Stepping away from him, I left without another word.

CHAPTER SIX

It was hard to concentrate on packing. Kade had said we’d be gone for a while, so obviously I needed to take a decent amount of clothes, but all I could see in my head was the way Blane had looked at me when I’d told him I was having Kade’s baby.

I prayed that Kade’s and my departure would help, that being out of sight would make it easier on Blane. But I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t going to miss him.

I was nearly finished when I heard the knock. I dropped the shirt I’d been folding, hurrying to the front door. Hopefully, it was Kade. I’d tried calling him after I’d left Blane’s, but he hadn’t answered and it had been hours since then.

Hastily pulling open the door, my welcoming smile froze when I saw who it was.

Blane.

The expression on his face was stark, his lips set in a grim line. Remembering how he’d demolished the room earlier, I took an instinctive step back, my pulse jumping with nerves, but he made no move toward me.

“I need to talk to you,” he said.

I swallowed. Was he still angry? Kade was supposed to come by and pick me up along with my luggage. It would be bad if he showed up while Blane was still here. I couldn’t handle a confrontation between them.

“Um, I’m kinda in the middle of packing,” I hedged. “Can it wait? I can call you tomorrow.”

At my words, a hint of pity flashed across Blane’s face.

“No, Kat,” he said softly. “It can’t wait.”

Something about the way he said that made the blood drain from my face and I started to shake.

“What happened?” I asked. “Is it Kade? Is he okay?” Panic clawed at me.

Blane hurriedly stepped inside, taking my hand as he shut the door behind him. He led me to the couch and I gratefully sank down onto the cushions when he tugged on me, my knees suddenly weak.

“He’s okay,” Blane said. “Kade’s not hurt.”

His reassurance made the breath leave my lungs in a rush and I slumped over, relieved. I didn’t know what I would’ve done if something had happened to him.

“Kat—” Blane began, then stopped. I glanced up at him. He paused, the look on his face twisting into one of regret. My stomach dropped.

Suddenly, I didn’t want to know, didn’t want to hear whatever it was that Blane couldn’t even bring himself to say. I jumped to my feet.

“I really need to finish packing. Kade’s going to be here any minute and you know how he hates to wait . . .” I babbled, turning and walking back toward the bedroom.

“Kat—”

Blane was following me, but I kept going, not stopping until I was back in front of my suitcase. I grabbed the shirt I’d dropped, my hands trembling as I tried to fold it.

“Do you think Mona would keep Tigger for a while? I don’t know how long we’ll be gone. He didn’t say. But Tigger likes it over there and Mona loves him, so I can’t imagine that she’d mind—”

“Kat!”

I jumped, my mouth snapping shut.

Blane stepped up to me, removing the shirt from my fingers and then taking my hands in his.

“He’s not coming,” Blane said much more gently. “Kade. He left.”

My heart seemed to stutter and my hands turned to ice.

“Wh-what do you mean?” I asked. “Of course he’s coming. He said—”

“He’s not coming,” Blane repeated.

I jerked my hands out of his grip. “Stop saying that! You’re wrong!” I hurried to my bureau, yanking open a drawer and pulling out a handful of shorts. “He’ll be here. Any minute now. He said he’d come.” I avoided looking at Blane as I piled the shorts in the open suitcase sitting on my bed.

Kade wouldn’t leave me. He just . . . wouldn’t.

“He came by the house,” Blane said. “He said . . . he said he was leaving. Alone. And he’s not coming back.”

I let out an involuntary gasp from the pain that lanced through me at Blane’s words. The clothes in my hands dropped to the floor. I turned on Blane.

“Why would you say that!” I screamed at him. “Why are you telling me such . . . such lies!” I spun away, but Blane snagged me around the waist and pulled me into him.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice breaking. “Listen to me. He’s gone, and I’m so, so sorry.”

I fought him, pushing and struggling to get away, agony building in my chest while tears poured down my cheeks. Finally, I ran out of fight, of denying what I knew was the truth, and I sagged limply against Blane, my body shaking with sobs I couldn’t control.

Blane’s shirt grew damp, my tears leaking through the starched white cotton, but he kept holding me. His strength was the only thing that kept me on my feet, his arms holding me tight, a hand cradling the back of my head while I cried.

My breath hiccupped in my chest when I finally stopped crying. I felt exhausted, my emotions numb. Kade had left me, didn’t want me. Why? What had I done wrong? He’d seemed so happy when I told him I was pregnant. Had he been lying to me? Or just had second thoughts once I’d left?

I looked up at Blane, needing some kind of answer. “Why?” I managed to ask, my voice a hoarse rasp from crying. “What did I do?”

“Kat, listen to me,” Blane said, his palms cradling my cheeks. “It’s got nothing to do with you. You didn’t do anything. It’s Kade. And I can’t pretend to understand why he does the things he does.”

But Blane was wrong. It had to be me, had to be that I was pregnant. Kade hadn’t really wanted me, or at least not now that I carried his baby. I’d sprung it on him out of nowhere after we’d only slept together a few times. We hadn’t even had an official relationship and I’d tried to tie him to me for life. How could I have expected him to react any differently?

I stepped out of Blane’s arms and he seemed reluctant to let me go. I sank down to sit on the bed, staring straight ahead at nothing. I felt numb.

I was going to have to do this alone. The shock of being pregnant had faded when I’d been with Kade earlier, his open acceptance easing my worry and fears. Now it all came rolling back with a vengeance, and I felt if I even breathed too deep, I’d shatter into a million pieces.

“Kat,” Blane said, crouching down in front of me. He rested his hands on my knees. “Come home with me. Even if it’s just for a few days. I don’t want to leave you here alone.”

Absently, I looked at Blane. The pity in his eyes was almost more than I could bear. I was his ex-girlfriend, pregnant with his brother’s child and abandoned by him. Yet here Blane was, offering me solace and comfort.

But there was no way I could accept. I’d put Blane through enough.

I shook my head. “I’ll be fine on my own.” Somehow.

Disappointment flashed across his face, then was gone. Searching my eyes, he finally gave a nod and stood.

“Did he say where he was going?” I asked, my voice small. “I’m not going to . . . bother him, if that’s what you’re thinking. I just . . . wondered.”

“He didn’t say,” Blane replied.

Tears sparked my eyes again and I couldn’t speak, so I nodded.

“I’ll come by tomorrow,” he promised.

I forced the next words out. “And you’ll call if you . . . hear anything?” The request sounded pathetic, but I couldn’t help it.

A pause. “Yeah. I will.”

Blane bent and I felt his lips brush the top of my head. My eyes slipped closed, more traitorous tears leaking from my eyes. I heard his steps recede, and a moment later the front door opened and shut behind him.

I sat there, the agonizing ache in my chest squeezing my lungs like a vise. I had no thoughts, no plan for what to do other than taking my next breath. It seemed impossible that my heart could still beat when I was in such pain. How was this not killing me?

Kade was gone. I would probably never see him again. Blane hadn’t even sounded like he would see him again, and they were brothers. And worse, Kade didn’t want to see me.