“To hear him tell it, you fell at his feet.” Mandy rolled her eyes.
An unladylike snort sounded from Charity. “Uh no, that didn’t happen at all. He worked for it, trust me. Especially after the steroid situation, I didn’t know if I wanted to be with him anymore. He reminded me too much of the men my mom hangs around, but he worked hard to prove to me that he’s different. I believe that he is, and my heart is going to be broken when I leave next summer.”
“Do you two talk about it?” She needed to know, she needed to be there for her twin, no matter what happened.
“Sometimes, but we’ve both agreed that it does no good. I can’t change who my mom is, and he can’t change his situation either. Both of us believe if it’s meant to be it will come back around.”
Would Mandy ever be able to put that much trust into Dalton? That was the question, wasn’t it? How much did she trust him, how much did she love him, and how much did she want him? It was time to stop being a little girl and time to start being the grown up she preached to everyone that she was.
“You’ll be there for him, won’t you?”
“He’s my brother; I’ll do whatever I need to do to help him through it. I know he has to care deeply to let you walk away.”
The edge of Charity’s mouth tilted. “It’s my dream to be a lawyer, and Duke has already offered me a full ride. I can’t turn it down; I’d be crazy to do that.”
Mandy realized in this moment that this talk was about more than her having sex with Dalton, it was also about Charity needing to know that Drew was going to be okay. She needed to know that someone was going to be there to look out for him when she couldn’t be.
“You go do your thing, and when you’re ready, c’mon back. Drew will be here. He might be broken, but he’ll be here,” Mandy reached over and hugged her tightly. “He doesn’t love easy, and when he does, it’s forever. So if he says he loves you, and I know that he does, he means it.”
“The both of you are something else, you know that, right?”
“People have been tellin’ us that for years. It’s ’cause we’re twins and we’re both stubborn. Thank you for having this talk with me.”
They got up, and Charity grabbed the key to unlock the gate. Before she did so, she turned around and smirked at Mandy. “So what’s it gonna be?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be a freakin’ home run.”
They giggled before exiting the bathroom and making their way to the gym. Like she’d always been there, Charity slipped into her spot with the cheerleaders, and Mandy slipped into the spot between Drew and Dalton on the bleachers. Dalton glanced over at her then leaned in, kissing her on the cheek.
“Where’d you go?” he asked, slinging an arm around her shoulder.
“Nowhere.” She shrugged. “Just had a little girl talk with Charity.”
“Was it a good talk?”
She winked. “Guess you’ll just have to wait and find out.”
‡
Chapter Seventeen
The Blackfoot family had settled into a routine since their vacation in late August, but October had come roaring in like a lion and thrown them completely off track.
Meredith sighed, she was tired. So very tired.
“Is she down for the count?” Tyler asked as he walked into the living room, towel-drying his long hair.
“God, I hope so.” She smiled ruefully.
Adalynn was always a force to be reckoned with. Even sick with the stomach flu, she’d managed to run them ragged. “I kinda do too,” he whispered. “I don’t want her to puke in my hair ever again.”
She giggled, holding her arms out for him. “She didn’t mean to do it.”
“I know.” He collapsed on the couch next to her. “But if I ever have to deal with getting that out of this hair again—it will be too soon—and I might be forced to cut it.”
Meredith shot him a look. “The hell you will. I love your hair.” She ran her fingers through it, getting the tangles out as she did. “It’s one of the main reasons you get lucky,” she flirted.
His dark eyes heated as he glanced over at her. “Is that right?” He threw the towel on the floor, and within seconds, he had her spread out on the couch, her body underneath his.
“Completely right,” she breathed as she circled her arms around his neck.
The words he whispered were laced with dark promise. “Then we’ll just have to see if I can give you better reasons besides my hair.”
“As much as I’d like to make you prove that, I am so freaking tired right now.” She sighed, lying back against the couch. “I already called CRISIS and let them know I wouldn’t be in for the next couple of days. I still have a ton of vacation time.”
“There was a point where I don’t think you ever took a day off from that place. I know that it helped tremendously in your recovery, but I’m glad to know it isn’t what your life is about anymore. Certain things about that place worry me,” Tyler admitted as he had a seat on the couch, lifting her head into his lap. With lazy strokes, he ran his fingers through her hair.
“Oh my God, that feels good. I’m so tired that even my hair hurts.” She laughed softly.
“I’m sorry you had to deal with the initial bout of sickness by yourself,” he apologized, laying his head back against the couch.
Denise had been watching Addie for the day, and when Meredith had dropped her off, she noticed she wasn’t as lively as normal, but it was early in the morning and sometimes that was how Addie was. Three hours into her workday at CRISIS, Denise had called and told Meredith that she thought Addie had a stomach virus.
This was the first time since she’d come to live with them that Addie had ever been sick. Worried, Meredith called Tyler and explained to him what was going on but told him she’d be fine on her own, and he could keep on working. This was how normal couples did it; when you were mom and dad, you made things work. He’d lasted a total of two hours before she’d heard his bike coming up the driveway, and she’d almost cried with relief. Addie had been repeatedly sick, and she’d cleaned up more puke than she ever thought possible.
