AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Edward, the smug jerk, looked just as smug as he had at the bar. Elle. Mark hadn’t seen her for months, he realized. She looked just as beautiful as ever, blond hair bleached by the sun, blue eyes soft as she glanced around the restaurant. But her belly was growing full with the baby, and he couldn’t help but notice that she was showing much more now than the last time he’d seen her.
Seeing her belly made his temper flare. How could she so easily move on? How could she have another child when Timothy was barely gone? Children weren’t like dogs. You couldn’t just replace one with another. Plus, what was to guarantee Elle wouldn’t make the same mistakes with this one? Had she really gotten her life together that fast? He doubted it.
He felt like he might choke on the bitterness. Mark watched Laura stare at the couple and wondered what she was thinking. It better not be thoughts of his brother. Even the thought of him hitting on her at the bar made his stomach tighten.
They hadn’t seen them yet. Mark and Laura were tucked away in a darker corner of the restaurant. Mark noticed that Edward was holding Elle’s hand, and the two of them looked cozy. He felt the knee-jerk jealousy, even though he was long past caring who Elle slept with.
Truth was, the day she’d let their boy walk into the ocean, part of him had just disconnected. Yes, it had hurt him when she’d turned to his brother for comfort, but it hurt more that Edward had offered it. Edward was supposed to be his brother, his blood. Still, he didn’t much need it in his face.
Elle glanced up and met his gaze. She looked startled, as if she’d forgotten he lived on the island, too. Maybe he’d been a hermit too long. Elle clutched Edward’s arm and that’s when he glanced up, a frown crossing his face. Mark felt his shoulders tense as Edward saw them, too. The couple hesitated at the hostess stand.
“I didn’t know…” Laura began. “I didn’t know she was…pregnant.” She looked visibly pained. It was one of the reasons he hadn’t mentioned it to her. He knew how the thought of other pregnancies made her sad. He didn’t want her to be sad about Elle’s—that should be a burden he alone carried.
“Yeah.” Mark stared at the tablecloth.
“Should we go?” Laura asked, not looking over her shoulder at the couple as she carefully watched his face. He could feel her eyes on him.
“No. We stay.” Mark was tired of hiding. He reached out and took Laura’s hand, squeezing it gently. He refused to care what they would do. He glanced at Laura instead. She looked uneasy.
“You sure?”
“We haven’t even finished our main course.” Mark took another bite to show how determined he was to hold his ground. He grinned at Laura, and she tentatively smiled back. That’s when he saw Edward and Elle turn and leave the restaurant, Elle practically pulling him out the door.
“They’re going,” he said and then exhaled a sigh of relief. The muscles in his shoulders relaxed, and he realized he’d tensed up, readying for a fight.
Laura swiveled in her seat, watching Elle as she ducked out of the restaurant. The couple was visible through the big glass window facing the parking lot.
“She’s really pretty,” she murmured, almost to herself.
“Yes,” Mark admitted. “But she’s not pretty to me anymore.” Not since Timothy. Not since Edward. Not since she decided to become a mother again.
“I don’t know what I expected… I…” Laura faltered.
Was she intimidated by Elle? Most women were, Mark realized. It was why she generally got the cold shoulder when most women met her. She was gorgeous, tall and thin, and it came as a surprise to no one that in her younger days she used to model. When they’d been married, she’d even mugged for the camera. He’d thought it was adorable until he realized her self-absorption with her looks and herself in general meant little room for him…or Timothy. When she’d retreated away from them so she could take her pills.
“You’re a million times more beautiful than she is,” Mark said and squeezed Laura’s hand once more. She glanced up at him, surprised.
“No, I’m not.”
“You are to me,” he said.
She sent him a hesitant smile, unsure of the compliment, but in his mind, he spoke the truth. Laura was shorter, true, and a brunette, but the spark in her green eyes, her beautiful fair skin, well, it put Elle’s freckles to shame. Besides, it was what was inside a woman that made her pretty. Mark was certain of that.
“It’s true,” he added.
She blushed a little. “Would you like dessert?” she asked him.
