Broken Bonds, page 19
“Why would he have something shipped here instead of home?” she mutters under her breath.
I shrug, the same question echoing in my mind, but also knowing it’s not my place to question anything to do with Ramsey’s alphas. Maybe it’s a gift for Ramsey that they wanted to surprise her with.
“She was starting to get a little better,” Jillian whispers, chewing on the side of her thumb.
I reach over and lightly smack her hand away from her mouth, which makes her huff and roll her eyes. She stops chewing on her thumb like she’s going to gnaw straight through the bone, though.
“And she’ll keep getting better. Look, there’s probably always going to be something that’s a bit of a trigger for her. Hell, Link is the biggest trigger possible, and if she can sit through dinner with him and not go completely off the deep end, then there’s hope for her yet. Come on. Let’s go see what’s out there,” I tell her, walking around the bar and heading for the doors.
Jillian heaves another sigh, following closely on my heels.
When we exit Jinx, I stop in my tracks, causing Jillian to run into my back. She yelps when her face makes contact, cursing under her breath, but I ignore it. My eyes widen as I take in the sight in front of me.
“What the hell, Rion?” Jillian grumbles, glaring at me when she walks around to my side, rubbing her nose.
When she sees my face, she follows my line of sight, and when she takes in all the boxes, her jaw drops while she stands there beside me, just as stunned.
Boxes upon boxes are being wheeled out of the back of a delivery truck and set down in front of the door.
Big, small, flat, square, rectangular.
“What…” Jillian’s mouth opens and closes like a fish, and it’s almost comical with how wide her eyes are, but I feel it’s in my best interest not to laugh. “What is all of this?”
“Oh, it’s baby stuff. A complete nursery set up from what I can tell,” the delivery driver says as he looks out over all the boxes as well, having gotten closer to us when I wasn’t paying attention.
Nursery?
Does Ramsey not already have a nursery set up? She’s about five or six months along now? I’d have figured she and her alphas would have already set that up months ago, long before they’d died.
I glance at Jillian when I hear the hitch in her breath. Tears are forming in her eyes, but she blinks them away. Slowly, a smile spreads across her lips and an incredulous laugh escapes her as she shakes her head in disbelief.
“Those bastards! Come on, let’s hurry and get all this inside before Ramsey drives by or something. We can put it all in the back room they used for storage. Don’t need her getting curious and seeing everything before I can figure out what to do,” Jillian says to me, wiping away the few tears that fell.
There’s a bit more pep in her step as she heads directly for the biggest box she can find in the pile. I roll my eyes when she nearly topples over, reaching over to grab ahold of it, and subsequently her, before she can fall. Taking the heavy box, I pass her a much more reasonably sized box, and heft the one she tried to get over my shoulder. She sticks her tongue out at me, making me chuckle and shake my head as I do what she said and start moving boxes to the empty room in the very back of the bar.
The room fills rapidly, boxes lining the walls and stacked nearly to the ceiling in some spots. Granted, it’s not an overly large room, but you can definitely tell it was intended for storage.
There’s no way this is just for one nursery… right?
I mean, I guess there would need to be a lot of extra stuff because she’s having three…
Damn.
That’s a lot of baby shit she’s going to need.
A lot of help, too.
Jillian and I stand in front of the doorway of the room once all the boxes have been shoved in, the smallest bit of space left to be able to get it all back out again when the time is right.
Looking at this all, I guess it would probably take Ramsey and Jillian the rest of Ramsey’s pregnancy to put it all together. Maybe even longer than that, depending on how difficult some of this might be.
I bet I could knock it all out in a few days. Maybe sooner if I recruit the guys to help me…
“They were going to surprise her with the nursery. That’s why he had it all sent here,” Jillian says softly, leaning her cheek against the doorway, eyes sparkling as she takes in the full room.
“She doesn’t know about any of this?” I ask, taking it all in with her before she shuts the door and leans against it.
“Not a clue. I knew they wanted to surprise her with it all finished, but I didn’t realize they’d get so much stuff. I’d like to keep it a surprise, do what they had always planned, but I’m not sure if I can put all of this together by myself.”
She sighs and starts walking back down the hallway towards the open bar area. I find her behind the bar pouring herself a drink when I enter, so I motion for her to pour me one as well.
I lean my arms against the bar and stare down at the top as I consider whether to offer my help.
Is that weird? To offer to help build the surprise nursery for a pregnant omega? The nursery her dead alphas were supposed to build?
This is so far out of my depth, and I’m unsure how to navigate the waters around here. I’m drawn to the omega, and it makes me feel like the biggest dick in the world. She just lost all her bonds for fuck’s sake and she’s very much pregnant.
So why the fuck have I got a hard on for her? Why do I crave being near her? To help her like Link and Forde apparently are?
You know exactly why, my conscience whispers at the back of my mind.
Forde has a good enough reason to find himself in Ramsey’s company because he’s the best out of all of us at helping others. And since this is something he’s witnessed before, it obviously makes him the best candidate to help work on getting Ramsey out of her depression. They seem to have formed a friendship with each other quickly, and I can admit I’m a bit jealous.
