Free Finally Finn (Los Rancheros #4) by Brandace Morrow Page B

the
city and sell the house, Annie didn’t want to go. She loved the
lakes. So Aiden bought the house with every dollar he had and some
of mine. They got married at the back of the property. There’s a
cabin right next to the lake and they spent their honeymoon
there.
    “I never stopped being her friend, but she
didn’t want anything more from me. I took what she offered, because
anything less wasn’t bearable. I had girlfriends, but would watch
her. She didn’t care, she was happy for me. I couldn’t feel that
happiness for her. She had never even kissed me and I was so
jealous I could barely be around them at all.” Batty sighs and
shakes his head. I’ve barely breathed, not moving a muscle since he
started for fear that he would realize I was there and stop
talking.
    “I got trashed one night. Drunk enough to
kiss Annie.” He laughs without humor. “It was horrible. I had been
dreaming about her forever, but that kiss was not what it was
supposed to be. I thought heaven would open up and angels sing. I
realized about seven years too late that she wasn’t for me. She
cried, and told me she was pregnant.
    “It didn’t hurt as bad as I thought, you
know? Before the kiss it would have killed me. After it was an
ache, but I was happy for them.” Batty sniffs.
    “They had been trying to get pregnant for a
long time, probably two years. She had abnormal bleeding that they
thought was because she had been on the pill for so long, but she
was all about the life here, organic everything, no doctors, only
herbal shit, the whole thing. When she found out she was pregnant,
it was a relief for all of us. She would cry every time she would
get a period, and I wasn’t supposed to know that shit but Aiden and
I had gotten closer and I was still Annie’s best friend. She would
get depressed every time.
    “She went to a midwife, and when the tests
came back, they were abnormal. She was sent to the hospital, they
did more tests and found out at the same time that she was pregnant
with twins, and had cervical cancer.” Batty breathes a deep breath
out of his mouth.
    “It didn’t take five minutes for Aiden to ask
for an abortion and hysterectomy, and Annie to say she didn’t want
any treatment until after the babies were born. They fought
constantly. Finally, Aiden flew in specialists that said they could
start treatment after the first trimester, but the cancer was
severe. Everyone recommended an immediate hysterectomy.
    “She was put on bed rest, then bed rest at
the hospital because she would just start bleeding. Annie knew she
was choosing her babies’ lives over her own, but she didn’t care
about that. They always came first.
    “There was a chance the babies would be
miscarried or come early so she spent a lot of time at the
pediatric oncology unit. That was her favorite place to be. Aiden
couldn’t take her there, so I did. Those kids gave her the courage,
I think. She couldn’t wait to have the babies and start treatment
because those little kids were doing it.
    “Hannah and Bridgette were born too early.
Annie almost bled out. It was a fucking mess. She had the
hysterectomy, and started chemo almost immediately afterwards, but
. . .” he trails off and watches the moon.
    “Aiden wouldn’t leave her, ever. Wouldn’t go
see his kids. They were so tiny and on monitors that helped them
breathe and everything. He didn’t go to work anymore, so I did
that.”
    “Where did you work before?” I chance asking.
He’s been talking for a long, long time. He snorts and my eyebrows
rise in surprise.
    “I was a bouncer at a club.” He looks over
with a smile and waits for my reaction.
    “Shut the fuck up!” I yell, pushing his
shoulder, just for effect.
    “Yeah, I was dirt poor and living with my
dad.”
    “Hey, some things don’t change.” I smile. He
smirks and throws an arm around my shoulders.
    “I didn’t know how to do shit when I got into
the office. Aiden just signed over full rights to me to