Chapter 22

Sean had wanted to give her a ride home himself, but Molly hadn’t thought she could handle any more emotional heartbreak, so she’d asked Max instead. It might have been a mistake.

“Whoa, go easy, Molly!” Max barked as she used her hip to bump open the Belfast door on their way out. “You’ve got a passenger in there now.”

Her eyes bugged as she stared at her brother in disbelief. “It was a door. I just opened it.”

“Yeah, but you bumped it with your hip. Not hard, I don’t think, but…is that okay?” he asked, scrubbing a hand over the top of his head as he gave her a nervous look that was equal parts adorable and terrifying.

She was probably looking at a solid eight more months of Max in extreme overprotective mode. “I’m sure it’s fine, Max.”

Only then she was thinking about it, and the truth was, she didn’t actually know that many people with babies—and the ones she did, she hadn’t been paying attention to how they handled doors.

She looked at her brother as a fresh wave of panic started to well within her. “I have no idea what I’m supposed to do,” she whispered, and oh man, the tears were kicking in too.

Max’s normally steely eyes bugged wide, filling with a panic very similar to her own. He looked back into the bar, no doubt thinking about going for reinforcements. Sean and Brody were both still in there. But then he turned back to her and straightened into that big, strong superhero of a guy she’d been looking up to her entire life. The one who would never let her down.

“We’re going to the bookstore, and I’m going to get you that giant instruction manual on having babies everyone uses. Then you’ll know exactly what you need to do. And not do. Right?”

She nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks as she stood in the middle of the sidewalk in front of Belfast. Max wrapped her in a hug and patted her head in a way she knew he meant to be soothing but really just made her laugh and pull away. Wiping at her cheeks, she squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. “That sounds perfect, Max.”

The bookstore had an entire section dedicated to pregnancy, and one look at all those titles had Molly’s head spinning and her legs working an involuntary retreat—until she bumped into Max and he ushered her back toward the shelves.

“So the lady at the help desk said this is the one to start with. She gave me a list of books we can get in addition, so if you don’t like it, I can bring you back tomorrow.”

She held up the book and chuckled to herself. “You planning on becoming my full-time driver and personal assistant, Max?”

A touch of red tinted his cheeks, and he scowled down at the floor. “No, but I figure it’s the least I can do with the way I reacted. With what I said.”

Molly shook her head. “It wasn’t an easy way to find out. You were blindsided.”

“So were you. And even if you hadn’t been, what I said was shitty.” He sighed and then met her eyes. “I’m sorry, Moll. Really sorry.”

Deep emotional stuff wasn’t Molly’s thing. Especially with her brother. It made her uncomfortable and squirmy, like there was probably some “right thing” to say that everyone else would know without having to think about it. But for Molly, the only words she could manage were the ones that came straight from her heart. “Thank you, Max.”

He raised a brow. “Forgive me?”

Like there was any question. “I forgive you.”

But Max wasn’t the only one who needed to ask for forgiveness. She blew out a long breath, and a look of pure panic flashed across his face.

“Are you okay? Should I take you to the hospital?”

Cripes. “Max, I’m fine. I just… I need to apologize too. Sean wanted to tell you about us. From the first minute we realized there actually might be an us, he wanted you to know.” She laughed, thinking about that night at the campground. About the way it had felt when he had climbed into her sleeping bag and how much she’d wanted to believe everything he’d said.

She hadn’t been able to resist.

Max reached for the pregnancy book and started flipping through the pages. She had a feeling he wasn’t seeing a single word, just avoiding the awkward eye contact—then he winced, looking horrified as he shoved the book back at her. So maybe he’d seen a few words after all.

“Why didn’t you want me to know?” he asked, nodding them toward the front of the store to check out.

They passed the aisles for self-help and diet and nutrition before she could answer him. “Part of it was I didn’t want you to hurt him.” She dared a glance at her brother, who was staring at the floor as they bypassed the magazines. His brow was furrowed, his jaw tensed. “I know how protective you can be about me, and even when I tell you you don’t need to be, you don’t always listen. I was worried you wouldn’t give him enough credit.”