And Link is handling Lake’s loss just as hard as Ramsey is, so it obviously makes sense that he’ll spend time with her, especially if they go to more of those grief meetings together.
What can I offer her in the way of helping take some of the stress from her? I am good with my hands, so logically helping build her nursery seems like the best choice.
“I could help,” I blurt out before I can truly think it through.
Jillian slides my drink across to me and raises a brow at me while she takes a sip of hers.
“You want to help build a nursery… for babies that aren’t yours,” she says when she sets her drink back down.
She places her elbows on the bar, linking her fingers together, and rests her chin on her hands, attempting to stare into my fucking soul. Her brow is still raised, and she snorts.
“Oh, those assholes,” she whispers under her breath with a laugh. “Okay, so how do you expect us to get the nursery put together without her knowing? She leaves the house more these days, but not long enough for us to secretly put an entire nursery together.”
That is a good question.
“Do you think you could get her to leave for a weekend? Maybe tell her it’s a last-minute mini vacation for her before the babies get here or to help take her mind off everything for a while,” I ask, an idea slowly forming in my mind.
If she can get Ramsey away for the weekend, I could get that whole nursery put together and ready by the time they get back. It’s perfect, really.
But that’s only if Jillian can get Ramsey to leave for an entire weekend.
Jillian’s eyes brighten and a grin spreads across her lips as she claps her hands excitedly.
“That’s perfect! And I know exactly what we could do.”
“What excuse will you give for me being in the house while you’re away?”
She waves her hand in a noncommittal way, eyes faraway as she plans out her devious weekend.
“I’ll find something to tell her that should suffice as a good enough reason. Hey, I’ll see you later. ‘Kay, thanks, bye.”
You would think her ass is on fire with the way she power walks out of here.
I shake my head and throw the rest of my drink back. Walking back behind the bar, I finish getting things set up to open. It’s just after ten in the morning, so I still have a couple more hours until it’s time to open the doors.
Forde should be here any minute, so while I wait, I contemplate the predicament that I have a feeling we are going to find ourselves in the longer we’re around Ramsey Daniels.
I know why we feel so drawn to her, but I’m reluctant to voice it. At least right now. It’s entirely too soon, even if it feels like it will never be soon enough.
Scent match.
There is a lot that goes into finding compatible matches for omegas and alphas, even some betas. Scent plays such a heavy role in how we choose who we want in our packs and who we’ll bond with. I mean, you will be smelling each other for the rest of your lives, so yeah... it is best to find people you not only mesh with but can tolerate smelling.
Although it may not happen to everyone, there is sometimes a perfect match out there that can be identified by a scent that is inviting and has a certain pull, so you know that you’re meant to belong together.
Biology dictates the fate of soulmates and brings them together; I suppose you could say.
In any case, I have an incredibly strong feeling that Ramsey is our scent match and the other two just haven’t realized it. Neither has she, for that matter, but I don’t really expect her to.
She might become more drawn to us the more time she spends with us, but she likely won’t recognize why. Not while she’s still grieving. Link either. They’re both too clouded with grief to notice the pull that draws them together even as they fight it.
Forde might know, and just isn’t saying anything. Or maybe it’s been so long since we’ve thought about an omega and what we were taught in school that he’s forgotten the signs that come with a perfect match.
The day of the funeral, here at Jinx, I had this gut feeling. Seeing Forde’s determination to be there for her, even though he couldn’t understand it, had me suspicious. Then I thought about the sound of Link’s voice when he told us about the way his fingers had tingled when he had touched her at that first disastrous meeting. And the longer I go without seeing her to ease some of my concern about how she’s doing, the tighter my chest feels. It’s like a vice is wrapped around it that gets tighter with each passing day of not putting eyes on her. My eyes. I can’t rely on Link and Forde’s descriptions or assurances that she’s okay because I need to see for myself.
After she walked in those weeks ago looking too thin for a pregnant woman carrying multiples with sunken eyes ringed in dark circles, my instincts have only become harder to ignore. I want to force feed her by hand to make sure she doesn’t starve to death. I want to hold her in my arms, pin her down, and let loose a rattling purr to force her to sleep so she doesn’t pass out on her feet at some point.
I might have said we could find our omega when Ramsey is all settled that day, but even then I was full of shit. Because even as I tried to ignore it, I knew our omega was already found.
She just can’t be ours right now.
If ever.
It’s frustrating and confusing to my most basic instincts.
I growl under my breath, then huff out an annoyed breath at myself.
She lost everything she’s ever known and loved, and here I am bitching about how confusing things have been since meeting her.
Sunlight streams in as the door opens and Forde walks in. I search his face discreetly, looking for any sign that something could be amiss with Ramsey. Besides Jillian, he’s the one who’s spent the most time with her recently.
Lucky fucker.
He’s not frowning from what I can tell, and he seems relaxed. More relaxed than he’s been in years. Like he’s not as weighed down by all the guilt he’s carried around since his sister’s passing.
