There was no breeze. The air hung still and heavy, but nothing could match the weight on her heart.

Justin was going to be a father…the father of another woman’s child. Gabriella brought her hands to her face, pushing the heels against her temples where a dull headache was making a nuisance of itself.

How could she not have known he’d been engaged—maybe not officially—but the woman, Brin, seemed to think it had been implied. In the least, she was expecting to make it official now.

Long moments passed with no thoughts in her head, no feelings raging, as if someone had pressed the pause button on her emotions. More than anything Gab felt numb. It shouldn’t surprise her. Wasn’t that the way she’d always dealt with pain and rejection? By blocking them out?

Justin hadn’t rejected her, and she knew he cared about her, but none of that mattered now. Soon he would have a child, and as difficult as it was to accept, his future changed the minute Brin walked out onto that porch this afternoon with the proof of his responsibility on display for everyone to see. It was a future she couldn’t be a part of now.

If Justin had been in love with the other woman, he had a duty to her and their child to try and mend whatever issues they’d had and try to forge a new relationship. Gabriella didn’t want to be responsible for breaking up a family. Had she known about Brin and her condition, she never would have let herself become involved with Justin. She never would have risked the heartache.

She didn’t blame anyone for the pain losing him would bring. It wasn’t as if Justin had intentionally deceived her. It was clear from his reaction earlier that he had been shocked to discover he was going to be a father. And he hadn’t looked happy about it. Gab didn’t know if it was because he didn’t want a child, or if he just didn’t want one with his old fiancée.

Had he been in love with the woman? Had they once been as happy as Gab had thought she and Justin were? Had he made love to her with the same tenderness and passion he had to…

Stop it! Gabriella shook her head, as if she could shake the disturbing thoughts out. It was stupid and torturous to ponder what his relationship had been with someone else. She refused to travel that route.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and glanced at the time. 10:30. The unmistakable call of a green heron broke the silence. Justin hadn’t come over and he hadn’t phoned. He said he’d stop by, but it was too late now. She wouldn’t dwell on why. She’d asked him not to…maybe he’d realized she was right.

“I DON’T like it either,” Delaney was saying to Blake when Justin walked into their kitchen later that night. “But she can’t stay at Justin’s. I’m worried she’ll—”

Blake looked toward the doorway and cleared his throat. Delaney swung her head in Justin’s direction, whatever she’d been about to say left hanging.

Justin walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer, then joined them at the table.

“Where’s Brin?” Blake asked.

“She’s lying down.” Justin took a slug of beer. “She said she didn’t feel well. Apparently, I was being mean to her and it upset her.”

“How were you being mean?”

Justin rolled his jaw. “I told her I’d help raise the kid, but I wasn’t going to marry her.”

“Yeah, I can see her point. Much better to raise a kid in a home where his parents are married but can’t stand each other,” Blake said. “If it even is your kid,” he added with a dubious frown.

If she weren’t so far along, Justin might be inclined to put some hope in that possibility, but her indiscretion hadn’t happened long enough ago.

“Is there a chance the baby could be someone else’s?” Delaney asked. “I mean, you two have been broken up for a while now, haven’t you?”

“Just over six months,” Justin clarified, “and she said she’s seven and a half months along.”

“Oh.” Delaney said. “You hadn’t been…you know, trying to get pregnant, were you?”

“Hell no! We were both putting in about seventy hours a week and busting our butts to make partner. She wanted it as much as I did…more actually. The last thing Brin would have wanted was a baby.”

“And right after you made partner you break up with her and quit the firm?” Blake narrowed his eyes at him. “I know you said you wanted out of the rat race, but it’s odd those two things happened within days of each other. You never said why you broke things off.”

Blake knew Justin better than anyone, and he probably guessed the truth months ago. If Justin was right, then his brother’s suspicions were understandable, and he knew Blake wouldn’t let it go if he thought there was any chance Brin was pregnant with someone else’s baby.

“Okay, look, I know you already suspect Brin of cheating on me.” Justin blew out a weary breath. “I found her in bed with our boss when I came back early from a business trip.”

