An Unexpected Life (Carolina Rebels Book 5) Read online

  Scott returns and as he steps into the kitchen, he says, “We have a visitor.”

  I glance over my shoulder and frown when I see Lizzy.

  “Oh, come on. It’s been months, Sylvia. You can’t still be mad.”

  Scott laughs. “Oh, yes, she can.” He stands next to me at the sink and wordlessly rinses as I wash.

  In one swoop, my sister-in-law got engaged, married, and went off on her honeymoon. She did all of that without even telling Scott and me until it was over. Yes, it happened back in June, but I’m still pissed. I just don’t understand why she didn’t tell us at the very least. She knows I’m a gossip lover and I’m nosy, but we’re also family, and she couldn’t tell us the big news until afterward? I don’t understand it. It’s even worse that she refuses to spill why she didn’t tell us. Her lame excuse as to why one of Scott’s teammates, Noah, and his wife, Meredith, were able to go is because Marc wanted them there and they wouldn’t have to worry about finding babysitters.

  That pissed me off even more. I didn’t believe that answer then any more than I do now. She’s been getting the silent treatment mostly. She came over with pictures soon after they returned, and of course I looked, but I made no comment about what I thought of her trip nor did I ask questions. That nearly killed me. I’m still dying to ask about it, but I’m more pissed, so I remain silent.

  “Sylvia, when are you going to forgive me?” Her voice chokes up, which makes both Scott and me turn to look at her. “I really need you to forgive me.” Lizzy’s crying? Oh, god. Something’s wrong.

  Scott is at her side in a second. “What’s going on? Did Marc do something?” I have to admit that sometimes, it bugs the hell out of me to see his loyalty to her. It shouldn’t because it’s admirable, but for some reason, every blue moon, it gets to me. If Lizzy wasn’t as upset as she is right now, this would be one of those times given how pissed I am about her not telling me about eloping with Scott’s teammate, Marc Polinski.

  She shakes her head. “Marc hasn’t done anything.” Her eyes find mine. “I need Sylvia.” Lizzy reaches up and wipes away her tears.

  Scott looks at me while I dry my hands with a kitchen towel. His loyalty to her irritates me after all. That look on his face clearly tells me to suck it up and talk to her. As if I wasn’t going to do that already. That’s when his loyalty bothers me. When it seems as if he’s, in a way, choosing her over me. Yeah, I should have gotten over it by now, but that’s not the point. He should always side with me, but there are instances when Scott doesn’t because he’s looking after Lizzy. It still shouldn’t bother me because she was married to his late brother and she suffered so terribly after his death, but there are some things that bother us regardless of whether they should or shouldn’t and this is one of those things.

  “Can you leave early today?” I ask him.

  “Of course.” He hugs Lizzy before coming over kiss me goodbye.

  Lizzy and I stand in silence while he moves around the house and a few minutes later, we hear him leave. The moment he’s gone, Lizzy takes a shaky breath.

  “I think I might be pregnant.”

  “What? That’s great news, isn’t it?”

  She pulls a chair from the small table out and falls into it. “Of course.”

  “Then what’s wrong? Why are you crying? Why aren’t you talking to Marc about this?”

  “Because all I can think about is the last time I got pregnant.”

  Wait, what? “I’m confused, Lizzy. Marc is here. You don’t need to worry about anything happening to him because that isn’t going to do you any good and—”

  “That’s not what I’m talking about.” She huffs. “This isn’t fair to Marc. It’s not fair that Roger is finding a way to ruin this.” She is doing nothing but confusing me. She can’t be saying that Roger dying in an accident on the ice is a way that he ruined her last pregnancy. “I have to tell you something, but you can’t tell Scott.”

  My spine straightens. “I don’t keep secrets from my husband.”

  Lizzy squeezes her eyes closed. “This was a mistake.” She stands. “I should go and deal with this so I can have a clear head if I have to tell Marc any news.”

  I reach out and grab her wrist. “Why don’t you want Scott to know whatever it is?”

