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“I’m sure he’s fine,” Asa said, sounding confident. “He’ll no doubt have some incredible stories to share when he finally resurfaces.” He polished off the last bite of toast. “And I bet Bear and Ryder will get along. Your guy was telling me about the semester he spent studying abroad in Italy and a few of the other epic trips he’s taken.”
“What kind of epic trips?” Bea asked as she sipped her coffee.
“Hiking Mount Kilimanjaro and fly fishing in Patagonia were the two that made me the most jealous.” Asa’s eyes lit with excitement. “Oh, and he visited a dude ranch in Uruguay run by authentic gauchos.” He looked at Esme expectantly. “You’ve probably heard the stories.”
“I have.” Esme smiled, but it felt strained. Yes, Ryder had shared his travel adventures with her, but hearing her brother talk about them and how Ryder and Bear might connect over their mutual love of adventure brought into sharp focus another difference between her and Ryder.
The farthest she’d ever traveled had been a family vacation to the Grand Canyon, and she’d been carsick half the way from Cave Creek to Arizona.
Ryder was already talking about how to work out a parenting schedule if he had to start traveling again for work. The bulk of his plan involved him taking most of the responsibility for childcare on the weekends, holidays and his vacation time. But what would happen if he developed a case of wanderlust? Or general lust for someone besides her? Esme didn’t care to consider either of those options.
They paid the check and then headed out. Esme hadn’t wanted to discuss her relationship with Ryder but had to admit she felt a sense of relief that her siblings knew and supported her to the best of their ability.
“If I don’t talk to you before you meet with the dude ranch owner, good luck,” she told Asa as they said goodbye on the sidewalk. “I’ll be sending all my best close-the-deal thoughts your way.”
He chucked her on the shoulder. “Thanks, sis. Let’s face it, she can’t resist my charm forever.”
Esme didn’t doubt her brother for an instant.
“I do love and support you,” Bea said, wrapping her arms around Esme’s shoulders for a tight hug.
“She can’t help but boss both of us around.” Asa enveloped both of them in his embrace. “It’s the oldest-child syndrome. She thinks she knows best.”
Bea opened her arms to include him in a three-way hug. “I do know best. But what I know for sure is that Esme can be trusted to make her own decisions regarding her life.”
Esme wasn’t confident she deserved her sister’s faith, but it made her heart happy. That was a start.
Chapter Eleven
“I wish I had more information to give you,” Jackie Ashwood, the second volunteer who’d been in the hospital on the labor and delivery floor the night Chase and Noah were born, told Ryder and Esme when they met later that week.
Ryder had suggested they speak with the woman in the Hayes Enterprises’ conference room, which offered privacy. Jackie had been accompanied by her granddaughter, who happened to be a labor and delivery nursing assistant who’d also been working that night.
“Is it typical that you wouldn’t recognize or already know another volunteer?” Ryder asked. County Hospital wasn’t big, and most of the staff he’d talked to before today had known everyone on the floor that night. However, several people had mentioned that Jackie’s granddaughter, Ruby, had been a new hire in October.
“That night was chaotic with the storm and flood,” Jackie said, sending a sympathetic glance toward Esme. “I’m sure it made giving birth more of an adventure.”
“An adventure is one way to describe it.” Esme’s tone was light, but she barely cracked a smile and immediately turned toward the window. She was holding Noah, who’d been particularly fussy for the past couple of days—teething, they both assumed.
Ryder wasn’t sure if he’d said or done something wrong, but she’d been distant all morning, her mood directly contrasting with the warm and welcoming woman he shared a bed with at night. They’d been together the past five nights, although it felt like he’d known her forever.
Their bodies fit together like destiny had joined them, and he couldn’t imagine anything that would change the way he wanted her.
By unspoken agreement, they didn’t talk about this shift in their relationship. It was as if it were too precious for words, which could be misconstrued and dull the power of their connection.
Ruby, the young nursing assistant, stepped closer to Ryder, who was holding Chase in his arms. “What a sweet boy. I bet you love your daddy, don’t you?” She cleared her throat and then looked over her shoulder. “You really didn’t realize they gave you the wrong baby?” The question was directed at Esme, whose shoulders visibly tensed.
“It was a stressful night,” Ryder answered before Esme could. She wasn’t the only one who hadn’t realized the mistake. “They whisked off the babies as soon as they were born to get their Apgar scores and the initial measurements. We didn’t get to hold our sons until the staff brought them back to us. That was nearly a half hour later.”
“Yes,” the young woman agreed. “I was in charge of weighing the newborns and getting their footprints and measurements.”
“Did you put on the ID bracelets?”
“I don’t remember that,” Ruby said offhandedly, and Ryder felt bad pushing her. She seemed nice enough.
“As Nana said, it was a chaotic night.” She held out her hands. “Do you mind if I hold this little sweetie for a minute? I love babies. That’s why I chose to work on the labor and delivery floor.”
Ryder was slightly surprised at the request and how close the woman stood to him. There was something in the air, a tension he couldn’t explain. He wanted to end this meeting prematurely and take Esme in his arms to comfort her however he could, but they might not have another chance to talk to Jackie and her granddaughter. The emails and voice messages he was receiving from the hospital’s attorney were becoming more threatening in tone. The powers that be at County Hospital wanted Ryder to drop his unofficial investigation, and he worried they were going to forbid their employees from speaking with him going forward.