There were six people in line and one girl checking them out. It felt like a conversation they ought to save for the privacy of Max’s car, but they’d already started it, and besides, she didn’t recognize anyone. So when Max asked her, “Why not?” she answered.

“Maybe because I was having a hard time giving it to him myself.”

“Molly.”

And then because she’d given him that much, she gave him the rest. “And I think maybe I was embarrassed to admit I thought we might have a chance. I mean, we all know what Sean wanted for his life…and I’m not exactly it.”

She could see her brother struggling for something to say. He wanted to tell her she was wrong, just like she wanted to hear it. But they both knew better, and in the end, he just pulled her in for a hug.

* * *

Six days later, Sean was wearing a hole through the hardwood in Max’s living room, while Sarah spent the evening at Molly’s place. Max pulled a couple of beers from the fridge and handed one to Sean.

“You ask her again?”

Sean nodded, taking a long draw. He’d been over to see Molly every day since finding out about the baby, trying to get through to her on—well, anything, but it wasn’t happening. Not yet.

“She said no to marrying me. No to living together. No to dating casually and just letting things happen—and after that one, she asked me if I thought she was an idiot.” At this point, he was pretty sure they were all in agreement that he was. “I asked her if she’d thought about slowing down with her workload.”

Looking up, Max asked, “How’d that go over?”

“About as well as when I brought up child support.”

Max grimaced, shaking his head. “Anything you didn’t ask her this time?”

He hadn’t asked if she thought about him. If she missed being in his arms the way he missed having them around her, because it had made her cry the last time, and her tears were more than he could handle.

“Why can’t she see that she’s all I want?” he demanded, looking at her brother because he was the closest thing to Molly Sean could get. “That this has nothing to do with circumstances or obligations or anything other than the fact that I love her. That I’m in love with her.”

Because there was a difference.

“Maybe because she knows you?”

Sean stopped where he was, wondering if Max was looking for a matching set of shiners. “That’s exactly what she said. Only it’s total bullshit, because if she knew me so very well, she’d know that leaving me to save me from my good intentions was breaking my heart and making us both miserable.”

That was the worst of it. Knowing they were both suffering.

Molly hadn’t left him because she didn’t want him—but because she didn’t believe he could really want her. It was killing him to think of her lying there in bed at night, feeling alone.

Worse, feeling like he found her lacking in any way.

“Look at it from her side a minute, will you?” Max suggested, moving into the living room and taking the seat next to the fireplace.

After all the pre-Sarah years of lawn chairs and milk crates, it was still fucking weird seeing Max’s place fully furnished.

“Her side how?” And maybe that was part of his problem. Sean still didn’t entirely get her side.

“She’s a maid who manages a bar part time.” Max shrugged. “You really gonna stand there and tell me that’s what you had in mind when you started looking for the future Mrs. Wyse?”

“How the hell can you keep selling her short like that?” Sean demanded, willfully ignoring what he didn’t want to face. “She’s a hard-working, self-taught entrepreneur balancing two businesses with an eye on breaking into a third. While working a fourth. She might not have a degree, but she’s one of the sharpest, most intelligent people I know, and if I could get her to take one, I’d give her any damn job in my hotel she wanted, because I know without a fucking doubt that she’d be able to learn it.”

Max squinted at him, scrubbing the back of his head. “She’s my sister. I know she’s smart. It’s the rest. The pedigreed shit you’ve been so focused on until”—he drew a slow breath—“until you started screwing my sister. For years, any time you began seeing one of these women your parents shoved in front of you, the first thing you’d give us was the criteria she met. The right name, the right school, and all the bullshit that went along with them. The polish and grace and sophistication. How the hell do you think Molly’s ever going to feel like she belongs in your world—like you think she belongs there—when she’s had your ‘ideal’ shoved down her throat at every turn since she was old enough to make the comparisons?”