“Son of a bitch,” his brother started. “Then it damn well—”

Justin held up a hand. “Hold on, Blake. That was the night I ended our relationship. I hadn’t been that happy for a while, so it turned out to be a good excuse for doing the inevitable; it just accelerated it. And I’d already decided I didn’t want to stay at the firm, so as coincidental as it seems, it wasn’t.”

“That doesn’t change the fact she was screwing around on you. Hell, Jus, it could just as easily be his kid.”

Justin shook his head. “She told me it had only been that one time, and that wouldn’t have been long enough ago.”

“And you just took her word for it?” Blake leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. He hiked a brow at Justin as if to say when did you become such a fool?

“It didn’t make a difference to me if she’d slept with him once or a hundred times at that point. We’d become little more than a convenient habit by then, and I think she knew it as well as I did.” Justin pushed his fingers through his hair. “So yeah, I believed her. She didn’t have any reason to lie. It wouldn’t have changed anything.”

“Brin was already pregnant when you broke it off,” Delaney spoke up, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the table.

He twisted his lips into a frown. “Yeah, I guess she would have been.”

“So why do you think she didn’t tell you then? Why would she wait until you moved away and she was so far along before letting you know?”

“I suppose she didn’t know.” Justin twirled the beer can in his hands. He didn’t know why she’d waited so long. Maybe she’d intended to give the baby up but then changed her mind. He didn’t want to marry Brin, but he wouldn’t have wanted his child to be given up for adoption. He would have stepped in and raised it on his own.

Delaney looked at him and shook her head. “Brin’s almost eight months pregnant, Justin. If you broke up with her at the end of March, I think she probably knew.”

“I don’t know what to tell you.” He didn’t like the possibility she might have considered an abortion and figured he’d be none the wiser, but in truth he couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t have told him. When he had told her they were through, she had asked him to give it one more try, that it wouldn’t happen again. She hadn’t understood he didn’t care enough to try. If she’d known she was pregnant, wouldn’t she have used that to try to make him reconsider?

“I think you’re wrong,” he said, unable to make sense of things. “If she’d known, I think she would have tried to use the pregnancy to make me stay in the relationship.”

“Maybe she was hedging her bets,” Blake threw out. “You’d just found her with another man. She might have thought if she told you about the baby, you’d deny it was yours. Which I still think is a possibility.”

Justin was tired of talking about it. He’d spent the last two hours talking in circles with Brin, and he didn’t feel like spending another one doing the same thing with his brother. Brin was adamant the baby was his. He could wish it away as much as he wanted, but the facts were in her favor, and she was too sure of herself for him to hold any hope otherwise.

He glanced up at the kitchen clock. “Damn it,” he mumbled under his breath when he saw the time. He’d wanted to see Gabriella tonight and try to do some damage control before she had too much time to come up with reasons they shouldn’t see each other now. He knew her. By now she’d probably come up with several arguments why it wouldn’t work. But, it was too late to drive over to talk to her now.

“I’m going to go home,” he said, standing up. “I have to think about what I need to do, but I’m tired of dealing with it tonight.”

Blake and Delaney looked at him with equally concerned expressions.

“Thanks for letting Brin stay here tonight. I know she expected to stay at my place, but…” Justin closed his eyes and ground the back of his teeth. He should have taken her call. If he had, maybe he could have prevented some of the fallout with Gabriella. Still, he couldn’t believe Brin just showed up without letting anyone know she was coming and making no arrangements for a place to stay. She just assumed he would have to let her stay with him. As if things weren’t going to be hard enough to explain to Gabriella. 

 “It’s okay.” Delaney stood up and walked around the table. She lifted up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “Try to get some rest and we’ll see you in the morning.”

“I want to talk to Gab in the morning, so depending on how that goes, I might not get here until closer to noon.”

“Take your time.” Delaney wrapped her arm around his waist, patting his side. “We’ll be fine here.”

Blake got up and walked out to the car with Justin.

“I wasn’t trying to upset you in there anymore than you already are, Jus,” Blake said. “If that’s your baby, I know you’ll do what’s right by the kid. I just don’t want to see you get railroaded into something you’re going to regret.”

