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She passed the phone to me, and I saw that it was still connected, so I put it to my ear. “Hey, it’s Lyndi. Meet you at the hospital?”
Aria looked up at me with a grateful, teary smile as Will’s promise came through the speaker. “Yes. I’ll meet you there.”
I hung up and slipped the phone into my back pocket, grateful that I’d stashed my purse and keys under the desk we’d passed on the way through the lobby.
“Okay, let’s go get you checked out, mama,” I said, taking Aria’s hand. I helped her stand and draped one of her arms over my shoulders, then slid one of mine behind her back.
“Thanks, Lyn.”
I returned her small smile, bumping the side of her head with mine. “Hang in there, A. I’ve got you.”
* * *
As soon as we’d arrived at the hospital and gotten Aria checked in, the doctors informed me that she was indeed in labor. I hadn’t wanted to leave her side to update Will and her family, but the nurses assured me she had time.
Twenty minutes later, I paced around the small waiting room in the labor and delivery wing so I could meet Will when he came in. He’d been at the shooting range with the guys, but they should arrive any minute.
Yes, I was grateful that Aria was in good hands. But over a month early seemedtooearly. Wasn’t it? Babies were supposed to bake for nine months. Ten, actually, since we’d been counting to forty weeks this whole time. Though, I didn’t fully understand whynine monthswas the common thing if that was the case.
Not the point, Lyn. Get it together.
I should have told her to take today off. When I’d shown up at the venue this morning, I’d seen the fatigue. I’d seen the shadows under her eyes. But Aria hated that kind of thing and was way too much of a control freak to hand off a wedding to her team with no notice.
Well, except for that one time she did it in the name of love and a swoony Marine riding in on his new motorcycle, but that was different.
“Come on, Will,” I pleaded in a low tone, craning my neck as I waited to catch a glimpse of him through the windows.
This was going to be fine. Yes, I should have told her to take today off. But she and the baby were going to be fine. I just knew it.
“Lyndi,” Will called. He pushed his way sideways through the sliding doors of the emergency room before they’d even opened wide enough for his broad shoulders. “Where is she?”
“She’s with the doctors,” I said as he flung himself against the desk to speak to the woman who sat there.
Just as Will disappeared through the double doors on the left, heavy footsteps drew my gaze back to the door. Will’s best friend Paul—who also happened to be Aria’s big brother—charged into the lobby, Zac and Beau right behind him.
“Is he with her?” Paul asked me, his breath coming out in jagged bursts.
I nodded. “Yeah, where are Layla and Shelby?”
Zac tipped his chin toward the parking lot outside. “They should be here soon. They were shopping in Beaufort when we called them, and they need to bring Grayson to my sister before they come over.”
That was a good call. Zac’s young son wasn’t a fan of hospitals after having suffered an allergic reaction last winter. Even though I was sure this day would be a happy one for my best friend and her baby, he didn’t need to wait around in a hospital on pins and needles like the rest of us.
“And your parents?” I asked Paul.
“They’re not in town,” he replied, his face pained. “Mom’s gonna be so mad she missed this. First grandbaby and all.”
I managed a smile, glad he’d defaulted to the simple fact of her missing this big moment and not the scarier angle. The one that had to do with how early it was and how scared Aria looked when the doctor had confirmed she was in labor.Prematurelabor.
Shaking my head, I turned to Beau for the first time. He was watching me intently.Sointently that for a second, I wondered if he could see into my very soul. Right past my barriers and into the torment that swirled underneath.
“I guess now all we can do is wait?” Paul asked, reaching up to scratch the back of his head.
“Yep.” Zac moved to one of the leather chairs and slumped into it, resting his head back against the wall. “You know, it’s funny. I missed this whole thing with my kid, and I have to be honest, I’m a little glad.” I quirked a brow at him, but he shook his head. “Sorry, wait. No. I’m not. I’d kill to go back and be there for all the stuff I missed. But I just mean this feeling… thewaiting…”
“It sucks,” Paul finished for him as he took a seat in the chair next to his friend’s.
Zac nodded once. “Yeah. That.”
I swallowed hard, my eyes moving to Beau’s again. They held a pensive shimmer as he searched my face for something I couldn’t find words for. Between Zac’s comments about waiting and Beau’s watchful stare, it felt a little like the walls were closing in on me.
This was really happening. My best friend—well, after my sister and tied with Shelby—was inprematurelabor.We were sitting here doing all of this waiting five weeks earlier than we were supposed to be.
Her parents weren’t here. Her husband wasn’t the one who’d brought her in while she was shaking and scared.
I was.
And through all of the pressure, I’d controlled every emotion raging inside of me even though I wished I could disappear into a fictional world and pretend none of this was real. But now that the dust was settling and Aria and Will were with the doctors, I felt disturbing quakes breaking through my control. Like the precursors before a devastating earthquake, the urge to run became too much to take.
“I’ll be right back,” I said to no one in particular, fleeing through the sliding glass doors without looking back.
