RaeAnne Thayne - Evergreen Springs

It was driving him crazy—and he had a feeling that was part of the reason both women he had hired to help him had lasted only a few weeks.

The doc gave him a sympathetic look. “If you’d like, I can stay with the children for a few minutes until the show is over while you have a moment alone with your sister.”

Her thoughtfulness surprised him. In his experience, physicians weren’t usually so solicitous. “It’s just a TV show. She can catch it online later. I’m sure you have other patients to attend to.”

“Right this moment, no. You actually caught us on a slow night. I’ve got to answer a few emails, which I can easily do out here while you talk to your sister for a few minutes.”

He hated needing help. It was the toughest thing about being a single father, but in this case, he decided it would be stupid to argue.

“Thanks. The minute the show is over, you can send them back.”

“No problem. I’ll buzz you back. She’s in room two.”

She swiped her name badge across the door and he walked back into the emergency department. He found the room quickly. Inside, he found his baby sister looking pale and frightened, hooked up to a whole bunch of monitors.

He hurried over and kissed her cheek. “How are things?”

“I’ve been better.” She shifted positions on the bed to try for a more comfortable spot, something that couldn’t be easy given her advanced condition. “Did you talk to Devin?”

“Briefly.”

“So she told you the ankle isn’t broken.”

“Yes. And that you’re in premature labor.”

“The beginning stages, anyway. So far the contractions have stopped.”

“What happens if they start again?” He didn’t even want to think about it.

“I’ll probably be transferred to a bigger hospital in Boise with a higher level obstetrics department and larger newborn intensive care unit. Even if they don’t start again, I’ll likely be put on strict bed rest from now to the end of the pregnancy.”

“Are the babies okay?”

Her mouth quivered a little. “They seem to be. They’re not in distress or anything, at least for now.”

“That’s the important thing. That you’re all okay.”

Her eyes filled up with tears and her hands scrunched up the edge of the blanket. “Their lungs aren’t fully developed yet. They’re still so tiny. If they’re born now, there’s a chance they’ll have to be on ventilators and might even have brain damage. Premature babies have all kinds of complications.”

“Don’t worry about things that haven’t happened yet.”

“I should have known I would screw this up, too.”

He reached for her hand and gripped it in his, helpless and worried.

“You need to call Sean and let him know what’s going on.”

Tricia’s mouth trembled slightly until she straightened it into a thin line. “No. Absolutely not.”

“Trish.”

“No. Don’t go all big-brother protective and call him. Stay out of it. He made his wishes perfectly clear. He never wanted to be a father. He doesn’t want these babies and he doesn’t want me. If you call him, I’ll never forgive you. I mean it.”

Cole wanted to tear his hair out—or his brother-in-law’s, at any rate. What he really wanted was the chance to take the man to some secluded canyon and beat the shit out of him for whatever he had done to devastate Tricia enough to walk away from their life together in California.

As tempting as it was to jump in his truck and drive from Idaho to California, violence wasn’t always the solution. Cole would just end up in prison, which wouldn’t help anyone.

Arguing with Tricia only served to make her dig her heels in harder, something she was very good at.

He sighed. “I’m only going to say this one more time, and then I’ll let it drop. These are Sean’s kids, too. However mad you might be at him, I believe he has the right to know what’s going on with the three of you.”

“Lecture duly noted,” she said, refusing to meet his gaze. Feeling like an ass at the tremble in her voice, he squeezed her fingers.

“You’ll be okay, kiddo, and so will those little lima beans in there. I have a good feeling about this.”

She sniffled a little and gave him a watery half smile. “Devin is admitting me. I guess she probably told you that.”

“Do you trust this doc? You said you know her from way back, but is that the most important thing here? I’ve been in my share of emergency rooms when I was on the circuit and I do know you have the right to be transferred by ambulance to a bigger hospital in Boise if you want another opinion, maybe from somebody who’s watched a little more water pass under the bridge.”

Tricia shook her head. “I don’t want anybody else. I know she’s young but I trust Devin. In fact, I’m going to ask her if she’ll deliver my twins when the time comes, unless they end up coming early and I need a specialist.”

“Why? You haven’t seen her in years. You know nothing about her on a professional level.”

“I’m not a complete idiot. Everybody who comes into the room raves about her, from the nurses to the receptionist to the ob-gyn we consulted.” She held up her smartphone. “I also looked her up on Google, and she has excellent reviews online.”

“And being married to a tech guy, you know you can certainly trust everything you read online.”

“I trust my gut. That’s the important thing.”

He shook his head. “Sounds like you’ve made up your mind.”

“I have.”

The woman had been very kind to stay with the kids—which reminded him that he needed to find them before they became wrapped up in another show.

“Are you okay here? I’m going to go grab the kids and get them some dinner, and then we’ll be back.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’ll be fine tonight. Take the kids home to their own beds and I’ll be in touch with you in the morning with an update.”

“Are you sure? I don’t feel good about leaving you here by yourself.”

“I’ll be fine. To be honest, after all this excitement—plus the medicine they gave me—all I want to do is sleep.”

That didn’t completely convince him, but he didn’t know what else to do but take the kids home to preserve as much routine for them as possible. He couldn’t spend all night in the waiting room with them, especially if Tricia didn’t need him.

“You’ll call or text me right away if anything changes, right?”

“Yes. Definitely.”

“If you send me a list of what you need to be more comfortable, I can run it back tonight.”

“Just my bag from the car.” She gave him a sheepish look. “I’ve had an emergency hospital bag packed for weeks. Even before I came out here, I brought it with me to Idaho and grabbed it on impulse on the way out the door this afternoon. It’s got my phone charger, a robe and some slippers and a couple of magazines I’ve been meaning to get to.”

This didn’t surprise him. Tricia was just about the most organized person he knew. It was what made her brilliant at her job as director of a nonprofit charity in San Jose.

“I’ll grab your bag. If you think of anything else, call me.”

To his alarm, she started to tear up again. “I will. Thank you, Cole. For everything. You’ve always been the one person I can count on in this world.”

He managed not to snort his disbelief. She must be on some serious drugs if she could say something so ridiculous. He hadn’t been around when she needed him. First he had been too busy partying on the circuit, then he had been paying the price for all that hard living. A good chunk of their relationship over the past decade and a half had been long-distance.

He couldn’t repair all that he had done. If he had learned one thing in prison, it was the lesson that a guy could only fix what was in front of him. He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “You know I love you, squirt.”