“Don’t think about it. Do it. Better yet, go talk to Reese. If you want her, go get her and tell her how you feel. At least she’s right here in front of you, alive and almost well.”
Shit, he was right. Here I was moping about Reese, when all I had to do was go talk to her. He didn’t know if the love of his life and mother of his child was dead or alive. “Thanks, Phoenix, appreciate it.”
I was going to make her talk to me, but not tonight. I already had too much to drink to go anywhere and this was a conversation we needed to have completely sober. With nothing else to do, I went back to the bar and kept drinking.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Reese
“You don’t know how good this feels,” I squealed. Ember was driving me back from the doctor’s office. He removed the cast from my arm and gave me a splint to wear if needed. He also put me in a walking boot and gave me the green light to start using my ankle again, slowly at first, but still, no more wheelchair.
I had refused to even look at it after being trapped in the passageway, but I finally realized that I had to use it if I wanted to do things like use the bathroom by myself. I still didn’t use it much and I never left my building. I wasn’t going to end up in another situation where I was trapped because the damn battery died. In short, I didn’t trust the stupid chair. I couldn’t wait to send it back.
We got out of the car and I picked up my son. Cradling him in my arms, I walked to the front door with a huge smile on my face. It was a simple action, one many mothers do every single day, but for me, it was a moment I would cherish forever. I propped him on my hip and tottered toward the stairs.
“Let’s take the elevator. You know, just to be on the safe side,” Ember hesitantly called out.
I frowned, but turned and tottered to the elevator. I wanted my full independence back, but she was right, I shouldn’t push my luck. I damn sure didn’t want to end up back in a wheelchair.
I fed James and put him down for his afternoon nap. “Do you mind listening out for him? I’m going to take a shower and I’m going to enjoy every second of it.”
She grinned. “Go on, you deserve it.”
I did enjoy every second of that shower. I stayed in there until I ran out of hot water. I deep conditioned my hair and shaved everything that needed shaving. I was afraid the amount of hair I removed was going to clog the drain. Things south of the border had gotten a little out of hand, but I couldn’t shave and balance with one good arm and one good leg. As much as I loved Ember, I was not going to ask her to shave my hoo-ha for me.
Dressed in only a thin tank top and shorty shorts, hair wrapped in a towel, I entered my room to find a wide-eyed Ember and a fuming Harper staring at me. Well, fuck me sideways, what was Duke’s sister doing here? And why the hell did she look pissed off at me?
“Harper, what an unexpected surprise. What are you doing here?” I asked, feigning nonchalance.
“Really, Reese?” she shrieked. “You and my brother have a baby and no one bothers to tell me?”
“Shhh!” I hissed. “You’ll wake him up.” I glanced back at James to make sure he was still sleeping. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know Duke hadn’t told you.”
She scoffed. “I find that hard to believe. Didn’t you think it was odd that I hadn’t come to see my nephew?”
Seriously, she needed to have this conversation with her brother, not me. “Honestly, Harper, no I didn’t think it was odd because you didn’t even cross my mind. I was a little busy healing from my near-death experience a few weeks ago. You know, when my car was pushed off the side of a mountain by some deranged lunatic.”
She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. “What?” she asked shakily.
I rolled my eyes. Her scaredy cat routine wasn’t going to work on me. “You should really talk to your brother about this.”
Her lower lip started to tremble. Oh, give me a break. “I will,” she quietly said, “but can I see him first? I promise I won’t wake him, I just want to see him.”
I gestured to the crib. “By all means…”
I knew I was being unreasonably catty toward Harper, but she caught me off guard and her accusatory tone immediately put me on the defensive. Plus, I was still pissed off at her brother. He was hardly around, so I was directing my hostility at her.
“He looks just like Duke,” she whispered.
“Yeah,” I agreed, “he does.”
“I can’t believe he kept this from me,” she said, sounding hurt.
Crap, she was making me feel bad and I really shouldn’t care what she thought. I wanted to let her think Duke kept it from her, but for some unknown reason, I just couldn’t do that. “He didn’t know about James until six weeks ago. I can’t say why he hadn’t told you in that time, that’s something you will have to ask him.”
“He didn’t know you were pregnant?” she gasped.
“No, he didn’t. I was going to tell him, but things happened and he was…you know, I really don’t want to discuss that part with you. It is what it is. I didn’t tell him, moved away, had the baby, had a wreck, and he found out when the daycare called him. That’s the short version, Duke can fill in the details.”
