Chapter 32

Chapter Thirty-Two

Briar

I dislodge from Emmett's hold, and the disappointment that flashes across his face is hard to witness.

"Parker? What are you doing here?" I ask the woman who was told not to come here today but decided to barge in anyway.

"I brought my hubby to see the place. I talked to um… a Scarlett, and she told me you had a family thing, but we had the babysitter booked already and wanted to take a little day trip, so I said let's go see Plain Daisy Ranch. I could show him the lay of the land and the other businesses even if we couldn't talk to anyone today." She hooks her arm through her husband's, and for the first time, I look at him.

I stumble back, grabbing Emmett's arm, and my entire body goes numb.

Chad is dressed how I remember, though I never realized the stark difference between him and Emmett until now that they're standing feet away from one another. His shirt is tucked into his slacks with a belt, and his head doesn't hold one wayward hair. The loafers he's wearing are what he considers casual Sunday wear.

I feel Emmett's eyes on me, but I'm frozen in place. This cannot be happening right now.

Emmett takes over the conversation as I try to recover from my shock. "Yeah, Scarlett told us that you were coming later this week," he says.

Parker waves. "Hubby can't come next week." Her gaze falls to Emmett then Ben. "This is the guy you think you can compete with."

Parker laughs, and my eyes widen because she has no idea what she really just said.

"If you'll excuse me," I say, turning and running right into Ben.

He grabs my arms to stop me and looks down at me with concern. "What's going on?"

I shake my head, and he releases me, seeing the tears filling my eyes.

"Don't you hate that about pregnancy? The nausea comes when you least expect it," Parker says.

Ben's vision locks with Emmett's over my head.

"Pregnant?" Ben steps around me, fury transforming his face.

"Ben, have you seen—" Gillian stops in her tracks. "There you are." She looks at me and then at everyone else. Her forehead creases, not knowing what's going on. "Oh, hi."

"Wait." Parker points at Ben. "You're that football player."

"Ben Noughton," Gillian says proudly and smiles. "And you are?"

"Parker. Parker Hemmons."

Nausea churns my stomach.

"Nice to meet you. Are you a friend of Sadie and Jude's?" Gillian looks at Ben as if he might recognize them.

"No. I met Briar"—she points at me—"and Emmett at the doctor's office. I saw the video of the gender reveal and wait…" Her eyes light up. "Is the thing today for Sadie and Jude?" She says it as if she knows them. "Is that the family party going on?"

Gillian steps closer and glances over her shoulder at me. "Did you say doctor's office?"

"Why is everyone out here?" Jude steps out and joins us. "The presents are done, thank God. Now you jackasses have to help me take them to the house." He draws back when he notices Parker and Chad. "Who are you?"

"Parker, and this is my husband, Chad." She rests her hand on her swollen belly. "Is there a bathroom here? This baby just loves to sit right on my bladder." She walks toward me as if I'm going to show her, which is probably the best idea right now because she's about to become collateral damage.

Lottie steps out of the building and draws back. "Is the party moving out here now?"

"Excuse me, can you point me to the bathroom?" Parker asks when none of the rest of us answer her.

"Right through the doors on your right." Lottie points at the doors she just came out of. "What's going on?"

"Who are these people, and what doctor's appointment were you at?" Gillian asks, stepping up in front of me.

"I, um…"

"You better be fucking kidding me, Emmett." Ben steps toward him, and I try to step away. I can't deal with all of this right now.

"What?" Gillian stiffens. "What's going on?"

Emmett holds up his hands. "It just happened." He steps back. "I love her, man."

"You love her," Chad says, his gaze shooting my way.

Gillian looks from Ben to me. Maybe putting the pieces together, but I don't know.

Lottie steps over to stand next to me, her hand going to my arm.

"You love her? Are you kidding me?" Ben shouts. "We had a deal! And you go off and get her pregnant?" Ben cocks his fist back.

Jude grabs Ben's arm, stopping him. "I'm done with this shit. We're brothers. We have each other's backs."

Emmett steps to the side, and Ben yanks his arm from Jude's hold.

"Briar? What is he talking about?" Gillian asks.

I meet her eyes, my own stinging with tears.

Ben erupts in fake laughter. "While we thought they were just roommates, it turns out they fell in love, and now Briar is pregnant with Emmett's baby."

"What?" Gillian screeches, gripping my upper arms. Tears well in her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Sorry, Jude. I love you, Emmett, but you need to grow the fuck up." Ben tackles Emmett to the ground, and they look just like they did on the softball field, rolling around and straddling one another, punching the other.

"Stop!" I shout, unable to see them at odds because of me.

Surprisingly, they do, and Emmett hops off Ben, fixing his shirt.

"What the hell is going on?" Bruce comes out along with Sadie, Clayton, and everyone else in the family.

Just fucking great.

"Hey, did you know there's some lady in the bathroom talking on the phone?" Romy asks.

"The baby isn't Emmett's," I spit it out before I lose my nerve.

