Much like when he’d first met Reese, she’d offered to give Brett soccer lessons after she found out he’d never played. And like him, Brett had been unable to say no.
Not unexpectedly, Honey followed Curt over to the sofa. As soon as he sat down, the dog jumped up next to him and rested her head on his thigh. Honey loved human companionship more than any dog he’d ever met. “Reese and Taylor had an appointment at Mass Genetics at two. Hopefully, they’ll be home soon.”
“Is everything okay?”
For the next few minutes, Curt explained the situation to his brother as he ran his hand up and down the dog’s back.
Resting his ankle on his knee, Brett leaned back in the chair. “That’s crazy. Why would Eliza contact this man now?”
“To make Taylor’s life difficult.” He had no proof, but what other reason could she have for doing something now that she’d had over nine years to do? “Maybe mine too.”
“Does Reese know any of this?”
Curt shook his head. Sunday night he’d suggested Taylor tell Reese everything. Not only was the girl smart, but she also was curious. Reese would want to know why someone stuck a swab inside her mouth and rubbed it against her cheek. If Taylor didn’t tell her the truth beforehand, she’d have to lie when Reese brought it up. He knew all too well how a simple lie could come back and bite you in the ass.
“Taylor wanted to wait for the test results,” Curt explained, checking his watch. Taylor had told him the appointment shouldn’t take long. Unless they either hit traffic or made a stop somewhere else after they left the lab, they should be home soon. “As if the situation didn’t suck enough, I talked to Taylor about adopting Reese. She was all on board. I was literally seconds away from asking Reese how she felt about the idea when Taylor’s mom called and asked her to come home because she’d gotten the phone call from Jordan.”
Brett let out a low whistle. “You never mentioned you were thinking about doing that. But I suspected you might.”
“There’s a good chance it won’t happen now.”
“Then you think Jordan is Reese’s father?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I didn’t see any resemblance, but that doesn’t mean anything. No one would guess you and Dad are related. And look at Callie. The only thing she inherited from Uncle Warren is her eye color.”
“Even if it turns out Jordan is Reese’s father, that doesn’t mean adoption is off the table. It’s not like he has a relationship with Reese. He might be willing to walk away and let you adopt her.”
Curt wished he believed that was a possibility. “If you found out you had a nine-year-old daughter, would you let another man adopt her?”
“Hell no,” Brett answered immediately. “But—”
“I didn’t get the impression Jordan would either.” Curt stood up, and as if attached to him, Honey did the same thing. “I’m going to get a drink. Do you want something?”
“Yeah, sure, whatever you’re having,” Brett answered, following him and Honey from the room.
After handing his brother a bottle of beer, he took a long drink from his and then went in search of a snack. Before he found anything he felt like eating, the doorbell rang.
“You make Taylor ring the bell?” Brett asked.
Curt sent his brother a dirty look as he walked by him. “It’s probably Aaron.”
“Aaron?”
“You know, Aaron Wright, as in Juliette’s boyfriend. You met him at Allison’s wedding. Either your old age is catching up, or all the time you spend with politicians these days is causing serious memory loss.”
Even after nearly a year, Curt still had a hard time wrapping his head around the fact his older brother was a United States Senator, a position he’d expected either of his cousins Trent or Sara to maybe one day hold but not Brett. And he loved to give his brother a hard time about it every chance he got.
“Although that might be a good thing. If I had to spend time with Senators Beck and Marshall, I want to forget things too,” Curt added, referring to two current senators who also happened to be their dad and uncles' longtime friends.
“I know who Aaron is. But why is he here? Isn’t Avon over two hours away?” Brett walked with Curt down the hall toward the main foyer.
“He called yesterday and asked if he and Juliette could use my place in Newport this weekend. Since he was working in Boston today, he’d said he’d stop by and pick up the key on his way back home.”
He’d been one of the first in the family to meet Aaron in the spring, and since then, he’d spent a fair amount of time around not only Aaron but also his mom, younger sister, and niece. Although not at all the type of man Curt had imagined his younger cousin ending up with, he really liked Aaron. More importantly, Juliette appeared happier than he’d seen her in a long time. Curt suspected it was only a matter of time before Aaron proposed.
“Hey, Aaron, come on in,” Curt greeted after opening the door.
“It’s a good thing Tiegan is not with me. When the Halloween decorations were out, she begged me to get a giant inflatable pumpkin for the front yard. Now she’s asking for a Santa Claus one like her friend has. If she saw that, she’d bug me about it even more. I’ll put up lights, but I’m not getting one of those.” Aaron gestured toward the snowman before entering the house.