One Winter's Night. Susan Meier

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СКАЧАТЬ today. Came to some conclusions.”

      A happy thought filled him with hope. He might not have found her a job, but maybe being with him had caused her to see some things about her life, things that might help her stop being so sad.

      “So the past couple of weeks with my friends has been good for you?”

      She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

      He twirled them around. “Of course it matters. You miss your parents. You’re trying to figure it out because you’re trying to find an angle or reason to go home.”

      She glanced away. “I don’t think so.”

      He desperately wanted her to be able to go home, to have the acceptance she needed. Not just to make sure she got something from their deal, but because no one should be alone for Christmas. Especially not somebody so pretty and so nice.

      He waited a second, then said, “What would you have to do to be able to go home?”

      She smiled devilishly. “Buy my mom a diamond necklace?”

      He huffed out a sigh. “I’m being serious here.”

      “I don’t think I can go home.”

      He glanced down. “Why not?”

      She looked away for a few seconds, then caught his gaze again. “I’ve found more love and acceptance with Olivia and Laura Beth than I ever had with my parents. And with their acceptance I realized how dysfunctional my own family is.”

      He thought about how he hadn’t been home in nearly two years. Didn’t call. Didn’t take his mother’s calls. Because everything about his family reminded him of Blake.

      “Everybody’s family is dysfunctional to a degree.”

      “Not like this. My parents don’t know how to love. Even though it hurts to have no one, sometimes a person is better off being alone than living around people who only use them.”

      Or sometimes a person is better off being alone than being with people who only revive their sorrow.

      “Maybe.”

      “Okay, here’s the best example. My parents would love to see me with you. They’d use that like a stepladder. They’d treat me like royalty to get to you. And then they’d use you for introductions or insider information or whatever they thought they could get. But when you and I stopped seeing each other, they’d put me back on a shelf again. Like something they pulled out when they needed it.” She shook her head. “As a kid, when they’d put me back on the shelf, I’d jump through hoops to get their attention, their affection. I’d do well in school or volunteer to work for a very visible charity. Sometimes they’d pat me on the head, but most of the time they’d ignore me. Even in their home, at their dinner table, I was alone. Lonely. I don’t want to go back to that.”

      He wouldn’t either. No matter how much he stayed away, he knew the second he came home, his family would smother him with love.

      Familiar sadness for her filled him, but he stopped it from totally taking over. She’d figured all this out on her own, clearly come to terms with it. She was a strong woman. A unique, wonderful person. No one needed to pity her. He might wish he could help her, but he would never, ever feel sorry for her.

      The band took a break, and Ricky and Eloise walked back to the table. Tucker and Olivia leaned in together, as if they were telling secrets. But Olivia’s face was pinched and Tucker’s brow had furrowed.

      Ricky tensed.

      Eloise walked over and stooped beside Olivia’s chair. “Wanna tell me what’s going on here?”

      Close enough to hear and not wanting to look overly interested in case it was a lover’s quarrel, Ricky took his seat.

      Tucker said, “We think Olivia might be in labor.”

      Eloise gasped. “And she flew? You let her get on an airplane this close to her due date?”

      “She’s not due for another month. Her doctor said it was fine.”

      Olivia panted out a breath. “Seriously. I’m not due for a month. This might not be labor. Everybody said it was fine for me to fly.”

      Eloise sighed. “It might have been fine for you to fly, but you’re not fine now.” She reached across the table, grabbed her small handbag, retrieved her phone and dialed 911. “This is Eloise Vaughn. I’m at the Ritz with a woman who is in labor.”

      Olivia said, “Really Eloise, that’s not necessary.... Oh my God!”

      Tucker stiffened. “What?”

      Olivia caught Eloise’s hand. “Tell them to hurry.”

      When Eloise finished the call, Olivia squeezed her fingers. “If it’s possible, I want to get down to the lobby.”

      Eloise gaped at her. “The lobby?”

      “I don’t want to make a scene. Get me downstairs, hide me somewhere. I don’t want anybody to see if my water breaks or hear me if I scream.”

      There wasn’t a woman in the world who wouldn’t understand that and Eloise couldn’t refuse. “Can you walk?”

      Olivia nodded.

      She motioned for Ricky to come over to them. “Tucker’s going to help Olivia to the door. You and I are going to walk behind them just in case.”

      Ricky nodded, but memory after memory of Blake’s birth tumbled through him. He hadn’t been in love with Blake’s mother. Basically, they’d been nightclub friends who’d slept together, and she ended up pregnant. He hadn’t gone to birthing classes, didn’t really want to be in the delivery room—and he hadn’t been—but he’d gone to the hospital when Blake was born. The same hospital where his son had ultimately died. And that was probably the same hospital Tucker would direct Olivia to, if only because, like Ricky, he was on their board of directors.

      Eloise caught his arm and pulled him in step behind Tucker and Olivia. “Get with the program, slick.”

      He shook himself out of his reverie. If this were anybody but Tucker and Olivia, the torrent of memories assaulting him right now would have frozen him solid.

      But when Olivia’s steps faltered, he was right behind her, ready to catch her.

      * * *

      Ricky’s limo pulled onto the emergency entrance ramp behind the ambulance with Olivia and Tucker inside. Eloise leaped out the second the car stopped.

      She was at the door of the ambulance as they pulled the gurney off and Tucker jumped down.

      The pair, Olivia’s best friend and her husband, hustled with Olivia into the emergency room.

      Ricky held back. Everything inside him told him to leave. Too many bad memories were associated with this hospital. Yet he couldn’t seem to get his mouth to form the words to tell Norman to go. His best friend’s baby was coming early. СКАЧАТЬ