Julianne, Carly, and Nicky rushed into the kitchen to find her gasping, tears running down her face.

“Annabeth, where have you been?” Julianne raced toward her mother-in-law, panicked by her distress. “I’ve been trying to call you since I got here yesterday.”

Carly pulled out a chair and Annabeth sat down, her face a mixture of smiles and tears.

“Well, we’ve been trying to call the two of you for the past hour,” Annabeth said.

Carly grabbed her purse off the table and pulled out her cell phone. “Ohmigosh! She’s right. Shane, too.” She yelped as she read the text message on the screen. “It’s over, Jules. The hearing never took place!”

Julianne looked from her friend to her mother-in-law. “Is this true? Will didn’t have to testify?”

Annabeth shook her head as her smile beamed. “Nope. He wasn’t even named by Coach Zevalos as one of the offenders. Will is totally cleared.”

Shaking with relief and joy, Julianne retrieved her own cell phone, desperately hoping for a message from Will. Her body sagged as she scanned the screen and saw only missed calls from Annabeth.

“Give him time,” Annabeth whispered as she came up beside her, draping an arm over her shoulder. “He needs to process everything first.”

Leaning a head on the older woman’s shoulder, Julianne pushed out a breath. She’d never been a very patient person, and giving Will time was killing her. Hopefully, though, when Will processed everything, he’d see she hadn’t meant to hurt him.

“You did something to make this happen, didn’t you?” Julianne asked.

“Nothing that I shouldn’t have done years ago,” Annabeth confessed. “But the less you know the better.”

Julianne smiled at her. “I’m just glad it worked out.”

“The rest of it is going to work out, too,” she reassured Julianne. “You’ll see.”

“You still haven’t answered my question, though. Where have you been?”

Annabeth’s face flushed beneath her broad smile.

Julianne actually laughed. “Never mind. Your face just told me everything I need to know.” She hugged her mother-in-law. “Good for you. At least one of us is happy.”

“Hey!” Carly clicked off her cell phone. “Shane says they’re having a big party at the training facility. Roscoe and Will are supposed to get there soon. Jules, let’s get Owen and bring him.”

A spasm of misery clenched in Julianne’s stomach. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. At least not for me to go.” She turned to Annabeth. “You should take Owen, though. Will would want to show his son off to his teammates.”

“Oh, no you don’t, Julianne.” Annabeth’s hands were on her hips. “There’s no chickening out anymore. You two are going to resolve this if I have to lock you both in a room together.”

“Oooo,” Carly chimed in. “I know the perfect room, too. Shane and I had a nice little talk in there once. It was very productive.” Her grin and rosy cheeks told Julianne that a lot more than talking went on between Carly and Shane in that room.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Carly, get the baby.”

Nicky excused himself, saying he had business in Washington. The two women somehow managed to get Owen packed up quickly, bundling him and Julianne into the car before she could protest. When they arrived at the facility, the celebration was in full swing. All that was missing was the guest of honor.

Shane greeted them at the door, hugging both Annabeth and Julianne before wrapping his wife up in his arms. “Hey there, Dorothy,” he murmured, using his favorite pet name for Carly before kissing her soundly. He pulled away a little reluctantly, their gazes still locked in a form of nonverbal communication that hinted of something more to come later.

Julianne bit her lip to keep from weeping out of sheer jealousy. She and Will had briefly had that.

Hank slipped an arm around Annabeth, and Julianne’s anguish gnawed a little harder in her belly. Everywhere she looked she saw happy people, happy couples. Coming here was a ridiculously bad idea. She turned to make her escape, but Brody blocked her way.

“Little dude,” he said, holding his arms out for Owen. “Come to Uncle Brody and I’ll introduce you to the guys.”

He had the baby out of her arms before she could stop him. Owen squealed with delight. Tears stung her eyes as she realized even her infant son was having a better time than she was.

“Julianne.”

She whipped around, and her heart leaped as she once again found herself peering past Roscoe in search of Will. But he was nowhere to be found. She pulled in a deep, calming breath, forcing her gaze back to Will’s agent.

“I owe you an apology,” Roscoe said, sheepishly. “It seems I jumped to some very wrong conclusions about you.”

Julianne was too stunned to reply.

“Your brother set Will straight today, though. And he, in turn, set me straight. The assumptions I made were totally off base. Even under the defense of protecting a client and friend. I sincerely apologize.”