Justin met his brother’s eyes and knew no matter what, Blake would have his back. It went both ways. And anything either of them said or did, even if it might not always look like it at the time, was born out of love for the other.

“I know.” Justin attempted a grin, one he didn’t feel. “Don’t worry, bro. I’m not going to rush into anything stupid.”

“Good.” Blake slapped him on the back as he turned to get into his car. “And don’t be too upset if things don’t go well tomorrow morning. Gabriella isn’t going anywhere. You’ll have plenty of time to bombard her with your charm and wear her down.”

“Thanks,” Justin said before closing the door.

As he pulled out of the driveway, he pushed the quick dial button on his phone for Gab’s cell. She didn’t answer. She’d either already gone to bed or she had already begun to shut him out and just wasn’t answering his call.

In less than two months he was going to be a father. He’d always wanted kids, wanted a family, but this sure as hell wasn’t the way he’d planned it.

GABRIELLA SET her computer on the end table and went to refill her coffee cup. She’d been up for almost five hours already. After a restless night with no sleep, she had given up trying and gotten out of bed sometime around four and tried to minimize thoughts of Justin and Brin by doing some work.

When she returned from the kitchen, she sat back down on the couch, retrieved her laptop, and clicked her file open again. She didn’t want to think about Justin and his pregnant fiancée. If she made it through today without breaking down in tears, she could make it through tomorrow and the rest of the week. Each week it would be easier to accept that he’d be spending his life with another woman.

It was going to be a busy fall, and she was glad for it. Chloe would start school in two weeks. They would need to go shopping for clothes, a new backpack, and all the supplies to fill it. Her daughter already had her eye on a Hello Kitty backpack. Gab had received a list from the school of what each child would need. It wasn’t long—first graders didn’t need that much—but Chloe was excited about getting her new pencils and notebooks and her first calculator.

Gab thought about when she’d been a young girl. She’d always been a paper products geek. She had loved school, not just because she could get new tablets, glue sticks, and pens, but because in school she could be with her friends.

When she got into high school, she joined every club and group she could fit into her schedule. She volunteered for the school newspaper and served as editor her junior and senior years. She had been involved and well liked, and she had learned how to feel good about herself and what she had to offer. Her friends had thought she was smart and funny, and when one of her friends needed a pick-me-up, it was always Gab they came to.

She looked over at her daughter who was lining up her My Little Pony collection in a row on the coffee table. Chloe picked up one of the little pink ones and started to braid the tail. She was humming the theme song from the show, and the words went through Gab’s head over and over. She only knew—my little pony, my little pony—and she hoped it wouldn’t be a case of having that one line playing over and over in her head the rest of the week. Although it would probably make her never want to see a My Little Pony again, it was probably preferable to thoughts of Justin and her shattered dreams constantly occupying her thoughts.

She would just stay busy during the day, with Chloe and work. And as soon as all the permits were granted, she would be able to focus on remodeling the house. It was going to be a big project. Unfortunately, with Blake managing the job she didn’t know how she would ever be able to forget about his twin.

It would be impossible to ever forget Justin. The pain of losing him might become more bearable, and she would move on, but she would never forget his teasing grins or the way he made her feel when he pulled her into his arms. She knew no man would ever be able to fill her heart with so much joy again…or break it into a thousand pieces that now lay splintering her soul.

Gab breathed out a shaky breath and dashed a hand across her cheek. She wouldn’t let Chloe see her get upset, not if she could help it. It was her own fault for allowing herself to fall in love with Justin so quickly. She should have been more cautious. She shouldn’t have made love to him until…

Until what? She’d done a background check into his prior love life to find out if he had any dangling fiancées who were on the verge of giving birth? Justin said they hadn’t been engaged. Gabriella rolled her neck in an attempt to relieve some of the tension that would most likely result in another headache. It didn’t matter if they were or they weren’t. He was going to be a father, and he had a responsibility to his child and its mother. Gab didn’t want to give him up. What choice did she have, though? She didn’t know what his relationship had been with Brin. If there was a chance he could work things out with the woman and make a home together for their child, though, he had to try.

