Chapter 17

Catherine took Garrett home with her and Luke went to make sure he got settled. There was little doubt he wouldn't be since he had practically as much stuff at her house as he did at theirs.

"I think getting out will be good for you two," Catherine said as they made the short walk.

"I didn't plan it until you came by, but I think so too. It gives us a chance to get some talking in and not have to worry about Garrett at all. We have a lot to discuss." He held in a groan at all they really did need to talk about.

"Ryker," Catherine called out when they went inside. "We have company!"

His groan carried down the hallway from his office. "Who?"

Neither of them answered as they heard him making his way to them. His face went from annoyed to excited in the blink of an eye when he saw Garrett.

"Did you come to see me?" he said lovingly to Garrett as he relieved Catherine of him.

She feigned annoyance. "Umm, I was holding him."

"And now I am. You shouldn't have called me in here if you didn't want me to."

Luke couldn't help but smile at how loved his son was and would always be. "I'm here too," he pretended to complain.

"You don't count," Ryker completely dismissed and spoke to Garrett instead. "Are you going to help me decide if this company is a good idea? We have interviews today."

Garrett babbled back at Ryker and held onto one of his massive fingers.

"He's mine now. He makes good business decisions," Ryker said.

"Well, let me know when your interview is and I'll take him," Catherine said as Ryker walked back toward his office with Garrett.

"He can attend," Ryker called back without turning around.

"I really should have just been quiet when we got here." She giggled. "Eventually, he will need a diaper change and then I'll get to play with him for a while."

"Thank you, seriously," Luke told her.

"Anytime. I mean that. Cade and April would watch him, too. All of us would."

Luke choked on emotion welling up in his throat. He didn't deserve their friendship after all he had done to help his father try to destroy their relationships.

"Luke," Ryker called.

"I better go see what he wants and say bye to Garrett," he said, eager to get away from his sister before the emotions spilled over.

"You're worth all of this," Catherine said.

Luke gave her a nod, his only acknowledgement, and headed for Ryker's office.

"If you have a minute, I'd like to talk about your sister," Ryker said when he entered.

It was hilarious to see him sitting behind his massive desk with a baby in his arms. Garrett seemed so out of place except for the fact that Ryker looked at ease with him.

"I've got a few. Paisley is getting ready to go out later. What did Catherine do?" He couldn't imagine what Ryker could want to tell him about her.

"No, Ashley."

Of course, his other sister made more sense. "What about her? Is my father up to no good with her already?" She hadn't reached out.

"No, but it does seem that she has realized we are keeping an eye on her. She's giving our new guy a run for his money and keeps ditching him." Ryker's tone was stern but his face held laughter.

"I can talk to her," Luke offered, not sure it would help.

"Not necessary. I just wanted to let you know what was going on. At this point, she's great training for our new guy. It's growing quite comical to watch her evade him."

"Do you need a different guy?"

Ryker shook his head. "No, he's really good at what he does, but your sister is really good at evading him. He did tell her why he was there so it's not like she doesn't know that we're good guys. She just doesn't want to be followed."

"Can't blame her. As long as we don't think she's in danger, then I'll stay out of it." He'd reach out and check in on her though. He needed to plan a time for her to come visit Garrett now that they were in a better place.

"I'll keep you posted. It's not important but I just wanted to let you know. She dodged him again this morning, slipped out of her apartment without him seeing. Went down the fire escape."

Luke laughed outright. "That sounds exactly like her. Where'd she go?"

"That's the best part. She just went to the gym. He found her on her way back." Ryker laughed along with him.

"I don't envy him the job of keeping up with her. Keep me posted." Luke shook his hand.

"Will do. You go ahead and get. Garrett and I have important decisions to make," Ryker dismissed him.

"That was fast," Catherine commented as he passed her.

"I was dismissed so my infant could make important business decisions," Luke told her.

"Well, here's hoping he inherited the family business traits," she joked.

"You can test that out with Ryker's money," he teased. "I'm heading home to see if Paisley knows where she wants to go for dinner. Thank you again for keeping him."

"Anytime."

Paisley wasn't downstairs when he got home. He hoped she wasn't mad at him for springing this date idea on her. It had been a rough few months for both of them, starting even before he moved in with her, and he figured they both deserved a break, her most of all.

