“Yeah, I just needed a little vacation,” I said. “The holiday was really stressful on me.”
“Well, I figured that, but that isn’t why I’m confused,” he said.
“What is it?”
“It’s just, well, Bea was in here earlier asking about how to find you,” he said. “Like literally, she checked out just a few minutes ago, maybe fifteen minutes.”
“What? Shit.” I thought about the girl climbing in her SUV. “Hold on. I’ll be right back.”
I got up from the chair and ran across the lobby and out into the parking lot. I stopped and scanned the lot until I found the place that I had seen Bea just a half an hour before. Just as I figured, the car parked there was gone, and Bea was nowhere in sight. I went back into the hotel and moped my way across the floor, sitting back down in the bar.
“Did she tell you her last name?” I asked. “Or maybe she gave you a phone number? Anything would help me out here.”
“No, unfortunately, she didn’t give me anything,” he said.
“What about Hailey? You were seeing her while she was here. Do you have her number?”
“No, I mean, she bolted that morning s
ince she was running late,” he said. “I never got the chance to get her number.”
“Damnit,” I replied. “This is insane. I really need to find her.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, she looked absolutely frantic to see you as well,” he said. “She didn’t even drink all weekend, except for some lemon water every few hours. Eventually, I just had a jug made for her and sent up to her room. She looked so tired.”
“Fuck,” I sighed. “I literally just missed her. And by that, I mean I saw a girl that I thought looked exactly like Bea climbing in her SUV before I got inside. I am pretty sure that was Bea.”
“No way,” Brian said, shaking his head.
“I just missed her,” I replied, taking a swig of my whiskey. “I can’t seem to catch a damn break.”
“Well, maybe she will come back,” he said. “I mean, I didn’t even realize her info might be in there until I saw her. But when I looked it up, she had booked everything under Hailey’s name because she gets special perks for being a frequent visitor.”
“Of course,” I replied.
This was starting to feel like I was running in circles.
Chapter 24
Eight Months Later
Bea
I stood at the hospital window, looking out at the beautiful October landscape. The trees were ablaze in vibrant colors, and I knew it wouldn’t be long until winter weather had knocked all the leaves to the ground and covered them with white once again. Until then, I got to enjoy a view that was strewn in oranges, browns, and fiery yellows. It made me miss home and sitting in my living room, getting a full view of everything around me. Soon, though, it wouldn’t be long until I could take Lily home from the hospital. Labor had been hard, but quick, and I was just glad that Hailey had gotten me there before I had her.
Once inside the hospital, Hailey fielded all the questions about where the father was while I focused on breathing through the pain. I wasn’t going to lie. Some of that pain was the absence of Cameron, and how much I struggled through the nine months that Lily was growing inside of me. However, I wasn’t angry with Cameron. He had no idea what was going on, and I had been the one to walk away without any ability to contact each other. It was the stupidest and most reckless decision of my life, and now, not only was I going to pay the price for it, but so was our daughter, possibly never knowing the wonderful man that I knew. I had spent the last eight months scouring the country for Cameron, always seeming to be two steps behind him, and never in front. It was frustrating as hell, but not surprisingly, they moved faster than I could investigate.
A small coo in my arms brought me from my thoughts, and I looked down at the face of my beautiful little girl. She wriggled in my arms, and I looked down at her, in awe that I created such a beautiful little human being. She was perfect in every way, from her dark curly hair to her eyes that at the moment matched mine. Up to that point, I had no idea that you could love something as much as I loved Lily, and I wanted so badly to share that with Cameron.
I sat down on the edge of the bed and laid Lily down, unwrapping her and then re-swaddling her blanket around her. She had the most perfect ten fingers and ten toes that I had ever seen. Her eyes glimmered in the lights, and her face puckered and released, waiting to be close to me once again. There was more of a rush of need to have Cameron in my life than there ever was before. I wanted to protect and provide for this little girl, and in fact, it was more than a want. It was a deep primal need that flooded me every time I looked at her innocent little face. She was given to me as a gift from the universe, and it was my responsibility to make the best choices I could on her behalf, and that included making sure that her father knew she existed. I knew how important that daddy-daughter bond really was, especially since I had a father of my own.
“Hey, hey,” Hailey whispered as she came through the door. “Where is that beautiful little girl of mine?”
She walked into the room, carrying bags of stuff, but she set them down on the bed and walked straight over to me and Lily, taking her from me and cradling her close. She was the only person in the world that I trusted with Lily, and I smiled as she baby-talked her. She was going to be a fantastic aunt to Lily.
“How are you feeling?”
“Sore, tired, and overwhelmed.” I laughed. “But completely and totally in love with that little girl.”