  She sighs and sits back down. “I don’t want him to think any differently of Roger or me. I don’t want to deal with this at all, Sylvia. My life is supposed to be with Marc. I officially moved forward when I married him, but I panicked and had flashbacks. I have to get rid of all of that before Marc knows. I refuse to taint this for him.” The resolve in her voice causes me to relax. This Lizzy is not the same Lizzy we dealt with pre-Marc. She’s determined to handle life instead of letting life fuck her over.

  “Tell me. Let me ease your mind, so it’s clear for you and Marc.” Whether or not I keep it from Scott is yet to be determined.

  She laughs, but there’s not much humor there. “I don’t even know if I’m pregnant or not.”

  “Do you want to find out first? I’ll be there with you.”

  Lizzy shakes her head. “I already have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon.”

  “Okay. Talk to me.”

  “Roger never wanted the twins,” she blurts out.

  “What?”

  “He didn’t want kids. Ever. We fought up until the very day he died because the second I told him I was pregnant, his response was that we should give the baby to you and Scott.” I pull out a chair and sit, not liking where this is going. “So, we argued because I wanted to keep them and he wanted to give them to y’all. And it’s not that I didn’t want you to have kids, I did, but they were my babies, you know? It just didn’t seem right.

  “The day he died, I told him that if he wasn’t going to change his mind about the babies, then I was leaving him. That’s why he was agitated during the game. Things were really bad, Sylvia. And all because of one of the best things that could’ve happened to us.” She shakes her head, lost in her memories.

  I can’t believe things were as bad as she’s saying. Neither of them let on that their marriage was anything but great, and while it seemed that Lizzy was excited about the pregnancy, it never seemed as if Roger wasn’t.

  “Anyway, he died and turns out, I couldn’t bear to do it alone with him gone, so y’all got the girls like he wanted in the first place. And when I realized I might be pregnant, I was thrown back there. Marc will be happy, I know he will, but what if he isn’t? What if something goes wrong? This will be a good thing and all I feel is terror because of everything that happened last time. I couldn’t even enjoy being pregnant because I did nothing but fight with Roger and then I lost my girls who I wanted more than anything else.” Lizzy chokes on a sob and starts crying. “It was my decision, I know, and I’d make it again in a heartbeat, but—”

  “I understand,” I interrupt. That’s why she wanted to talk to me after all. She knew I’d get where she was coming from. If she wanted those girls as much as I wanted children, then I can only imagine how hard it must have been for her to give them to us, especially when she was grieving the loss of her then-husband. And now, here’s her second chance. It probably seems too good to be true. That’s certainly the way it seemed to me when she kept telling us to adopt her girls.

  “Listen, Lizzy. Marc isn’t Roger.”

  “I know that,” she snaps, the tears stopping immediately.

  “Shut up and let me finish. Marc isn’t Roger. Your marriage with him isn’t the same as your marriage with Roger. Your life isn’t the same as it was. Things are different. Take a deep breath, remind yourself that you’re a stronger person than you were then and that things will all work out. You’re not living in the past anymore. You’re fully in the present and looking toward the future. Not that it needs to be said, but if Marc gives you any trouble, you already know that between me and Scott, he’ll get a good ass-kicking.”

  She nods. “I know.” Her voice cracks, so I know something
else is bothering her now. “I only have one spare bedroom and that’s for the girls.”

  “It’s okay to change it. They know they are welcome at your house. It might even be more fun to sleep in the living room. It could be like camping out. Or, convince Marc to move into a bigger house. There is a solution for everything, Lizzy.”

  “You’re right. Thank you.”

  I smile. “You’re welcome. Now, what’s the real reason you didn’t want Scott and me at your wedding?”

  Her shoulders sag. “It’s going to sound bad.”

  “I don’t care. Just tell me so I can stop obsessing over it.” At this point, that’s the only reason why I want her to tell me.

  “Well, we decided to invite only either you and Scott or Noah and Meredith. I told Marc to invite them because one, that’s the closest thing to a family he has and I knew he’d want them there. Two, it was my fresh start. I didn’t want my last husband’s family there. Not over the only family Marc has. So, we asked them to go instead.”

