“How dare you bad-mouth me to your brother? How dare you even imagine that you have a clue as to who I am or what I’m capable of, you judgmental, self-righteous prick?”
He blinked rapidly, scrambling to catch up. Vivian was clearly angry about something. Really angry, if the way she was snarling at him meant anything. Then his brain kicked in and he understood that his brother—or more likely Jodie—had shared his concerns regarding Vivian’s suitability for guardianship with her.
Awesome.
“You have no idea how lucky you are that I’m a girl and no one ever taught me to punch properly, Anderson, because your nose would be a pancake right now if I had my way.”
He caught her hand as she took a third shot at his chest, a little surprised at how hard he had to work to keep her at bay. Apparently rage bestowed unnatural powers on a woman. Who knew?
“Listen—”
“No, you listen. You don’t know me. Just because you once had the privilege of being inside my body for a few minutes—something that would never have happened unless I was very drunk and very stoned, by the way—does not mean that you get to pass judgment on me. No freaking way. You have no idea who I am or how I live my life or what my values are. You know nothing about me. Nothing. And yet you dared to try to cut me out of my nephews’ lives. Do you have any idea how freaking evil that is?”
Her blue-green eyes were bright with fury, her body rigid as she fought him for control of her arm. Her jaw-length hair swung around her face, the ruler-straight fringe ruffled by her exertions.
“Look, I have no idea what Jodie told you, but I think you might be overreacting,” he said. “Ow.”
Pain bit into his shin. She’d kicked him. Shock made him loosen his grip on her arm and she wrenched it free, taking a step backward so that she was out of his reach.
“Don’t you dare tell me I’m overreacting, you snake in the grass. You told Jason I would make a shitty guardian to Sam and Max. You said I was unreliable and a bad role model.”
“I asked Jason a few questions, that’s all. Appointing guardians is a serious business. I wanted to make sure they understood what they were signing up for.”
Truthfully, he didn’t have great recall of the conversation he’d had with Jason. He’d been so worked up over Lola, so worried about what would happen once the baby came, hearing his brother was relying on Vivian to put Max and Sam first had pushed about a million different buttons for him.
Buttons that maybe had more to do with his situation with Lola than they did with Vivian and his brother’s kids—something that was far clearer to him now than it had been then.
“And did you think to use that same scrupulous microscope to examine your own life, Seth? Did you take the time to consider if a man who knocks up his casual girlfriend and runs a bar is the kind of guy you’d want looking after your kids? A guy who has wasted half his life chasing a juvenile dream, a guy who wouldn’t know commitment if it bit him on the ass? Would that guy be the kind of person you’d want guiding your kid through life if you weren’t around anymore, Seth?”
He held up his hands. “Look, I’ll be honest. I was having a very crappy day when Jason came to talk to me. It’s possible I overreacted a little. Said some things I should have maybe kept to myself.”
She swore, and the next thing he knew her bag smacked into his face, something metallic landing a glancing blow on his brow before it fell to the ground.
“Jesus. Could you stop attacking me, please?”
“You have no right to judge me, privately or publicly. You think I didn’t have a moment of doubt when Jodie told me you were going to be the boys’ other guardian? You think I wasn’t worried, given everything I know about you?”
He frowned. She nodded, a grim smile twisting her lips.
“Doesn’t feel so great, does it, Seth, being judged and found wanting? You know why I didn’t say anything, though? Because I figured that Jason and Jodie know you a hell of a lot better than I do, and that even though I think I have a grasp on who you are and the way you live your life, I really only know what I’ve cobbled together based on a handful of conversations over the years, one encounter in the back of a limo a decade ago and whatever gets filtered through to me via the family grapevine. I figured it would be arrogant and ignorant in the extreme to think that was enough to judge you by.”
There was a hot, accusing light in her eyes, but beneath the anger he could see there was hurt. It was evident in the quaver in her voice and the way she was holding herself.
He closed his eyes for a beat, unable to deny the truth of her words. Because she was right, he didn’t know her. Not really. When he’d mouthed off the other night, Lola had been at the top of his mind, not Vivian. He’d funneled all his frustration and fear about his own situation onto the whole guardianship issue, and the result was that he’d made a big freaking mess of everything.
And hurt and insulted Vivian on a massive scale.
Damn.
“I’m sorry, Viv, okay? I just—” He lifted his hands helplessly, then let them drop. “My head is up my ass at the moment. I’ve got a lot of stuff going down, and I just... You know what? There’s no excuse for it. You’re right. I don’t know you. Not really. And I should have shut my cakehole and trusted my brother and Jodie. But I didn’t, and I said a bunch of stuff I shouldn’t have. And I’m really sorry about that.”
She didn’t say anything for a long moment, her eyes never leaving his face. “You’re lucky you still have testicles, you know that?”
He rubbed his chest where she’d hit him. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to have a bruise if that makes you feel any better.”
She shook her head, then bent to collect her handbag. She slid the strap onto her shoulder. “You know what the worst bit is? At the party today you acted as though you liked me. As though we were friends. Stupid me, I always thought we were, too.” She pressed her lips together, almost as though to stop herself from saying more, then turned for the door.
