Page 66 of Backup Plan

“What do you want me to say? Thanks for letting me know you’re pregnant?”

She huffs out a sigh. “This was a mistake. Forget it.”

“Forget it?” I repeat. “Forget that you’re growing a child that’s possibly mine?”

“Not possibly, Liam. Definitely.” Her voice is adamant.

“And I’m just supposed to take that at face value when you admitted you were with someone else? Come on, Iz. Be real.”

“I am being real. If you want a DNA test, fine. If you want me to give it up, fine. I don’t really care what you decide, but if you think you can give a kid with your blood a better life than strangers, then it felt like the responsible thing was letting you know.” She hangs up after she says those words.

Fucking hangs up, like she didn’t just drop a bomb on me two seconds before I was about to walk into the mansion where I grew up to celebrate my sister’s wedding.

What the fuck am I supposed to do now?

Penny.

I need Penny.

I need to talk to her, to see her, to feel her arms around me telling me that this is going to be okay.

I walk into the house and bypass whoever is standing there. It’s all a blur. The house, the flowers, the decorations…all of it, including the people as I zero in on finding her.

I walk out into the yard, and my brother is there. Okay, to be fair, three of my brothers are there, but it’s Archer who I spot first, and his arm is around a woman I’ve never seen before.

“Hey,” I say to Archer.

“Liam, this is Millie. Millie, Liam.”

I nod at her, and my eyes dart around the yard looking for Penny.

“What’s wrong?” Archer asks me.

I glance at the door, and I clear my throat. “I, uh…” I trail off as I debate how much to tell Archer. This feels like the exact wrong place to admit any of this to anyone. “I just got a phone call I wasn’t expecting.”

“Is everything okay?” my brother asks.

I bite my lips and shake my head. “I’m, uh…not sure.”

“What’s going on?” It feels like he’s prying, and I can’t do this. I need to find Penny.

The only thought in my mind is finding her. She’ll know what to do. She’ll tell it to me straight.

And this moment seals something big for me. Something important.

Big news or small, she’s the one I want to turn to.

Fuck.

I still can’t find Penny, and I study Archer for a beat as I wonder if he knows where she is. If I should ask him. If it would be giving too much away. If…

I don’t know.

“Not here,” I finally say, and I walk out of the yard and back into the house. I pass by Ford and Tatum as they make their way into the yard, and I nod a quick hello even though I haven’t seen my brother in months.

I head upstairs and run into Madden.

“Bro, go take a seat. We’re about to get started,” he says, walking toward the stairs to go down.