His discourteous tone made Sammi gasp, but the older woman was either too inebriated to notice his rudeness or too self-involved to recognize that it was her offensive treatment of her daughter that had irritated him.
“This is Celeste,” Sammi introduced, her gaze shifting back and forth like a wary mouse caught between two predators.
“I’m Samantha’s mother.” Celeste stared daggers at Sammi. “I suppose this is who you’ve been spending time with instead of working? I can’t believe you dumped Ty to take up with him.”
Couldn’t the woman see how fragile Sammi was? Oliver rocked onto his toes, but the urge to shove the abusive woman out of the way and propel Sammi into the apartment dimmed at her stricken look. Although she’d mentioned an argument with her mother, this unhealthy family dynamic was more extreme than he’d expected. And from Sammi’s tension, Oliver could see how much it pained her.
Questions bombarded him. Why hadn’t she separated herself from this noxious environment? Obviously, her mother didn’t have Sammi’s best interest at heart.
Celeste’s voice shifted from accusation to woe as she added, “Why are you so determined to punish me?”
“She’s been in the hospital.” Oliver ground out the words, his anger barely suppressed.
He expected the news would provoke a dramatic change in the woman’s behavior, but her next reaction he didn’t see coming.
“Oh, thank heavens,” she said, displaying yet another quicksilver change in mood. “I was worried you wouldn’t do the right thing and take care of it. Now you can keep working.”
Celeste’s obvious delight was a crushing blow, and both Sammi and Oliver stiffened at her mother’s shocking insensitivity. That Celeste believed she knew what was best for Sammi without asking her daughter’s opinion knocked the breath from Oliver’s lungs. He glanced over at Sammi, concern escalating as the blood drained from her already pale face. She looked devastated and utterly defeated. Oliver’s temper flared at Celeste’s lack of concern for her pregnant daughter’s well-being.
“She was in an accident,” he declared, charging into the fray like a white knight to defend a damsel in distress. It wasn’t a role that he had much experience with, but Sammi seemed incapable of standing up for herself. “She was knocked down by a bike messenger and has a concussion.” Oliver was on the verge of sweeping Sammi into his arms and blowing past her mother when Sammi slapped her hand over her mouth and raced toward a door on the far side of the room.
“Where are you going?” her mother shouted after her, before turning to glare at Oliver. “I suppose you’re the father.” Celeste took two steps toward him, her hips swaying in her manner that suggested she was the dominant figure in the room. Her scathing assessment dismissed him as a nobody even before she spoke. “You don’t look like much. If you think that my daughter is your ticket to better things, you’re wrong.”
Said the woman who was day drinking and berating her daughter for not working hard enough. Oliver shook his head in disgust. If Celeste was managing Sammi, no doubt she was relying on her daughter’s modeling as her source of income.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Oliver said before dismissing the woman as not worth his time. Pushing past Celeste, Oliver followed Sammi and found himself in a small bedroom. An open door led to an adjoining bathroom where Sammi was splashing water on her face.
“Does she live here with you?”
“Yes,” Sammi said, the word muffled as she blotted her face with a towel. “I told you I didn’t need your help.”
“She’s not help. There’s no way she’s capable of taking care of you.”
“She’s not usually like this. It’s just that I didn’t call, so she’s been worried.”
“She’s drunk.”
Oliver had no problem slamming Sammi’s mother for overindulging so early in the day. He recognized someone with addiction issues, and his gut knotted at the thought of Sammi raising a child in such a toxic environment.
“I don’t have a choice.” Sammi turned around and leaned back against the sink. “I have nowhere else to go.”
“Come home with me. I can promise you quiet and privacy while we sort through everything that’s going on.”
Her breath hitched, and she knuckled her eyes like a tired toddler. “I can’t. I have to stay here.”
“You don’t have to do anything except take care of yourself and the baby. That’s all that matters right now.” Seeing her exhaustion, he wondered if she realized how much the vivid despair on her face exposed about her feelings regarding her current situation. “Pack a bag and let’s go.”
Oliver ushered Sammi into a guest room in his spacious SoHo loft and set her overnight bag on the bed. As in the rest of the apartment, the walls had been painted a soft gray. Floor-to-ceiling white drapes framed tall windows and the narrow desk that sat below them. A queen-size bed sat atop a steel-blue area rug whose color matched the throw pillows and blanket draped across the white comforter.
Sammi immediately felt at home in the restful room. “I promise, I won’t overstay my welcome,” she said, setting her hand on her overnight bag.
“Stay as long as you need to.”
“I don’t want to intrude.”
“Did you look over the recommended list of obstetricians I gave you earlier?” he asked, ignoring her ongoing resistance to his help.
“Not yet.”
Although the doctor at the hospital hadn’t seen any indication that the fall had affected her pregnancy, he’d recommended that she make an appointment with her obstetrician as soon as possible to have an ultrasound. Since Sammi hadn’t yet chosen a doctor, while she’d slept, Oliver had taken it upon himself to locate the best ones in Manhattan.
“Let me know the details when you make the appointment.”
His words sent a strong jolt of uncertainty through Sammi. “What for?”
“I intend to go with you.”
His determination caused her pulse to
