Dorothy speaks. “Looks like you finally got the courage to make a move, Ryder.”
“More like I finally got out of my own way,” Ryder says.
“’Bout time.” Dorothy claps her hands together and smiles. “You hear that, Amelia? Your dad and Ember…”
“Are they sitting in a tree?” Amelia says in a sing-song voice. “K-I-S-S-I-N-G?”
My cheeks flush.
“You better believe it,” Ryder boasts.
Amelia hops off the bed, runs to me, and wraps her arms around my legs.
“I knew it. I knew my prayers would be answered.”
If I wasn’t already head over heels in love with her, I sure as hell would be now.
CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT
Ryder
Five minutes.
We’ve been standing in his room for five minutes, and Norah has yet to acknowledge her own daughter. With Amelia wrapped around Ember’s legs, my attention focuses on Norah.
“Outside. Now,” I direct Norah in a hushed voice.
Norah gives Ember a sugary sweet smile as she walks past her into the hallway. Seemingly unphased, Ember grabs my hand on the way out, giving it a squeeze of support.
“God, I’ve missed you,” Norah says when I join her. She moves to hug me, but I step in the opposite direction to dodge her embrace.
“You’re kidding me, right?” The idea is comical. She missed me? She’s the one who tore us apart. None of that matters, though. That’s not what this is about. It’s not why we’re out here.
“You’re the one who pushed me away.”
“You cheated on me.” My voice is louder than it should be, considering we’re in a hospital. This isn’t the place to have this conversation, but I’m sure as hell not extending any kind of invitation to her.
Norah opens her mouth to speak, but I cut her off.
“This isn’t about us. This is about Amelia. Our daughter. Remember her? The one you abandoned? The one you never told me about?”
“How was I supposed to tell you, huh? You ran off.”
“That’s rich coming from you.”
“I left her in good hands.”
“She needed her mother.”
“Is that what your little girlfriend is doing? Playing mommy to our daughter?” She stresses the ‘our’ as if somehow it makes a difference or matters in some way. “Don’t get me wrong, she seems sweet, but we both know it won’t last. There are only two things in life you love. The army… and me.”
I step closer to her, my voice low and harsh. “Any love I had for you went out the window the moment I saw you with Eric. And any residual thoughts or feelings? They died the moment I found out you kept Amelia from me.”
Norah looks as though I’ve slapped her, and maybe I have with the truth.
“You mean nothing to me anymore. The only two people who do? They’re in that room.”
I turn on my heel to join them.