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She stared at him in shock.“Nick?”
He didn’t answer. But he turned and walked back to her, searching her face as if she were a ghost.
“What are you doing here?” From the instant she’d recognized him, her heart started an uneven gallop in her chest and the room started to spin. This wasn’t just a coincidence. It wasimpossible.
“Jenna’s baby started showing signs of distress at thirty-seven weeks, so the docs had to do a C-section three days ago.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said quietly.
“I took the first flight I could find and arrived a couple of hours ago. I had to beg security to let me come up so late at night for a quick visit.”
“So the baby is here in the NICU?” Still dazed at seeing Nick standing in front of her, Lucy bit her lower lip as she mentally scrolled through the infants she’d cared for during the past three days. “I didn’t realize.”
“The last name is Jansen.”
“A sweet little girl with blonde hair?”
He nodded, a weary smile touching his lips.
“She hasn’t been in my care, but at the last shift report I heard that she’s doing well.”
“That’s what we’ve all been praying for. Her husband has been beside himself with worry.” He tipped his head toward the elevator. “Are you going down? I can walk you to your car.”
He wasn’t the tanned, relaxed man she’d met on the beach in Hawaii. He looked stressed and worried, and tired to his core. Yet here he was, still her chivalrous protector, offering safe conduct through a dark parking lot at night.
She wondered if he even remembered their last kiss at the airport in Hawaii...or the other times. He seemed like a stranger now.
“Thank you. I’d appreciate it.”
“You never got to snorkel at Hanauma Bay,” he said as they walked across the snowy parking lot to her car. “Or drive through the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Gardens. Do you think you’ll ever go back?”
She sensed a deeper layer to his question and shook her head. “There were a lot of other things on my list as well. But probably not. My life is here. A job I love. My family. I don’t suppose I’ll be taking any more big vacations for quite some time. Do you still have Sniper?”
“Of course I do.” His smile deepened the crinkles at the corners of his eyes. “I think he misses you. He’ll sit on the furniture so he can stare outside, or he’ll sit at the door and wait. Any word about his owners?”
“None. I still keep checking the online pet location websites, though. And I called the rescues on Oahu yesterday.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t bring him to you on this trip. I just couldn’t arrange it for such a short-notice flight.”
“Maybe another time.” She stopped at her car and clicked the key fob to unlock it.
Light snow started falling, dancing through the security lights overhead. It was Christmas Eve—yet since seeing Nick tonight she hadn’t given it a thought.
The thought of him spending Christmas alone in a hotel room made her heart shift uncomfortably. “Um...would you like to join us for Christmas dinner tomorrow? It won’t be a crowd—just my kids and an elderly neighbor.”
“Your son, too?”
“I can hardly believe it, but yes. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that he’s coming home.”
“Then you need to spend that time with them alone.” Nick hitched a shoulder toward the hallway behind him. “I’ll just hang around here.”
She pulled an old receipt from her purse and wrote down her address and cell number. “I’ll tell everyone you’re coming, so we’ll all be disappointed if you don’t. You can’t spend Christmas alone.”
