My heart dropped into my stomach, and I felt my lips tighten.
So there it was.
Clearly I’d pushed Saint into doing something he didn’t want to do, and he couldn’t work with me any longer. The guy hadn’t even had the decency to contact me himself.
I took a deep breath and held it a few beats before blowing it out. My chest hurt and I felt tired all of a sudden. After powering my phone completely off and shoving it in a kitchen drawer, I returned to my seat at the table and swirled my fork through my spaghetti. There was no way I could put another bite of it past my lips. I’d completely lost my appetite.
Charlie placed a hand on my arm. “What’s going on?” he asked in his sexy lilt.
I felt my eyes prickle and clenched my jaw to force the emotion away before speaking.
“I met someone,” I said. And it came out sounding like the worst news ever. Because it was.
“Holy shit, Augie. That’s fantastic.”
I rolled my eyes at him before shaking my head.
“Okay. It’s not fantastic,” he said with a laugh. A beat later he softened his voice. “Who is it?”
Suddenly the tears sprang past my defenses, and I was powerless to stop them.
“It’s Saint,” I said in a choked whisper.
“Och, sweetie.” Charlie pulled me into a comforting hug.
Thank goodness he was so kind and affectionate. It felt good to be babied for a minute.
“You’re not the only one to find himself under the Wilde spell,” he said after a while, pulling back with a knowing smile. “Let’s open another beer, and then you can tell me all about it.”
So I did. And then I told him why none of it mattered anyway. Since I’d fucked it all up.
Chapter 26
Saint
I’d been in heaven, curled up around Augie’s body in his big bed when one of our phones lit up somewhere in the room. I’d carefully extracted myself from his embrace and got out of bed to find it. It was my phone, and when I reached it, I saw a text from my sister.
MJ: At Neckie’s place. The baby’s coming early, but she won’t let me call ambulance or go to hospital. Pls call asap.
I’d flipped my phone on mute earlier, so I realized in addition to the text, I’d also missed some calls from her. Shit.
After slipping my clothes back on, I debated whether or not to wake Augie. He looked so peaceful, and I knew he’d been stressed lately because of work and the break-in. I decided to let him sleep and leave him a note instead.
I leaned over and kissed him on the forehead, keeping my lips pressed against his skin for several long moments so I could inhale the scent of him all warm and sleepy in bed. God, he was beautiful. The selfish part of me wanted to strip down and slide back under the covers with him, but the responsible brother in me knew I needed to go.
MJ was my twin, and she needed me.
Before I left, I found a scrap piece of paper in the kitchen and scribbled a note to Augie, apologizing for leaving without waking him and explaining that I was going to help MJ and Neckie. I slipped into the master bathroom and set the note on the mirror behind the sink faucet so he’d see it first thing.
Once I got on the road, I called MJ to get an update on Neckie. She’d gone into premature labor, and the baby was coming whether it was ready or not. But because Neckie was all new age and natural, she insisted on maintaining her home birthing plan.
The woman lived in one of the most secluded cabins on the far side of the lake. It was closer to Oklahoma than to Hobie, and I’d never understood why she’d never chosen to move closer since she owned a business in Hobie.
When I got to Neckie’s little treehouse in the woods, there were already half a dozen vehicles there I recognized. Thankfully, I saw West’s truck as well as Hudson’s ex-girlfriend Darci’s car. Having a doctor and nurse on site helped me let out a breath.
Doc and Grandpa opened the door, but instead of letting me in, they hustled me right back outside.
“You don’t want to go in there,” Grandpa said. “MJ is in the zone as Neckie’s coach, and if she sees you, she’s going to lose her focus and let her worry overtake her.”
“How’s Neckie doing?”
“She’s having a tough time of it, but Darci brought a labor and delivery nurse friend of hers who’s helping. I can tell West is trying his hardest not to be a doctor in there.”
“Why not? She needs a doctor, doesn’t she? I thought she had high blood pressure?”
Doc reached for Grandpa’s hand as they walked farther away from the front door. “She does, but Elena is more experienced with birth complications than West is. He and I are both here in case Elena needs assistance, but Neckie really wanted to do this at home without medical intervention. We have to respect her birth plan.”