Chapter 19: The Brazen: Chapter 18

YEAH, this party was probably a bad idea.

I stepped into the community center with the car seat in one hand and my other on the small of Kerrigan’s back.

There weren’t many people here yet, but the moment the door closed behind us, all eyes swung our way.

A tall man with dark hair and gray at his temples spotted us first. The smile he’d had for Kerrigan flattened when he noticed my hand and how closely we were standing together.

A woman with Kerrigan’s chestnut hair did a double take, then tore across the room.

“Okay, maybe this was a bad idea.” Kerrigan voiced my own thought. Then she stood straighter and put on that brave face of hers. “Hi, Mom.”

“Hi.” Her mother looked me up and down, but when she saw Elias in his car seat, she froze. This was not a happy mother.

“This is Pierce Sullivan and his son, Elias,” Kerrigan said. “Pierce, this is my mom, Madeline Hale.”

I held out my free hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Madeline didn’t shake my hand. She continued to stare between the three of us until a scowl replaced the shock on her face. “You’re the man who tried to ruin my daughter.”

Madeline must be out for blood today.

I cleared my throat. “I am.”

“Mom,” Kerrigan hissed. “Can we not do this?”

“You.” Madeline shook a finger in her daughter’s face. “I’ll have words for you later. Bringing to your grandmother’s ninetieth birthday party. What are you thinking?”

“Pierce is important to me. He’s here as my friend.”

A friend? We’d be discussing that classification tonight.

Not one to be discouraged, Kerrigan glanced around the room. “What would you like us to do before the party starts?”

Before Madeline could answer Kerrigan’s question, the man who’d seen us first joined the huddle.

“Hi, Dad.” Kerrigan waved my way. “This is Pierce. Pierce, this is my dad, Colton Hale.”

“Nice to meet you.” I held out a hand.

Colton, unlike his wife, actually shook it, his grip tight enough to make a point.

“So is the cake here? I’d love to see it,” Kerrigan said, and before we could suffer through more of this introduction, she grabbed my hand and dragged me across the room.

We passed table after table covered with bright plastic cloths. Confetti was strewn on each and small bouquets of spring flowers made up the centerpieces. Toward the stage was a round table with a small chalkboard, the word hand drawn in white. Next to it, the cake.

I expected Kerrigan to lead us there but instead, she veered directions, her hand never loosening over mine. She pulled me past more wide-eyed people and into the industrial kitchen.

“Hi, Aunt Jenn,” she said to a woman stirring an enormous bowl of macaroni salad.

“Hi, Kerrig—” Aunt Jenn’s greeting died when she spotted me.

Kerrigan kept on pulling.

Through the kitchen. Down a short hallway. Past one door. Then another. Finally through a third that opened to a sitting room with one navy tweed couch and two tan leather chairs.

Kerrigan stopped in the center of the room and breathed. “Not great. But not bad.”

“Are you planning on us hiding out here the entire party?”

“No. Maybe? I was hoping there would be more people here already.” Her shoulders fell. “I’m sorry my parents were rude.”

“I expected as much.” If she hadn’t told them about us, then their surprise was justified. But I wasn’t going anywhere. If their rudeness was what I needed to endure to be here for Kerrigan, so be it.

Everyone important in my life knew about Kerrigan. Granted, that list was small. My parents. Nellie. They knew what she meant to me and what I was hoping to have happen by returning to Montana. In time, her family would know too.

“It’ll be fine.” I put my hand on her cheek, my thumb gently stroking her soft skin. Then I leaned down and brushed my lips to hers.

The door to the room opened. “Ker—oh. Uh, sorry to interrupt.”

Kerrigan pulled away. “Hey, it’s okay.”

I turned and faced the woman I’d seen once months ago. It had to be Kerrigan’s sister. They had the same hair, the same pretty eyes.

“Larke, this is Pierce. Pierce, this is my sister.”

Larke held out her hand. “You’re—”

“Kerrigan’s.”

Might as well clear it all up right now. I wasn’t the investor. I wasn’t the friend.

I was hers.

Kerrigan’s gaze was on the floor but there was a smile tugging at her lips.

