Operation Endurance

CHAPTER 26

Chris opened the truck door for Julie. She’d been quiet most of the day, withdrawn. They hadn’t had anything going on for the afternoon. She’d sent him home around lunchtime, telling him it was ridiculous for him to hover over her just to watch her read on the couch. Reluctantly, he’d given in when she promised to text if she needed anything. Of course, that meant he didn’t hear from her all day. When he’d gone over there to check on her an hour before they needed to leave to go to the dinner party, her found her completely ready. Her exhaustion was palpable. The effort of getting ready had taken its toll on her so much he couldn’t even bring himself to berate her for not calling him to help.

But no more. He wasn’t going to sit by and let her get sick again. He planned to actually move in to her place tonight. No more going back over to his house for little things like showers. She’d just earned herself a new roommate; she just didn’t realize it yet. He’d save that little tidbit for on the way home tonight. No reason to have a fight before their evening out.

As he gave her his hand to help her out of the truck, he noticed her hands were freezing. The temperatures had been moderate for West Texas in mid-May when they normally would already be pushing up toward the century mark, but it certainly wasn’t anywhere even close to chilly out here. He examined her face and kept hold of her hand. “Are you okay? Your hand’s cold.”

When she directed her hazel eyes at him, he was struck by the golden flecks reflecting the evening sunlight filtering into the parking garage. Their gazes met and held. Something inside him melted. This woman meant so much to him. Why had things gone so wrong between them?

“I’m fine,” she said, her voice quiet with an unspoken emotion.

He stood there for a moment, refusing to relinquish his grasp on her hand as he examined her, looking for the truth in her words. Finally, he nodded, threaded his fingers through hers and tugged her toward the elevators up to Colton and Penelope’s loft apartment.

Penelope answered Chris’s knock on their door. The glow on her face told him that she was feeling much better today than the last time he’d seen her.

She gave him a grin before she drew Julie in for a hug. “How are you feeling? I hope this isn’t too much too soon for you.” She pulled Julie out of Chris’s hand and dragged her toward the couch. “I have a place reserved for you here for the rest of the night. You’re not to get up and do anything that one of us can do for you.”

Julie tried to protest, but Penelope wouldn’t hear of it.

He trailed behind them, smiling at Penelope. Watching her take care of Julie proved without a doubt she would make a wonderful mother. Colton stepped in from the balcony outside. “Hey guys. I hope you brought your appetites. We have steaks, baked potatoes, and vegetable skewers going on the grill.”

“Steaks?” Chris asked, looking over at Penelope, who was a vegetarian.

She smiled. “Don’t worry. There’s no way he’d ever let me starve. There’s a vegetarian chili to go on top of my baked potato.”

“If you’re eating chili, you must be feeling better.” Chris studied her, but the circles that had been present under her eyes the last time he’d seen her had diminished. If anything, she truly looked like pregnancy was good for her. She had a pink in her cheeks and a happy glow about her.

“Yeah, the morning sickness has relented for the last couple of days. I figure Junior’s hungry so my stomach is letting me eat.” Penelope lovingly patted her still-flat tummy. “Have you talked to Cassie yet?”

Chris nodded. “She called right after they landed to let me know they’d arrived, but Jake’s mom picked them up and wanted to hear all the stories about their trip so she just said we’d chat tonight. Regardless, it sounds like they had a good time.”

“Was there ever any doubt?” Colton asked.

“No,” Chris shook his head ruefully, “not really. They’re always happy as long as they’re together and I’m sure a European backdrop just enhanced that.” Jake and Cassie had traveled to Austria for their honeymoon.

Penelope started toward the kitchen. “Can I get you all something to drink?”

“Just water for me,” Julie answered.

“I’ll take a beer.” Chris followed her into the kitchen before turning back to Colton and glancing down at the bottle in his hand that looked to be empty. “Do you need a fresh one?”

About an hour later, Chris watched Julie laugh with Penelope on the couch.

Cassie walked up to stand beside him. “Is she really okay?”

“She will be. I’ll make sure of it this time.”

“Is that why you’ve been watching her so closely all night? Are you trying to make sure she doesn’t overdo or is something else going on?”