She knew too well what it was like to grow up without a father, to think you hadn’t been wanted, and to pretend your whole life that you didn’t care. Gab knew she wouldn’t be able to live with her guilt if her involvement with Justin prevented him from doing the right thing. She was an adult, independent and self-sustaining. She might need him with every fiber of her heart, but his child needed him more.

Justin cared about her; she didn’t doubt that. When she’d checked her cell this morning, she saw he’d tried to call late last night. She suspected he’d spent most of last night talking to Brin. It was possible she had convinced him they needed to get married…maybe she hadn’t even needed to try hard…maybe he still had feelings for the other woman as well and decided his place was with her and their child.

Perhaps he had called to tell her he was sorry things had turned out the way they had. When she left his brother’s house yesterday evening, Justin had seemed intent on coming to her place last night, but he hadn’t. She thought she’d rather just have him tell her on the phone that he couldn’t see her again. It would be easier.

Having to see his cherished face, to look into his beautiful lion’s eyes…she didn’t know if she could without falling apart. And she did not want to fall apart…not now, and certainly not in front of him. She knew him. She knew he would be feeling bad about having to break things off, especially after they’d just managed to get over a major hurdle. But it wasn’t his fault. It was…it was just life…doing what life did.

Gabriella’s laptop screen went dormant, and she clicked her mouse to bring the page up again. So much for trying not to think about Justin. She scrolled down to her last entry and stared at the blur of words. Heat built up behind her eyes, and she squeezed them shut.

My little pony, my little pony…my little pony…

JUSTIN STOOD on Gabriella’s porch. He said a quick prayer, even though he hadn’t prayed in a long time and feared his prayers might be disregarded after such a long dry spell. His dreams hung precariously on the hope Gabriella would listen to reason. He took a shaky breath and pressed her doorbell.

He had no idea what he was going to be dealing with. He wouldn’t blame her if she was furious with him. He’d never even told her about Brin, but he honestly hadn’t thought there was a need. Now the woman had shown up pregnant with his kid, and even if they were able to agree to an amiable custody arrangement, his priorities were about to undergo a major change, one Gab might not be willing to sign up for.

Gabriella opened the door, and all Justin could think about was how much he wanted to pull her into his arms and never let go. She looked like a barefoot goddess, in cutoff sweatpants and a worn blue tee shirt that hung past her hips. Blazoned across the front in darker blue letters were the words Make Mine a Double.

“Nice shirt,” he said, hoping to break some of the tension that rolled off her in waves.

She glanced down and pulled it forward, as if needing a reminder of what she was wearing.

“It was Bruce’s.” She stared at her feet. He waited for her to invite him in, but she just stood there, looking down, not at him.

“Where’s Chloe?”

Gab looked over her shoulder. “Playing,” she said, still standing in the doorway and giving no indication of welcoming him in.

Justin reached out and took her chin in his hand, turning her face up to his. She closed her eyes as if she wanted to block him out, and he felt a rush of panic at her response. She was going to reject him. She was going to let Brin come between them.

“We need to talk.” He pulled her out onto the front porch. “Before you go making a decision that’s going to hurt both of us when you don’t understand the situation.”

“I understand enough.” She finally looked at him. The sadness he saw in her eyes seared into his heart. There was no anger there, no blame, and he thought he would prefer that. At least then he might feel some hope she thought they were worth fighting for.

“What do you think you understand?” he demanded, getting angry for both of them. She might be willing to throw everything they had together away because of her misguided assumptions, but he wasn’t.

Gab leaned sideways and looked back through the front door. Turning toward him again, she straightened her back and squared her shoulders. It wouldn’t do any good. She could put up as many walls as she wanted, but he wasn’t leaving until she heard what he had to say.

“This isn’t the time, Justin. And you have new responsibilities now. You should be focusing on those.”

“I know damn well what responsibilities I have, Gabriella!” he ground out through gritted teeth. Did she think he would ignore his child’s needs? If he thought he could get it, he’d ask Brin for full custody, but he doubted the woman would agree, not if she thought she could use the baby as collateral to get him to marry her.

“I have every intention of taking care of my baby, but my responsibility ends there, and if you think anything’s changed between you and me, you couldn’t be more wrong.”

