by Lexi Cross
Tears came to her eyes at the thought. Ryder came to her and helped her walk out of the room.
“Are you in a lot of pain?” he asked.
“Only when there’s a contraction.”
“Is there one now?”
She shook her head as a tear fell from her eye.
“Why are you crying, then?”
She burst into sobs and leaned against him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Our baby doesn’t even have a home to come home to!”
“Shh, it’s okay, really.” He rubbed her back and held her. “We are what makes it home, not the walls.”
“I thought we’d have a place by now and have the nursery all painted and done.”
“I know.” He ran his fingers through her hair. “Soon. Soon.”
Her attention was shifted to her stomach as a contraction started. She bent over and squeezed his shoulder hard with the pain. She panted through it and when it was over, she straightened back up, trying to breathe.
“Let’s get you to the car.”
Ryder put his arm around her for support and helped her to the garage. They had to pause before he got the car door open as she breathed through another contraction. When it was over, he helped her in, then dashed upstairs to get the bag she’d had packed for weeks.
He slid into the driver’s seat and backed out. She reached over for his hand and squeezed every time the pain started. She tried to think through all the things she should be doing right now. Breathing, focusing.
“We need to call the doctor,” she said through gritted teeth.
He fumbled for his phone and made the call, telling them they were a few minutes from the hospital.
It seemed to take hours to get there, but they finally pulled up. He helped her out of the car and into a wheelchair before he ran off to park the car. The few minutes she had to sit there waiting for him were like agony. She couldn’t bear to be away from him. Anytime they were separated, even if she went out with friends, or if he had work to take care of, or whatever it was, she got anxious. She thought he did, too, from the frequency that they texted when they were apart.
He came rushing through the doors and ran to her. Every time she saw his face, a wave of peace flushed away the anxiety. She reached for his hand and he gave it to her as they were led to the elevator to get to the maternity ward.
For hours, Pia was in pain, then had a brief rest, then more pain. In between, she was hooked up to machines, checked and rechecked by doctors and nurses. They gave her drugs eventually and she lay peacefully, waiting for things to move along. Ryder was less peaceful and paced, stepping out on occasion to make a phone call. Mob business couldn’t be put on hold while she was in labor. It couldn’t really be put on hold at all.
But when it came time for her to push, he was right there by her side. He held her hand and encouraged her and when she gave the final push and brought their baby girl into the world, he looked down at her with tears in his eyes.
Minutes later, the baby was handed to her and he stood with his arm stretched across them both, gazing at the perfect little baby with her.
“She is as beautiful as you,” he said.
When Pia was taken to her room to settle in and rest and bond with her baby, she was shocked at the sight. The whole room was covered in huge Gerbera daisies in all shades of pink. From bright fuscia to pale pink.
Tears sprung to her eyes. “Ryder…you did all this?”
“Who else?”
She chuckled and wiped at her eyes. “It’s so perfect. Thank you.”
She got settled into bed and the nurse helped her feed the baby for the first time. While she lay there, peaceful and happy, Ryder was still pacing the room, an anxious look on his face.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Umm.” He looked at her and made a guilty face. “I did something. I’m not sure you’re going to be too happy about it. But you might be. I was going to surprise you, but I think maybe I overthought things and now I’m not too sure ab—”
“What did you do?”
He took a deep breath and forced it out. “I bought a house.”
Her mouth hung open slightly. She didn’t know what to say. They’d been looking for months and hadn’t found anything, but they’d done every step of it together. Now he went and bought one and didn’t even have her see it first?
“I know, I’m sorry, but I got a call from our guy and he only gave me a few hours to decide before it hit the market. It’s perfect, P, I swear.”
“Okay… Do I at least get to see photos?”
He took out his phone and tapped a few times, then handed it to her. She looked down at the screen and her heart gave a small little burst of joy at the first picture. It was a sandy-colored house with deep turquoise shutters. Might’ve sounded a bit odd aside from the fact that its backyard was all beach.
She kept scrolling and her heart filled more and more with joy. The back had a huge porch that wrapped around the entire house. The living room was huge and bright with windows. A fireplace sat in one wall. The dining room and office were also big. The whole house was much bigger than they had been looking at. Beach houses many times were not this big. The kitchen was all white marble and gold accents, the bedrooms upstairs were all bright and inviting. There was even a large, empty room that would make a perfect playroom. Then she got to the master bedroom and gasped. It was huge, like the others. The bathroom had a large Jacuzzi tub, the shower had body jets, and the walk-in closet was almost another room. And on one wall were French doors—that led out to a balcony overlooking the beach and ocean.
