Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (Eight Fun, Romantic Novels by Eight Bestselling Authors)

by Violet Duke

  Alex had been called on another accident, but he’d assured Haley that Emily was in good hands. She’d tried to go back to see her girl several times, but that was not happening. This place was like Fort Knox.

  “I don’t know. I’ve been here for an hour. I’m so bored.” Lacey spoke loudly on her cell phone beside Haley.

  “Ma’am, this is the last time I will warn you. You cannot use your cell phone in here.” The nurse at the front desk stood and pointed out the door. “Take it outside. If it happens again, you will be asked to leave.”

  Maybe Fort Knox wasn’t so bad after all.

  Lacey huffed and puffed like The Big Bad Wolf but finally did take her call outside. As she stepped out through the sliding doors, she passed Chelle, who had been on her cell and was hurriedly coming back inside.

  Sitting beside Haley, Chelle spoke in a calming voice she was sure she used on patients when they were in labor. “Okay, Jason just got ahold of the contractor Eddie was meeting with. He said Eddie left half an hour ago, so hopefully he’ll be here soon. Riley is at the house in case he goes straight home without checking his messages. You should really let me take care of those.”

  Haley looked down at her knees, which were covered in dry blood and had bits of asphalt embedded in them. She waved her hand dismissively and shook her head. “I’m fine.”

  Chelle’s phone rang and she held up her finger to Haley, heading back outside.

  Haley stood and paced the floor. She felt like she was going to come out of her skin. She couldn’t sit still. She had to do something.

  The sliding door opened and her mom, Krista, Jessie, Katie, Amber, and Becca all walked through it. Lacey, unfortunately, was right behind them.

  Her mom pulled Haley into her arms. “Sweetie, I’m so sorry. We came as soon as we heard.”

  Haley felt like she was hugging an octopus as her sisters also got in on the hug. There were arms everywhere.

  Krista’s voice rose above everyone asking if Haley was okay. “We were at the swap meet. As soon as I got the voicemail, we rushed here doing ninety all the way. Anything you need, we’re here.”

  Haley nodded her head against her mom’s shoulder, thankful for the support. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lacey sitting back down in the plastic waiting room chair, rolling her eyes with disgust.

  “Parents of Emily Thomas,” a doctor Haley didn’t recognize in a white lab coat and slacks called out. He was looking down at a chart he held in his hands as he stepped through the automatic doors they had taken Emily through.

  “I’m her mother!” Lacey pushed through Haley and her sisters and rushed to the doctor.

  “I can take you back now.” He turned to head back through the doors.

  “Excuse me,” Haley spoke up. “Um, she was left in my care. Can I go see her?”

  The doctor looked between Lacey and Haley before stating, “Immediate family only. Sorry.”

  Watching in disbelief Haley began shaking as the doors shut behind the doctor’s and Lacey’s retreating backs.

  She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to bust through those doors and get to Emily.

  As Haley turned to her mom, tears began pouring down her cheeks. “Mom, I need to see her. What if she’s scared? What if she doesn’t know what’s going on? I need to see her, Mom!”

  “I know, Sweetie,” her mom said, pulling her back into her arms and patting her back. “I know.”

  “I just heard Emily was down here. I let Jamie know. She’s assisting in surgery. She’ll be down soon.” Haley turned and saw Vickey, who was a head nurse at the hospital and a family friend, speaking very fast. “Is she okay? I called down but got put on hold,” Vickey asked, the frustration seeping through her voice.

  “I don’t know,” Haley sobbed. “They won’t let me see her.”

  “What?” Vickey snapped, her brow furrowing.

  Haley’s mom quickly explained. “A doctor came out looking for Emily’s parents. Lacey stood up and told him she was her mother and he took her back there. When Haley tried to go with them, he said immediate family only.”

  Vickey had started shaking her head in disgust from the moment the name ‘Lacey’ had left her mom’s lips. Stepping forward, she hastily grasped Haley’s wrist. “Mother my ass. You are that little girl’s family.”

  Haley jogged behind Vickey, who was walking double-time, to keep up. When they came to the doors, Vickey pulled out a card she wore around her neck and flashed it in front of a screen. The electric doors opened and they were down the hall and in Emily’s room before Haley could blink.

  As the women came around the corner, Haley saw Emily, who looked so tiny in the center of the huge hospital bed, lying still, looking to the side. When Haley turned to her right to see what she was looking at, she saw Lacey texting on her phone.

  What the hell?

  “Hi, sweetie pie,” Haley said as she rushed to her bedside, trying to put on her bravest face.

  “Haley!” Emily’s face lit up and her arms reached out to her.

  Haley gently hugged her small frame. “How are you feeling?” she asked as she brushed stray hairs that had fallen across her forehead off her face.

  “My stomach hurts,” Emily said.

  Haley looked up at Vickey, who was reading her chart to see if she had any answers. After a few moments, Vickey’s head rose and she pointed at Haley. “You stay here. If anyone tells you different, you tell them to talk to me. I’m going to find the doctor.”