  This girl can be so dumb sometimes. “I would’ve understood that, too.”

  Her body visibly relaxes. “You and Scott have always been too good to me. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner. I don’t always know how to deal with things like this.” And she can sometimes make it worse than what it is, too.

  “It’s okay. Go find out if I’m going to be an aunt and let me know once you’ve told Marc.”

  “It might be a few days, but I’ll let you know. If I am, I want to surprise him somehow. If I’m not, then I’ll be back here, if that’s okay?”

  “Of course.” If anyone knows what it’s like to hope you’re pregnant, and I’m sure Lizzy is hoping now that the idea has been planted in her mind, it’s me. And if anyone knows what it’s like to hear that you’re not after having that hope, it’s me. For a brief moment, I’m envious of Lizzy. She’ll be pregnant. I just know it. She’ll experience a doctor telling her she is and she’ll be able to tell her husband about what they’ve created. That is something I will never be able to do. Accepting it doesn’t make it any easier to deal with in an instance like this.

  Once Lizzy leaves, I take a deep breath, look around at all the things that show my house does in fact have two little girls in it who are mine, and I silently thank Lizzy for that. It helps the envy go away. With that, I get back to cleaning the house with a smile on my face even though when my girls get home from school, they’ll destroy it all over again.

  “What’s up, my brother?” A arm slings around my shoulders and I shove it off.

  “We’re not actually brothers-in-law,” I remind Marc.

  “I know. But you still consider Elizabeth your sister-in-law, which means I’m your brother-in-law.” He’s the only one she allows to call her by her full first name. Everyone calls her Lizzy, but him.

  “What do you want?” I’m extra grouchy toward him because even though Lizzy said he wasn’t the reason she was upset this morning, I’m not convinced. What else could upset her if not him? Lizzy is like a sister to me and I’ve been extra overprotective over her since my brother died. She needed someone to look after her, so I did. Sylvia did as well. I won’t stand for someone hurting her, even her husband and my teammate.

  Marc’s expression sobers. “Have you talked to Elizabeth lately?”

  Clue number one that he doesn’t know she was coming to the house today. “Why?” I’m certain Marc would rather I stay out of their relationship, so it’s surprising that he’s asking and sounding hopeful that I have.

  He shrugs. “She’s seemed jumpy lately and I didn’t know if maybe she’s talked to you or Sylvia.”

  “She hasn’t talked to me.” Which is true. I don’t know what happened after I left the house earlier.

  Marc missed what I didn’t say and nods. “She’s been sick, so maybe that’s all it is.”

  “She’s been sick?” She looked fine when she was at the house.

  “Yeah. I’ve been doing nothing but disinfecting the house after her because hell if I want to get whatever she has. Last time she was sick, she gave me the worst flu in history.” He pauses, thinking about something. “Maybe she’s stressed. She has four cakes to do this weekend.”

  Lizzy loves to bake and decorate cakes. She could totally be on Cake Masters or something. (I only know about this show because of Sylvia.) She started baking cakes for wives of my teammates for a kid’s birthday and word of mouth has spread. She’s been taking orders ever since. If she keeps on, she might be able to do it full-time. Begrudgingly, I have Marc to thank for pushing her to return to following her dream.

  We’ve reached the point in the parking lot where we need to go our separate ways to our vehicles. Marc turns to me. “Have you been working on your wife to make her stop being mad at mine?”

  I laugh. Marc has been trying harder than Lizzy to get Sylvia to get over her grudge about not knowing about their eloping business. All that does is tell me it’s bothering Lizzy more than she lets on, but there are some areas where not even I can budge Sylvia. “Haven’t you been listening to me? There is no working my wife. Sylvia will stop being mad when she decides she’s done. I’m sure things will be back to normal soon.” Hopefully, since they talked after I left, things ended well and Sylvia is over it. If it weren’t for Lizzy being upset, I doubt Sylvia would’ve sucked it up.

  “Hope so. See you later, Scotty.”

  “Later, Marco.”

