It wasa couple more hours before there was any news on Kate and the baby. Wade had been in and out of the waiting room, but now he was careful to avoid Trish. Time was dwindling, and so was her hope.
She had never felt about anyone the way she felt about Wade. She’d never felt such a spark and sense of belonging with one man before. Certainly not about Henry. Her toes had never curled at any of Henry’s kisses, that was for certain.
She might even be in love with him.
But how could they make it work?
“Eli is here!” Lina announced, her hands clapped together against her chest. Pure joy twinkled in her eyes. “I’m a great-grandma!”
Trish hopped out of her chair to give the woman a big hug and was squeezed breathless as a result. “Congratulations, Lina! I’m so happy for you and your family.” Trish meant the words, meant them so much tears brimmed her eyes.
“I can’t wait for you all to meet him. Allen, you’ll have to— Allen!”
Lina navigated to the row behind Trish and shook Allen awake. Wade took what Trish could only describe as reluctant steps to join them in their little corner of the waiting room. “They’re getting everything situated now. It’ll be a couple of hours before Kate is all moved and settled in her new room.”
Wade smiled, trying to hide the exhaustion in his droopy eyes.Has he slept at all?Trish had to tamp down the urge to go to him and offer her shoulder for her him to lean against. He looked as if he might drop at any moment. But the memory of how quickly he’d tensed at her touch kept her frozen in place.
“Why don’t we grab some breakfast at Mabel’s?” Allen suggested. “I, for one, would prefer to meet my second cousin on a full stomach.”
“Why don’t the rest of you go?” Lina suggested. “I’ll wait here in case—”
“Grams, you need to eat,” Allen insisted, turning her shoulders to steer her toward the door. “You most definitely are going.”
“But—”
“I can stay,” Wade offered.
“You need to eat, too,” Lina scolded.
While the three of them argued about who should go, who should stay, and who should go find Chet, Trish tried to cut in a couple of times before she was successful. “You go. I’ll stay. Lina, I can call you if anything comes up.”
Lina placed a gentle hand on Trish’s arm, the apologetic look in her eyes setting off alarms. “Hun, they won’t tell you anything. You’re . . .”
“Oh. Right. I’m not family.” Trish nodded in hopes it would take the attention away from her eyes that were already filling with tears. She hadn’t realized how badly she wanted a family until it become painfully clear she wasn’t part of this one. An uncomfortable silence hovered until Wade chimed in.
“Look, Grams. You and Allen go grab a table at Mabel’s. I’ll round up Chet, and the three of us will meet you there. I’ll let Ty know to call if they need us, okay?”
Lina gave in to that idea and let Allen usher her to the elevators.
They found Chet in the cafeteria, on his phone again. Instead of pacing this time, he’d commandeered a table to guarantee his privacy with a morning crowd filtering in for breakfast. He waved at them to let them know he was wrapping up his conversation.
“Who do you suppose he keeps talking to?” Trish asked Wade.
Wade shrugged his muscular shoulders, and memories of him without his shirt last night returned. “Your guess is as good as mine.” They shared a brief, bashful smile. One that offered hope for a future.
“What’s up?” Chet asked.
Wade filled him in on the latest developments, but he made a change to the breakfast plans. “You take Trish to Mabel’s. Bring me back one of those bacon breakfast burritos. I’ll call if anything comes up.”
“You don’t have your phone.” Trish narrowed her eyes at him.
“I’ll use Kate’s.”
Unlike the others, Chet didn’t argue with Wade’s insistence to stay behind. Trish felt him falling farther and farther away from her as they walked out into the lobby. Wade headed toward the elevator while Chet went for the exit.
Trish couldn’t go now. Not with how they were leaving things. She had to try to get through to him or she might miss her chance. She left Chet at the main entrance as she hurried to the elevator. The door dinged, and Wade stepped in. Trish threw her hand against the door to keep it open.
“Wade, we need to talk.”
