Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 135382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
His face flushed but it was obvious he wasn’t about to back down. “I was wrong. I thought we could have something too, but I was bloody well wrong. If we had something, you wouldn’t have lied to me. You wouldn’t have run away. Tell me something, Stephanie. Did you think you would see us again? Did you think you were going to die?”
Tears fell and Nate started to wriggle as though he could feel her anxiety. “Yes.”
“And never once did it occur to you to take my hand and ask for help? How would you feel if I had a disease of some kind and didn’t bother to ask you to help me because I thought if it kills me, then I probably deserved it? How would you feel? Would you feel loved? Would you feel like I was a partner to you?”
“It’s not like that.”
“But it is. It’s exactly like that.” Brody sounded wretchedly weary. “I would spend the rest of my life worried about you. And I would spend it knowing you didn’t love me enough to live for me, enough to take a little time and see yourself the way I see you.”
“It doesn’t sound like you see me in a very good light right now.”
He chuckled, a humorless sound. “That’s the funny thing. I practically see you with a halo most of the time. But Steph, we can’t work. I’m not the man who’s going to fix this for you. That’s another thing I’ve learned. I can’t fix you. You can’t fix me. But the minute I had the chance, I decided I had to fix myself. Do you think I didn’t understand what Nate’s birth meant? His birth gave me another shot at you and I’ve been a completely different person. That wasn’t merely about Nathan. I knew when I found out about him that I got another shot at you. I wanted it bad, wanted you so badly. I’ve indulged you all this time. I haven’t been thinking about the bloody present. In my mind we were already practically married and having a second kid. I always wanted us to have a future, but the first chance you got, you traded it in.”
She hadn’t. Had she? “Brody, I wasn’t thinking in those terms. I wanted to save you.”
“But you didn’t care about saving us. There has to be an us in the equation.” He scrubbed a hand over his head. “Look, we’re not going to get this settled today and I need rest. Bloody chest hurts like a train hit it.”
She stepped closer to him. He hadn’t let her help him when they were in the field. “Can I see it?”
He put a hand up. “I’m fine. Anya looked at it when we were on-site. It’s bruising, nothing more.”
“But I could help.”
“I’m not your patient, Steph. Tomorrow, why don’t we sit down and we can talk about what to do with Nate. I’m not willing to only see him on holidays. In fact, I think if you’re going back to the clinic, he should come home with me.”
She shook her head. “I can’t let my baby go.”
“Why not? You left him with me last night and you never thought you would see him again.”
Why was he being stubborn? “That was different.”
“I don’t see it that way.”
The door flew open and Charlotte Taggart was standing there, her face flushed. She wore a bathing suit and it was clear she’d run from the pool. “Stephanie, I’m sorry, we need you outside.”
“I can’t right now.” She needed to talk to Brody, had to make him see that she’d been wrong, but now she wanted to try again.
Charlotte looked back outside. “It has to wait. Please, it’s Liam. Something’s happened. We don’t know what to do.”
Brody didn’t hesitate. There was no disappointment in his eyes, mere acceptance that this was her job and everything else had to wait. “Give me the baby, Steph.”
Steph passed Nate to Brody and finally really looked at Charlotte. She was a pasty white. “What happened?”
She walked through the door and saw something terrible. Liam was on the ground with Avery at his side, trying to hold his hand. She could hear that someone was already on a cell, talking to 911. Steph ran across the lawn.
Avery looked up, tears running down her face. “I don’t know what’s wrong. One minute he was swatting at a bee and the next he collapsed. Please, Steph. Please. I don’t think he can breathe.”
She dropped to her knees. Liam O’Donnell’s handsome face was red and swollen. His eyes were barely visible. There was no question in her mind what was happening. Severe anaphylactic shock. Liam was hyperallergic to bee stings. “Does he have an EpiPen?”
Avery shook her head. “No. I didn’t know he was allergic to anything. Please, baby. Please hold on. The ambulance will be here soon.”