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Was Katelyn still his?
In his mind she was. His heart would always belong to her. Did she give up on him? He almost couldn’t blame her if she did.
Chloe was right. He did let her go.
He’d made a huge mistake.
Jesse was sitting alone on the sofa in his living room when he returned. Everyone else had apparently gone home. Brendan didn’t say a word. Blowing out a breath, he sat next to his cousin, tipped his head back, and stared at the ceiling.
Jesse didn’t say a word either. He poured him a finger of Glenlivet and put the glass in his hand. Brendan downed it in one swift swallow.
“Talk to Kelly?”
“Yeah.” Brendan poured himself a second shot.
“And?”
He shrugged. “And nothing.”
“Are you going to get Katie?”
He shrugged again. “Not sure yet.”
“I have something to tell you.” There was no sense of urgency in his voice. Jesse spoke in the same calm, easy manner he always did. “But you can’t get angry with Chloe. She couldn’t betray a confidence and it wasn’t for her to tell. I didn’t make any such promise, though, and you need to know.”
Brendan was pretty sure he already knew what Jesse had to tell him. Who else knew about the baby before he did?
“I got it out of her once you left. She was acting funny, wringing her hands and shit, so I called her on it. I know my wife.” His cousin took a breath. “Katie’s having a baby, Brendan. You’re going to be a dad.”
Brendan poured a third shot and turned his head toward Jesse. His cousin was smiling. He swallowed the whiskey.
“Katie’s pregnant, Bren,” Jesse repeated, like maybe it hadn’t sunk in the first time he said it.
“I know.”
Jesse appeared truly flummoxed. “I don’t understand.”
“What don’t you understand, cousin?”
“Why you’re sitting there pouring shots instead of jumping in the ’Vette to go get her.”
“You poured me the first one.” He shrugged.
“Are you scared, Bren?” Jesse put his hand on his shoulder. “It’s normal if you are. I remember I freaked the shit out when Chloe first told us she was having a baby—and you should’ve seen Tay.”
“That’s the thing, Jess.” He waved his empty glass in the air. “Chloe told you. You didn’t get the memo from her ex-boyfriend.”
Jesse swallowed. His mouth frozen in a silent O.
“She went to him, not me.” Brendan shook his head. “Have any idea what that feels like, Jess?”
“No.” Jesse took the glass from his hand and set it on the table. “But I do know that girl loves you.”
They sat there for a minute, staring at the flickering flames in the fireplace, listening to nothing except the crackling logs. Jesse took his cousin’s hand and squeezed it, then he stood to leave.
He took a step and turned around. “You gave me some advice once, when I thought Chloe and me would never get to be where we are now. You told me I couldn’t be a coward and be in love. That I had to choose one. It was good advice.” He smiled then. “Choose love, my brother. I know you’re not a coward.”
He loved her.