Julianne hadn’t heard a word past the part about Stephen setting Will straight. “Stephen spoke to Will today?” she repeated.

“Thank goodness for miracles,” Annabeth said from somewhere behind Roscoe.

“Yeah.” Roscoe stepped back to include Annabeth, Hank, Carly, and Shane in the conversation. “Right after the hearing was canceled. He explained that you didn’t know anything about the hearing. You were simply defending Will, and your brother took advantage.” He looked around, confused. “Will didn’t tell you your brother spoke to him?”

“I haven’t seen Will.”

Julianne’s heart was pounding as if she’d raced up ten flights of stairs. Will knew the truth. Could this possibly mean they could start again? Her knees began to shake and she reached out a hand to steady herself on something. Brody appeared at her side, propping her up.

“Whoa. Are you okay?” he asked.

She was definitely not okay. Instead, she was a quivering mass of nerves as she searched the crowded room for any sign of her husband.

“Will didn’t bring you here?” Roscoe asked, a touch of concern in his voice.

“No,” Annabeth answered for her. “Carly and I brought her.”

“I don’t understand. I dropped Will off at his car an hour ago. He was on his way to talk to you.”

The bottom fell out of Julianne’s stomach, and she gripped more tightly onto Brody’s arm.

“We just left there,” Annabeth said, reaching for her cell phone. “Maybe we crossed paths.”

“No. Like I said, he would have been there almost an hour ago.” Roscoe pulled out his own phone.

But Will hadn’t come to the house. And suddenly, Julianne saw the situation through his eyes. Will was giving up without a fight, most likely figuring he wasn’t worthy of a relationship. She was familiar with his game plan because it had been her own rationale right up until a few weeks ago. Now, she realized true love was messy and worth fighting for. Fury replaced her anguish and Julianne ripped her arm off Brody’s, her weak legs suddenly strengthened by anger. The idiot Neanderthal was jumping to conclusions—again. This time, though, she wasn’t going to let him get away with it.

Annabeth and Roscoe were dialing their cell phones to no avail. Will was off playing the martyr somewhere. Most likely at his loft.

She turned to Brody. “Take me to him. Now.”

Brody flinched minutely at her words, but then his mouth curled in a devilish smile. “Your wish is my command.”

Julianne stalked out of the room. Brody took a few steps before turning back and grabbing Roscoe and Shane’s cell phones out of their hands. “No way am I gonna let you boys warn him. I’d hate to spoil William the Conqueror’s ass-wuppin’.”

* * *

Will tossed the pizza boxes and take-out containers into the large trash bag. His loft was a mess. Thirty years as a neat freak and in one week it had all gone to hell. Time to right the ship. Still dressed in his suit, minus the torturous tie, Will had immediately set out to clean the place up once he arrived home. At the very least, it would keep his mind off Julianne.

As he loaded dishes into the dishwasher, he heard the key turn in the front door lock. Shit! He huffed out an exasperated sigh.

“Dammit, Brody, I should have broken every one of your million-dollar fingers last night and taken my key back.”

When Brody didn’t respond with his typical sarcastic retort, Will turned around. His lungs seized. It wasn’t Brody standing on the other side of his kitchen counter, but Julianne. The rest of his body heated up at the sight of her. Wearing a dress that looked like it untied with the pull of a string, she wobbled slightly on her wedge heels before purposely striding toward him. Silently she placed the key on the counter. Then she slid off her wedding band and dropped it down beside the key. The ping of the gold hitting granite reverberated throughout Will’s nerve endings.

He stood frozen as she maneuvered through the living area, littered with Owen’s baby items and a week’s worth of laundry. She glanced at the sofa he’d been using as a bed, piled high with a pillow and blankets. Reaching down, she pulled out the Elmo doll Owen had been gumming the day before.

Owen!

“Where’s Owen?” The words came out raspy because he was still struggling to catch his breath.

She looked over her shoulder at him, and something flared in her amber eyes. He thought it looked a little like seduction, but he figured that was just wishful thinking on his part.

Her full lips curved slightly. “He’s at the party. The one your friends and teammates threw for you.”

Nope, definitely not seduction. Will flinched from the bite of her sarcasm. His teammates would take his absence as another affront, but he hadn’t felt in the mood for a party after realizing he couldn’t hold her in their marriage.