Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 03 - Of Dark and Bright (24 page)

Evan bit his tongue, and for once, Tat showed a little restraint as well. They all stood quietly as Dan collected his thoughts. Finally, he said, “Yeah. I’ll help. And Evan and Jeff will too. And Aunt Tat, and Uncle Chris, and Grandma Anna, and Aunt Robyn. The kid’ll have more family than it can handle.”

“You can teach it to ride horses,” Krista said, and she was crying freely now. “Smokey can help.”

“I can bring it to visit its mom,” Dan said softly. He seemed like he was thinking it all through as he spoke. “We’re going to… we’re going to fall in love with this kid, Krista. We’re going to make it part of us. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be part of you too. I have no idea how long you’re going to be gone for, but when you get out, you’ll have family waiting.” And then his voice hardened. “But if you do anything to hurt the kid, or anything to cause trouble with the rest of the family….” He shook his head. “Evan’s rich, Jeff’s crafty, and I am stupidly stubborn. Do not fuck with us.”

She smiled through her tears. “Yeah. Okay. And that’s the attitude you’ll take with anyone else who might hurt the baby too. Right?”

“Absolutely,” Evan said. It was a relief to finally be able to speak.

“They’ll do a really good job,” Tat said sincerely. “Evan made a lot of mistakes with me, but hopefully he’s learned from the experience. And Jeff and Dan will help him out.”

Krista nodded her understanding. Then she looked at Tat and said, “I’m sorry. For… for being part of that. For hurting you. I don’t… that’s all I’ve got. Just… I’m sorry.”

Tat stood straight and tall, and Evan could see the woman she almost was when she said, “I accept your apology. And I’ll try to forgive you. For the baby’s sake.”

“Thank you,” Krista said, and again, as far as Evan could tell, she seemed sincere.

“I’ll talk to a lawyer about getting papers drawn up,” he volunteered. “I think it should be pretty straightforward, since Dan’s family and since you obviously won’t be able to take care of the kid, and since the father’s looking at multiple life sentences. His behavior at the cabin made it pretty clear that he doesn’t care about the baby’s well-being, and I think my lawyers can take care of him no problem.” He leaned forward a little and made sure Krista was looking him in the eye. “But when they write up the deal for you, I’m going to ask them to put whatever the hell there is in it to make it irreversible. To make the baby absolutely, irrevocably, in every way Dan’s kid. And I’ll pay for a lawyer for you too, so you can’t come back and say you didn’t know what you were signing.”

Krista nodded. “Yeah. Okay. That’s fair.”

Evan pulled back a little. She was damn right it was fair. More than fair, it was necessary. He wasn’t going to let the people he loved get hurt, and if he had to throw his weight around a little to make sure that happened, then he was going to do it. He knew it drove Dan crazy, but it would drive Evan crazy not to do it. So he’d restrain himself when he could, and the rest of the time, he and Dan would just be a little bit crazy together.

He looked down at Dan and noticed that he was sitting lower in the chair than he had been just moments before. The visit had obviously gone on for long enough. “We should go,” he said, and Krista didn’t argue.

“Get me the legal stuff as soon as you can,” she said. “I think there’s a waiting period, after the baby is born, but in this case….” She ran her hands over her belly. “Someone’s going to need to take care of it right away. I want that to be Danny.”

“I’ll get on it,” Evan promised, and he leaned over to put his face next to Dan’s. “You ready to go?”

 

Dan nodded, then spoke to his sister. “You take care of yourself, okay?”

 

“I will. You take care of my baby.”

 

“I will,” Dan promised, and Evan wheeled him out the door, Tat following close behind.

They made it to the elevators before Tat could no longer contain herself. She whirled around in front of Dan and Evan and did a strange, shimmying dance of what Evan could only imagine was joyful celebration. “We get to keep it!” she sang. “We’re going to have a baby!”

“
Dan’s
going to have a baby,” Evan corrected.

But Dan reached out one hand and let Tat grab hold of it. Evan was glad to see she had sense enough to be gentle, even after Dan made his own correction and said, “
We’re
going to have a baby.” Then he looked up at Evan. “And we have no fucking idea what we’re doing.”

J
EFFsat in the passenger seat of Evan’s SUV. Evan was driving, and Dan was in the back, stretched out and pretending to rest. He’d only been out of the hospital for a couple days, and he’d only been allowed to go home that soon because Evan had arranged for home nursing. Jeff wasn’t glad that Dan had been shot; it had been terrible, and terrifying. But he had to admit that he was glad there was someone else in worse shape than he was. He’d only been the principal invalid for a few hours, and he never, ever wanted to be in the position again.

