Mrs. Robin's Sons by Kori Roberts (free children's online books .TXT) 📗

you, too.” Rylee suddenly felt like there was a ball stuck in her throat, and she fought the urge to cry.

Stop being such a fucking baby, and suck it up. “So,” she said brightly, “what’s up with the two of you?”

“You had some visitors yesterday.” Rylee frowned at Mya’s words.

“Visitors? I guess those bill collectors finally caught up with me, huh?” she joked. There was silence on the other end.

“It was Nick and Noah,” Drew said. Rylee’s heart pounded so hard in her chest, she could barely breathe, much less speak.

“Rylee.” Drew called her name. “Did you hear what I said?”

“Yes…” Rylee’s voice was a faint whisper. She swallowed and spoke again. “W-what did they want?”

“Well, you of course!” She heard Mya’s familiar laughter through the phone. “They wanted to know where you were.”

Rylee was filled with panic. “You didn’t —”

“Relax, babe,” Drew spoke up. “We didn’t tell them where you were.”

“What did they say?” Rylee was almost afraid to hear the answer.

“They said that they’ve been trying to contact you,” Mya told her. “They also said that they didn’t find out that you came to see them until yesterday.”

They never knew? It really shouldn’t have surprised her as much as it did. “I should have known.” Rylee snorted. “Their mother hates me.”

“Well, she may hate you, but they obviously love you very much,” Drew commented.

“Did they say that?” Rylee sat there with her mouth open, torn between elation and disbelief. “Yeah, they did.” Drew sighed. “Look, Rylee, as angry as I was at those two assholes for how they treated you, I still believed them when they said they were sorry and that they still loved you.”

“So…what are you going to do?” Mya asked.

Scream…laugh…cry. “I don’t know.” She closed her eyes, and leaned her head against the back of her chair. “Listen, I have to go,” she told her friends. “I’ll call you later tonight.”

“Okay, babe,” Drew said. The concern in his voice echoed through the phone. “Just promise us that you’ll call if you need us before then.”

Rylee smiled. “I promise, sweetie.”

“We love you just like Nick and Noah do,” Mya told her. “Well…maybe not just like they do. But…you know what I mean.”

Rylee couldn’t help but laugh. “I do know — and I love you both, too. I’ll talk to you soon.”

She hung up the phone and sat at her desk for several minutes. Finally, she picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number.

“Hi…Ethan. It’s me…Rylee. I was just wondering…is that Weisman property still available?”

Chapter Twenty-eight

“Thanks, Mya.” Nick hung up the phone and rubbed his hand across his face. It had been almost two months since they’d learned from Rylee’s friends that she’d moved to another city. Her friends still hadn’t been able to convince her to contact them. And he still hadn’t been able to convince them to tell him where she was.

But he couldn’t be angry with them. Rylee’s friends were fiercely loyal to her, and it was obvious to Nick that they would do anything to protect her.

In the weeks after they’d learned Rylee had left, he and Noah had spoken to Mya and Drew several times by phone, and Nick had grown to really like and respect them even more than he had before.

There was one good thing that had come out of the situation. Although Rylee’s friends still wouldn’t tell him where she was, they’d been more than willing to tell him the real story behind what happened that night.

Nick could feel his throat tightening, and he had to swallow back his own emotions as he thought about Rylee trying to juggle two jobs, willingly sacrificing everything in her life just so that she could be a part of theirs. And every time he remembered the way he and Noah had treated her that night, he felt physically sick. Nick knew they didn’t deserve a woman like Rylee, but he refused to give her up. The thought of never being with her, never seeing her again, was more than he could bear.

He was still sitting there, lost in thought, when Leslie burst into the small office.

“Hey!” She was breathless, her face flushed with excitement. “There’s a client outside who needs to see you. Right now.”

Nick leaned back in his chair and blew out an impatient breath. “I can’t deal with a client right now, Leslie. You go talk to them. Or, make José do it.”

“No, it has to be you,” Leslie persisted.

“What the fuck do you mean, it has to be me?” Irritation laced Nick’s voice, and he frowned.

“The client specifically asked for either you or Noah,” Leslie explained, seemingly unfazed by his attitude. “And, since Noah’s not back from his delivery yet, that just leaves you.”

“I really don’t need this shit right now, Leslie.” He glared at her, thoroughly annoyed with the entire conversation.

“Trust me on this, Nick. You’ll want to talk to this client.” Leslie smiled mischievously.

“Goddammit!” Nick practically shouted. He pushed away from the desk and stood up so fast, he almost knocked his chair over.

“This client had better be as important as you claim, or your ass is fired!” he threatened.

Nick walked to the office door and yanked it open. He hoped that he didn’t look as pissed off as he felt. “Hi, I’m sorry to keep —” His words died in his throat at the sight of that familiar red hair. She turned around, and Nick found himself staring into amber eyes.

“Rylee?!” He was just thankful that he was still gripping the door, because it was the only thing that was keeping him from falling to the floor at that moment. Rylee nodded and smiled hesitantly. “Hi, Nick.”

He was too busy staring at her to respond. Just the sight of her still managed to leave him speechless.

Nick saw her smile fade away, and a slight frown took its place. He realized that he still hadn’t spoken. So many questions raced through his mind, he didn’t know where to begin.

He