Tears ran down her face. “You bought this house?”
He nodded. “Do you hate me?”
She laughed and wiped her eyes. “Are you kidding? You knew I would love it, why were you so nervous?”
“It was a big decision and I did it without you. I had to move fast, though. It wouldn’t have lasted a day on the market.”
“No, I can see why. When can we move in?”
“Not sure yet, but I’m working on it.”
“I love it,” she said. “Really.”
They left the hospital a few days later, and even though they wouldn’t be able to move into their house for another month, she was okay with that. This house was worth the wait.
After the closing, Pia was in the temporary nursery at the rental, packing up the final boxes, when Ryder came in. He picked up the baby and cooed at her.
“Get your shoes on, I have to show you something,” he said.
“Right now? I’m trying to pack.”
“Take a break.”
She blew out a sigh. “Okay.”
They got into the car and he drove them over to their new house. People were coming and going. Bringing furniture and boxes in, doing other work that they wanted to be finished before they officially moved in.
He walked around the car to open Pia’s door, then got the baby out and handed her to Pia. He took her hand and led her inside. They stopped just outside the door that would be the new nursery.
“Close your eyes,” he said.
She did, and heard the door open. The smell of fresh paint hit her and she opened her eyes. There before her was the room they had designed and planned for together. It had come out even better than the drawn-up plans.
She stood in the middle of the room in awe, taking in every inch of it. “It’s absolutely perfect.”
“And there’s one more thing I want to show you.”
He led her to the master bedroom, and this time when she opened her eyes, she faced the wall where the French doors and the gorgeous view of the ocean and beach were. Above the doors, in the space between the glass and the high, vaulted ceiling, was a huge framed photo. It was her and Ryder on their wedding day in a loving embrace. It was their favorite photo from the whole day.
“I wanted to make everything perfect before we moved in,” he said.
“You did. You really did.” She leaned into his arms. “Wi
th this house and the baby and our new life together, everything is perfect.”
He kissed her, then kissed the baby sleeping in her arms. “I never dreamed of a life like this. I didn’t think it could be this good. Pia, you’ve made all the dreams I never had come true.”
THE END
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Chapter 1
Fiona Mackintosh moved across the gift shop, picking up items that were out of place and putting them back in their proper spots. She paused to straighten a stack of birthday cards that had gone askew. The overhead lights caught the crystal beads of a display of bracelets and glittered as she approached. She moved the bracelets, spreading them out evenly along the bar they hung from.
The clock clicked over to 9 p.m. and it was officially closing time. She flipped over the sign on the door, locked it, then went behind the counter to take care of the cash register. After taking the drawer to the office, she counted and jotted numbers into the books, making sure everything came out perfectly. She took the time to sort the money just how she knew her manager, Sue, liked it, turning all the bills to face the same way, unfolding the dog eared corners so that the stacks sat as neat and flat as possible inside the safe.
Next, Fiona made a note of several items that she noticed were running low and should be ordered soon. This wasn’t part of her job exactly, but she found ways whenever she could to go above and beyond, hoping to earn the position of assistant manager, which had been vacant for some time now. She thought Sue really liked her from the way she always took time to explain things and teach her. She always complimented Fiona’s displays and often noted how good her work was.
She locked the office door with a hopeful glow in her heart. She could really use the pay raise that came with the assistant manager position. It hadn’t been easy moving here. She knew no one and had her daughter to think of. Who would watch Sophia while she worked all day? But Red Hills had been the picture of southern hospitality when she’d arrived, bruises still visible around her eye and on her cheek from her ex, Sam.
It had been Sue who first helped her. Fiona had rushed into the gift shop to buy an umbrella in a sudden downpour. Sophia had found her way to the toys and was begging for a new doll when Sue came to ask them if they needed help. Fiona knew she couldn’t afford the doll and had to take it from her four-year-old with tears in her eyes. Sue had seen this and given her the doll. They’d chatted a bit and before she knew it, Fiona’s life story was poured out on this poor woman.
Sue lived alone and insisted that they stay with her until they found their own place. For three weeks, Sue and Fiona got to know each other. Fiona started working at the gift shop, and a neighbor watched Sophia during the day. Life had finally started to come together. Now Fiona and Sophia had a tiny apartment. It wasn’t much, but it was theirs, and they had worked hard to make it home.
As she walked back through the store, Fiona’s eyes fell on the display of dolls that Sophia had so loved, and she smiled, thinking of how Sophia hadn’t let the pink-dressed, yellow-haired doll go for days. She was likely sleeping with it right now, clutched tight to her chest on Jeanine’s couch, waiting for her mommy to come and take her home.
