AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She’s mine. Not she’s ours. Of course he wouldn’t say that. I’m not blood related to Leia. She’s not my daughter, and she’s not my niece.
When we arrive back at the house, he comes around and retrieves Leia, puts her seat on the ground, then helps me out. He carries Leia in, and I follow him, feeling tired and sore.
Leia is close to dozing off. James takes her out of her carry seat and says, “I’ll put her down for a bit.”
I nod, watching him take her through to the bedroom. Sighing, I go into the kitchen, open a bottle of water from the fridge, and drink a quarter of it. Ooh, I’m sore. I investigate my elbow and knee. My knee is okay, but my elbow is already bleeding through the pad. Ouch.
It’s my side that feels really tender, though. Why’s that? Oh of course, Blue kicked me in the ribs. I guess I’ll have a nice bruise there. I’m wearing cropped jeans and a tee, and I lift the tee.
“Jesus Christ!” James strides across the foyer, carrying the baby receiver. He puts it on the counter and comes up to me. I’ve dropped the tee, but he pushes aside my hand and lifts the hem. He obviously glimpses where my ribs are marred by a fresh graze that’s already starting to turn a nasty reddish-purple before I move away.
“What happened?” he asks in horror.
“He kicked me,” I say reluctantly, not wanting him to fuss.
His jaw drops. “He kicked you?”
“Twice.”
He takes my hand and leads me to an armchair. “Sit down.”
“But—”
He glares at me, and I lower down.
“Stay there,” he barks. He slides a hand into his trouser pocket, then frowns and looks around. “Have you seen my phone?”
“No.”
He curses. “Can I borrow yours?”
“It’s in my purse.” I gesture at the kitchen counter. “Blue threw it away. The police officer put it in there. I hope it’s not broken.”
He goes over and retrieves it. “It’s fine, don’t worry.” He gets me to unlock it, then dials a number.
Relief that the phone isn’t damaged makes me feel oddly tearful.
I watch him as he paces. “Hello?” he says after a while. “It’s James Rutherford. Yeah, I’m using someone else’s phone. I’m fine, thanks, but I need a favor. Not for me, for my… wife.”
He hesitated, and my throat tightens. He didn’t want to use the label.
“Yeah,” he continues as the person on the other end of the phone obviously queries it. “Long story. You heard about Maddie? Yeah, that’s right, hoping to adopt her. Aroha was looking after her for me, and we fell in love and ended up eloping, kinda. Anyway, Leia’s birth father has just attacked Aroha outside Kia Kaha. She saw a paramedic, but she didn’t mention that he kicked her in the ribs. I think he might have broken a couple. Yeah. Do I need to take her to the Emergency Department?”
He listens for a moment. Then he walks over to me. “Are you short of breath?”
I shake my head.
“Do you have pain in your tummy?”
I shake again.
“You’re not coughing up blood?”
“No.”
“Did you hear a crack when he kicked you? Or can you feel a bump there?”
“No.”
