“What, and she’s not worth that?”
“I didn’t say that.” I shook my head, but I didn’t want to talk about it with Sarah anymore.
“Will you tell her I said thank you?” Her voice was thick, tears gathering in her eyes. “No one’s ever been that nice to me. Even with all the blood, she didn’t hesitate to kneel down next to me and hold my hand, talking to me about silly things to keep me calm.”
I nodded and swallowed slowly. “Yeah, I’ll tell her.”
We sat there for a few minutes, an awkward silence surrounding us. I cleared my throat and ran my hand through my hair. Now that I knew the baby wasn’t mine, I didn’t feel like I belonged there. But I couldn’t find the words to say it.
She chuckled with one eyebrow raised, like she knew what I was thinking. “You must be a horrible poker player.” I huffed. But she wasn’t wrong. “You don’t need to stay. I’ll be okay.”
“Do you want to call your mom? I can stay for a bit longer, but I think you should have someone here with you.”
She nodded. “Can I use your phone? Drew destroyed mine when he threw it against the wall.”
“Of course,” I said, pulling my phone from my pocket and handing it to her.
This fucking week.
Over the course of seven days, I had been hit with more shit than I had in my thirty years.
Bella was waiting for me and would want to talk, but I couldn’t handle that. I wasn’t in the right head space to hash things out right now.
My stomach rumbled, and I was reminded I hadn’t eaten anything since that morning. I needed food, a cold beer, and an hour with my punching bag.
Bella
“I heard BellaBuchanan was there as well,” Kelly, one of the ER nurses, said to Janet, the receptionist.
“Wait, isn’t Sarah carrying his baby? I heard they’re getting married.” Janet paused, lowering her voice like she was telling a secret. “So why would his ex-girlfriend be there?”
This was the last place I wanted to be. I couldn’t handle being the brunt of whispers and rumors again. I couldn’t fathom how news spread so quickly in this town. If you so much as coughed, everyone knew about it within ten minutes.
Obviously, the women had no idea I was there. Sitting in a chair against one of the partial walls that separated the receptionist area from the waiting room, I was out of sight.
“I don’t know, but the news is they wereawfulcozy.” Kelly snickered.
“Well, he’s definitely playing the part of a doting boyfriend to hiscurrentgirlfriend. At least from what I’ve seen,” Janet responded. The judgment in her tone made my cheeks flame.
I needed to get out of there. I should have known better. Sarah was going to be the mother of his child, and she was suffering in pain and might lose the baby. The whole situation would bring them closer, and he would need to be there for her. Whatever happened at the cabin meant nothing at this point.
I’d called Miranda from the truck on the way here to fill them in and promised to update them as soon as I knew more. Miranda mentioned Ashley was at the house and asked if we needed anything. I told her no. But now?
Pulling out my phone, I started a text to Ashley while the women moved on to different town gossip.
Me:Can you come pick me up?
Ashley:What? Why?
Me:I can’t be here any longer. Please? And can you bring me a change of clothes?
Ashley:If I come there will you tell me what’s going on? And NOT the sugar-coated bullshit you told Mom.
Me:Sure. Yes. Just get here. Please.
Janet looked up from behind the receptionist desk as Ashley walked through the sliding doors with my clothes. I stood, shielding my face with my hair, hoping to avoid being seen, but when I heard Janet gasp, I spun to face her.
“Ohmygod. How long have you been here?” she asked cautiously.