plays in my mind, a dream I’ve had two or three times, is of the river that runs through Nick’s property, the same one that wiped out the Leandro homes. When we crossed it on his bike, it carried parts of people’s home, parts of their lives. Debris.
I can see it in my mind’s eye, the way I saw it in my dream, but now the rushing water takes other things. My nursing scrubs. A pair of fatigues. And a child’s doll dressed in a little jumper. The memory makes me shiver. I sink into the bedding, wishing it all would go away. Nick. My strange dreams. Even Sydney. I feel utterly spent.
All I know is that I have nowhere to go. I can’t stay at this motel. I can’t go back to Susanna’s apartment, and I for sure can’t go back home. My mother made it perfectly clear I wasn’t welcome. Not pregnant.
Don’t come running to me with your problem .
That’s what she said just before she hung up on me.
The sound of a zipper draws me from my fretful thoughts, and I open my eyes just as Nick picks me up.
He looks down at me, his grey eyes cold and angry. “Don’t scream.”
Chapter Nineteen
Nick
Owning several roofing companies is rewarding. In my early twenties, just out of prison with nothing more than a few tools and a work ethic, I started my first business. I put in long hours and did the work of three men. By the time I was twenty-eight, I was netting a quarter of a million a year. At thirty-two it’s twice that.
Not bad for a felon.
One of the perks is that over the years, I’ve done favors for a few people. One of them is Judge Harding. People call him Judge Hard Ass. While the man is a son of a bitch in the courtroom, he’s a teddy bear everywhere else. He presided over my case and sent me to prison, but he intervened when new evidence turned up. The man who put me behind bars is going to marry me and Bailey. Life changes. That’s for sure.
As I drive down his long, tree-lined driveway, the house comes into view. The metal roof glints in the afternoon sunshine.
“Now that’s a fine roof,” I say.
Bailey’s not saying a word and hasn’t the entire four hours it took to drive from Leandro to Fulton. The trip took five times longer than it should have because we had to backtrack a few times to avoid washed out roads, but we’re here now and Harding is ready for us. He stands in his doorway, waving. His wife stands beside him with a big smile on her face.
I can tell she loves weddings the way Gran and Olivia and just about every female does. Too bad this isn’t going to be one of those weddings. I pat my pocket and feel the outline of the ring I bought this morning. I have no idea if it will fit but at least I have one to put on her finger. Platinum band. Oval diamond. Four carets.
Bailey glances at me. Her expression is taut. Wary.
I get out, circle the truck and open her door.
“Bailey,” I say quietly. “If something happens like you get sick or hurt who would talk to the doctors?”
She shakes her head, staring at me in bewilderment.
“Sydney?” I ask.
“No.” Her voice is small and she looks a little offended by my questions.
“Your mother?”
“I don’t know.”
“Let’s see, she’s in California. Am I right?”
“Yes…”
“And she’s not exactly crazy about you being pregnant. Right?”
She draws a sharp breath that sounds almost painful. Her shoulders heave and her eyes fill with tears. “No. She isn’t.”
I lower my voice. “So, that means you have no one.”
A few tears spill and roll down her face. She swipes them away looking at me with pure fury.
“And if you have no one, the baby has no one.”
She squeezes her lids shut and presses the palms of her hands against her eyes.
“Which is why the two of us are going into this nice man’s house and we’re going to say our vows.”
She’s shaking her head and her breathing is coming faster, like she’s sobbing.
“I don’t want to do that,” she whispers.
I wait, glance back at the Judge
I can see it in my mind’s eye, the way I saw it in my dream, but now the rushing water takes other things. My nursing scrubs. A pair of fatigues. And a child’s doll dressed in a little jumper. The memory makes me shiver. I sink into the bedding, wishing it all would go away. Nick. My strange dreams. Even Sydney. I feel utterly spent.
All I know is that I have nowhere to go. I can’t stay at this motel. I can’t go back to Susanna’s apartment, and I for sure can’t go back home. My mother made it perfectly clear I wasn’t welcome. Not pregnant.
Don’t come running to me with your problem .
That’s what she said just before she hung up on me.
The sound of a zipper draws me from my fretful thoughts, and I open my eyes just as Nick picks me up.
He looks down at me, his grey eyes cold and angry. “Don’t scream.”
Chapter Nineteen
Nick
Owning several roofing companies is rewarding. In my early twenties, just out of prison with nothing more than a few tools and a work ethic, I started my first business. I put in long hours and did the work of three men. By the time I was twenty-eight, I was netting a quarter of a million a year. At thirty-two it’s twice that.
Not bad for a felon.
One of the perks is that over the years, I’ve done favors for a few people. One of them is Judge Harding. People call him Judge Hard Ass. While the man is a son of a bitch in the courtroom, he’s a teddy bear everywhere else. He presided over my case and sent me to prison, but he intervened when new evidence turned up. The man who put me behind bars is going to marry me and Bailey. Life changes. That’s for sure.
As I drive down his long, tree-lined driveway, the house comes into view. The metal roof glints in the afternoon sunshine.
“Now that’s a fine roof,” I say.
Bailey’s not saying a word and hasn’t the entire four hours it took to drive from Leandro to Fulton. The trip took five times longer than it should have because we had to backtrack a few times to avoid washed out roads, but we’re here now and Harding is ready for us. He stands in his doorway, waving. His wife stands beside him with a big smile on her face.
I can tell she loves weddings the way Gran and Olivia and just about every female does. Too bad this isn’t going to be one of those weddings. I pat my pocket and feel the outline of the ring I bought this morning. I have no idea if it will fit but at least I have one to put on her finger. Platinum band. Oval diamond. Four carets.
Bailey glances at me. Her expression is taut. Wary.
I get out, circle the truck and open her door.
“Bailey,” I say quietly. “If something happens like you get sick or hurt who would talk to the doctors?”
She shakes her head, staring at me in bewilderment.
“Sydney?” I ask.
“No.” Her voice is small and she looks a little offended by my questions.
“Your mother?”
“I don’t know.”
“Let’s see, she’s in California. Am I right?”
“Yes…”
“And she’s not exactly crazy about you being pregnant. Right?”
She draws a sharp breath that sounds almost painful. Her shoulders heave and her eyes fill with tears. “No. She isn’t.”
I lower my voice. “So, that means you have no one.”
A few tears spill and roll down her face. She swipes them away looking at me with pure fury.
“And if you have no one, the baby has no one.”
She squeezes her lids shut and presses the palms of her hands against her eyes.
“Which is why the two of us are going into this nice man’s house and we’re going to say our vows.”
She’s shaking her head and her breathing is coming faster, like she’s sobbing.
“I don’t want to do that,” she whispers.
I wait, glance back at the Judge
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