He'd also told Catherine the truth. They had a lot to discuss, and while Garrett wasn't super difficult to talk around, it would be nice to have each other's undivided attention for it.

Paisley was sitting on the bed, wrapped in a towel, when he went upstairs. She didn't look upset, just seemed to be lost in thought.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

Paisley jumped, startled by him joining her before laughing it off. "I realized I didn't know where we were going so I didn't know how to dress."

"We can go wherever you want," he told her.

"You pick. I don't go to the same kind of places you do so I don't know what's good or even what the choices are."

"It's not that serious, woman," he teased. "We can go get fast food if you want."

"I didn't think it was. I'm just saying that I'm happy to go somewhere nice, I just don't know where is best. Also, maybe somewhere we can avoid what happened at lunch?"

"Agreed. I'm still sorry about that." He hated that she'd witnessed that mess, especially the first time they'd gone out as a family.

"I'm not mad at you," she clarified. "The past is the past, but I'd rather confront it only once today."

"I'd rather not at all." He stretched out on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. "I know it's my past and my decisions that brought us to this point, but I hate what happened today."

"Not a fan of it myself, but if the both of us hadn't been where we were, doing what we were doing, we never would have met and, to take it a step further, we wouldn't have Garrett. I know that's a cliché thing to say, but it's true." She stood, still wrapped in her towel, and went to the closet. "I have my own past, and we were both throwing caution to the wind when we started sleeping together. Neither of us were being responsible."

Luke thought on it before replying, "True, but I'd say our pasts are much different."

"Everyone's pasts are different. You grew up with a sister I haven't met and I bet you both have different stories to tell about it. Nothing we can do but step forward."

"When did you get so philosophical?" he asked.

Paisley's laugh floated over him. "Somewhere around the time that bimbo was accosting you, I think."

It was his turn to laugh. "How did that change things?" He rolled over to face the closet.

"How's this dress?" She stepped out wearing a black dress he'd never seen but was great on her no matter where they were going.

"It looks amazing on you. But tell me what happened," he pressed.

"I just realized that this is something that will happen and we will have to be able to handle it. It's not like we all made the best choices, and I can either sit there and stay quiet and let her think I'm nothing or stand up for myself and us and tell her how it is." She shrugged as though it meant nothing when he knew better.

Luke didn't say anything as he watched her move around, getting ready. It wouldn't take him long to get dressed so there was no rush for him to get moving. Not to mention they'd only just eaten lunch so it was too early for dinner.

"I'm ready. Now, you just need to tell me where we are going," she told him.

He was tempted to order in and keep her to himself but also wanted to get out of the house with her. Showing her off was an added bonus and it would prove to everyone that they were serious.

"Okay." He stood, going to the closet himself.

He changed and fixed his hair before spraying cologne. There was no need to shower again, and he was in a hurry to get going so they could and get home.

"I'm ready," he told her. "Let's go shopping."

"Oh no," she groaned. "I'm not good at spending money."

"The place I'm taking you doesn't have price tags so you'll never know," he half-joked.

On the way to the ring store, he held her hand in the back of the car. One thing he needed to do soon was get them each a car so they didn't need a service each time, even though it was nice to have her next to him in the back seat.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" She bit her lip nervously as she looked at him.

"With what?" he asked, not sure what she meant.

"Getting a ring. I know we are still somewhere weird as far as getting married, so I don't want you to spend probably a small fortune on me if you don't want to."

Luke pulled her hand, motioning for her to slide closer to him. When she did, he tilted her chin up to look her in the eyes before he spoke.

"Everything about you, about Garrett, about us makes me want to be a better man. I want this more than you know. I just want it when you are ready and not because you feel pressured. One day, we will get married, but it doesn't have to be today." He poured out his feelings the best way he could to her, stopping short of any declaration.

Paisley sighed and relaxed against him. "Okay," she whispered.

Luke enjoyed holding her the rest of the way. Picking out a ring took longer than he expected. She was picky but not in a flashy way, not that he'd expected her to be, but she was so nervous about getting a ring that might get damaged or break that she had to be prodded to even say what she liked.

Once they settled on a ring, she wore it out of the store with a smile on her face. This was what he always wanted, them hand in hand, smiling, content with their part in the world.