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Chapter Sixteen
Sawyer
The waiting room is silent, which is probably why Orval’s next comment feels like it was blasted from a megaphone. “We didn’t get to finish,” he says quietly to Ryan, who’s seated beside him.
And poor Ryan actually glances down. The look on his face is a combination of horror and like he’s going to be sick, poor bastard.
“Grandpa!” Jaime chastises as she tries to mask her discomfort with a laugh.
“Oh, it’s okay, Jaimers. It’ll go down when the pill wears off.” Orval leans back in the chair, his arms crossed firmly over his chest as he closes his eyes. He looks like he’s trying to nap. Except for the fact that his pants are tented in the front.
And no, it’s not like I was trying to look at this point, but that’s not exactly something you can miss when your attention is drawn to it.
I’m probably going to have nightmares now.
“It’s okay if you want to run screaming from the building,” AJ murmurs beside me. “I wouldn’t hold it against you.”
“Are you kidding? I think they’re great. My grandparents died when I was pretty little, so I’d like to think this is just a glimpse at what I’ve missed,” I reply with a casual shrug.
“Oh, I happen to know for a fact that my grandparents are nothing like anyone else’s.”
I chuckle. “Maybe.”
“Tell me more about your family,” she asks. I reach over and touch the soft skin on the inside of her forearm, running the side of my finger up and down her arm. She shutters under my graze, reminding me of how much I really enjoy touching her.
“Well, I was born and raised in Charlotteville. My mom and dad have been married for almost forty years. I have an older sister, Courtney, who works in admissions at the college there, and a younger goofball brother, Dylan, who’s married and works for an advertising agency. I went to college there at University of Virginia before being drafted by the Rangers, and was fortunate enough to play my entire career for the same club.”
“And where does Carrie Doherty fall in all of this?” she asks. No, I don’t really want to talk about my ex-wife, but it’s going to keep coming up until she knows all the details.
I exhale slowly and look her way. “I met her during my fifth year with the Rangers. I went to a New Year’s Eve gala for one of my sponsors in New York and she was there. My agent introduced us, and I guess, as they say, the rest is history.”
She seems to absorb my words, and by the look on her face, is contemplating asking for more details. I mean there are a lot of details. She probably knows what the rag magazines said about my cheating and womanizing for the duration of my marriage, but I hope she also takes the source into consideration.
She opens her mouth to talk, probably to ask me some of the burning questions I know she wants to ask, when Emma and Abby come back into the room. “You’re up, Grandpa. Linkin’s in the hallway outside of the room while they give her the epidural,” Emma tells her son-in-law with a wide smile on her face.
Without saying a word, Brian jumps up from his chair and heads down the hallway.
“Everything okay?” Payton asks through a yawn. I glance at my watch and notice it’s nearing eleven o’clock.
“Fine, fine, Payters. She’s progressing beautifully, though she still has a ways to go. Plus, the focus right now is on Linkin’s hand,” she replies with a bubble of excitement.
“What happened to his hand?” Levi asks.
“Lexi tried to rip it off during one of her contractions,” Abby informs him with a big smile.
“I’ve never seen such a petite little thing bring a big strong hunk of a man to his knees like that,” Emma chimes in.
“Literally,” Abby whispers to Levi.
“The doctor had to check it out and make sure it wasn’t broken,” Emma continues.
“There were tears,” Abby gushes.
“Lexi’s?” AJ asks.
“No, Linkin’s,” Emma finishes. “Anyway, the anesthesiologist just arrived to do her epidural. She’ll be feeling no pain any moment.”
“Good,” Jaime says.