“This should be interesting.” Larke laughed. “Welcome to the madness, Pierce.”

I chuckled. “Thanks.”

“Are you guys hiding out in here?” Larke asked. “If so, I’m joining you.”

We sat down and I unbuckled Elias from his car seat.

Kerrigan instantly stole him away, propping him on her knees. “Hey, buddy.”

He reached for a lock of her hair, wrapping it in a fist.

She laughed and his eyes whipped to her face.

Then my entire world stopped.

Elias gave her his wide, toothless grin and let out a string of baby babbles like he was telling her that he was going to keep her forever.

With any luck, he’d get his wish.

“Oh, he is cute.” Larke squeezed in on the couch beside Kerrigan and tickled the baby’s side.

I stretched back in the couch, relaxing as they talked to him. Mostly, I stared at Kerrigan. These months apart had been too long.

She looked gorgeous today, even after a night of limited sleep. Still too thin, but beautiful. Her hair was curled into waves and they draped over her shoulders, thick and silky. Her dark jeans and heeled boots made her legs look a mile long. The chunky gray sweater she’d pulled on draped wide at the neck, showcasing a hint of her flawless skin over one shoulder.

My hand moved of its own volition, landing on that bare skin.

She glanced over and smiled, then focused on my son.

“What if we hid out here all day?” she asked Elias.

He garbled some incoherent string of sounds.

“That sounded like a yes,” Larke said. “But if we don’t come out of this room, Mom will come searching.”

“Ugh,” Kerrigan groaned. “I hate these parties.”

“Look at it this way,” Larke said. “The entire family is here so you only have to suffer through today and then everyone will know about you and Pierce.”

“This is true.” Kerrigan sighed, then looked over at me. “Ready for this?”

“It’ll be fine.” I sat up straighter. “This was going to have to happen eventually. Might as well be today.”

She leaned into my side, then steeled her spine and stood with Elias.

“Want me to take him?” I asked.

“No.” She kissed his cheek. “I’ve got him.”

We followed Larke and returned to the party, where I spent the next hour meeting what must have been the entire town of Calamity. Everyone knew or was related to Kerrigan. She smiled politely, laughed when necessary and introduced me as we wandered around the room.

But with every sideways look or whisper behind our backs, she clutched my hand tighter. Every time I offered to take Elias so she wasn’t hefting him around, she’d kiss his cheek again and tell me she wanted to hold him.

He seemed perfectly content to let her.

Elias hadn’t taken to anyone this quickly. Not the nanny. Not Nellie. Not even my mother. Maybe Elias sensed Kerrigan’s unease. Or maybe he just loved playing with her hair.

“Ah. There you are.” A man who resembled Colton approached Kerrigan. Next to him was the guy from last night.

.

“Hi, Zach,” Kerrigan said. “This is Pierce Sullivan. Pierce, this is my brother. And you remember Jacob.”

Neither of the men extended a hand as she did the introductions. Neither returned her greeting, which pissed me right the fuck off. Other than a glance at Elias, they focused on me and ignored Kerrigan completely.

I’d been sized up many times in my life, normally by older clients who didn’t believe someone younger could possess their level of business acumen. Those meetings never went well . . . for the clients.

Jacob could go fuck himself. Zach could too, but given that he was Kerrigan’s brother, I’d bite my tongue.

“So you’re the guy,” Zach said.

“I am.” I slid close to Kerrigan, putting an arm around her shoulders.

Jacob’s eyes flared as she leaned into my side and held up her chin. “I’m going to take off,” he told Zach, then disappeared through the crush of people.

Zach’s eyes alternated between us both. “You’re together?”

“Yes,” I answered. “Is that a problem?”

“Yeah. You don’t belong here.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a box of cigarettes, shaking one loose. Then he left, striding for the door.

What an asshole.

“Sorry,” Kerrigan whispered.

“Don’t apologize.”

“We’re leaving as soon as the cake is cut.”

“No arguments here.”

We’d ridden together to the party. I’d dropped her off this morning, giving her some space to shower and change during Elias’s morning nap. Then I’d picked her up to come here. Maybe once the party was done, we could skip town and head to the cabin.

