reached up and grabbed his hand. He joined her on the cold, wet grass, the umbrella long forgotten as rain mixed with his tears and hers, running from their cheeks onto the ground they had been forced to bury their child in.