Brett was standing now, too. In the kitchen with his helmet under his arm.

“Couples fight,” Jeff said. “It’s not right. It’s not okay. But it’s...normal.”

Nodding, Brett remembered a particular fight he’d had with Ella. He’d told her that he’d never wanted a child of his own. That he’d only agreed to try because of her. He’d rejected his own baby while it was still in her womb.

Because once that child had been a reality, it had hit him that he’d never be able to guarantee that he wasn’t his father. Ella was a strong woman. She could get out if he ever developed violent tendencies. But a child...someone who was forever biologically bound to him...a vulnerable, needy human being who couldn’t make that choice...

But this wasn’t about him. This was about Jeff. A man who was the definition of gentle.

“You want me to call her?” he asked now. He was going to talk to Chloe. No matter what Jeff wanted.

His friends were in trouble.

And unlike Jeff, Brett knew exactly where Jeff’s wife was staying.

“She always liked you,” Jeff said now. “Would you mind talking to her? If that doesn’t put you in a bad position with Ella. The two of them, they’re more like sisters than sisters-in-law, you know.”

“Ella’s the one who asked me to see you, to get involved in this. I hardly think she’d object to me trying to see if I can help.”

“Okay, then.” Arms crossed, Jeff walked with him out the door. They looked over his bike. Talked again about a time or two they’d hit the open road. Talked about doing so again.

If Jeff ever got a hold of another bike.

And then Brett mounted his machine, determined, as he left his friend standing alone on his long, winding drive, surrounded by his meticulous yard and a home that spoke of success, that for as long as he was needed, Jeff was a priority.

For all that the other man had done for him, it was the least Brett could do.

* * *

ELLA’S TEXT NOTIFIER sounded while she was scrubbing her toilet, part of her Sunday-morning cleaning routine. Chloe, who already had the rest of the apartment looking spotless, had taken Cody to the playground a few units down from them. In addition to their shopping and movie plans, they were going to be trying out a couple recipes that evening. Chloe wanted her opinion on their mass likability and was planning to invite the single mother she’d met earlier in the week to join them for dinner.

Thinking the text was from work—her nurses had been instructed to text her if they lost any patients when she was off shift—and dreading what she would read but knowing there was nothing for her to do about the heartbreaking news, she finished what she was doing before she looked at her phone.

The number wasn’t work. It wasn’t in her contacts. But she recognized it.

Damn him. How was she supposed to succeed in keeping him completely out of her day if he was going to text her like this?

Knowing she was being irrational, Ella opened the message she’d been waiting all day yesterday to see. The same two questions in her mind now that had occupied a good part of her Saturday. Had he contacted Jeff, and how had it gone?

Going to call Chloe today.

She’d asked him to speak with Jeff. Thinking he’d take care of her brother, while she dealt with Chloe.

Like maybe between the two of them, they could do this good thing. Save a man. A marriage. A life.

I’ll talk to her.

Her fingers moved quickly across the small keyboard.

I have her number.

More speed texting.

I didn’t tell her yet that I’ve been in touch with you.

He had to understand that Chloe was vulnerable at the moment. Ella was having a hard enough time keeping her sister-in-law emotionally strong without Brett coming at her.

Let me know when she knows.

She’d asked for his help. Needed his help.

Okay, she wanted his help. This was Chloe and Jeff they were dealing with. They’d been family. Close.

The happiest years of her life...

Will do.

She typed. And then she went to find Chloe.

CHAPTER NINE

“YOU’RE SURE ABOUT THIS?” Chloe, in pressed navy linen slacks and a white contoured three-quarter-sleeved blouse, smiled at her son in his car seat as Ella stopped at a red light and then continued, “You don’t have to come with me, Ella. I can meet Brett on my own.”

Even knowing Brett, she’d been surprised by the speed with which he’d arranged this in-person meeting with Chloe. She’d spoken with Chloe, texted him as agreed, and within an hour they’d had dinner plans with him.

They were on their way to Uncle Bob’s. Chloe’s choice. Because Cody liked sitting in his high chair and looking out the window at the beach. He also liked the chicken fingers and French fries, and the place was loaded with families with small children so that if there was an outburst, other diners’ experiences wouldn’t be immediately ruined.

“If you’d rather do this alone, I’m happy to drop you off. Or you can take me home and you take the car. I’ve told you repeatedly, you’re welcome to the car anytime you want it. It’s not like I need it when I’m at work.”

They’d left Chloe’s car in Palm Desert. Because they’d been in a hurry to get her packed up and out of there before Jeff came home. And Chloe had been too upset to drive. The plan was to go back and get it.

In the meantime, Chloe was taking cabs or a bus anytime she had to go anywhere.

As soon as things calmed down and Jeff agreed to get help. Which was where Brett came in.

Chloe’s silence drew Ella’s gaze. “It’s okay, Chlo. If you want to go alone, it’s not going to hurt my feelings. I want to help in any way I can. Not take over your life.”

The puppy-dog look in the brown eyes that turned on her softened Ella’s heart and it was already mush where Chloe was concerned. The Chloe she knew had always emanated confidence. Strength.

“This is where it gets tough, you know?” Chloe said as a horn honked behind Ella and she drove on through the now-green light. “Am I selfish for wanting you with me? Knowing how hard you had to fight to get Brett out of your system? Knowing how much he hurt you? Or is this my chance to help you take the final step in getting over him? And do I help you help me by relying on you? Or am I being weak and dependent if I lean on you?”

Flashing her sister-in-law a grin, Ella said, “I think the fact that you’re asking those questions means you’re right on track.”

“Then I want you with me.”

The next time Ella glanced over, Chloe smiled at her.

They were going to be just fine, the two of them.

* * *

PREPARED FOR ELLA’S propensity to be early—based on their previous meeting, not on the years they’d spent together—Brett pulled into Uncle Bob’s fifteen minutes before the scheduled time. Ella wouldn’t have known that the place had been his favorite restaurant as a kid.

Because he hadn’t told her.

He didn’t spend much time thinking about the first ten or so years of his life. Because they only made the next eight years seem that much worse.

There were already kids digging around in the outdoor sandbox just off the dining room—a play area of sorts before such things became popular in modern-day fast-food restaurants.

Ella and Chloe weren’t there yet. He was offered a table while he waited for them, but declined. He was standing outside when he saw her car pull into the lot.

He hadn’t seen Chloe in more than four years.

And he was about to meet his godson for the first time. Jeff’s son.

Ella’s nephew. Who was two years younger than her own child would have been.

Standing there in tan pants, a dark polo shirt and loafers, Brett wasn’t nervous. He was just ready to get on with it. He’d played nine holes of golf followed by a business cocktail and was ready to spend a few hours at his desk at home before he started a new work week.