I step out in front of everyone. My eyes turn to Chad, and his mouth hangs open, his shock and panic evident.

"Who is the father?" Gillian asks.

"It doesn't matter. He doesn't know. But…" I step over to Emmett and link my hand with his. "I love Emmett. I know how you feel." I raise my chin and keep my eyes on Gillian. "That you were so scared he was going to hurt me, but…" I look up at Emmett and the love that shines in his eyes. "He won't. He's kind and supportive and funny, and I've fallen head over heels in love with him. And if you have a problem with it, then I'm sorry because he's the one I've chosen."

Emmett unlocks our hands and pulls me into his side, kissing my temple. "I'm proud of you."

I close my eyes and remind myself that everything will be okay because Emmett has my back.

"But…" Gillian steps forward, and I pull away from Emmett to look at her. "This whole time you've been back… you've hidden this from me? I thought…" Tears stream down her face. "I'm sorry." She shakes her head. "I thought I was protecting you."

"I know. I know you did, and that's why I didn't want to disappoint you. I was scared to tell you, but if I'd just been honest, we wouldn't be here."

Gillian shakes her head. "No, it's my fault."

"You did go a little crazy," Emmett says, and I hit him in the stomach. "I mean, I love you, Gilly Bean."

Gillian hugs me—so tight and accepting. "I'm sorry. I never should've acted the way I did. But you should know that Clayton is the best thing in my life, and this little one is going to be yours. And I'm going to be supportive. I promise."

"Well, this is all well and good, but I'd like to talk to Briar if I could?"

My body stills when Chad speaks.

Gillian releases me and turns around. "And who are you?"

Emmett comes to my side, and I look up at him. I know he had an inkling when I froze earlier when Chad came around the corner.

"What's your name again?" Emmett asks him.

"Chad. Chad Hemmons." Chad has the audacity to step forward with his hand out. I guess when you're a secretive fuck, you think everyone else is too. Chad probably assumes Emmett doesn't know who he is. "Parker just said that Briar was the one with all the plans about the gender reveal, and I don't have a lot of time, so I wanted to speak with her to get this going."

"It's scary how fast you can come up with your lies," I say.

"Briar?" Emmett asks, and his question is clear.

I nod.

Emmett steps up to Chad, cocking his fist back, and punches him square in the jaw.

Chad stumbles back, almost falling, holding his cheek. Obviously realizing the jig is up, he scowls at Emmett. "You're punching me after she fucked me and is now lying and saying that the baby is mine? It's not mine. Who knows how many men she slept with?"

Gillian steps up to Emmett's side, but Ben pushes her back, coming shoulder-to-shoulder with Emmett. "Get the fuck off our property."

Jude steps up so he's on Emmett's other side. I can see a part of Emmett knit back together when his brothers have his back.

"You're on your own," Chad says to me. "Don't try to get child support from me."

Gillian pushes through the two brothers and uses both hands to push Chad farther down the walkway. "She doesn't need you. She has all of us. And I bet your wife doesn't know what a slimeball you are. We don't want your money or empty promises."

I move to join Gillian. Emmett tries to keep me back, but I stand with my sister. "You're a piece of shit. You played me for a fucking year. Told me lie after lie. You don't want this baby? That's fine, I don't want you to be his or her father. I don't need your money, and I don't need you."

Bruce steps forward now. "I suggest you get outta here before I grab my shotgun and start shooting trespassers."

Parker comes back out of the building. "Whoa, sorry, my BFF is going through… what happened?" She runs toward Chad. "Oh my god, what happened?"

"I'm gonna sue you. What kind of place are you running here? The bastard punched me."

Parker looks back at us, horrified. "Why would you do that?"

"Ask him," Emmett says, nodding at Chad.

Chad walks off like the coward he is while Parker's eyes ping back and forth between us all, trying to figure out what happened while she was in the bathroom and on the phone. Eventually she joins her husband, walking down the hill toward their expensive SUV.

I go over to Emmett and look at his hand. "Let's get you some ice."

I don't wait for anyone else to say anything, leading him inside The Knotted Barn.

"Why does everything happen here?" Romy says, shaking her head and following us inside.

Everyone comes back in, and one of the servers gets me a bag of ice.

I sit Emmett in a chair and hold the ice on his hand. "Well, it's all out now."

He gives me a tender smile. "It's out. You guys okay?" His gaze dips to my stomach.

I place my free hand on it. "We're great."

"I hate to do this, but I need the two of you," Bruce interrupts.

Emmett looks up at his dad and nods as if he knows what his dad wants, but I have no idea.

Emmett stands and hands his bag of ice to Ben. "Ice your eye."

"Fucker, it just healed." Ben accepts the ice and puts it on his eye.

Eight of us walk out of The Knotted Barn. Bruce; Ben, Gillian, and Clayton; Jude and Sadie; and Emmett and I get into the UTVs. We drive until we reach the hill covered in daisies.

"Let's go visit Mom," Bruce says, and we all follow the trail up the hill.