He tore his gaze from Julie to look at his twin. He’d never been able to hide things from her. The fact he’d managed to go this long without her realizing his feelings for Julie was a testament to how wrapped she’d been in first his recovery and then in setting up a life with Jake. “I care about her, Cassie. A lot. But there are reasons why it won’t work between us. First and foremost, she’s still grieving the death of a man that she loved. I won’t take advantage of that grief now.”

“I’m not sure she was as in love with Aaron as you may think. You may want to ask her about him.”

Chris started shaking his head. “No, I don’t want to know. I realize that’s awful of me, because I’m supposed to be her friend and support her on things like this, but I can’t hear the details, Cass. I just can’t.”

“Hey,” she tugged him into an embrace, “that’s okay. Have faith it will work out if it’s meant to be, okay? I have a good feeling.” She looked back over at Julie with a calculating look in her eye.

“Cass, stay out of it, okay? There are things you don’t know. If it’s truly meant to be, we’ll work it out, but first we have to get her healthy again. I’ve never been as scared as I was this week when I found her collapsed in her house.”

“I’m so sorry I didn’t realize how sick she was. I feel awful because I knew she’d been putting in way too many hours on the wedding and then with the increase in her self-defense classes, it’s no wonder she ended up in the hospital. I should have seen it coming.”

“She’s good at keeping things hidden.” He thought back to the butterfly tattoo on her back and then Rachel’s emphatic plea to him to keep her from making lists. “I think she hides a lot more from us than any of us realize. If nothing else, I hope to change that over the next few weeks.”

“Can I have your attention please?” Their attention was redirected when Colton stood up and drew Penelope into his embrace in front of the brick wall filled with bookcases. He stepped behind her so his arms reached around and caressed her belly. Chris smiled. This was it, the real reason why they were all here tonight. He squeezed Cassie’s shoulder. They’d been a family of just the three of them for so long.

Colton smiled at them. “Although we were anxious to see Jake and Cassie after their honeymoon, that’s not the real reason we brought you all here. Penelope and I have a little announcement to make ourselves.” Colton gestured to Cassie. “We’ve been so blessed. First you added Jake to our family, although honestly that was just a formality as he’s always been a part of the family. But I’m happy to report that Penelope has agreed to be my wife.”

Cassie started to surge forward with congratulations, but Chris held her still and whispered in her ear, “Wait just a moment. Let him finish.”

Colton looked a little sheepish. “But Penelope isn’t the only new member that we’re going to be adding to our family.”

Cassie caught on as her gaze flew to Colton’s protective hands wrapped around Penelope’s tummy. She squealed and then ran to them to hug them both. “Seriously? When? How? Never mind, oh God, don’t answer that. I know the answer to that one.”

With an eyebrow raised, Colton glanced over at Jake. “I’d hope so or else I’d be really worried about what you all have been doing for the last week.”

“Looking at the beauty of the Austrian Alps, of course,” was Jake’s droll response.

Cassie turned to smirk at him, but as she glanced over the rest of the guests, her eyebrows lifted and she placed both her hands on her hips. “Okay, why the hell does no one else in this room look surprised at this announcement?” She turned her accusing glare to Colton, who tried to look innocent.

“We didn’t want to pull the attention from your wedding.”

“Colton Todd Robertson! Are you telling me that everyone in this room has known about this, but no one chose to share it with me?” She glared at each person individually in the room, but by the time she made it back to Penelope, she smiled as she approached her slowly reaching out to softly touch her tummy.

“You have a little Robertson in here?” Chris could hear the tears in her voice as she touched her and the lump in his throat grew.

Penelope nodded, the tears flowing down her face.

Cassie gasped. “Oh my God. It all makes sense now. Why you were so damn teary before the wedding. You have baby hormones, don’t you?”

Penelope nodded. “Please forgive us for not telling you earlier.”

“You’re the mother of my new niece or nephew. That makes you exempt. You are beautiful and perfect. My brother, on the other hand, will have to work to make up for this.” Her words sounded fierce, but her smile said otherwise.

As they began to fill in Cassie with the details for the Vegas wedding, Chris looked around for Julie. She wasn’t on the couch any more. It was probably past time to get her home and back into bed. He went to search her out and his stomach twisted when he found her sniffling in Penelope’s old bedroom.

