softly.
“Really?”
“Yes,” she said slowly, thrown by his disturbingly polite voice. “I realize I’ve confused things, Jason. Muddled up the relationship.”
“Which was…what, exactly?”
“Uh…”
At her inability to put it into words, he let out a breath, revealing more frustration and a measure of temper. She’d finally busted through his infinite patience, which was quite the feat.
“You don’t want to answer?” he asked. “Or you don’t have an answer?”
She squirmed. Okay, so this whole talking thing had been a bad idea. “Here’s the exit,” she said, gesturing to the first off-ramp for San Luis Obispo.
“Code for shut up, Jason.” He got off the freeway and drove straight to the hospital’s emergency room entrance. “Go ahead,” he said wearily. “I’ll find you.”
“Jase-”
“Go.”
Right. She ran out of the car and into the hospital, thinking about his words.
Bottom line-he was there for her, through thick and thin and storms and panic attacks. He was there for her for anything.
Who was there for him?
At the registration desk, she was directed to a room where she found her sister sitting up in the hospital bed, wearing a gown and a wrist bracelet signaling that she’d been admitted.
“Lizzy.” Cece’s eyes went bright with unshed tears.
Lizzy rushed forward, so full of anxiety and worry she could hardly breathe as she reached for her sister, hugging her. “You had the baby.”
“Yes. I had her.”
“Her?” Lizzy’s heart leaped into her throat. “It’s a her? Is she okay? Are you okay? Where is she?”
“Right here.”
Lizzy turned toward the tall, built, biker guy.
Holding a baby.
He looked at Cece, who nodded, and then he held the baby out to Lizzy, who took the bundle from his warm, solid arms.
“Meet Hope,” Cece said, her voice soft and thick.
Lizzy stared down at the sweetest, most serene little face, at the perfect bow lips and bright eyes. “Oh, Cece,” she whispered, awed beyond words. “It’s your mini-you.”
“Told you,” the man murmured to Cece, and then with an undeniable familiarity, stroked his hand down her arm.
Cece didn’t sock him. She didn’t shove him away. She didn’t flinch.
Instead, she smiled with her entire heart in her eyes.
Lizzy stared at the admittedly amazing-looking biker. “I’m sorry, who are you again?”
“My angel,” Cece said.
“You’re not the doctor,” Lizzy said.
“No,” he agreed. “I’m Hunter Bryant.”
Cece entwined her fingers in his and gave him a sweet smile that blew Lizzy away. “Hunter delivered Hope,” Cece said.
In Lizzy’s arms, Hope cooed, and Lizzy stared down at her, heart melting into a little puddle at her feet. “Hope,” she whispered, smiling as the baby yawned and stretched.
“Seemed fitting,” Cece said.
Hunter smiled down at the baby, then at Cece. “It sure did.”
“Okay.” Lizzy divided a look between them. “Okay, what exactly happened out there in that cursed storm?”
“It wasn’t a cursed storm.” Cece smiled up at Hunter. “It brought me a miracle. Two miracles.”
Jason appeared in the doorway, looking rumpled, edgy and exhausted. And yet when he saw Lizzy, his mouth curved, the smile reaching those gray eyes, softening him.
And Lizzy’s breath caught. Cece was right. It hadn’t been a cursed storm, not for her, either. Not even close…“Jason, come look.”
Pushing away from the door, he moved close, shoulder to shoulder with her as he looked down at Hope. “She’s beautiful.” He touched the baby’s cheek, his face softening even more into a sweet smile. He looked up at Cece. “Just like mom.”
Cece let out another smile, this one sleepy, and she leaned her head against Hunter’s chest, further shocking Lizzy.
“It’s okay, Liz,” she murmured quietly. “He’s one of the good guys you’ve been telling me is out there.”
As the baby yawned and nodded off, Lizzy felt Jason looking down at her, and she met his gaze. He touched her cheek as gently as he’d touched the baby’s, running his thumb over her skin, catching the single tear she hadn’t realized she’d let fall. “Ah, Lizzy,” he murmured so softly as to be almost inaudible. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”
A promise. And he hadn’t failed her, not yet.
Nope, the only one who had failed here had been her.
17
THE NEXT DAY, Lizzy went into work. The electricity had been restored, but there’d been significant damage to the east wing of the E.R., plus they were inundated with patients. She’d been running for four straight hours with nothing more than a shot of caffeine in her system when she was paged to the front desk.
She went hustling down the hall. It couldn’t be Cece. Her sister was at home, doing wonderfully, and so was Hope. Lizzy had spent a couple of hours, holding her niece, stunned by the love that bubbled in her heart from just looking at the baby.
Then she’d gone to work, for the first time in her life just a little bit jealous of her sister, who had not only gotten her life together but was moving it forward.
Progress.
She needed that, too. Yeah, she’d had the UCLA thing planned, but she knew the truth now-it was no longer what her heart wanted, and hadn’t been for a long time. She’d turned down the scholarship this morning.
She’d find a new dream.
As she headed to the nurse’s station, she saw Cristina standing in front of the desk with a clipboard. She was in full firefighting gear and looked filthy. She’d probably just pulled someone out of a fire and was checking on them. Cristina’s partner, Blake, was across the hall, downing from the water fountain. Lizzy waved a hello in his direction and went straight to Cristina. “You okay?”
“I am.” Cristina accompanied this with an amused look. “You?”
“I’m fine.”
“Good, because there’s someone here to see you.” She put her hands on Lizzy’s shoulders and turned her forty-five degrees so that she could see the other side of the desk.
Where Jason stood.
Unlike how he’d been almost the entire time she’d spent with him, he was completely dry. The odd thought almost made her smile, but she didn’t. Couldn’t. Not when he was standing so close, watching her, his eyes unfathomable, his hands tucked into his pockets, a pensive look on his face that turned into a smile when he saw
