Eyes Wide Open

“You’re going to make me cry if you keep that up.” She covered my hand with hers.

“Nope. No tears tonight. This is a happy time. Think about how happy your dad was last night when we told him. Well, at least after he realized he was too far away to castrate me, he was.” I flashed a quick wink.

“I love you, Blackstone. You make me laugh, and that’s something. Let’s do this thing.”

“Yes, boss.” I came around and got my girl out of the car and up the steps to the door. I rang the bell and waited. The soft slide of a warm body slinked against my leg. The cat had grown some since the last time I’d come over here.

“Soot, my man. How the hell have you been?” I picked him up and introduced him to Brynne. “This is Soot, the self-proclaimed owner of my dad. He’s sort of adopted him.”

“Aww . . . what a handsome kitty. Such green eyes.” Brynne reached out to pet him as Soot lowered his head into her hand for a rub. “He’s really friendly, huh?”

“Oh, yes he is—”

The door opening interrupted us. Brynne’s aunt Marie, with a welcoming smile on her face, stood just inside my dad’s front porch. “Surprise,” Marie said. “I bet you two weren’t expecting to see me here, were you?”

I laughed awkwardly, in reality a bit caught off guard but I recovered well in spite of my shock. “Marie, if this isn’t a most lovely surprise, I don’t know what is. Are you helping Dad with dinner?”

“I am,” she said. “Please come in, you two.” She greeted us both with kisses and hugs. Brynne and I exchanged a quick glance. I’d bet brass Brynne was as surprised as me to see Marie here.

As soon as I got a look at Dad, I knew something was up. He wiped his hands on a kitchen cloth and greeted us. A warm embrace and a kiss to the hand for my girl, and a rather cool frosty nod to me. Soot leapt out of my arms and headed off somewhere.

“Marie and I had already arranged for dinner here tonight when you called and asked to come over,” Dad said.

Really? Another quick flash connect with Brynne and the struggle on both our parts to play it cool here was immediately obvious. So Dad and Marie were . . . ? Nice. I still thought Marie was hot for a mature woman. The idea dawned on me that maybe my dad was annoyed I was breaking into his romantic evening. Well, shit. “Why didn’t you say so, then?” I asked. “We didn’t need to do it tonight.”

My dad shook his head at me and kept up the reserve. If I didn’t know any better I’d say he was giving me the cold shoulder. Just me though, not Brynne. He bestowed a warm smile on her and said, “Oh, I think you did need to do it tonight, son.”

What in the hell? Did he know something already? I was going to crack some heads around if my sister or Fred had spilled the beans. I narrowed my eyes at him. He stone-faced me right back.

Marie broke the tension. Thank holy f**k. “Brynne, my darling, come help me with the dessert. Raspberry trifle, and it’s going to be divine.”

I got the urge to smile when she said raspberry, my eyes flashing to meet Brynne’s. She gave me a smiley wink and followed Marie into the kitchen.

“What’s with the brush-off, Dad? Are we interrupting your evening or something? You could have said tonight wasn’t good, you know.”

Dad set his jaw and raised both brows, letting me know who was leading this little exchange. Amazing how a parent has that power. Taking me right back in time to my teenage years and squirming in the hot seat for some cock-up mess I’d gotten myself into.

“Actually, you are interrupting my evening, but that is neither here nor there. I’m always happy to see my son. No, I’m more incredulous that I’ve had to wait for the call from you, Ethan.” He speared me with searching eyes.

“Can we stop speaking in code here? You’re obviously bent about something.”

“Oh, yes, something,” he said curtly.

“What do you mean by that?” My voice cracked. Fuck! I was in trouble now. Dad knew? How?

“I think you know, son. In fact, I know you know.”

“You do?” Yeah, voice still cracking like an opera singer onstage. “How is that possible?”

He actually softened his expression a small bit. “It seems that a great deal of things are possible, son. Imagine my surprise to call up to Hannah’s and have my granddaughter tell me gleefully that Uncle Ethan and Auntie Brynne are preggers.”

Oh boy! I immediately went for my beard and dragged a hand over it. “So the little monster told you, huh?”

“Indeed.” Dad still kept up the harsh expression. “Zara had quite a bit to say about it.”

I held my hands up in surrender. “What do you want me to say, Dad? We got caught, all right? It wasn’t intentional, and I can attest we were as surprised about it as everyone else was!”

He folded his arms over his chest, seemingly unaffected by catching me off guard. “When is the wedding?”

I looked down at the floor, suddenly feeling ashamed I had no answer for him. “I’m working on it,” I mumbled.

“Please tell me you’re getting married right away.” Dad’s voice was getting louder. “You cannot wait until after the baby is born like some of these celebrities do!”

“Would you lower your voice?” I demanded. “Brynne is . . . well, she’s wary of commitment. It’s scary for her . . . because of her past.”

Dad flashed me a glare that told me pretty much what he thought of my explanation. “Too late for that, son. He snorted. “You’re already as committed as it gets. Having your child born without benefit of a legal marriage will be even scarier, I can assure you it will be. For you and for Brynne.” He shook his head at me. “Forget about the past, you need to think about the future.” He zeroed in on me like a dog after a steak. “Have you even proposed to her? I don’t see any ring on her finger.”

“I said I was working on it,” I snapped. And I really f**king am, Dad!

“Time won’t stand still, Ethan.”

“Really, Dad? Thanks for that bit of advice.” My sarcasm would have earned me a cuff along the jaw in my younger years. Now I just got narrowed eyes and another blast of frigid. An idea came to me that he might have shared our news already. “Does Marie know too?” I asked haughtily.