Fiona flicked out the lights and set the alarm before locking the door behind her. In her car, she blasted music and sang along, enjoying the cool evening air tossing her hair around. She turned left and onto a stretch of highway that was heavily wooded. She was on guard for animals on this street, glancing often at the sides of the roads for glowing eyes that might run in front of her.
She glanced to the right and saw a mound on the ground. At first it looked like a dead animal. She couldn’t make out any part of it, but as she got closer and the object was washed for an instant in bright headlights, she saw a boot.
It had happened so fast that she had already passed the spot before she realized it was a person lying there. She pulled into the gravel, stomping hard on her brakes.
With her phone tight in her hand, she approached the person. It looked like a man from what she could see of his blond hair and jeans. But there was no movement, and she didn’t want to run up to a dead body in case it was a gruesome sight. Her stomach already felt queasy with the thought.
“Hello?” she called out tentatively when she was about twenty feet away.
No response. She tapped the flashlight feature on her phone and shined the light on him. It definitely was a him. Blood trickled from multiple places on his face. He’d been beaten badly. His eyes nearly swollen shut, his lip split and thick, purple splotches across his cheek bones. The sight gave her chills, thinking of how many times she’d had injuries like these after a night of Sam’s anger.
She inched closer, trying to see if his chest was moving.
He lay on his side, half curled into a ball. His black shirt was torn and shiny with blood. His jeans, also ripped in places, were dirty and bloody. A black leather jacket was hanging from him in shreds.
“Can you hear me?” she asked.
She knelt down beside him, afraid to touch him. His chest didn’t seem to be moving. With a shaking hand, she pressed her fingertips to his wrist. She found no heartbeat. But then a soft wheeze came from his mouth.
“Oh my God, are you still alive?”
He made a ragged coughing sound and moved his arm a few inches.
“Just hang on, I’ll call 9-1-1.”
He said something. She couldn’t make it out, but the sound was so insistent, that she paused.
“What did you say?” She leaned closer to his mouth.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t? Don’t what, call 9-1-1?”
“Don’t call,” he wheezed.
“But you look like you’re about to die. You need to get to a hospital.”
He took a shuttering breath and pushed himself up with effort to a seated position. Blood gushed from his nose and he spit out more blood.
Fiona put her hand to her mouth and had to look away. She had napkins and tissues in her car and got up to dash over and bring them to him. She handed him the napkins, but they were soaked through within seconds.
“Please,” he said, half whispering. “Get me out of here.”
She looked back to her car, which was about thirty feet ahead. He didn’t look like he’d able to walk that distance, and she wasn’t strong enough to help him much.
“Hang on.” She returned to her car and backed it up slowly, craning her head around to see how close she was getting to him.
He pushed himself onto all fours, pausing to breathe through the pain. He crawled over to the back door. Fiona opened it for him, pulled Sophia’s car seat from its place, and dashed to the trunk to get the blanket she kept there for times when Sophia got cold. She spread the blanket over the backseat and stood back awkwardly as he pulled himself up and into the car.
“Can I help you somehow?” She wasn’t sure where he was injured and didn’t want to just grab him somewhere it might hurt.
He didn’t answer. Shaking, he pulled himself up onto the seat and slumped over. She closed the door behind him and got into the driver’s seat.
“You need a hospital badly.”
He was still bleeding, pressing a dripping napkin to his nose. She handed him the rest of the napkins. The cluster of bright white turned red almost instantly when he held them to his face.
“No.”
He coughed, splattering blood all over her car’s seat. Fiona swallowed hard and tried not to let her stomach turn over.
“They’ll kill me,” he said.
At first, she thought this was ridiculous. If you were hurt that badly, you needed a hospital. That simple. Whoever had done this surely wouldn’t kill him while he was there. But then she thought of the last time Sam had landed h
er in the hospital. Her friend had taken her to the hospital against her wishes. Sam had come into her room and almost suffocated her to death before a nurse happened to come in. Then Sam had quickly moved the pillow behind her head, making it look like he was the perfect husband, trying to make his clumsy wife more comfortable.
If whoever had beaten him had left him for dead, then he was right. If they knew he was alive, if they drove by and found him gone, they would check the hospitals first. It wouldn’t take much in his condition to kill him. She wouldn’t do that to him. She remembered how terrified she had been to wake up in the hospital when she thought she was safe at her friend’s house, and how the terror had multiplied when Sam entered the room, his face full of rage. She would not do that to this man.
