Come Together by Marie Force

Chapter Eighteen

“The heart will break, but broken live on.”

—Lord Byron

Hunter couldn’t stop staring at the tiny face that had captured his heart from the second he first saw his son.

Carson.

He had a son named Carson.

He’d been an emotional mess all day, from the minute Noah had appeared in his office until now, hours later when Megan and Carson were safely home, and they were settling into their new life as a family.

“He’s beautiful, son,” Hunter’s dad, Lincoln, said. “He looks just like you did as a baby.”

“Poor little bugger,” Hunter’s twin sister, Hannah, said.

“Don’t talk crap about my handsome husband,” Megan said from the sofa.

“If I can’t talk crap about him, who can?” Hannah asked.

His sister had come running the minute Hunter had called to tell her about the baby being born at the diner, of all places. He’d never get over that. All their careful planning had been for naught. Their son had had his own plan, and Hunter was already learning that the little guy was now in charge. He’d taken over their lives in one eventful day.

“I can’t wait to introduce Callie to Carson,” Hannah said.

“You could’ve brought her over tonight,” Hunter said.

“She was in a mood today, and she’s had the sniffles. We’ll wait until we’re sure she’s not sick before we bring her for a visit.”

“How in the world did you do this ten times, Molly?” Megan asked.

“Technically, I only did it eight times.”

“Eight.” Megan groaned as she tried to find a comfortable position. “I have a whole new appreciation for two sets of twins. I bow down to you.”

“I’m sure the next seven won’t be this difficult,” Hunter said, grinning at his wife. He’d never loved her more than he did on the day she’d given him his beautiful son.

“Bite your tongue,” Megan said. “Carson will be lucky to get one sibling, let alone nine of them.”

“You’ll forget,” Molly said. “In a week or two, when you’re feeling much better, you won’t be thinking about the birth anymore.”

“I’ll have to take your word for that.”

“It’s true.” Hannah was due with her second child next month. “I’m so obsessed with my little Callie that I rarely think about the day she was born. Although, I seem to remember it more as baby number two gets ready to make an appearance.”

“Do you want to hold him, Gramps?” Hunter asked Elmer.

“I’d love to.” Elmer took a seat and received the baby from Hunter. “Hi there, my little friend. How’re things going on your first day on the outside?”

“Let us know what he has to say,” Megan said. “We’ll record it for the baby book.”

“So far, he’s quite pleased with the accommodations and the beverage service,” Elmer said.

Hunter, who’d sat next to his wife, squeezed her hand and smiled. His face hurt from smiling so much. Megan’s doctor had come by earlier and had declared her and the baby robustly healthy after their big day, which was such a huge relief. He’d worried they might regret the decision to forgo the hospital. Hours after the birth, he’d finally begun to relax and release the anxiety that had spiked after Noah came to tell him Megan needed him.

When Noah had called to check on them late that afternoon, Hunter had thanked him for his help and told him he’d always be part of the story of Carson’s birth. Noah had liked that. For the first time since he’d run out of the office that morning, Hunter wondered if anyone had shut off his computer. Ah, what did he care? He’d done the payroll first thing, so everyone would get paid. Beyond that, he wasn’t going to worry about work for a few days. He had much better things to do.

Molly had offered to spend the night, but he and Megan felt like they had things under control. He hoped they didn’t regret that decision.

“I’m just a phone call away if you need me,” Molly said, kissing the three of them. “Don’t hesitate to call.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Hunter walked them to the door and waited until they’d driven away before he shut off the outside lights and locked up.

“Poor Horace doesn’t know what to make of Carson.” Megan cuddled the baby in one arm while she scratched Horace between his ears.

The dog had been sad since the minute they arrived home with the baby. Hannah and their brother Will had advised them to let the dog smell and lick the baby and not push him away so he wouldn’t resent Carson for bumping him down a notch in the family pecking order.

“He’s used to being an only child,” Hunter said. “He’ll adjust. Are you ready to go up to bed?”

“So ready.”

“Let me take him up, and then I’ll come back for you.” He accepted the baby from her and went upstairs to put him in the bedside bassinet he and his siblings had used. Moving quickly, he went back downstairs for Megan.

He helped her up from the sofa, going slow in deference to how sore she was.

“Everything hurts.”

“I’m so sorry, honey. I hate that for you.”

“It’s a small price to pay for our sweet little boy.”