Elias made a noise, then his little body lurched, and a glob of white spit-up landed on Kerrigan’s sweater. Another on my son’s hoodie.

“Oh, hell.” I scanned the tables, finding a pink napkin on one. I wiped but the damage had been done. Regurgitated formula had a unique sour smell. “We’re going to need more than dry napkins.”

“I’ll take him to the kitchen and get some paper towels.”

“I’ll grab a burp rag.”

We walked to the kitchen together, then I left Kerrigan by the sink while I went down the hallway to the room where we’d left the car seat and diaper bag.

I was just on my way back to them when her voice carried down the hallway. “Mom, stop.”

I slowed, not wanting to intrude.

“Honey, I’m trying to save you some heartache here,” Madeline said. “He’s just looking for a mother for this baby.”

. This family of hers wasn’t holding back, were they?

“No, he’s not,” Kerrigan insisted.

“How do you know? You don’t really know the man.”

“Please just . . . trust my instincts.”

“Your instincts landed you in trouble with that man in the first place. You’ve spent the last six months living on next to nothing. Your house has been a construction zone and until last month, you’ve had to borrow my car to drive anywhere outside of a ten-block radius.”

I cringed.

That was not the life I’d wanted for Kerrigan. The last thing I wanted was for her to struggle.

“Mom, can we not have this argument? Again?”

“Again? What’s again?” Madeline’s voice grew louder. “You show up here with this man and his baby. Of course we’re going to have questions.”

“You’re right. I should have called and explained first. But Pierce is a good man. And I have feelings for him. So would it be so hard for you guys to just support my decisions?”

“What about Jacob?”

“What about Jacob? I dumped him. He’s as condescending as Zach, and I should have dumped him weeks ago.”

“I don’t like this.” Madeline sighed. “I’m worried he’s using you to parent his little boy. Where is the mother, by the way?”

. Did Kerrigan think this was about me finding a mother for Elias? Because that was most definitely not the case.

“It’s complicated,” Kerrigan said. “And now is not the time to talk about it.”

“But—”

“Madeline?” a female voice called into the kitchen. “We’re ready for the cake.”

“Okay. I’ll be right there.” There was a long pause as the door closed. “Kerrigan—”

“Mom, let this go. You have a cake to cut.”

I waited until Madeline’s footsteps disappeared before entering the kitchen.

Kerrigan had Elias lying on a stainless-steel table while she worked to clean the spit-up from his clothes. “Did you hear all of that?”

“Yes.”

She sighed and picked up my son. “How about some cake?”

Before I could stop her and explain, before I could tell her that my trip to Montana had nothing to do with needing a mother for Elias and everything to do with her, she was heading for the door.

We walked into the common room just in time to pick up the beginning verses of “Happy Birthday.”

“Ready to make a break for it?” Kerrigan asked as the crowd lined up for the cake table.

“Lead the way.”

She turned, ready to dart into the kitchen, but our escape was thwarted when Kerrigan’s father appeared.

“You’re not leaving, are you?” Colton asked.

“Um . . .”

He frowned down at his daughter. “We’re cleaning up afterward. Mandatory attendance.”

. “We’re going to duck in the back and let Elias take a nap,” I said. “But we’ll be here for cleaning.”

Colton nodded once, his scowl deeper than it had been earlier, then left to join the cake line.

With my hand on Kerrigan’s back, I steered her away and to the sitting room. I wanted some time alone to talk about that discussion with her mother. But the moment we walked through the door, we found Larke sitting on the couch.

“What are you doing?” Kerrigan asked.

“I tried to leave but Dad stopped me.”

“Us too.” She plopped down beside her sister.

“I hate these family functions. Grandma doesn’t remember half of the people out there, me included. And if I get asked one more time why I’m not married yet, I’m going to scream.”

Kerrigan giggled. “Well, you’ve got company. I’m not going back out there until everyone is gone.”

So much for my quiet conversation.

Elias began to fuss so I picked him up and while Kerrigan and Larke talked quietly, I fed him a bottle and walked him around the room until he finally fell asleep in my arms.

“You can take him back to the motel if you want,” Kerrigan said. “I’ll stay to clean up and Larke can give me a ride home.”