  I check my phone one last time to see a text.

  Sylvia: I need milk!!!!!

  Me: On my way.

  At least once a week, I have to stop on the way home from work for something. It might be whatever it is that she forgot to buy while grocery shopping, like in this case, or something sweet that she’s craving since she tries not to have a lot of junk food in the house, or whatever else we don’t have that she decides we need that very day. I don’t mind. I can’t do things like that for her when I’m on the road, so hell yeah I’m going to do it when I’m home.

  That reminds me of our conversation from earlier today. Sylvia has been acting very strange lately. Not that she isn’t an affectionate person, but she doesn’t ask for it. Never has. She doesn’t ask to be held. She doesn’t ask to stay in bed a little longer. She doesn’t ask for more time together. She’s also not a worrier. She’s very much an it is what it is type of person. For her to be worried, and for no apparent reason, it’s very concerning.

  All seems well when I get home. Stella and Stephanie are at the table doing homework and Sylvia is waiting for the milk, so she can resume cooking. She’s also grinning.

  “I have news! And I’m the first to know!” I can’t ever tell what makes her happier. Having news to share or being the first one to know it.

  “What is it?”

  Her eyes flick to our girls, which means their little ears probably shouldn’t hear it. “Why don’t y’all take a break from your worksheets and go play? Daddy will help you finish them after we eat.”

  They don’t hesitate to bolt from the table.

  “What is it? How’d it go with Lizzy? Do you need help?”

  “No, sit.” She focuses on her task at the stove. “At this very moment, Marc is finding a cake with a jersey decorated on it that says Daddy on the back.” Sylvia glances over her shoulder. “Lizzy’s pregnant.”

  Before I can ask, she rehashes what happened after I left this morning. I have trouble processing what she tells me. Roger didn’t want those girls? What the hell? She’s saying he put Lizzy through hell with their arguing? I don’t even know how to feel about this. No wonder she was so distraught when he died. Man, I wish he was alive just so I could kick his ass like I used to do when we were growing up.

  “Scott?”

  I blink and find Sylvia kneeling in front of me, her hands on my knees. “So much makes sense now, but I just...feel bad for her.”

  “We didn’t know them as well as we thought we did.”

  Obviously.

  “Are you okay? She d
idn’t want me to tell you.”

  “I’m fine. This is good news. The pregnancy, I mean. Also means Marc will figure out why she’s been sick and he can stop worrying about catching what she has.” Sylvia laughs at that. “He said she’s been jumpy. He was worried about her.”

  She smirks as she stands and returns to the stove. “Maybe I should try to set someone else up. I clearly did great when I put those two together.”

  “You’re in everyone’s business enough as it is.”

  “Which is a positive! I know enough about everyone to set them up with someone.”

  The last thing I need is for her to start meddling with my teammates’s lives. “No, Sylvie. Forget about it.”

  She glares at me. “Are you ordering me not to do something?”

  Aw, hell. “It was a suggestion,” I lie. “The guys are more than capable of finding their own women, if they even want one. You should let them worry about it.”

  “I’ll think about it.” Which means she’s going to do what I said and listen to me. She isn’t giving in because I said so is all.

  “First game is next Monday. It’s a road game.”

  Normally, this is no big deal. Normally, I wouldn’t say a thing because Sylvia knows my schedule as well as I do. There’s even a copy of it on the fridge. That’s for the girls, though, as they like to look and see who I’m playing. But seeing her shoulders tense is the exact reason I decided to test it out. Something is bothering my wife and I want to know what the hell it is. Presumably before preseason is over. It’d be even better if I can find out before Monday.

  “Sylvie,” I whisper.

  “I don’t want to discuss it,” she interrupts. “Why don’t you play with our girls until dinner is ready?”

  This is one of those situations where there will be no persuading Sylvia. So, I stand, walk over to kiss her cheek, and find Stella and Stephanie who are playing with dolls in their room. We have another bedroom, but they’ve been in the same bedroom all their lives. When they want space from one another, I’m assuming they’ll be older and that they’ll ask for it.