Damn. He was such an asshole.
“We are friends, Viv. And I have always liked you. Right from the start, I liked you.”
“No, you wanted to screw me. Big difference, apparently,” she said over her shoulder.
He couldn’t let her leave like this. He wasn’t under the illusion that he could erase his words or make her hurt disappear, but he wouldn’t sleep tonight if he let her walk away without trying to fix things.
Slipping around her, he blocked her access to the porch steps.
“Don’t go yet. Stay and let me grovel some more.”
“No, thank you. I’m not going to hang around so you can feel less guilty about being an ignorant jerk.”
She’d always been good at nailing him to the wall with the unvarnished truth.
He was about to try again when the phone rang.
“Give me two seconds to get that,” he said.
She raised her eyebrows and he knew that the moment he moved out of the way, she was out of here. He snagged the strap of her handbag, slipping it off her arm before she could react.
“Hey!”
“You can have it back in a minute,” he said, heading for the phone.
He heard her follow him, the tap-tap of her heels ominous as she stalked him.
“Give me my bag, Seth,” she demanded as he picked up the receiver.
“Anderson speaking,” he said into the phone, ignoring her.
She tried to snatch the bag but he turned, offering her his back.
“Is this Seth Anderson?” an officious female voice asked.
He rolled his eyes. Another telemarketer. He had to remember to add his name to the do-not-call list. “Thanks, but I’ve already got one.”
“Mr. Anderson, I’m calling from Monash Medical Centre. Can you confirm that you are the partner of Dolores Alice Brown, please?”
Seth went very still. “You mean Lola? Has something happened to her?”
“Dolores’s housemate gave me your contact
details. Can you confirm that you are her partner, please?”
“Yes. I am. I mean—” This woman didn’t need to know about his complicated relationship with Lola. “Yes. Is she okay? Is the baby okay?”
“I’m afraid Dolores has been involved in a car accident, Mr. Anderson. She’s in surgery at present, and I understand her condition is critical.”
It was like a gut punch. The room was airless. He let Vivian’s bag drop to the floor as he reached for the pad and pen he kept by the phone.
“Where is she? How do I get there?”
He scrawled the details she gave him, his heart pounding in his chest.
“Is the baby okay? What happened? Was she driving?” He’d heard terrible stories about women sustaining injuries from the steering wheel in the late stage of pregnancy.
“I don’t have any of those details, I’m afraid.”
“Okay. Thanks.” He set the phone down, his mind racing. He needed to get to the hospital. Now. He turned, only to find Vivian standing there, a frown on her face.
God. He’d completely forgotten she was here.
“Is everything okay?”
“Lola’s been in an accident. She’s critical and they’re operating on her.” He scooped up her bag and handed it to her. “Sorry. I need to go.”
“Of course.”
He yanked open the drawer where he kept his car keys and swore when he saw the empty space they should have occupied. Of course, his car was in the workshop. He’d dropped it off after leaving Sam’s party. Why on earth had he decided he had to get the issue with the ignition checked out this week?
“What’s wrong?”
“I dropped the Audi off at my mechanic’s this afternoon.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. Taxi. He needed to grab a cab. He had no idea how much cash he had in his wallet, but if he had to, he’d get the driver to swing past an ATM on the way.
“I’ll drive you. Where do you need to be?” she said without hesitation.
He glanced at her, relief warring with guilt. “You don’t need to do that.”
Not after the way he’d pissed her off.
“Do you need to grab anything?” she asked, reaching into her bag to palm her car keys.
He stared at her, but she simply stared back at him, signaling her willingness to do this for him.
“Thanks,” he said, and he spun on his heel to grab his wallet and coat.
* * *
“WHAT’S THE BEST way to get to that side of town?” Vivian asked as she pulled away from the curb.
Seth shoved his seat belt into the clasp, a fierce frown on his face as he considered her question. She could feel the anxiety coming off him in waves.
“Take Burke Road to the Monash, then take the Stephensons Road exit,” he said.
She nodded, picturing the route in her mind. Putting her foot down, she concentrated on cutting through the early-evening traffic.
For as long as she lived, she would not forget the way the color had drained from his face when he took the call from the hospital. One minute they’d been squabbling and wrestling over her bag, the next he’d been as still as a statue, his whole being focused on the words coming down the phone line. Then he’d started to ask questions, and she’d understood that something terrible had happened.
“Did they say anything else?” she asked. “How did it happen? How is the baby?”
“I only know what I told you.”
She glanced at him. He scanned the road ahead restlessly, his body leaning forward as though he could will the car to go faster.
“Does she have family you need to contact?”
He shook his head. “Not here. She’s English.”
“Do they know about the baby?” She slipped in front of a hatchback before darting into the left lane.
“Yes. I think they were planning to visit sometime soon.”
He pulled out his phone then, and she listened to his end of the conversation as he spoke to someone whom she guessed was Lola’s housemate. It was clear that the other woman didn’t know much more than Seth, and he spent five minutes reassuring her that he would let her know what was going on the moment he heard anything before ending the call.