I shook my head. “I’m staying.”

“I like you, ,” Larke said with a smile.

I chuckled. “She told you about that, huh?”

“She did. Though my darling sister still hasn’t told me everything about what happened when you two got snowed in.”

“I might have left a few details out,” she said.

“The good ones,” Larke muttered.

Kerrigan pulled in her lips to hide a smile.

If the party could have ended with the three of us visiting in the sitting room, I would have called it a win. But an hour later, Kerrigan’s brother opened the door and sucked the joy from the air.

“We’re cleaning up,” he said. “Come and help.”

We did as ordered, returning to the hall, where most of the people had cleared out. After putting Elias in his car seat, I began stripping tablecloths. Once those were done, I helped fold tables to haul into the storage room.

I was stowing an armful of chairs on a rack when Kerrigan’s voice rose from the main room.

“

?”

Rushing out, I found her standing in front of her brother, her hands on her hips and her face red.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I joined them.

Larke came and stood at my side.

“Tell them what you told me,” Kerrigan barked.

Zach’s jaw clenched. “Jacob told me the reason you called it off with him was because you’re broke. And you’re picking up with this guy”—he nodded at me—“because he’s the only way you can avoid bankruptcy.”

What the actual fuck?

“Apparently, he heard it at the coffee shop this morning,” Zach added.

“Bullshit,” Kerrigan snapped. “If he heard it at the coffee shop, it was because it came from his own damn mouth.”

“You said yesterday you were selling your place.” Zach crossed his arms over his chest.

Fuck this guy for not defending his sister. Instead, he came here and spewed an obvious lie. Was he threatened by her?

“I’m selling my house to buy another one,” Kerrigan said through gritted teeth. “I’m not broke. But thanks for your support of my business.”

Their parents came over from where they’d been packing away the gifts.

“What’s going on?” Colton asked. “Kerrigan, stop shouting.”

I opened my mouth to defend her, but I should have remembered it was unnecessary. Kerrigan could hold her own. Once, not all that long ago, she’d read me the riot act on First Street, and that day had changed my life.

This argument was headed down a different path.

“What is your problem, Zach?” She mirrored his stance, her legs planted wide and her arms crossed. “You throw my mistakes in my face every chance you get. When your friend suggests that I am dating a man for his money, instead of defending me and my reputation, you ask me if it’s true. You should know I’d never do that.”

“There’s a rumor going around?” Madeline asked. “Oh lord.”

Was she upset that Kerrigan’s morals were being called into question? Or that her daughter was being gossiped about? It infuriated me that I even had to wonder.

Kerrigan had told me that her family wasn’t overly supportive, but this was ridiculous.

“Jacob started that rumor.” Kerrigan’s nostrils flared. “His ego was bruised because I didn’t want to date him.”

Colton sighed. “I’ll talk to him at work on Monday.”

“Don’t bother.” Kerrigan shook her head. “I don’t care if people talk about me. I don’t. That ship sailed a long time ago. What I do care about is that my brother might actually believe it’s true. That he actually thinks I’d be with a man for his money. I didn’t realize you thought I was a whore.”

I flinched. Larke flinched. Everyone in the room flinched, even Zach.

And then she was gone.

Kerrigan stormed past him toward Elias in his seat. I joined in step, collecting my son and marching out the door. The moment they were both loaded in the SUV, I climbed behind the wheel and drove out of Calamity.

“Where are we going?” she asked as I hit the highway.

“Nowhere. Just thought you might want a little breathing room.”

She sagged, then leaned forward, dropping her face into her hands. When her shoulders began to shake, I pulled over to the side of the road and put my hand on her back. She didn’t cry for long but even one tear was enough to rip me apart.

With the exception of her sister, the rest of her family could fuck off.

“I’m okay.” She sniffled and sat straight, wiping her face.

“What can I do, babe?”

She gave me a sad smile. “You’re doing it.”

“Want me to drive you home?” I took her hand from her lap and brought her knuckles to my lips.

“Not really. But how would you feel about some company at the motel for a while?”

I didn’t have to answer.

Elias let out a wild, happy shriek like he understood too.

My kid was damn smart.