I think Ramsey and Forde will heal each other in time.
I want that for my brother. He deserves to be happy and not to carry so much heaviness on his heart for something he never could have controlled. Not with the way things snowballed.
“You seem in good spirits today,” I tell him when he reaches me, raising a brow and smirking.
He grins, a genuine smile with teeth and all, and replies, “I’m meeting Ramsey for dinner at the diner later tonight. We had a session in the gym where she pounded out some of her frustrations on the punching bag until she wore herself out. Which did not take long,” he chuckles, shaking his head but still wearing a fond smile.
I hum under my breath and turn away from him so he can’t see the burning jealousy brimming in my eyes.
I want to go to dinner with her, too, dammit!
“You keep taking her to eat there and she might have a heart attack before she can deliver those babies,” I grunt out, scrubbing a spot on the counter with a bit more force than necessary.
I can practically feel him roll his eyes at my back, but I don’t lose focus on getting this sticky spot up. Okay, so I’m focusing on the wrong fucking thing to avoid a conversation.
“It’s not like we eat there every night. A few nights a week isn’t going to hurt us. Besides, she likes the fries, man. Says the babies make her crave them.”
I clear my throat and finally turn around to look at him. He’s leaning his hip against the bar, arms crossed, and staring at me with an amused smile.
“What?” I ask with a scowl.
He snorts and shakes his head. “Nothin’.”
I narrow my eyes on him, but he says nothing else. I heave a quiet sigh and push off the counter I was leaning back on, moving to stand by him.
“How is she doing?” I finally ask.
“She’s doing better every day. There are still shitty days for her, and on those days I have to drag her out somewhere to find something to help her get it out. We’ve gone into the mountains a few times to scream it out. That’s been her favorite way so far.” He pauses. “I think it helps her when I talk about Celia,” he says quietly, a faraway look in his eyes, but there is still a soft smile sitting on his lips.
“And you? Does it help you to talk about her?”
He considers my question for a moment before he answers.
“Yeah, it does.”
“Good.” I glance up at the clock and clap him on the back. “Come on, let’s open her up. Maribel said she’d be late today, so it’s just us until she shows up. Jillian left earlier.”
“Where’d she run off to?” he calls out as he goes to flip the sign on to open.
I clear my throat, rubbing the back of my neck.
“She went to go talk Ramsey into leaving for a weekend.”
“What? Why?” he asks, turning around and looking at me with wide eyes.
“There was a delivery here today for one of Ramsey’s alphas. Jillian says it’s an entire nursery set up. We put everything in the extra storage room in the back, and I offered to help put the nursery together to keep it a surprise like her alphas had intended if she could get her out of the house,” I tell him, shrugging my shoulders like it’s no big deal.
He continues to stare at me with wide eyes and parted lips, like I’ve grown a third nipple or a second set of arms. Something like that.
“You are going to put a nursery for triplets together for the grieving omega you’ve barely spoken to?”
I roll my eyes and grumble, “It’s not that big of a deal, knothead. Jillian said they were planning to surprise her with the nursery, and there’s no way she can put it together herself while keeping it a surprise. At least, not in enough time before the babies are here. But I can do it. Building shit is kind of my forte. So, I offered.”
Forde blinks before shaking his head.
“No, I mean, it’s nice as hell of you to offer, brother. I’m just a little surprised, is all. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it,” he tells me sincerely.
I nod and become quickly distracted when several of our regulars walk through the door and take their seats at the bar right on time.
For the rest of the night, I think about Ramsey and whether she’ll actually appreciate me putting her nursery together while listening to several of the older regulars talk about their day or as they reminisce about ‘the good ol’ days’.
Chapter Eighteen
RAMSEY
“What combination are you going for tonight?” I ask Forde as I look over the menu, like I don’t practically have it memorized by now with how often we’ve come here.
He’s sitting across from me in a corner booth at Pop’s Diner, like we’ve taken to doing every time we have come in since he brought me that first night. When I’d brought Link here, we had sat in a booth towards the middle of the room.
For the past few weeks, Forde and I have been getting together once or twice each week to hang out. He talks to me about his sister and her alphas, and I’ve noticed when he does, he seems less burdened. I try to talk about my alphas, but most days I’m more content to just listen to him.
When he senses that my anxiety and grief are becoming too much to bear, he takes me up to the mountains to scream out all my frustrations. And here lately, he’s been taking me to the gym to release some stress by punching the bags.
No matter what we choose to do, after we’re done, we make our way to the diner to try another fry combination and enjoy each other’s company.
It’s… nice.
I’d like to say Forde and I have become good friends, and honestly, I needed it. A friend that isn’t completely familiar with the ins and outs of my life and who didn’t know my alphas. It also helps that he’s struggling with his own damage, which only seems to make me feel closer to him.
I like that he doesn’t push.
If I’m quiet, he’ll fill the silence for us because it seems like he never runs out of things to say. I’d be lying if I said his energy isn’t infectious.