“At least the traffic’s not too bad,” she said as she squeaked through an amber light.
“Yeah.”
Neither of them spoke again until they’d exited the freeway, then Seth used the map function on his phone to direct her to the hospital. She dropped him at the entrance, barely catching his urgent “thanks” before he raced into the building.
She parked, then pulled out her phone and called her sister, passing on the information.
“Oh, God. How horrible. Keep us in the loop, okay, Viv? And if there’s anything we can do, let us know.”
“I will.” Vivian locked her car and made her way to the entrance, glancing around as she entered the vast lobby. She had no idea where Seth might have gone or what department would be looking after Lola, but she approached the information desk and threw herself on the mercy of the attendant.
She was directed to the waiting area in the emergency department, and she followed the signs until she found a low-ceilinged space filled with bank after bank of seating full of people in various stages of dull-eyed boredom or muted distress.
Seth was talking to the woman at the counter, his expression tense as he listened. Vivian found a couple of seats near the corner and reserved one with her bag before sitting in the other. When Seth turned from the counter, she lifted her hand.
“Seth. Over here.”
He seemed surprised to see her, confirming as much when he sat. “You didn’t need to stay.”
“I’m not going to let you wait on your own.”
He glanced at her. “Thanks.”
There was a world of meaning in the single word, and she knew he was thinking of the reason she’d been at his house. She didn’t owe him anything, but she could hardly abandon him, either. He was family, Sort of.
“Did they tell you anything?”
“Yeah.” He breathed out through his nose, clearly affected by whatever he’d heard. “She was on foot, heading to her car at the supermarket, when someone backed into her. She’s got multiple internal injuries, head injuries....”
Vivian’s clutched her knees. This was so awful.
“Did they say anything about the baby?”
“Just that they’re operating.” A muscle jumped in his jaw and he blinked rapidly. Despite all the stupid things he’d said about her, she couldn’t stop herself from resting a hand on his shoulder.
They sat in silence until her phone beeped with a text message. She checked and saw it was from her sister.
“I called Jodie so they’d know what was going on, I hope you don’t mind.”
“Was that her now?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll call her. Fill them in on where we’re at.”
He moved off to make the call and she watched him pace as he spoke to her sister. He’d been barefoot when he answered the door, and he’d shoved on a pair of old Converse sneakers before racing out to her car. His hair stood on end from where he’d been raking it with his fingers, and his big body was tense, his movements edgy.
She wished there was something more she could say or do, but knew there wasn’t. This was a waiting game, pure and simple. If Lola died, if the baby died... Vivian didn’t even want to think about what that would do to Seth. It was too painful to contemplate. Too huge a loss.
The row of seats rocked as Seth dropped down beside her.
“She wanted to come wait with us but I told her there wasn’t much point at the moment.”
He braced his elbows on his widespread knees, and stared blindly at his phone, his head lowered. She set her bag on the floor and wondered how long it would be before they heard anything.
After an hour, she went to get them both coffees. She bought muffins, too, even though she knew Seth probably wouldn’t eat. She certainly wasn’t hungry, but lunch
had been a long time ago, and he needed to keep his energy levels up.
“So, how did you and Lola meet?” she asked as she handed over the coffee and muffin.
“She was a regular at the bar.”
“Must be handy owning your own pickup joint.”
His mouth curled slightly at her dig. “Believe it or not, I try to keep my work and personal lives separate.”
“So what happened with Lola? You slip on the floor and accidentally fall into her vagina or something?”
He almost smiled again before taking a swallow of coffee. “God, this is awful.”
“I know. But we’re both going to drink it anyway. It’s part of the whole waiting-room ambience.”
He tore off a chunk of the muffin and chewed on it. “She seduced me. And I didn’t have the good sense to say no.”
“That hot, huh?”
“Yeah. Blonde. Great legs. Great...you know. Your basic male fantasy.”
“Hard to turn down.”
“Apparently. I’m not sure I tried too hard, to be honest.”
“That surprises me.”
He shot her a dry look. Good. If she could distract him, feed him and help the time pass, she’d probably done all she could.
“When did you find out she was pregnant?”
“About six months ago. We’d stopped seeing each other, but she came into the bar one afternoon to talk to me. Just handed me the pregnancy test and told me that I was going to be a father.”
“Wow. That must have been more than a little surreal.” She’d never really thought about it before, but it occurred to her that men—some men anyway—must secretly dread getting a visit like that. At least as a woman the realization that you were pregnant came in stages—suspicion and maybe symptoms, followed by confirmation. Men just got cold-called with the news.
“It was.”
They were silent as they sipped their awful coffees.
“It wasn’t a disaster, though,” Seth said, surprising her. “I mean, it was a surprise. And obviously it’s not ideal that we’re not together, and that she’s so much younger. But after I got my head around it, I realized it wasn’t the end of the world. That I could do this.”
Her Kind of Trouble (Harlequin Superromance) Page 7