“You need to try to make a go of things with your fiancée. She needs you more than I do right now.”

“Don’t tell me what I need to do.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets and clenched his jaw. “And she’s not my fiancée. We were never engaged. And just so you’re clear, I never loved her. We worked together in DC. We started dating because it was convenient, and when things went sour, it ended. So Brin isn’t even part of the equation as far as I’m concerned.”

“She’s expecting you to marry her.”

“And I’m telling you that’s not going to happen.”

They were facing each other now, and their eyes had locked, blue on gold, both of them holding their ground.

Gab looked away first. She gave a tired sigh and for a moment he wondered if she might relent.

“I grew up without a father,” she started, her eyelids fluttering down to mask her expressive eyes. “I thought he didn’t want me. I used to wonder if there was something wrong with me…maybe if I’d been a boy…or prettier…or anything other than what I was…that he might love me.”

“Your situation was different,” Justin said, cutting her off. “My child will know me. He will grow up knowing I love him. Or if it’s a daughter, she won’t have to wonder if she’s loved just because I’m not married to her mother.”

“You think you can control that,” she said, lifting her chin. “What if you refuse to marry Brin and she takes off and doesn’t tell you where she is? What if she lies to your child and tells him you didn’t want him, even if you did. What if your son grows up telling himself he doesn’t care, or your daughter convinces herself you’re not worth crying over?” She jerked her gaze from his and wrapped her arms around her waist.

Justin reached out and ran his hands up her arms and felt her shiver. She was talking about herself. And he understood now that she couldn’t bear the thought of some other child growing up the way she had because of her. Some of his anger dissipated; it was misdirected anyway.

“Gabriella,” he said, wrapping his hands around her arms. “I’m not in love with Brin. If I married her, I’d be miserable. I’d make her miserable. What kind of environment is that to raise a child in?”

“At least your child would have you. At least you could love him.”

“I’ll love my child regardless.” He tried to pull her forward into his arms but she resisted.

“Darling, please listen to me.” He gentled his voice, pleading with her. “There’s no reason for this. Nothing has to change between us. Would you please just trust me?”

“That’s just it, Justin. Things have changed. And I don’t want to be the reason for whatever decisions you make about you and…and your future.”

“You are my future, woman! Don’t you see that?  You’re not being rational right now.” He started to pace in front of her. “Damn it, Gab, you’re using what happened to you as your lens to look at this, and it’s not the same thing.”

“I’ve made up my mind, Justin,” she said, as if she expected that to be the end of it.

He gaped at her. Was she even going to consider what he’d said?

“So what? I’m supposed to go now? I’m supposed to forget how I feel about you…what we’ve been building together?”

She resorted to looking at her feet again.

Justin threw his hands up in the air.

“Do you love me?” Justin asked. Maybe if he’d said those words to her sooner, it would have made a difference. Neither one of them had ever said it, but he’d known he loved her for some time now. Why the hell hadn’t he told her?

“My feelings aren’t important right now.” Her misguided selflessness pricked his anger again. It was wrong, and it was threatening to destroy what they had.

“I think you should go,” she said, shuffling. “I don’t want Chloe to wonder what’s going on and come out here.”

Justin cursed under his breath. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He needed more time to convince her he was right. More time to win her back.

“All right,” he said. “I’ll go, but I’ll come back later after Chloe goes to sleep, and we’ll finish this conversation.”

Gabriella took a couple of steps backward, away from him.

“It’s already finished.” She reached for the door. “I don’t want to see you again, Justin. I’m sorry, but I…I don’t want to be a part of this.”

“Gabriella.” He reached out for her hand but she pulled away. Justin felt her slipping further and further from his grasp. “Don’t do this to us, sweetheart. It doesn’t have to be this way.”

“Yes, it does. It’s what I want.”

“I’ll call you in a day or two, after you’ve thought about things.”

She shook her head, not looking at him. “Please don’t…please… just leave me alone. I’m not going to change my mind. Take care of Brin and your baby; they’re going to need all of your attention.”

He tried to think of something to say to change her mind, but she turned around and went into the house, closing the door behind her.