Dan, though, seemed surprisingly okay with it all. Jeff had noticed this before. When Dan first had an injury, he was scared and defensive and cranky, but once he eased into things, he actually seemed to enjoy being treated like an invalid. Jeff’s theory was that Dan needed an excuse to accept the affection that he craved, and an injury gave him that excuse. Whatever the reason, Dan had allowed Evan to wheel him out to the SUV and practically lift him into the backseat without a single word of complaint. Then he’d suggested that he might be a bit more comfortable if he had a pillow to brace against the door, and he’d winked at Jeff when Evan went sprinting back into the house to get one. Yeah, Dan was definitely enjoying himself.

Evan, on the other hand…. Jeff reached across the front of the car and lightly gripped the back of Evan’s neck. “It’s going to be fine, Evan. Everything’s going smoothly.”

“We’re not ready. We need more—”

“No!” Dan and Jeff said together. Jeff glanced back at Dan and laughed before saying, “No more stuff. The first couple weeks, all the kid’s going to do is eat and sleep and shit. And we’ve got milk, a crib, and diapers. We’re set.”

“The frozen breast milk was a great idea,” Dan said from the backseat. “I didn’t even know you could do that—I didn’t know there was a bank all set up for sharing it.”

“And they’re going to let Krista nurse for as long as she’s in the hospital,” Evan said. “The first stuff is the best.” He half-turned in his seat and gave Dan a quick look before returning his eyes to the road. “You’re sure you’re up for this? I mean, I got another room at the hospital, with a couple beds, so you can rest up. But….” Jeff could tell that Evan didn’t want to say it. “But we don’t have to be there. The baby’s going to be around for a long time. Missing the first few hours isn’t a big deal.”

“Dude, we’re already halfway there.” Dan reached a hand through the space between the passenger seat and the side of the car and found Jeff’s free hand. “We should be there for the birth.” A pause, and then Dan said, “Also, I want more tapioca.”

“Tia would make tapioca for you,” Evan said. Jeff smiled at the understatement; after Dan’s heroics, the Kaminski housekeeper would do anything Dan wanted. Hell, she’d been crazy about him
before
the rescue. Now her affection was completely out of control.

But Dan was not persuaded. “I like the hospital kind,” he said firmly. “I like the way it gets a skin on top.”

 

“Tia’s would probably get a skin on top too, if she left it in the fridge uncovered for a couple days.”

“So, you think I should have to wait a couple days for a snack? I think I’d rather just go in to the hospital and have some now.” Dan sounded like he’d thought this through. “Also, since I’m there anyway, I think I might like to say hi to my niece or nephew.”

“Yeah, okay,” Evan agreed. “Since you’re there anyway.”

Jeff smiled and gave Evan’s neck a shake while gripping Dan’s fingers with his other hand. Just the night before, he’d brought up the idea of getting some counseling. Tat was seeing someone to help her through her trauma, and Dan had said that maybe they should consult a child psychologist to figure out the healthiest way to present Krista’s incarceration to her child. Jeff had suggested that if they could find the right counselor, it might be good to do some work on their relationship too. Evan had been enthusiastic, Dan reluctant, but they’d both agreed. But now, driving along together, their silly, relaxed conversation lilting like cool water over smooth pebbles, it was hard to imagine that work was necessary.

Then Evan said, “But Tia
will
be really useful with the baby. She helped my mom with me and Tat; she’s a pro.” And Jeff felt Dan’s fingers tense.

“I appreciate her help, Evan. Especially until I get better. But I still need to cut back at the barn. The kid shouldn’t be raised by a ‘pro’; it should be raised by family.”

“Why would you need to do less of what you love, less of what you’re great at, to spend time with a baby that would be just as happy with Tia? And, seriously, just because she gets paid to be there doesn’t mean she’s not part of the family. When you first came out here, you got paid to look after Tat around the horses; that doesn’t mean you don’t love Tat. And Tat and I love Tia, and she loves us; it’s not about the money.”

Jeff was pretty sure he was with Evan on this one, but he didn’t think he needed to say so. Instead, he said, “We can talk to the therapist about that, how about? We could use it as a test case, maybe. See if we can use this discussion as a model for future disagreements.”