“It’s okay. I’m glad you showed up when you did though, and I’m really sorry that she got your hair.” She grimaced, reaching up to grab a strand of his hair that brushed her arm.
“Me too.” He laughed.
When he’d stomped up the front porch, he’d been like a savior, carrying crackers and Sprite. They’d managed to get some of both into their little girl, but it had still been a few hours before the puking had stopped. “I called the doctor’s office to make sure we didn’t need to bring her in,” Meredith told him, her eyes getting heavy. “They said it’s a virus going around, and there’s nothing they can do about it. As long as her fever doesn’t last and she can keep liquids down, then we shouldn’t worry.”
He dragged a hand across his face. “Her fever broke an hour ago, I took her temperature myself.”
“Good.” She breathed out a sigh of relief. “I don’t wanna get up from here.”
“Then don’t.” He pushed her up, situated them, and pulled the blanket they kept on the back of the couch down, placing it over top of them. “Let’s get some sleep,” he whispered, reaching up to turn the light out on the table that sat next to their couch.
That sounded like the best idea she’d ever heard in her life.
Sometime in the wee early morning hours, Meredith knew she was in trouble. Her stomach clenched and then unclenched, saliva pooled in her mouth, and her head swam. Fighting to leap up off the couch, afraid that she was going to puke all over Tyler, she tried to break his hold on her.
“Let me go,” she yelled at him, as she struggled to stand and run to the bathroom.
Tyler came in after her, holding her hair back as she lost everything in her stomach.
“Shit.” She leaned her head against the porcelain finish, glad for the coolness against her face. When Tyler nudged her, holding out a wash cloth, she gratefully accepted it
.
“You okay?” he asked as he rubbed her back.
She shook her head as she again tossed her cookies. This was going to be a very long morning.
*
“Yeah, I’m really worried about her.”
Meredith could hear Tyler’s voice, but it sounded like it came from a million miles away. She’d tried to move further than ten feet from the bathroom, but it hadn’t worked out for her. For hours, she’d puked. Her stomach was sore, her throat was burning, and she knew from looking in the mirror at some point that her eyes were bloodshot. She had no idea what Tyler was doing, and at this point, she absolutely didn’t give a shit.
“Since B’s been in the school system and had this a week ago, I figured she’d be okay to watch Addie,” Tyler’s voice trailed off as she tried to focus on what he was saying.
Addie, she’d forgotten Addie. She needed to go check on her, but she couldn’t make herself get up from the cool linoleum floor. It felt so good against her hot skin, but she shivered too, moaning her appreciation when she felt a thin blanket put over her. She pulled it up around her neck and tried to drift off to sleep.
“We’re gonna get you some help, baby,” she heard Tyler again. “Just hang in there for a little while longer.”
*
It seemed like forever until he heard the soft knock at their front door. Getting up from the bathroom floor, he quickly made his way to the front of the house and opened it, letting B and Jagger in.
“Thank you so much for coming,” he told them.
“Not a problem,” B told him. She had gotten out of bed, put on some sweats, her hair into a ponytail, and rushed over here, Jagger driving her Mustang, because he loved to drive it fast. “Why don’t you let Jagger drive you to the ER? You look beat,” she told the big man.
“I think I’ll be fine,” he argued.
“No.” Jagger put his hand on Tyler’s arm. “She’s right, you look tired as hell. No reason you should get into a wreck trying to get her there. It’s not that big of a deal. I don’t care to drive you and stick around.”
“I’ll be here, disinfecting,” B told him, holding up a bag of cleaning products. “This is not a pretty virus, and if you’re not puking yet, you’re lucky.”
“Okay.” He nodded. It wasn’t normal for him to let other people take charge, but right now he just wanted to get Meredith help. He knew she was getting dehydrated; he’d never seen anyone puke as much as she had, had never seen anyone that sick in his life. “Let me go get her.”
“Wait.” B stopped him, a hand on his shoulder. “When was the last time you took Addie’s temp?”
He fought to remember. It had been before they fell asleep, and then he had been consumed with Meredith since he’d woken up. He hadn’t even thought to check on his daughter. “Hours,” he admitted, swallowing roughly. “I didn’t even think to check on her.” He ran a hand through his hair and then let it drop to his side.
“I’m sure she’s fine, Ty,” B told him, encouragement strong in her voice. “I’m just gonna go check on her.”
He watched her walk towards Addie’s room and then turned towards the bathroom. “We’ll take the SUV in case Meredith gets sick again. I’d hate to mess up the Mustang.”
Within minutes, he’d roused her, and B had checked on Addie and confirmed she was sleeping peacefully. Before they walked out of the house, Bianca shoved a trash bag in their hands. “Just in case. A car ride might not be the best thing in the world for her right now.”
Tyler took the trash bag, thanking her, before he made his way out to the SUV that Jagger had pulled to the front of the house. Bianca watched as they left, hoping that they could give Meredith something to settle her stomach; she hadn’t looked good, at all. Sighing, she grabbed her bag of cleaning supplies and went about disinfecting the house. At least that was something she could do while she waited.
