Matt

Having to get away, he packed his bags and headed to the family cabin. When he got to the cabin he drank until he passed out. It wasn’t until morning that he realized he made some drunken texts. Several were to his parents:

I’m not coming to Christmas.

I’m at the cabin and I don’t want to be bothered.

I never want to see Ryan and if I do he’s a dead man.

The only response they sent was: Take your time. It wasn’t what it looked like. Give him a chance to explain.

He remembered hearing Ryan say she shouldn’t be falling for him. It replayed over and over in his head ever since he left. There was nothing to explain. Matt tucked his pounding head back into the pillow. When he couldn’t take thoughts of Ryan and Candice together, he hopped out of bed. There had to be something he could do to take his mind off the pain. Drinking wasn’t the answer, obviously. After taking a handful of Advil, he noticed it was cold as fuck in the cabin. Firewood, that should work, he thought. For the next two hours, he cut down firewood the old-school way, needing the swinging of an axe to heal his wounds.

 

Candice

The following morning, Ryan and Candice set out to the cabin. She couldn’t believe she was doing this. It was dumb, but in her heart, she wanted him, and sometimes one had to be brave. She knew he was nothing like her father, he was like his father and that was a wonderful thing. If he truly wanted her, that is. It was her worry that she wouldn’t live up to his expectations. The entire ride there she was a fit of nerves.

“Calm down, Candice,” Ryan said, driving up the hilly terrain. He must have been able to feel the tension permeating off her body.

“But I don’t think this is a good idea. I don’t think he wants me. Maybe I’ll be a flavor of the month or maybe it’s the thrill of the chase.” She began to fidget so much that Ryan put his hand on her hands and stopped the twiddling.

“What makes you think that? Matt hasn’t given any woman the time of day in I don’t know how long. There’s no way he’d want anyone else but you. And you know the bullshit Mara told you was just that…bullshit.”

“Hold on a minute.” Ryan’s phone rang through the Bluetooth in the car. “Ryan here.”

“Ryan,” a soft, sweet voice whispered over the speakers.

“July, where are you?” he asked, letting a growl rip through his throat.

“My parents.”

“Where the fuck is that?” I had no idea who that woman was, but she meant something to him. His pain was as clear as Matt’s anger and hurt at the office.

“Dallas.”

“I’m going to be on the next flight out.” The tension in his voice was thick and Candice knew this July woman was in deep trouble once Ryan got to her.

“Don’t bother. I just wanted to tell you that I know you didn’t want this. So this is all on me, but I wanted to let you know I’m pregnant.” Ryan eyes bugged out and Candice gasped, which July heard loud and clear.

“I hear you moved on,” she hissed.

“I haven’t at all. I’m on my way to see you,” he stated, grasping the wheel until his knuckles turned white.

“Then who is it, your mother?” she asked, accusingly.

“No, it’s Matt’s future wife. I’m taking her to see him. It was a big misunderstanding, but I don’t want to talk about it right now. I want to talk about us.”

“There is no us.”

“Then why are you calling me, July? You run out on me and then you call out of the blue when you’re thousands of miles away to tell me you’re pregnant. It’s bullshit. When I get to Texas we’re going to straighten some shit out whether you like it or not.” They pulled up to the cabin and Ryan was still wanting to talk to July, so Candice started to let herself out of the truck. The plan was for him to drop her off anyway, so he could bring in her suitcase when he was done talking.

“Sorry, Candice. I have to talk to her. He isn’t going to hurt you.”

“I know that. He’s got a bark and no bite. Thanks.” Her heart felt better knowing that Matt hadn’t messed with Mara and that he wasn’t strung out on his sister-in-law. The pain in his eyes when he saw her with Ryan was visible even with her blurred vision at that moment.

Talking a deep breath, she walked up the stairs in her gym shoes, so grateful she decided to dress normal. Knocking on the door, she waited with nervous anticipation. The door opened and she was surprised by what she saw.