“I’m sorry, man. I thought you were someone else,” Greyson said as he pulled his hand away.
“I know. I was paid three hundred dollars to just sit here and order beers. He has a message for you,” the man at the bar said. He had no idea who we were. What we were, I could tell from the blank expression on his face.
“What’s the message?” Greyson asked as he glared out at him.
“He said to tell you ‘better luck, next time.’ I guess you guys lost a bet or something? He couldn’t say.” The man in the suit just shrugged.
“Something like that,” I said. “Did he say anything else to you?”
“No, just offered me three hundred dollars and free drinks. After the week I was having, I couldn’t say no to that.” He shook his head and took a swig of his beer. “You mind if I stay a while?”
“Where was he when he said this?”
“Here. He left maybe twenty minutes ago.” The man just sat there.
“Yeah, stay, drink.” Greyson grabbed his phone and dialed. “You have the wrong man. David left. Anyone witness this?” he asked.
Then he nodded. “Search the area, see if you can put out a tail on him.”
The phone I’d been ignoring rang again. I grabbed it and looked down. One text from Kat.
Baby is coming. Need you both. Now.
I answered it. “Kat?”
“Yeah, you two need to get here, but I don’t think you’re going to make it. Doctors said she is a good little laborer. She’s in there screaming her head off. I have to get back, but I wanted to let you know that the baby is on its way.” She sounded rushed and short of breath.
“I’ll let him know,” I told her.
“It’s quicker than almost any first-time labor they’ve seen. You two might not make it before the baby comes,” she told me.
“We’ll rush.”
f*ck
. David would have to wait. We needed to get to the hospital now.
Kathryn
“Where in the hell have you been?” I asked as I watched the two men burst through the doors. Joanna was resting and I wanted to give her space, so I was sitting in the waiting room staring at the doors.
“On a wild good chase,” Greyson said, his nose flared. He was pissed and scared. I knew the combination. Ever since I could remember, if he was scared, he was also pissed. “Where is she?”
“What?” I asked, but it didn’t matter. They went and did their business and we were here running the household, running our lives together. It was the way it was with Mom and Dad, and it was the way things would always be with men like this. None of that was important in the moment. All that mattered was Joanna. “Through the doors. She’s in labor room 3B,” I said as I pointed.
I wanted to go back, to see the little baby that I helped bring into the world, but I needed to let the couple have time together. I needed to give her a chance to rest. So, I sat down in the waiting room and looked up at Janson.
“How is she doing?”
“Fine, just pissed off that you two knuckleheads picked the one night she was going into labor to take off.” I was angry for myself, but I was angrier that she had to go through this with me at her side and not Greyson.
“We had no idea,” Janson said, but I punched him in the shoulder anyway. “What the f*ck
?”
“It’s to mimic the f*ck
ing finger shaped bruises on my shoulder from her clutching on to me. Joanna is strong as hell.”
He chuckled. “It was part of her charm.”
I rolled my eyes and nudged him. “Are you okay?” I asked. I was really worried.
“Yeah, it’s fine. What we were looking for never materialized. So, we just have to keep searching.” He was brooding. I could tell by the look in his eyes. He was so angry. This man really wanted to find whatever he was looking for.
I nodded.
It seemed really important to them. I wanted to ask so many questions, just like I wanted to wrap myself in his arms, but I knew that it wasn’t going to fly. Not here.
Watching him sit there in quiet anger was enough to make me want to do anything to stop it.
But then I saw the doors swing open and I knew who was coming through. They were here.
“Sir,” Janson said as he stood up. “How did you-”
“My daughter called me. I hear Greyson had you retrieve her?” James Fitzgerald stood tall as he looked over us. My mother stood behind him until she saw me, then she burst forward towards me.
My mother embraced me, pulling me close as she kissed the top of my head. "I've been so worried about you."
All I could do was clutch her back and breathe her in. I couldn't believe how much I missed her. How much I longed for her to hold me like this. It was enough to bring me to tears. Almost.