Sean stopped his pacing and looked at Max, a sinking feeling in his gut. It had never been his ideal, but all Molly had ever seen was him going along with it. “How the fuck am I going to convince her?”

Max met his eyes. “You know how stubborn Molly can be.”

Sean gave Max a look. “Seriously, man?”

“I know you know. And I think I’ve got an idea. But you’re going to have to follow two rules.”

“Anything,” Sean said.

“Okay, rule number one: Back off. I know it’s going to be hard, but you gotta give Molly some space.”

Sean’s molars locked down. He didn’t like the sound of that one bit. But if Max thought he had a plan, Sean was willing to keep an open mind. “Give her a chance to get her head together. Do some clear thinking.”

“Exactly. Too much has been happening too fast. Our girl can handle a lot thrown at her at once, but even Molly has her limits.” Max walked over and clapped Sean on one shoulder. “And right now, you’re just another source of pressure. Let her breathe a little, and she’ll remember you’re her biggest source of comfort. More than Brody. Shit, even more than me.”

“Really?” The grin he couldn’t fight made Sean feel like a grade-A ass, but damned if that wasn’t what he’d needed to hear. Then he thought about what it was like when he didn’t get to see her, and the smile dropped from his mouth. “How long?”

“That’s going to depend on you. And following rule number two: Figure out what she wants most, and give it to her.”

Sean’s lungs deflated. “She wants me to let her go, Max. And not just for some time to breathe.”

Max crossed his arms and met Sean with a level stare. “If that’s what she really wants, then you’re going to have to do it. But I’ve seen Molly when you haven’t been around for a while. And I’m telling you, it’s not pretty.”

* * *

“Come on, Moll,” Brody chided, easily taking the drink-laden tray off her hands and carrying it through the bar himself. “We talked about this. You were going to call it a day by six. No exceptions.”

Molly followed him to the table and started handing out pints, while her boss stood flashing that teddy bear grin around as he waited for her to finish.

Then tucking her under his arm, he led her back to his office and sat her down. “What are you still doing here?”

Slumping back in the couch, she sighed and started picking at her thumbnail. “I’m going crazy at home. I’ve got work I can do, but every time I sit down, I can’t concentrate.”

Brody pulled a chair over. Resting his elbows on his widespread knees, he nodded his head to the side. “Give yourself a break. It’s a lot to adjust to in only a few weeks.”

She nodded. He was right, but it was more than that, and they both knew it.

Brody rolled his shoulder. “You seen him?”

“Not for a few days.” More like a week. After they found out about the baby, Sean had been dropping in to see her every day. Every day, asking her to marry him. Every day, breaking her heart a little more by making her say no.

But the last time, it had been different. She’d sensed it from the moment he stepped into her apartment. Seen it in the way he searched her eyes. Heard it in that last plea.

“Molly, I’m asking you to really think about this. We could have it all. Just give me a chance to show you.”

She wanted to. God knew she did.

But she couldn’t do it. Not to herself, not to her baby. Not to the man she loved.

She couldn’t spend the rest of her life feeling like the burden that never went away. The charitable sacrifice filed under “the right thing.”

She wouldn’t.

So she’d said no. And right there before her eyes, something had changed in him. He had stopped being her Sean and, within the span of a handful of breaths, had become the Sean she recognized from those few times his professional and personal lives overlapped.

He’d told her he would be in touch and kissed her cheek when he said goodbye.

That had been five days ago.

She knew what it meant. Sean was giving her what she’d asked for.

“He’s going to be there for you, Moll. You can’t doubt that,” Brody assured her, those compassionate green eyes holding hers.

She nodded. “I know.” They just needed to get through all this first. And once things were back the way they were supposed to be, they could be there for each other as friends. As family. Just not quite together.

Brody wasn’t satisfied until he’d fed her dinner, warned her against taking anything from the Baby Readiness Binder Jase had put together for Janice without checking for a more current study, and shared the latest article he’d come across regarding infant sleeping habits. She gave the big guy a hug and then headed out into the cool, dusky evening.