“No,” Dan said, and both Jeff and Evan turned to look at him. Evan had to look back at the road, but Jeff kept his eyes on Dan’s face as he said, “I think the test case should be something else. Something where Evan isn’t mostly right. Let’s wait for one where Evan’s mostly wrong, and use that as our model.”

Another quick look back, and Evan said, “So does that mean you’ll consider moving in? After you feel better? Tat’ll be gone to school in the fall, and it’s not like she cares anyway. The house is big enough for all three of us,
and
a baby, and it’d be great to have Tia around to help.”

Jeff was pretty sure that was pushing too hard, and sure enough, he felt Dan’s fingers tighten a little more around his. “I don’t think it’s a good idea, Evan.”

“Because you don’t trust me,” Evan said flatly. He looked back again, and Jeff saw how hard he was trying to not look hurt.

“I trust you with my life, Evan.” Dan frowned. “That said, I’d be a lot more comfortable if you’d keep your eyes on the damn road.” Evan turned obediently, and Jeff wondered whether Dan was concerned about vehicular safety or just didn’t want to have to look Evan in the eye. “I just don’t think it’s a good situation. It’s
your
place. You’ve lived there all your life. It’s hard for me to not feel like a guest there.”

“This morning you said I needed to redesign my shower stall, and then you told me which trees to cut down so you could have a better view of the barn when you ate your breakfast on the deck.” Evan sounded like he wasn’t hurt anymore, just exasperated.

“Well, those things would make my guest experience more satisfying. I was trying to be helpful.”

 

“You’re a prince,” Evan said dryly.

 

Jeff decided he’d been on the sidelines long enough. “If anyone’s interested… I don’t want to move in either.”

 

Evan cut a quick look in his direction. “Really? I mean, I know you didn’t used to want to. But with the baby….”

“Babies are mobile,” Jeff said. “And so are housekeepers. We can use
this
as our test case, if you want, but I think maybe we should look at buying a whole new place. Somewhere fresh for all of us.”

“But Dan doesn’t have any money for a down payment,” Evan said, and he raised a hand to hold off Dan’s reply. “Don’t deny it, dude. I know what you make, and I know how much you pour back into buying your shares in the business. And I love it that you’re doing that; I really like thinking of you owning those horses. But it doesn’t leave any money behind for buying a house. And it doesn’t make sense that all four of us would have to live in a tiny little place just because you’re too proud to let me give you things.”

“I was thinking about percentages,” Dan said, and then he added, “eyes on the road!” when both Jeff and Evan turned to look at him. Evan turned around to face the front, and Dan said, “I thought maybe we could put… I don’t know, I thought maybe a third, or half of our monthly income into a common pot. Just salary, Evan, not all your investments and shit. So, you know… we’d put in different amounts, but it would be sort of fair. Right? And then we could pull all our joint living expenses out of that fund. Evan makes a lot, so there’d be enough to pay a good-sized mortgage. I’d still have a fair bit of money left over to buy into the business. Jeff, it’d give you some security, with the painting—if you had a bad month or two, it wouldn’t be a big deal.” Dan relaxed back into his pillow. “I don’t know. It was just an idea.”

“You’d be okay with that?” Evan asked carefully.

Dan snorted a soft laugh. “It makes my fucking skin crawl. But I can’t think of a way around it. And if we’re going to be partners for raising this kid, it makes sense to have something a bit more stable with the money.”

“Am I allowed to give myself a raise?” Evan asked.

Jeff braced himself, but apparently Dan’s injuries were still slowing him down, because he just laughed again. “The idea’s been on the table for thirty seconds, and you’re already looking for a way to play it.”

And then they were at the hospital. Evan pulled up to a side door, where an orderly was waiting with a wheelchair. “You need to save your energy,” Evan said when Dan started to protest.

Evan handed his keys to a man wearing a red uniform, and Jeff said, “There’s valet parking at the hospital now?”

Evan looked impatient. “There’s valet parking at Paulo’s
,
and I asked if I could borrow one of their guys.” Apparently Jeff should have been able to figure that out on his own. “I didn’t want to have to go park while you guys went in alone.” He shrugged. “I wanted us to stay together.”

Jeff nodded. He wanted that too. He stepped back as Evan helped Dan out of the car and into the wheelchair, and then the three of them headed through the double doors and into the hospital. They were about to start a whole new phase of their lives, and it was scary, but Jeff knew it would be okay. It wouldn’t be simple, or easy, but it would be okay. It had to be, because there was no way Jeff could imagine a world where he wasn’t with Dan and Evan.