Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 94960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
She reaches over and takes my hand in hers, studying it. Running the tip of her finger over the veins on top of my hand, and then with her gaze cast down, she says, “I can tell you’re nervous.” When those browns meet my blues, they’re filled with warmth, and comfort is found inside. “Maybe even scared. Is that what you’re feeling, Harrison?”
I can only bring myself to give the minutest of nods, but it’s enough to encourage her to wrap her arms around me, and confess, “I’m scared, too.”
Something real we share has me engulfing her in my arms and kissing the top of her head. “I don’t want to fight with you. I just . . .” I know better than to say the words sitting on the tip of my tongue. Words that would put a stake in the game, and if she chose otherwise, would leave me devastated. It might already be too late for that anyway. We’ve only dated for a few weeks, but it took years to get to this stage, and I don’t want to lose her before we have a chance for more.
She tilts her head up. “You just what?”
I swallow those words down, choosing different ones based on what’s best for her. “No matter what happens, I’m not leaving you.”
Her gulp is loud enough to hear, and tears sparkle in her eyes. “Will you go with me to the doctor’s appointment tomorrow?”
This is big. Huge. Her trust in me was revealed in the form of an invitation. Any other time, she would have asked Natalie.
This time, she asked me.
24
Harrison
“Harry, I need your help,” my sister says. It sounds like she’s crying, though, which isn’t like her.
“Are you okay?” I ask, already knowing the answer. Sobs fill the line. “Madison?”
“The hospital. I need you.”
The freeway under my tires is too loud to catch everything over my Bluetooth. “Madison, where are you? You’re at the hospital? Cedars?”
There’s a long pause that has me panicking more than I am already. “Yes, Harry. Hurry . . .”
“I’m on my way, Maddie.”
The phone goes dead, and I call my eldest brother, glad Nick caught a ride with Cookie. “Dawson?” I say as soon as the connection is made, trying not to drive like a demon on a mission, though I am.
“Hey, are you back in town?” His tone is too casual for an emergency. I don’t want to break the news to my entire family, but she called me first, so the job falls on my shoulders.
“Madison just called me. She’s headed to the hospital.”
“Why? What happened?”
I change lanes to pass this fucking slow car driving in the fast lane. “We didn’t get that far, but I’d assume it’s for the baby.”
“Cedars?”
“Yes. I just got off the ferry. I’m going straight there.”
“Why are you the first to tell me if you’re just getting into LA?” Dawson is the most competitive of my brothers, if you take me out of the equation.
“I don’t know. Call Mom and Dad. I’m calling Jameson.”
“Okay. Hey, Harrison?”
I lay on my horn when some idiot cuts me off. “What?”
“Don’t speed. You getting in an accident won’t help the situation.”
“Point taken.”
Following the Decker phone tree protocol, my younger brother, Jameson, doesn’t answer. He might be sleeping in since it’s Sunday. I leave him a message and then try to call Madison back, but she doesn’t answer.
Dread settles into my bones.
We’ve been through hell the past few months, my sister most of all, only to have that fucker turn his back on her when she needed him most. While my parents sat in disbelief and disappointment, she had three brothers who not only could take care of the situation with him but would rally around her.
My mom worried about Madison only being nineteen and that a baby would derail her daughter’s dream of being an entertainment lawyer. I get it. At the time, Maddie was enrolled in college and a straight-A student.
I worried she wouldn’t live to see twenty.
Why’d she pick a bad boy? I mean, I know why girls fall for them, but a weed dealer who dabbled in nighttime street racing for bets probably doesn’t share the same long-term goals as my sister.
As predicted, he was out of the picture as soon as she told him. Things got worse for him when he tossed a few bills in her face and told her to handle it. She decided she would have the baby on her own.
I run into the ER and head for the nurses’ station. “Harrison?”
Turning to the side, my mom runs into my arms. I used to be the one rushing into hers. “What happened?”
“Dodson came around and wanted to talk to Maddie. I knew it was a bad idea.”
The name of that loser gets me angry. I almost killed him the first time he laid a hand on Madison. If my brother Dawson hadn’t been there . . . I probably wouldn’t be standing here.