  Haley nodded her head. It would take the entire security team dragging her kicking and screaming to remove Haley from Emily’s side. As Vickey exited the room, Haley noticed her giving Lacey the evil eye. Lacey was too busy looking down at the screen on her phone to pick up on it. Which was a waste because Vickey’s evil eye had been known to make grown men shake in their boots.

  Emily reached up her hand for Haley to hold. “Where’s my daddy?” she asked in a quivering voice.

  “He’s on his way. He’ll be here any minute.” Haley smiled down at Emily’s pale face.

  “Will you stay with me?” Emily squeezed Haley’s hand tight, her eyes filled with fear and trepidation.

  “I’m not going anywhere ‘til your dad gets here. I pinky promise.” Haley wrapped her pinky around Emily’s and nodded her head.

  “Okay, good,” Emily smiled.

  Haley watched as she sunk further back into the bed, her little body visibly relaxing.

  “You want to watch TV?” Haley asked, hoping it would keep her distracted until Eddie got here.

  “Yeah,” Em spoke weakly.

  Haley picked up the remote control and found a movie Em loved. Then Haley situated herself close to Em on the bed so she could hold Em’s hand. With her other hand, she ran her fingers through Em’s hair, something Haley had always loved her own mom doing when she was a little girl.

  Now she just had to wait. And not throw up.

  *

  EDDIE RACED DOWN the hallway in the brightly lit emergency room. Since he’d jumped out of Riley’s moving truck moments ago as it had pulled up in front of the entrance, he’d already knocked into one nurse and a doctor, and he wasn’t slowing down.

  From the moment in his driveway that Riley had told him what had happened, his heart felt like it’d stopped beating. The only thing that would make it start again was seeing Em.

  He was so mad at himself for not remembering his phone charger. His mind had been scattered all over the place this past week. This morning, when he’d realized his phone was dead and he didn’t have the charger, he’d almost turned around when he was halfway up to Whisper Lake to go back and get it.
But he’d naively thought, Em’s with Haley. She’ll be fine.

  His mistake. She wasn’t fine.

  As he raced into the room the nurse at the front had pointed him to, he saw Haley seated half-on, half-off the bed and Emily looking up at her, laughing, and pointing at the TV.

  He took in a breath. She was okay. On the way to the hospital, Riley had told him that the doctors had said that Emily was fine. As far as they could tell, she’d sustained some scrapes and bruises and a minor concussion. They were keeping her overnight, but she should be getting released tomorrow. Eddie had heard all those words, but he hadn’t processed them. Because those words hadn’t been as powerful as “Emily got hit by a car.” After he’d heard those words, nothing else had really been able to sink in.

  But now he saw with his own two eyes that his baby was okay. Under the weight of the indescribable relief he felt, Eddie staggered a few steps backwards. He knocked into the counter that held a sink, and the noise caused Haley and Emily to look over.

  “Daddy!” Emily exclaimed.

  He rushed towards the bed and Haley quickly got up and moved out of the way. “You scared me, baby girl.” He leaned down and gently put his arms around his daughter’s tiny body. He wanted to squeeze her tight and never let her go. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”

  “I’m sorry, Daddy.” Emily’s voice sounded shaky, and he realized how harsh his words must have come out.

  Trying to show her that he wasn’t mad—at her at least—he leaned up and said, “Don’t be sorry, squirt. Just don’t let it happen again. Capisce?”

  “Capisce,” his daughter repeated happily, her eyes filled with life and laughter as she beamed up at him.

  “Eddie.” The last voice he wanted to hear right now filled the small space. It was accompanied by the sound of high heels clicking into the room. “Thank God you’re here. I’ve been handling all this alone.”

  His eyes had never left Emily and he saw that his daughter’s face dropped the moment Lacey walked in. He felt what little energy she had withdraw, like a turtle going back into its shell.

  “Get out,” Eddie spoke in a deadly calm voice.

  “Eddie, I’m her mother,” Lacey screeched.

  Without sparing her a glance, he stated again. “Lacey. Get. Out.”

  There were several dramatic sounds of shock and dismay before one final frustrated puff of air. The next thing he heard was the click-clacking of heels as they left the room.

  Emily’s big brown eyes looked up at Haley and her lips turned up into a bigger smile than he’d seen on her face all week. Em gave Haley a knowing look as she declared, “She’s worse than Splash N’ Slide. But at least, now we know.”

  Both of the girls began giggling and nodding their heads in understanding.

  Eddie had absolutely no idea what they were talking about, but he was so happy to see Emily laughing that he didn’t care.

  “Haley,” a male voice boomed from the door.

  Eddie looked over his shoulder. Officer Williams was standing in the doorway.

  “Now that Eddie’s here, I need you to come with me so I can get your statement.”

  “You have to go?” His daughter’s voice cracked as she reached for Haley’s hand.

  “Yep. But I’ll be back tomorrow to see you. Okay?” Haley leaned down and kissed Emily on her forehead. “I promise.”

  “Okay,” Emily said doing her best not to show her disappointment, but she was clearly not happy about it.

  As Haley moved from his daughter’s bedside, Eddie noticed that she was limping.

  “Haley,” he barked.

  She jumped a little as she turned to face him.

  When she did, he saw that her knees looked like they’d been chewed up by something rough and gravely.