She hadn’t even made it to the corner when her phone rang.

It was Sean’s lawyer, asking if Molly would be free the next morning.

* * *

Molly stepped off the bus twenty minutes before her appointment and stared up at the sleek new building that had only wedged itself into the Chicago skyline the year before. The cost of office space in the glass-and-steel mammoth was supposed to be through the roof, but she imagined any lawyer a Wyse retained would be more than able to cover it.

Wide curved steps led up to an open, gleaming entry where businessmen and businesswomen streamed in and out in what seemed to be an endless supply. Slowly walking up, Molly scanned the seating areas by the fountains and potted trees for Sean, certain he would be waiting for her. They hadn’t communicated about the appointment, but there was no chance he wasn’t aware of it.

Another five minutes passed. She tucked her coat around herself a little tighter and followed the crowd through the doors, her sense of unease growing with every step. Where was he? She knew she’d been unreasonable the last time Sean had brought up the subject of child support and figured he’d set this appointment up to ensure she understood there were laws in place to protect her and their child. They needed to come to an understanding about it. She was prepared, or at least she would be when she found Sean. The bank of elevators for Derschel, Willis & Gray was located on the second level, so she took the escalator and looked out over the airy atrium, searching again.

She chewed her cheek and pulled out her phone. No texts. No missed calls.

Reaching the Chicago offices of the country’s top law firm on the seventy-sixth floor, Molly was greeted by name by a man she’d never met before, offered something to drink, and then ushered into an expansive dark-wood conference room that was every kind of intimidating. A team of lawyers lined one side of the table, and an even bigger team lined the other side. Her side. Apparently, Sean had retained Derschel, Willis & Gray on her behalf, and the other guys were there to represent him. Though he would not be present.

Molly thought about the crackers tucked in her canvas bag and wondered if she was going to need them.

A handsome man a few years older than she was made the introductions around the table before giving her his own name. Derek Greggory. Sean’s half brother and boarding-school rival. Turned out Sean thought he’d have an extra incentive to make sure Molly’s interests were being served. Before she’d even had a chance to process that she was meeting Derek, the lawyers started to explain why she’d been asked there. The words were coming—her lawyers periodically jumping in to clarify a point regarding child support during pregnancy and after or offer an opinion—but all Molly could focus on was that Sean wasn’t there.

She wasn’t going to see him.

And then they handed her a document with a letter from Sean clipped to the top, and her world crumbled.

Molly,

You were right. I hadn’t been honest with myself about the kind of future I wanted. But I see things clearly now. I will forever be grateful to you for helping me to reevaluate my priorities before I made a mistake that might have cost us both the future we deserve.

In light of recent events, I believe I have found a woman uniquely qualified to be my partner through life. Before she is willing to commit, she requires some assurances and security. She needs to know that I will put her and the child we will someday have above all others. To do this, I need to make a clean break.

In time, I hope you will understand.

Sean

Tears spilled down her cheeks, nearly blinding her as the lawyer spelled out the terms of the one-time cash payout for the care and support of their child. The nondisclosure agreement, with penalties severe enough to ensure it would never be violated by either party.

Sean was leaving her. She’d told him he needed a woman like Valerie, and he’d found one. He’d found one, and now he was throwing the other side of his life away?

Because that’s what this agreement was about. Sean, her best friend in the world, the father of her child and constant in her life, was offering her a check so that he could walk away and never look back. Ever. There wouldn’t be any changing his mind after this. The penalty for Sean violating the NDA was a price greater than he would ever be able to pay. And he’d put it in a legal, binding contract and asked her to sign it.

What had happened to the man she’d fallen in love with not once, but twice? The lonely boy who’d ached for a family capable of emotional connection so much that he’d build one for himself. He’d made her his family. He’d made Max and Brody and Jase his family. And now he was not only prepared to walk away from all of them—because that’s what this agreement meant—but also from this tiny life that was the two of them together in the most precious, incomprehensible way.

