She let out a breath. For now she’d wait it out and see what happened. After a doctor appointment to confirm, she’d decide how she would handle it. Chris was going to have to be told.

But for now, this was her secret. Even if she couldn’t have Christian, she’d have a part of him.

With that thought she forced herself up off the floor and back to her bedroom where she faced the mess of towels under the sink. Tomorrow she would call Clara and see if her Uncle John might have some time to look at it.

Under the circumstances, she was sure Scott wasn’t an option and she didn’t want to ask Christian. She wasn’t ready to see him—and, to be honest, he wasn’t too handy.

~*~

When Christian heard the front door slam he headed toward it to see who had just barged into his house. It wasn’t much of a surprise to find his sister standing there. He shook his head. When would he ever get privacy? First his brother busts through his office door and now his sister has done the same in his house.

“Now what?” He dropped his shoulders. It had been a long night and he didn’t want to be social.

“Are you any good at plumbing?”

He actually snorted a laugh. “Are you kidding me?”

“Really. I need a faucet fixed.”

“Then you call Uncle John, not me.”

Clara followed him back to the kitchen and stopped, resting her hands on the back of one of the chairs.

“It’s not for me. Tori just texted me and said she needed Uncle John to come fix her sink. I figured you should go.”

“I don’t think so.” He walked over to the dishwasher he’d been unloading and continued to pull out warm, clean dishes.

“C’mon. Even if you can’t fix it, it’ll get you in the house.”

“She has company.”

“Oh.” She pulled out the chair and sat down, which wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted her to go.

“If she needs something fixed she should ask Mr. Lexus to either get his nice manicure messed up or hire someone to do it.”

“How do you know he’s there?”

Christian set his jaw. “Because for two nights I’ve driven by,” he swallowed hard. “Multiple times.”

“You’re spying?”

“No. Just driving by.” He turned away from her and whispered, “At all times of the night.”

“You are spying.”

He turned back to her. “What does it matter? His car was at her house all night Thursday and was still there this morning when I went to work. And then last night at dinner time and at nine o’clock it was still there. I’ve been replaced.” Again he turned around. “And I don’t blame her.”

“I really thought after the wedding and lunch…”

“You thought wrong.”

She nodded and stood. “I’ll call Uncle John.”

“Good.”

“Chris, I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. “I did this to myself. But the good news is I have a date tonight. So I’m not going to worry or think about Tori. She seems to be happy and she’s moved on.” Rather quickly after our night together. “She doesn’t need me crashing anymore lunch dates.”

~*~

It was just past one when Victoria answered the door to the handsome “Uncle John.”

“You got my message,” she said grinning as she pulled open the door.

“Honey, I’d fix anything you needed. I’m glad you thought of me. Retirement has me bored off my ass.”

She laughed. “I doubt that. I’ve seen what you’ve done to the theater in the past few years.”

“My wife and her projects.”

Victoria missed going to see productions at the theater John and his wife Arianna owned. She remembered seeing Clara there when she played Annie when she was little. She never would have thought then that she’d know that girl who had mesmerized her so much. And to think., she was a big country star now.

“So which sink is it?” John asked walking into the house with his tool box.

“The bathroom in my bedroom.” She pointed him up the stairs.

John began walking up the steps. “Where are the kids?”

“Napping.”

“I’ll be super quiet.”

She smiled hoping he might do just that.

When they walked into the bathroom he looked the sink over. “This shouldn’t take too long, but the tube to the shut off doesn’t look too good either. I’ll put a new one there too.”

“Thank you. Whatever you need to do I’m fine with. I’d rather stop the problem before it costs me so much more.”

“Smart girl.” He set his tool box down and looked up at her. “Are you feeling alright? You have dark circles under your eyes.”

Victoria kept a smile pressed on her lips. “I’m doing fine. Just a little something that’s going around I guess.”

He nodded at her. “You need rest.”

“You’re probably right.”

“Why isn’t that man of yours fixing this? Really, it’s not a tough job.”

The smile left and tears threatened. “Let’s just say, there isn’t a man right now. You’re it I’m afraid.”

“Well, sorry to hear things didn’t work out. But whenever you need me you just call.”

“I will. Thank you.”

“I’ll get to this. I’ll let you know if I need anything.”

Victoria walked out of the room as John got under the sink and began working on the tubing. She could hear all sorts of noise downstairs, but what she didn’t know was that he’d kicked over the trash can in the bathroom and found the pregnancy test she’d thrown there.

Chapter Fourteen

For the first time in weeks, Christian had a spring in his step. A new pair of jeans and a trendy new shirt, which made him look bad ass—at least that’s what he thought of it when he looked in the mirror. He’d dug out his old Rolex and even had on some sexy boxers—just in case. There was a woman out there that didn’t just want to let him in to push him away and he was going to take advantage of a nice evening with her. And, if she was willing, maybe breakfast too. He was tired of being the stand-up kind of guy. It hadn’t been working for him.

He picked up his keys, checked his wallet for necessities, and headed out the door ready to take his mind off—everything.