Wrapped in Lace by Prescott Lane Page A

upset about their breakup. He was still hung up on her. “So, that’s why you hate coming home. You’re in love with your brother’s wife?”
    “What?” His eyes darted to me then he scooted closer. “No, not at all.”
    But I wasn’t sure I believed him. “Then what is it?”
    He exhaled. “Ellie’s your age, a year younger than me, so she stayed here for senior year when I went off to college.”
    “You didn’t break up when you left for college?”
    “No, we never even considered that. We wanted to get married and live here, raise a family. The plan was for me to go to school then come home and run the bar with Rob. Ellie was going to join me at college after she graduated. We had the whole thing planned out.”
    “What happened?”
    “I came home for Christmas Break my freshman year. I hadn’t seen her since I left for school in August. I couldn’t wait. The distance was so hard. I walked into my parent’s house, and she was there waiting for me.” He stopped for a second. I wondered if he was deciding how much detail I needed. “She was crying, and I thought she was just emotional about me coming home. I dropped to my knee right there in my parents’ foyer in front of everyone and pulled out the tiniest diamond you’d ever seen and asked her to marry me.”
    My brain was on overload. He’d proposed to Ellie? At nineteen? He said the distance was hard, so what about the distance between us? “You proposed to her?”
    “She just started crying hysterically. My dad helped us both to our feet. I was so damn confused. Ellie couldn’t even speak. My mom, dad, and Rob all just stared at me. I begged Ellie to calm down and talk to me, but she couldn’t. She just kept sobbing.” Drew shook his head slightly. “My mom and dad each came to my side and took one of my arms. I’ll never forget the look on my dad’s face. He cleared his throat and told me Ellie was pregnant.”
    My head started spinning. I did the math. “Jack is your son!” I felt my whole body starting to shake. “Oh, my God! He’s your. . . .”
    “No, Piper, no.” Drew placed his hand on my cheek, directing my eyes to him. “That’s the thing, Ellie and I never had sex.”
    It took me a second to process what he said. “What? Ellie cheated ?” I couldn’t believe it. How could anyone cheat on someone as wonderful as Drew? I knew there was a reason I didn’t like her—skank.
    “We wanted things to be perfect. She told me she wanted to wait until we were married, to lose our virginities together on our wedding night.”
    I watched his eyes turn down. I could see the pain in them even now. I could see his heart breaking as he told me the story. “So, who. . . .”
    “Rob,” he whispered. “Rob and Ellie slept together.”
    Suddenly, I knew his heart wasn’t breaking for her. It was breaking for someone he loved even more—his brother. I felt my stomach tighten. I’d always liked Rob, but this changed everything. Male skank! “I’m so sorry.”
    Drew nodded. “Now, you know why I don’t come home. There are too many memories here. Everywhere I go, I have a memory with either Rob or Ellie. They didn’t just cheat, betray me. They stole my brother, my girlfriend, my hometown, who I wanted to be, where I wanted to live, everything.”
    “But you have a great life now—a successful business and a career you seem to love.”
    “I do, and I’m happy.”
    “What happened that Christmas? I mean, after you found out it was Rob?”
    “I just went numb, in shock, I think. I got in my truck—this truck, actually, and left. I didn’t speak to Rob or Ellie again, not until a few days ago.”
    I crawled into his lap, wanting to comfort him. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”
    “I don’t like to talk about it.”
    I had a ton of questions, and I knew he’d answer them all, but I didn’t want to make him relive any more of it, at least not right now. “Just one question?” He nodded. “How long did your