“This isn’t real,” she sniffed, looking from one member of her legal team to the next. “You don’t know him. He would never want this.”

Choking back a sob, she covered her face.

Raised voices sounded from beyond the door in the back of the conference room. It opened a crack and then slammed shut as more yelling followed and then a thud that shook the walls.

Molly stared as Derek walked over and opened the door just enough to speak through it. Nodded tightly and then walked back. “I’m sorry. Nothing to be alarmed about. Just a…scheduling dispute. It’s been sorted out.”

Another partner slid a document in front of her. “The amount on offer is…exceptionally generous. That said, you are under no obligation to take it. We can begin working out a schedule of child support immediately.”

Molly held up a hand. God, she didn’t want anything at all, or at least she didn’t want Sean’s money. What she wanted—to be the right woman for him—she couldn’t have. “Just wait. Please. I need a minute.”

She pulled out her phone and called Sean, walking over to the windows overlooking Grant Park far below.

He answered on the first ring.

“What are you doing?” she whispered, clutching the phone tight. “This can’t be what you want.”

The sharp pull of Sean’s breath sounded through the line, followed by a muffled exchange in the background. Then—“Molly, you don’t have to sign it,” he said, his voice raw and worn. “But I’m asking you to do it for me.”

She closed her eyes and bowed her head. Listened to the silence stretch between them.

Then, returning to the table where eight lawyers sat politely waiting, she picked up a pen and, half blind with tears, signed her name across from Sean’s.

“It’s done,” she stated dully, a cold numbness creeping through her chest.

Another rush of breath from his end, and just before he disconnected the call, he promised, “Baby, you won’t regret this.”

Molly blinked. A stitch pulling between her brows.

Because that didn’t sound like a man who’d just put his hotel on the line to ensure that he would never be tied to the life he’d created. It sounded like a man who had just scored the victory of his life. It sounded like—

The back door to the conference room swung wide, and her Sean shouldered through, those deep-brown eyes locked with hers as he crossed the space with purposeful strides.

“Those documents set?” he asked, not bothering to look at the team of lawyers scrambling from their seats.

“Yes, Mr. Wyse.”

“W-what are you doing here?” she stammered shakily, too broken and confused to make sense of the half-cocked smile on his face. He should be dying inside. The way she was.

“Being honest about the future I want.” His hand slid around her waist, and then he was pulling her along with him out of the conference room. Like somehow he believed that was all the explanation she required.

Across the hall, there was another, smaller conference room. Through the windows, she saw two reporters with their cameras set up behind them, and an icy chill settled in the pit of her stomach.

No.

Sean reached for the door and pulled her closer. “I’m showing the woman I want as my partner through life that I put her and the child we’ll be having in just over seven months above all else.”

Molly’s throat clenched, and fresh tears flooded past her lids. “Sean, don’t. You can’t.”

Because suddenly, she understood what this relentless, insane man had just done. What she’d driven him to do.

His eyes went to her lips, and his mouth followed. He kissed her like she was his next breath. As if he wasn’t on the brink of tossing away the thing he loved best in this world.

Then he was opening the door and pulling Molly along with him to the front of the room.

Ignoring the press, she tugged at his shirt. “Sean, please.”

But he was a man on a mission and wouldn’t be stopped.

“Thank you for coming today. I have an introduction and a brief statement to make. First, I would like to introduce Molly Elizabeth Brandt. Ms. Brandt is the new owner of the Chicago Wyse Hotel. In addition to the Wyse, Ms. Brandt currently runs two other successful Chicago businesses and is expecting her first child—our child—early next year.

“And if she ever agrees to do me the honor, I will make her my wife as soon as humanly possible. If she doesn’t, well, we’ll be together either way. I’m not going anywhere.” He flashed her the smile her heart couldn’t resist.

She was shaking her head, beyond the ability to protest verbally. There had to be a catch. A loophole. Something.

But Sean was already wrapping things up. “Any questions regarding whether I will continue to run the Chicago location should be directed to my boss, the Maybe-Future-Mrs.-Wyse. Thank you for coming.”

