Unconditional

“Home?” I murmur back. “I don’t know if I can wait that long.”

“Sometimes the waiting is the best part,” he whispers. “Remember movie night?”

I catch my breath with the memory. “The first time.”

“First of many,” Garrett chuckles.

“Just think, what our lives would be like if you hadn’t come upstairs,” I slide my hands over my bump, “If we’d just stayed friends.”

Garrett shakes his head. “We were never just friends, my love. It was always you.”

My heart swells. “Sometimes I wake up in the morning, and I wonder if this is all going to turn out to be a dream,” I admit quietly. Garrett gives me a quizzical look. I look away, suddenly self-conscious. “This, all of it, it’s everything I ever wanted. A family, happiness... You.”

I feel tears prick the corner of my eyes, and I wipe them quickly, blushing. “Hormones,” I say quickly, but Garrett gently tilts my face back to him.

“It’s no dream,” he smiles down at me tenderly. “This life didn’t just happen to you. You fought to make it happen. You earned it. And I thank God every day that you stumbled into my house in the middle of the night and scared the living daylights out of me.”

I giggle, sniffling back the tears. “I love you, you know that?”

“I do,” Garrett kisses me again, soft and sweet. “But I sure like hearing you say it.”

I lean back, resting my head against his chest, basking in the happiness of the moment. I think back to how my life was, just six months ago, and I can’t believe the difference — in me, too. I was so closed off, scared to death of my perfect world crumbling to pieces; the emptiness lurking behind the glossy smiles.

I lost everything, and it was the best thing that ever happened to me.

“Hey guys!” We’re joined at the table by Brit and Hunter. I drag my attention away, recovering.

“Wow, look at you!” I exclaim happily. “You look like you just stepped off the red carpet!” Hunter is wearing a well-cut navy suit, and Brit is dressed up in a swirling blue silk dress. She does a little spin.

“The latest from Brit Emerson designs,” she laughs.

I let out a groan. “When do you start a maternity line? These smock dresses are killing me.”

“Good idea,” Brit winks. “But I’m booked solid through next year. You’ll have to check with my business manager.”

“She’s getting so fancy,” Hunter adds with a teasing laugh. Brit elbows him back, grinning.

“Hush you. Mama’s got to keep you in thoroughbred horses, remember?”

They take a seat at the table with us and look around at the scene. The room is packed with people, all excited to be included in what is already one of the hottest events in town. “This is pretty damn cool,” Hunter remarks, leaning back in his seat and draping an arm around Brit.

“Big brother did good.” She agrees.

“And Carina too,” Garrett adds, smiling proudly at me. “She’s the one who wrangled half the journalists in town to come check it out.”

“Having a major rock-star coming to play a set helped,” I deflect their praise.

“I can’t believe Dex Callahan has been hanging out in Beachwood Bay for months, and I never noticed.” Brit exclaims.

“None of us did,” I reply. “I guess the guy likes his privacy. Have you seen him yet?”

Garrett rubs my back. “I think he’s out back getting set up. Relax, he won’t bail on us again.”

Again. It turns out that the mysterious DC who bailed on performing at the bar in spring was none other than Dex Callahan: one of the hottest rockstars around. At least, he used to be: he quit his band last year, and I guess he’s been staying under the radar in Beachwood ever since. I knew I recognized that voice on his CD from somewhere — but then, I’d been pretty distracted while Garrett and I took a listen.

“He’s definitely a draw,” I continue, looking around. “I even had some of my old society friends call, begging for an invite.”

“I hope you told them where to shove it,” Brit grins.

“Better: I had them make reservations for next week!” I smile victoriously. “Press is one thing, but we need all the paying customers we can get. That reminds me,” I try to get up. “I better go make sure everything’s running to plan.”

“Woah,” Garrett leaps up, and carefully helps ease me to my feet. “Easy there.”

“Thank you.” I press a kiss against his lips, then give the others a rueful look. “I can’t wait until I can actually stand up without a forklift!”

Brit laughs, rising to her feet. “I’ll come find Emerson with you.”

We head — slowly — through the packed crowd. “How long now?” she asks me, making way for us.

“I’m not due until October!” I wail. “He’s already kicking half the night, I can’t imagine how much bigger we’re going to get. And then I think about what’ll happen after he’s born, and I almost want to keep him in there.”

“You’ll do great,” Brit reassures me. “And Garrett can’t wait. He’s like a kid himself every time he talks about it.”

“Really?” I beam.

“It’s nauseating,” Brit rolls her eyes, but she’s only teasing. “Seriously. I’ve never seen him this happy. I didn’t think he was capable of it.” She adds with a grin.