  “What happened?”

  Haley looked totally lost at his question. He nodded towards her knees, and she waved her injuries off with a smile, but he saw tears pooling in her eyes.

  “Nothing. I’m fine.”

  With that, she turned and followed Officer Williams out of the door.

  Riley and Chelle must have passed her in the hall, because just moments after she left, they entered the room.

  Eddie sat silently beside his baby girl while she talked and laughed with his sister and his brother-in-law. He couldn’t think clearly. There were just so many emotions flooding his system. Anger. Fear. Anger. Guilt. Anger. Relief. Anger.

  Eddie had heard once that anger was a by-product of fear, and maybe that was the case. Maybe he was so mad because he’d been so scared. When he’d heard that his daughter had been hit by a car, nothing else in the world had mattered. The only thing he’d cared about was her being okay. That’s it.

  All the drama with Lacey. All the confusion over Haley. That shit had been clouding his mind for too long. Now his daughter was lying in a hospital bed.

  No more. No distractions. The only thing he cared about was keeping his baby girl safe.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  HALEY GINGERLY WALKED across the hospital parking lot, trying not to pull on the bandages taped on her knees. The sun was shining brightly off all the windshields of the cars that lined the rows of the crowded lot. The heat was already stifling. Haley squinted her eyes and yawned.

  She was officially exhausted. Yesterday, she’d felt like she’d been put through the emotional wringer. Never in her life had she been so scared. So helpless. The vision of Emily’s limp body, lying in the road next to the spinning wheel of her bike, would forever be etched in Haley’s mind.

  It had been after midnight before she’d finally gotten to go home from the police station. It had taken over six hours to give her statement on two separate reports. First, the car accident, which Haley hadn’t been much help with since she hadn’t seen anything. The second was an assault charge.

  Apparently, Lacey’s story was that Haley had attacked her, not the other way around. So Haley had had to tell and retell the events as they had unfolded leading up to the accident and recount the push that Lacey was claiming to have been on the receiving end of, when in actuality she had been on the giving end.

  Officer Williams said that they had plenty of eye witnesses and that the truth, whatever it might be, would shine through. Haley sure hoped so because she was firmly on the right side of the truth.

  A burst of cool air hit Haley as she stepped into the hospital and made her way to the elevator banks. She knew that Emily had been moved to the pediatric ward. She’d heard the doctors telling Vickey before she left with Officer Williams yesterday that they would be moving her within the hour. They’d also said they were going to be running some tests this morning, and if everything looked good, Emily would be released by this afternoon.

  There was a loud swoosh as the elevator doors opened. As soon as Haley exited the elevators, she heard her favorite sound in the world. Emily’s laughter. She followed the joyful noise down the hall, and when she walked into Emily’s room, she saw her cousin Alex, his wife Jamie, and their son Joey all seated around Emily’s bed. From what she could tell, Alex and Joey were entertaining the girls with one of their famous who-can-make-a-funnier-face contests.

  “Haley!” Emily sat up higher in her bed, a smile beaming on her face.

  Haley immediately noticed that Emily’s color was back and she didn’t look like she was in any pain at all. “Hey, pretty girl. How are you feeling?”

  “Better!” she exclaimed happily.

  “I can tell.” Haley looked around the room at all the flowers, balloons, and bears. Of course she knew that a lot of people loved this little girl, but seeing all these visual exhibits warmed her heart. Especially after dealing with Lacey yesterday, it was nice t
o see how many people cared.

  That woman deserved all the bad things people had said about her. Not because of anything she’d done to Eddie or the fact that she’d attacked Haley, but because of the way she’d handled her daughter being hit by a car. If it were up to Haley, Lacey would not come anywhere near Emily. Ever again.

  “Hey, cuzzo. How are your legs?”

  “Fine. Nothing a little hydrogen peroxide and Neosporin couldn’t handle.”

  A beeper sounded and Jamie, who was dressed in purple scrubs, popped up out of the chair. “Time to get back to work.”

  Leaning over, Jamie kissed Emily on the cheek then did the same to Joey. When she tried to do the same to Alex, he pulled her in for the real thing.

  Joey made gagging noises and Emily covered her eyes. Jamie pulled away and swatted at his arm. Then she pointed her finger at him and, in what Haley imagined was her attempt at trying to be authoritative, said, “Stop it. Be good.”

  Alex’s eyes twinkled at his wife as he shot back, “I’m always good.”

  “All right. Enough.” Haley stepped in, lifting her hands because she knew how her cousin could be. “There are children present.”

  Jamie walked away shaking her head. “Sorry, Hales. I can’t control him.”

  Haley loved Jamie. Before Alex had met Jamie, he’d been a little bit—a lot!—of a manwhore. He went through women like other people went through socks. But since the moment he’d laid eyes on Jamie, no other women had existed to him.

  Alex was a good guy, and she wasn’t just saying that because he was her cousin. She’d never understood why he’d been the way he’d been with the opposite sex, but she could see that he was a thousand times happier now than he ever had been hooking up with different women five nights out of the week.

  “All right, little man. We’ve got to get you to swim lessons.”