‡
Chapter Eighteen
Usually Tyler Blackfoot was a very patient man. He’d been known to wait for hours, sometimes days or weeks, for the person he was watching to slip up. They always hung themselves, and he was always there to catch them. That patience had left him the minute Ashley met them at the doors to the emergency room and leveled him with a stare. She could tell he wasn’t going to let them do what they needed to, so she told him to wait outside. It had taken Jagger talking softly in his ear to calm him down. He’d reminded him that Meredith needed help and it would be best if they could work on her without him hovering.
That had been two hours ago. “Shouldn’t we know something by now?”
Jagger thought they should, but he also though that for his own good, he shouldn’t mention that. “You want me to go see if I can find anything out?”
Tyler knew that his height and his looks intimidated most people. Pretty boy Jagger could get away with anything, he could make people talk. “Please, I just need to know that she’s okay. You understand that.”
They both knew Jagger did understand that. One time they had waited at this hospital to make sure that Bianca was going to be alright after she’d had a run-in with a stalker principal. Trying to think back to the last time he’d been here, Tyler closed his eyes. They’d been here when Tatum had been born. That was also the day Jessica had come to live with them. So much of his life was connected with the club—in reality he knew it, but it wasn’t until he sat down and thought about it that he realized it. What would he do if Meredith was no longer a part of that? He shook his head; now he was reaching. She’d been puking. It wasn’t like she was going to die.
Jagger ran over to him. “Hey, I ran into Ashley, she said we can go back.”
They made their way to the doors that lead to the rooms, and Tyler punched the metal disc that opened them, squeezing through before they opened fully.
“Over here.” Ashley waved them over. “I’m warning you now, don’t talk over me, ’cause I haven’t told Meredith anything yet either. I wanted to make sure I was right before I did.” She pointed a finger at Tyler, her gaze serious.
What the fuck did that mean? He wanted to ask and he wanted to know the answer before he walked into the room, but Ashley was notoriously tight-lipped. Jagger stood outside the room. “I’ll wait on ya, make sure nobody interrupts.”
Steeling himself against whatever news this could be, Tyler drew in a large breath, letting it fill his lungs, and forced himself to relax before he entered the room.
*
“How are you doin?” he asked Meredith as he hurried over to her bedside. She looked a lot better than she had a few hours ago, but he quickly took stock of the needle in her hand, the IV situated to the side, and the machine that was also in the room.
“Been better.” She licked her dry lips. “But I’m starting to feel more human. I just wanna know what the hell is going on.”
“Makes two of us.” He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, smoothing back her bangs.
“I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get to the two of you, and I’m sorry I had to poke and prod you, Meredith, but I wanted to be absolutely sure about this before I said anything.”
Meredith reached up, grabbing Tyler’s hand tightly in hers. This was going to be awful news. They were going to tell her she was sick, or even worse, she was dying. She wasn’t sure she could take it. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she felt for sure that she was going to get sick again.
“Just tell us. I can’t take the waiting anymore,” Tyler told her.
Ashley smiled slowly at the two of them. “Meredith has a virus. It’s the stomach virus that’s been going around.”
“Well I could have told you that,” Tyler breathed out, looking at her like she’d lost her mind.
“Remember I told you to shut the fuck up and let me tell you what I had to tell you?”
Those weren’t the exact words she’d used, but they did the trick, and Tyler didn’t utter another word.
“Now.” She had a seat on the rolling chair. “The way we d
iagnose virally is to take a blood sample. We generally run many tests when we take those blood samples. I specifically did with you, because to be honest, I was a little worried about appendicitis. Thankfully, that’s not what we’re dealing with here, but I want the two of you to listen to me closely and know that I’m telling you the truth.”
For years, even though she and Meredith had started off on the wrong foot, Ashley had been one of the people who Meredith had come to—usually to voice her fears about not getting pregnant. It was Ashley who had set up all the appointments to get them tested, it was Ashley who had told them they were both perfectly fine and they had no need to worry, and it was Ashley who had waited monthly for an excited text that never came.
“Okay, I understand,” Meredith told her, but the fear was there, it was apparent in her eyes.
“The reason this virus hit you so hard? You’re pregnant, Mer. From the last menstrual cycle you gave me, I’m guessing you’re twelve weeks. I’m thinking it’s a Fourth of July baby, or around that week.” Ashley’s smile was so wide, it almost broke her face.
“Are you sure?” Meredith didn’t look happy at all. “I’m not regular, not since everything I did to try and have a baby before. It’s not unusual for me to go months with no cycle. It’s not unusual for me to feel awful somewhere in between there. Are you sure?” she asked again.
Tyler sat beside his wife, a look of complete wonderment on his face.
“I figured you’d say that,” Ashley told her as she fired up the machine that sat next to her. “We’re going to do a vaginal ultrasound, so that I can show you. Okay? We wanna make sure this baby is doing fine after all the puking you’ve done. This will also tell us a little more about how far along you are.”
Beginning of Forever (Heaven Hill #7) Page 9
