First and Only (Callaghan Brothers #2)

“Lexi,” Kayla said, pointedly ignoring the others. “Can I talk to you for a sec?”


Lexi hesitated for a moment. Despite the smile, whatever Kayla wanted wouldn’t be good. Still, there was no need to put these ladies through one of Kayla’s outbursts.

“Sure,” she said, rising from the picnic table. She looked out at the field where the pick-up football game was in full swing. Ian was currently at the bottom of a pile, with more jumping on.

“You don’t have to do this,” Taryn said quietly, her eyes shooting daggers at Kayla.

“Yeah,” Keely agreed, speaking so only Lexi could hear her. “She can’t take all of us.”

Lexi bit back a smile. They would never know just how much their words meant to her. But this was her fight, not theirs. Especially not when three of them were very clearly expecting.

“It’s okay. I’ve got this.”

Lexi met Kayla at the far end of the pavilion and they walked off together toward the woods.

“I don’t like this,” Lina said, rubbing her large belly.

“Me neither,” agreed Stacey. “Maybe someone should tell Ian.”

“I don’t think Lexi would appreciate that,” said Keely. “I know I wouldn’t. Let her handle this. We’ll keep an eye on them and if things look like they’re getting out of hand we’ll call in the cavalry.”

*

Kayla moved farther into the shadows of the trees, away from the others. Lexi followed along several paces behind, but was smart enough to remain in sight.

“What did you want to talk to me about, Kayla?”

Kayla stopped and crossed her arms over her chest, pinning Lexi with a hard glare. “You need to leave Pine Ridge. You don’t belong here.”

Lexi didn’t argue. That was a given. She nodded. “Anything else?”

It took Kayla a moment to respond. Her eyes widened, her lips parted slightly. Clearly she’d been expecting more of a fight, but there was no point. “And you can’t have Ian.”

Again, Lexi didn’t argue. She glanced down at her watch, silently calculating the time she had left before she had to leave for the airport. She didn’t want to waste it by listening to one of Kayla’s long-winded rants. The sooner they moved this along, the better. “Is that it?”

For some reason, Lexi’s lack of response enraged Kayla. Without warning, her hands shot out and grabbed Lexi, shoving her hard into an oak tree. Caught off-guard, Lexi felt the hard wood all along her spine and a sharp, sudden pain along the base of her skull.

“Ian. Is. Mine,” Kayla hissed, her hands on Lexi’s shoulders, pushing her back repeatedly into the tree with each word.

“He’s not,” Lexi managed, trying to push Kayla away, but she wasn’t strong enough. Kayla was bigger and healthier and filled with rage; Lexi was struggling with barely enough energy to make it through the day.

“Yes. He. Is.” Kayla spat back. “At least he will be when I tell him I’m pregnant.”

Little fireflies flitted across Lexi’s vision with the next hit, but she was lucid enough to have heard the words. “You’re... pregnant?”

“Yes,” Kayla said with a cruel smile. “Ian was drunk, and I forgot to take my pills. Oops.”

Kayla’s smile faded when she saw the first tiny drops of blood fall from Lexi’s nose, and the side of her mouth. She got downright scared when it started to seep from the corners of Lexi’s eyes, so that it looked like she was crying tears of blood. She quickly let go of Lexi as if she’d been burned, and Lexi was barely able to get her hands underneath her before she went down on her knees.

Lexi tried to wipe the blood from her eyes; her white sleeve was now heavily streaked with red. “I won’t stand in your way, Kayla,” she said, pausing to spit out some blood.

“Jesus, Lexi, I didn’t mean to - ”

Lexi was shaking her head to clear it, her eyes unfocused as she tried to get her bearings. When she began to cough up blood, Kayla panicked, running back toward the pavilion for help. Lexi collapsed. Her cell vibrated with an incoming message.

“Oh, thank God,” she whispered, her fingers tapping out a hurried response, praying she was hitting the right keys.





Chapter Twenty-One




Ian knew something was wrong the moment he looked up from the fields and saw Kayla running frantically from the woods, yelling for help. One quick look toward the pavilion showed that Lexi was not among the women now scattering. Keely was moving hurriedly toward the men – as fast as a woman pregnant with twins could; Taryn was taking off like a bat out of hell toward the tree line. Stacey was pulling out her cell phone.

Panic shot through him, and he knew with certainty that Lexi was in trouble. Shaking off his brothers, he rushed toward the pavilion as they all began to realize that something was very wrong.