A baby blanket was crushed in her arms and it sounded like her heart was shattering as her fragile shoulders quaked under the barrage of emotion. As he looked around the room, he realized they’d already begun the transforming it into a nursery. Needing to comfort her, he couldn’t leave her to her privacy.

He didn’t want to scare her, so he touched her gently on the shoulder before he turned her so she pressed against his chest. He rubbed her up and down her back. Was this still grief over Aaron’s death? How could Cassie question her depth of loss when just looking at baby things pushed her into this sort of breakdown? Of course, she had hopes of having babies with him before he died. She was a normal, healthy woman. It was natural for her to dream of having babies with the man she loved.

As he stood there feeling helpless with her in his arms and unable to fix her pain, it occurred to him again that he’d never be able to have a child, one Julie obviously wanted. But he’d gotten an erection and that wasn’t supposed to happen either. Were his chances at fertility better now? His eyes welled up as he placed a soft kiss on top of her head.

The sobs slowly subsided and she untangled herself from his embrace, swiping at her eyes. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what brought that on.” She lightly fingered the tears staining his shirt.

He lifted her chin so she had to look him in the eye. “It’s okay, Julie. I understand. Babies bring out a lot of emotion. There’s nothing wrong with that. Do you want to head home? I know you have to be exhausted.”

She nodded, the relief showing in her face. “I would, but I can’t go back out there looking like this. Can you go grab my purse for me so that I can repair some of the damage?”

Ten minutes later, they all exchanged hugs on the way out.

They’d almost made it to the door, when Penelope squealed, “Wait. I almost forgot.” She rushed back to the bedrooms while they all exchanged confused glances. When she rushed back in, she carried a huge notebook which she pressed toward Julie with a grin. “My latest book. Since you’re basically bedridden this week, you could use some reading, right?”

Julie nodded and looked down curiously at the book in her hands.

“It’s the start to an all new series and I think you’ll like it. But I’m really nervous about how my readers will take it so I need you to read through it first and let me know your thoughts.”

“Okay, thanks Penelope.”



* * *



Julie awoke and blinked drowsily at the familiar sight out the side window of the truck as they stopped in front of Chris’s townhouse. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to doze off.”

“It’s okay.” His voice was hushed in the quiet, dark cab of the truck. “You’re still recovering from pneumonia and it was an emotional night. It’s actually a wonder that you lasted as long as you did.”

He jumped out of the truck, went around, and opened her door before she had a chance to even think about getting out. “Thanks.”

They walked up the sidewalk to her front door. He unlocked it for her and held it open. She ducked inside.

“I’ll be back in about ten minutes,” Chris said as he turned toward his place.

Her brain was still half asleep as she frowned toward her closed door. Why was he coming back? She was just planning to go to bed and she sure wasn’t up for a midnight chat. The couch called her name, so she sank into it, pulling the blanket around her. This would work for a bed for now. She was just too tired to attempt at anything better.

The sound of the door opening startled her out of her half-sleep. She sat straight up, trying to orient herself to what the heck was happening. Glancing at the doorway, she was surprised to see Chris standing there, scowling with a duffle bag in his hand. Why did he have an overnight bag? “Chris?”

“Yeah, it’s okay. Go ahead and go to bed. I’ll just make myself comfortable in your guest bedroom.” He walked on down the hall like what he just said made perfect sense.

Julie rested her head in her hands, trying to get awake enough to make sense of what was happening here. She was pretty sure they’d never discussed Chris moving in. That’s something she would definitely remember, wouldn’t she? Slowly she stood and approached the guest bedroom. Standing in the doorway, she could see that he was unpacking his bag. Definitely moving in.

“Um, Chris, what’s going on?”

The raw vulnerability in his eyes when he looked back at her took her breath away.

“I found you unconscious and practically dead on the floor once. I can’t get that image out of my mind and it terrifies me. I don’t want you here alone until you’re completely recovered. I just can’t leave you here.”

He curled his hands into tight fists and when his eyes met hers they were pleading.

“Okay, you can stay, but you aren’t allowed to use up all the hot water.” At that moment, there was no way she could have told him no to anything.

His shoulders immediately slumped in relief as he smiled at her. “I’ll try not to. Thanks, Julie. Now you need to get to bed and don’t forget to take your medicine first.”