The short press conference at a close, the reporters quickly cleared out, offering their thanks and congrats as they went. And then it was just the two of them.

Sean grinned at her. “So, Moll, should I drop my résumé on your desk?”

“How could you do this?” she asked, her voice unsteady. He’d given up everything.

“Easy. I already owned the Chicago Wyse. It just took a few extra signatures to free it up, so I went to my parents and explained that I didn’t want their life. I want you, I want our baby, and I want their support. Apparently, I must have been fairly compelling, because it went smoothly from there.”

Her jaw went slack. “They’re going to think I was after—”

“They know what you were after, Molly. The right thing. Setting me free. A life where you didn’t have to feel like you did growing up. And now they have a better understanding of my priorities too.”

She could only imagine what that had looked like.

“Molly, I’m sorry about my mother coming to you. I’m sorry about what she said, what she assumed. And most of all, I’m sorry for not doing a better job of showing you, myself, that our life together wouldn’t be about you fitting into my world. You are my world. And whether you’re my wife or my best friend with a baby but without benefits, what matters most is that we’re together. Because you are the only thing I don’t think I could survive without.”

Her heart was pounding, her fingers trembling. “But, Sean, this is crazy. How could you be so casual with the Wyse? You love that hotel.”

He shook his head and smiled at her with all the confidence in the world. “I love you. I care about the Wyse deeply,” he added with a teasing wink before turning serious again. “And there was nothing casual about what I did here today. I entrusted my business to the woman I love and believe in more than anything or anyone in this world.” Taking her hand, he pulled it to his mouth for a soft kiss before pressing it to that spot she loved best above his heart. “I had to show you how important you are to me…and show you that I understand what’s important to you too. I know with the way you grew up, you didn’t feel wanted the way you should have, and you didn’t feel secure.”

She choked out a breath, suddenly seeing what Sean had done.

“I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life, Molly. I want our baby. But even if you decide us being a family isn’t what you want, I need you to know that you and our baby are secure. Neither of you will ever want for anything…but especially not a roof over your head. You have 623 of them now. Actually more than that, because I bought your building for you too. But that’s just a present, not part of the NDA or anything.”

Her eyes closed as fresh tears filled with too many emotions to count spilled down her cheeks.

“Molly, say something,” he begged, his voice devoid of all teasing.

“You’re crazy,” she whispered as her fingers caught between the buttons of his shirt and she pulled him in close.

“And you’re stubborn,” he growled, a breath from her lips.

She shook her head, peering up into the eyes she’d loved since she was sixteen. “I love you, Sean. I can’t believe you did this… I’m sorry I—”

“Shh, let’s just go back to that first part, can we?” That half-cocked smile went even wider. “So you love love me?”

She laughed, her heart so full, it hurt. “Yes, I do. Kind of desperately and hopelessly, and I’m pretty sure for the rest of my life.”

Sean let out a slow breath, nodding once as his eyes filled with so much hope and relief and love that she wondered how she had ever doubted him.

“Then this time, Molly, I’m begging you.”

Stepping back, Sean bent slowly to one knee and pulled a medium-size black velvet box from his pocket. Holding it up, he opened the lid, revealing a tiny, misshapen pair of soft, knit, green baby booties with uneven stitches and a breathtaking diamond ring tucked between them. “Please, Molly, be my wife.”

It took her three tries before she could fight past the emotion and find her voice, but when she was able, she stroked her finger over one booty and asked, “Did you knit these yourself?”

Sean laughed and nodded. “They aren’t perfect. But I figure by the time she gets here, I’ll have mastered it.”

She. He wanted a girl.

“They are perfect.” Every single stitch was made with love.

Taking Sean by the tie, Molly tugged him to his feet and stared up into his eyes.

“I love you.”

“I love you too. So say it. Give me the happily ever after. I want the fairy tale, baby.”

She laughed, because only Sean. “Yes! I’ll marry you.”