Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 103356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“That was my friend, Opal. Ryleigh is sick. She’s been sick for a while, but she’s gotten worse. Linc is taking her to the doctor. And Kye too just in case.”
“Ryleigh? Who is Ryleigh?” he demanded. Was he the father of her baby? Why hadn’t she mentioned him, though?
“Peggy.” She stopped by the older woman. “I’m so sorry. I’ve got to go. Family emergency.”
Peggy eyed Tanner suspiciously as though this was his fault.
“Of course. Go.”
Lilac raced out.
“Lilac! Wait!” he demanded.
“I can’t. I have to meet them at the doctors.”
“I’ll drive you.”
She slowed, turning. “What?”
“My truck’s here.” It was right next to her. He unlocked it and she practically dove for the passenger door, opening it with fingers that fumbled.
He opened it for her and lifted her in.
“Go! Let’s go!” she said as he got in.
“Seatbelt,” he said sternly.
“Tanner, go!” she wailed.
Instead of arguing with her, he decided it was better to reach over and buckle her in.
He drove her to the doctors. She undid her belt, jumping out as he was still parking.
She was in the building before he’d even gotten out of the truck.
Oh, she was in trouble when he got his hands on her.
When he got inside, he found her talking to Hannah. To his surprise, Hannah was frowning at her. Hannah never frowned at anyone.
“Where is Ryleigh?” Lilac demanded. “Kye?”
“I’m sorry, they’re in with the doctor.”
“Where?” Lilac demanded.
“I can’t let you in there.”
“Hannah,” he said in a low voice, coming up beside Lilac. He wrapped his arm around her trembling form. “Tell her where her son is.”
He couldn’t believe this.
“Her son?” Hannah gave him a shocked look.
Lilac gaped at him. “Kye isn’t my son.”
Suddenly, the woman he’d met earlier with the big hair walked out of a room, looking around. “Lilac! Come here.”
“Opal!” Lilac rushed forward. The other woman eyed him for a long moment. “Well, Cowboy, you coming too?”
That was surprising.
But he wasn’t saying no. He stepped in, shutting the door behind him. On Doc’s exam table sat a tiny, pale woman with dark blonde hair. A baby lay on the table next to her with Doc leaning over the baby, listening to his chest.
Linc hovered next to her as Lilac moved to Doc’s other side, her hand reached out to the baby who’d started to cry.
“You can pick him up,” Doc said. “Now I need to examine you, Ryleigh.”
That was Ryleigh? Ryleigh was a woman. Good.
“I’m fine,” the woman on the exam table said. “Just look after Kye.”
Lilac had Kye in her arms, bouncing him up and down lightly. Tanner walked over to her, placing a hand on her back.
“Kye is fine,” Doc reassured her. “His lungs sound good and he doesn’t have a fever. Whatever is going on with you, you’ve all kept him from catching it.”
They all breathed out sighs of relief.
“Thank God,” Lilac muttered.
“Perhaps you could all step out while I check Ryleigh over,” Doc said.
“I’m staying,” Linc insisted.
Huh. Maybe Tanner had read things wrong. It wasn’t Lilac he was interested in. Or Opal. It was the pale, sick-looking woman on the table.
“We’ll wait for you in the waiting room, Ryleigh,” Lilac told her.
As he walked out of the room, he felt Ryleigh’s eyes on him. But he only had attention for Lilac.
They settled in the waiting room, Opal sitting across from them while Lilac still held Kye, who had fallen asleep against her.
“He’s gorgeous. How old?” he asked.
“Four weeks,” Lilac said, staring down at him worriedly. “What if he gets sick, though? What are we going to do?”
“Take him to the hospital,” Opal said. “We’ll work it all out after.”
“Of course. Of course. I’m not thinking. I was just so panicked when you called me.”
Opal winced. “Sorry, babe. I didn’t mean to scare you. I shouldn’t have called until I knew what was going on.”
“No, you were right to call me. Do you think Ryleigh is all right?”
“So, who is Ryleigh?” he asked, interrupting their conversation
They both stared at him as though they’d forgotten he was there.
Flattering.
“What do you mean? That’s Ryleigh in there.” Opal pointed at the room, giving him a look as if she was wondering if he was a few beers short of a six-pack.
“I mean, who is she to the two of you? To him?” He nodded at the baby.
“She’s our friend. And Kye’s mama,” Lilac said quietly.
“He’s really not yours?” he said. “You weren’t pregnant when we met?”
Opal made a scoffing noise and got up to go look at the pamphlets.
“You thought that? That I hid a pregnancy from you?” Lilac asked.
“I didn’t know what to think. That night, you never turned up. You didn’t reply to my messages. I thought something terrible had happened. Then I figured you’d used and discarded me. So, what is the truth, Lilac?”
Guilt hit him as a tear dripped down her cheek. “I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”