“Hold on to me.” He carefully picked her up and settled her into his arms for the ride upstairs. The second he put her down in the bathroom, she said, “Check on him.”

Hunter went around the bed to look at the baby, focusing on the rise and fall of his tiny chest. “He’s good.”

Megan came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, grimacing with every step she took.

Hunter helped settle her in bed and then moved the bassinet so it was next to her. “Do people sleep after they have a baby?” he asked.

“I believe they do.”

“How do they do it? I’m afraid to close my eyes. What if something happens to him?”

“He’ll be fine.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I’m his mother, and I know things. Get in bed, and let’s get some rest while we can. He’ll be up again soon.”

Hunter went to use the bathroom and brush his teeth. He got in bed carefully so he wouldn’t jostle Megan.

“Come here,” she said, reaching for him.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You’ll hurt me if you don’t come here.”

He snuggled up to her, putting an arm around her—carefully.

“Much better.”

He kissed the top of her head. “I’m so, so proud of you, sweetheart. You were amazing today.”

“I can’t believe he was born at the diner.”

Hunter chuckled. “Which is kind of fitting, in a way. He’s going to spend a lot of time there.”

“He’s already spent a lot of time there. I’m surprised he didn’t smell like fried onions when he came out.”

Laughing, Hunter kissed her cheek and then her lips. “Thank you so much for our beautiful son.”

“Thank you for him. Couldn’t have done it without you.”

“We did it together. Our best project yet.”

* * *

Izzy wasn’tsure what to make of Cabot. He’d barely left her room all day, except to shower and change at a nearby hotel room earlier in the day. Cabot had returned less than an hour later with a milkshake for her and coffee for himself. He’d been there ever since, chatting with her mom and Ray, her siblings as they came and went, and with the nurses, who found him charming.

“I’m sure you must have things you need to do,” Izzy said.

“It’s all good. I’ve got a great team who can cover for me.”

“What is it exactly that you do?”

“I’m involved in numerous businesses in Boston and elsewhere.”

“What kind of businesses?”

“Restaurants, hotels, a marina, a boatyard, to name a few. I’m also a city councilman in Boston.”

“That’s a lot.”

“It keeps me busy and out of trouble.”

“I need to do something about my schedule.” That had been her most significant concern since she realized the extent of her injuries. “I’m booked solid for the next year, starting next month. I suppose I need to start notifying people that I won’t be available.” She hated to do that. Over the last decade, she’d built her business from a hobby to a viable living doing the thing she loved most. “The downside of being a sole proprietor is there’s no backup plan for sickness or injuries.”

“What can I do to help?”

“Do you feel like sending a few texts for me?” The bulky cast on her left arm made it impossible for her to manage her phone.

“Of course.” Cabot got the phone off the charger and took a seat next to Izzy’s bed.

Over the next hour, while she dictated, he sent texts to her upcoming clients, notifying them of her accident and inability to keep her immediate commitments.

Responses flooded in, which Cabot read and then responded for her.

“Nothing but good wishes for a speedy recovery,” he said.

“That’s a relief. All these years to build a business, and all it takes is one accident to mess it up.”

“Listen to what this lady said: ‘You’re Isabella Coleman. You’re worth the wait!’ I couldn’t agree more with her. Your photographs are breathtaking. They’d be crazy not to wait for you.”

“Thanks. I’m glad you like them.”

“I love them. I ordered your book after you told me about it. I look at it all the time.”

Izzy was more confused than ever. He was acting like a man who was seriously interested in her, and yet he’d not done a thing about that until she was injured. Now he’d offered to disrupt his entire life to help care for her when she went home from the hospital. At some point, they were going to have to talk about that and what it all meant.

Not now. But soon.

* * *

Noah followedBrianna into her house, happier than he probably should’ve been to get to spend more time with her.

“Drink?” she asked.

“What’ve you got?”

“Vodka, soda, water, coffee, hot chocolate.”

“How about a vodka and soda, then?”

“I can do that.”

Noah didn’t usually drink vodka, but he was okay with making an exception if it meant hanging out with her. And when, exactly, had hanging out with her become such a big priority to him?

You know precisely when.Noah thought of their night at the Pig’s Belly when she’d gone from being an annoying stranger to someone he wanted to know better.

She brought their drinks, each topped by a slice of lemon, to the sofa and sat next to him. “I’d offer to make a fire, but I haven’t figured that out yet.” A stack of wood sat next to a white brick fireplace.

