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“Look at the sunburn on his arms already. Did you even put SPF on his arms before bringing him out?” Hadn’t she just told me that he’d get a chill? “Having a baby isn’t like getting one of those designer dogs people pay a fortune for. If you’re going to have a baby, you have a responsibility to care for it properly, or give it up to a family that will.” The old lady’s lip curled in disgust. “This is what the lack of Christian values has given this generation. Whores and bastards. You should be ashamed of yourself. Poor little thing is going to have to drag itself up and will probably end up in prison like all the other fatherless miscreants.”
I was stunned. Last night, if anyone had asked me how I’d respond to someone saying these things, I would have said with immediate ferocity. But in reality, I sat there and just gaped at her, my eyes filling with tears.
A mother with a toddler on her hip marched up. “Listen, you old hag. No one wants your opinion, or your disgusting vitriol, so why don’t you do us all a favor and drop dead already,” the mama bear growled, and the old woman sniffed, giving us both a disdainful glare and striding away.
But the damage had been done. I was already standing, pulling the bottle from a grumbling Huey’s mouth and putting him back in the stroller. I threw everything else in the cargo area underneath.
All the while, the mother with the squirming toddler watched me with sad eyes. “Don’t listen to her. You’re doing a great job, and she’s obviously nuts.”
Fuck, I was going to cry. I’d thought I was over this crying shit. “Thank you. I’m sorry, I have to go.”
The woman nodded, watching as I all but sprinted back to the car. I unlocked it quickly and slid Huey into his seat. I hopped into the driver's side, then promptly burst into tears.
It was just my luck that at the moment my phone rang. Instead of answering it, I cried more. Then it rang again. And again.
Finally, I answered. “Hello?”
“Are you okay?” River’s voice was breathless down the phone. “What's wrong?”
I sniffed, sitting up straight and scrubbing my forearm across my eyes. “Nothing. I’m fine.”
“Don’t move. I’m coming.”
“River—” But I was talking to dead air.
ChapterFifteen
RIVER
When Nova didn’t answerher phone, something in my chest constricted and didn’t let go until I heard her voice. When I realized she was crying, a new sensation filled my chest and it was something I could immediately recognize: protectiveness.
“Don’t move. I’m coming.”
I hung up before she could protest. I lifted my chin at Rigby, and he excused himself from the sponsors he’d been schmoozing to walk over to me.
“What’s wrong?”
“Something’s up with Nova. I’m going to get her. Can you cover for me with the GM?”
Rigby frowned. “Fuck that. I’m coming with you.”
I slapped him on the shoulder. “Stay—I’ve got this. And one of us being missing is way less conspicuous to Coach than us both being gone.”
He stroked a hand down his face. “Fine. But message me straight away and let me know she’s okay.”
I nodded, and as Rigby made his way back across the room, smiling and drawing the eyes of every person in the vicinity, I snuck out the door. I strode through the team offices so fast, no one even thought to stop and talk to me. Once I was in the car, I called Devan.
“What’s up?”
“Can you track Nova’s phone for me?” I wasn’t an idiot. Devan had his issues, and one of those was this insane protectiveness that almost bordered on suffocating. Trauma did that; he needed to be in control the whole time, and he hated unknowns. Which meant I knew he had a tracking device in Nova’s car, and probably on her phone too.
He didn’t ask why. He just went silent for a moment, then came back on the line with a harsh breath. “She’s at the County Farm Park. I’ll be there soon.”
I didn’t try to stop Dev. Therewasno stopping him. But he had to come from the other side of the city, so I’d make it there first. I broke several traffic laws, but within fifteen minutes of getting the address from Dev, I was pulling up beside Nova’s new car.
There was no one in the driver’s seat, and I began to panic. Maybe she’d stepped out to walk through the gardens? I climbed out and rushed to the car, dragging open the door and then stopping.
Sitting in the passenger seat, feeding Huey, was a tear-stained Nova. “I’m sorry. I’m fine, I promise. You can go back to work.”
