One Secret Night, One Secret Baby

But instead of Brooke coming to pick her up as she’d hoped, Dylan had come to her rescue, as any good guy would. Emma tried to make clear to Brooke that she’d been the one to initiate the lovemaking. Emma remembered that much; she’d begged him to stay with her. She had no recollection of exactly how it all went down, those hours fuzzy in her head, but it was all on her. She’d been scared out of her wits and inebriated. And Dylan was there. She’d lived out her fantasy with him that night, but she didn’t tell Brooke that. Some things were better left unsaid.

“Brooke, I’ll say it again, and this is hard to admit, but I probably climbed all over him that night. I swear, he didn’t take advantage of me.” The worst would be that Brooke would hold anything about that night against Dylan.

Brooke covered her ears. “Emma, pleeeze! No details. I can’t think of Dylan that way.” And then she lowered her hands. “But it’s sweet that you’re trying to protect him. You don’t want me to think badly of my brother. I get that, Em. And I don’t. No one’s to blame.”

“Okay, no details.” Not that she could remember any. “Dylan doesn’t know any of this happened.”

“Are you sure of that?”

“I’m sure. I’d know it, if he remembered. I’d see something in his eyes. And he’s never mentioned my phone call that night, or the fact that he came to pick me up from the nightclub. When he came to my apartment the day we went to the children’s hospital, he didn’t seem to recognize anything as familiar. I’m certain that night was erased from his memory.”

“I think so, too. Just making sure there were no signs.”

“Nope, not a one.”

Brooke nodded and then gazed warmly into Emma’s eyes for several ticks of a minute. “You’re going to be the mother of my niece or nephew,” she said as softly as Emma had ever heard her speak. The tone was rich and thick as honey. “And my brother is going to be a father.”

The way Brooke put it was sort of beautiful. Emma could get lost in all the wonder of motherhood, of nurturing a new life and having a man like Dylan father her child. But the wonder didn’t come close to erasing the plain facts. That she and Dylan didn’t plan this child. That he didn’t even have a clue what was happening, yet his life was about to change forever.

“Oh, Brooke. I’m just wrapping my head around it. The baby part has me feeling...I don’t know, protective already and scared.” Emma shivered. “Very scared.”

“You’ll be fine. You have me. And Dylan. He’d never turn his back on you.”

“Gosh, it’s all so new. Part of me feels guilty not telling him about that night. It might’ve triggered some of his memories.”

“You’ll have to tell him now, Em. He has a right to know.”

It was inevitable that she tell Dylan. But she wasn’t looking forward to that conversation. Gosh, he’d been like a big brother to her and now nothing between them would ever be the same.

“I know. I will.”

“Good. You’re in no shape to do the golf event, Em. You’re exhausted and still having morning sickness.”

Emma chewed on her bottom lip. She didn’t want to miss this weekend. All those hours, all that planning. Brooke needed her, but how could she function when she was running to the bathroom all morning long? “Yes, but it’s getting better. Maybe I could come along and help out in the afternoon and evening.”

Brooke was shaking her head. When had she turned into a mama bear? “I’ve got it covered, Emma. You can’t come. You’d be miserable. I’ve got Rocky and Wendy on standby.”

The part-timers?

“I’ve been briefing them and they’re up for the task. I don’t want you to worry about a thing. You should concentrate on the baby and feeling better. We’ll do fine.”

“Are you saying you don’t need me?”

“I’m saying, we’ll make do without you, but of course, we’ll miss you. Thanks to your unending efficiency, we’ve got all the bases covered. You should take this weekend to adjust to all of this. That’s what I want for you. It’s what you need.”

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