“You want one? I’ll do it for you.”

“Sure, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind.” He took a sip of the surprisingly refreshing drink, put it on the coffee table and got up to build her a fire. “This is one thing I remember learning from my dad. He told us if we were going to live in Vermont, we needed to learn how to build fires to stay warm in the winter. We kept a woodstove going six months a year in those days.”

“You didn’t have regular heat, too?”

“Nope, just the stove. It mostly heated the whole house. On the frigid nights, we ‘camped’ in the living room.”

“I can’t imagine living here in the winter without real heat.”

“That was real heat. When it’s all you’ve got, you make it work.”

“I suppose so.”

“I was splitting wood when I was eight. It’s just a way of life around here.” In a matter of minutes, he had a fire going and sat back to make sure it was going to take. Leaning in, he blew on the flames and watched them grow. Over his shoulder, he looked back at her. “Want me to show you how?”

“Yes, please.” She got up and went to kneel next to him on the rug in front of the hearth.

Noah walked her through the steps, from opening and priming the flue to building a fire. “You want to start with kindling on the bottom and the larger logs on top. Tuck newspaper under the logs or get fire starters at the grocery store to make it easier. Once you have it going, blow on it until it starts to catch, and you should be good to go.”

“You make it seem so easy. I’m always afraid of forgetting a step and burning the house down.”

“You won’t burn the house down, but you can smoke yourself out if you don’t open the flue. My sisters used to forget that step sometimes.”

“What did you do when that happened?”

“Opened windows. In the winter. In Vermont. It only happened a few times.” Noah sat on the rug and wrapped his arms around his knees as he watched the flames dance. “Want to hear a secret?”

“Um, yeah…”

“I’ve always been a little obsessed with fire. I love to make fires and watch the flames and the way the fire devours the wood. I was a little pyromaniac when I was a kid, forever setting fires in places I shouldn’t have. I got lucky that nothing ever got out of control, and no one got hurt. Me and fire, we go way back.”

“Interesting that you’re currently rebuilding an inn gutted by a fire.”

“The irony isn’t lost on me.”

Brianna laughed as she settled on the rug next to him. “You’re not some crazy fire-starting criminal, though, right?”

“Nah, my fire starting is contained to woodstoves and fireplaces these days.”

“That’s good. I’d hate to replace a sociopath with a pyromaniac.”

Noah rested his chin on his forearm and looked at her. “Is that what you’re doing? Replacing him with me?”

“I don’t know what I’m doing. I was joking about replacing one deficiency with another.”

“You have nothing to worry about where I’m concerned.”

“I know.”

“Do you?” He couldn’t resist the need to reach out and touch her, to let one of her long curls wrap around his finger. “You’ve been fed a steady diet of bullshit in the past, so how are you supposed to know whether I mean what I say?”

“Something like that, but I know you’re nothing like him. I know that for sure, Noah.”

“I hope you do. If it’s any consolation to you, I’d love nothing more than ten minutes alone in a room with your ex-husband so I can show him what happens to bullies who prey on sweet women and break their hearts.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“I’d love to do that for you.”

“I’d do it for you, too. I’d slap your ex right across the face and tell her how stupid she was to let such a good man get away.”

He couldn’t stop the smile that stretched across his face. “You really are cute when you’re fierce.”

“I’m not kidding! She’s a fool.”

“So was he.” He scooted closer to her, put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “We’ve probably given them enough of our mental energy, especially when we have much better things to talk about than them.”

“Like what?”

He raised her chin up to receive his kiss. “Like that.” Tipping his head, he kissed her again, leaving his lips to linger for a moment this time. “And that.”

“I like this conversation much better than the other one.”

“Thought you might.”

She placed her hand on his face and drew him into another kiss that quickly had them both straining to get closer to each other. Her mouth opened, and her tongue dabbed against his bottom lip, making Noah groan.

They ended up stretched out on the floor in front of the fire, arms and legs intertwined, lips pressed together, kissing as if they had nothing but time to spend alone together. The real world would interfere soon enough, but for now, nothing was stopping them from having this.

In the back of his mind, the lingering concern about what she’d said the night before nagged at him. She’d said she wasn’t ready for this, but it was happening anyway. In the past, he might’ve told that lingering concern to shut the fuck up and leave him alone to enjoy being with her.

In his postmarital meltdown present, he couldn’t let it go.