Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (39 page)

“
Hi,
Luis. I'm Morgan, and I'd love to run with the bulls with you.”
She laughed as she looked at his picture again. “Oh, yes. Mr.
Rivera, you'll do just fine.”

She
leaned back in the tub and let her mind drift to anyplace it wanted
to go. The thoughts of Finlay made her smile, and she loved the fact
that he was trying to make an effort to see her after the times that
she'd flown across the world to see him. Florida was an exception,
and she smiled at those memories with the man as well.

She
was blessed to have such wonderful people in her life, and she knew
that she'd never be worthy of their love. “But I have you.”
Images of Angel, Finlay, Sean, Tanner, Julianne, and Cedric, filled
her mind as she began to drift off to sleep surrounded by the beauty
of Tahiti that was waiting for her discovery.

*****

“It's
time, mate.”

“Time
for what?” Sean yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he
tried to figure out who was calling him at seven in the morning.

“The
hospital just called, ma baby is on the way.” Sean threw the
covers off and stood, still trying to register what he'd just heard.
“Right now?”

“
Aye,
right now.”

Sean
captured his phone between his cheek and shoulder and pulled on the
pair of jeans he'd taken off next to the bed the night before.
“Alright, mate. I'll be there as soon as I can.” Sean was
out the door in less than five minutes and was on the next flight to
Edinburgh in less than thirty.

Finlay
was already at the hospital when Sean arrived, but both men were
present when the new Campbell had been brought into the world. The
proud father walked into the waiting area to announce the arrival.
"It's a boy, mate! I have a son!" Sean congratulated his
best friend, and the two embraced briefly before they both went to
the nursery to see Finlay's baby boy.

Spain

Book
Twenty-Four

Chapter
One

“Come
on, mate. Let's go grab a pint while we wait.” The two men had
already been at the hospital for nearly five hours and they still
weren't allowing visitors into Carla's room. Sean was starving,
Finlay was exhausted, and a drink sounded really good right about
then. Fin nodded, then told Sean he was going to try the room one
last time before leaving.

Sean
nodded back and watched Finlay disappear into the elevator, then
watched the lights go from left to right to the third floor, then
right to left as the elevator returned back to the lobby for another
person. A few minutes later, Finlay returned in the cart next to the
one he'd gone up in. He stepped out, shaking his head back and forth.
“Still no?”

“Aye.
Same fookin' thing. They said she's too weak fae visitors. I'm the
father, ye think I'm allowed te see her, right?” Fin raised his
arms in question and Sean walked through the front doors first and
held one open for his friend. Finlay walked through, still yelling,
“that's no' normal. A woman has a baby and the father is in
there, isn't he? They don' tell him ta wait.”

Sean
shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what to say. He was worried, just
as Finlay was, but he wasn't going to say anything to make things
worse. He just kept quiet through the large parking lot as he
followed the angry Scot to his truck.

“Ye
think something's wrong, mate?” Finlay climbed into his truck
and started it, then cranked up the heat.

“No,”
Sean lied as he climbed into the other seat. “I'm sure she's
just tired, like they said.” Fin nodded and sighed.

“Aye.
Maybe everything is fine.” The two men were quiet on the way
to their bar, the same bar they always went when Sean was in
Edinburgh. On the way there, Sean thought about all of the things he
knew and tried to make sense of what his best friend must have been
going through.

He
knew Finlay had only been with Carla a few times, nothing serious, so
Sean and Finlay had their doubts when the woman had called Fin
several months prior, announcing she and the Campbell were to be
expecting. They
had
been together though, so Finlay couldn't
completely deny the possibility. He'd gone with Carla to the first
appointment after finding out, and that's when he'd been told they
were having a boy. By the time he left the clinic, he had convinced
himself that the child was truly his, and he couldn't have been
happier.

Finlay
had been so excited, he'd called Sean before he'd even made it home
that day. Sean was happy for his friend and he knew, Finlay would
make a wonderful father. Even in the earliest of stages, Sean watched
his friend do everything in his power to be a part of the baby's
life. Finlay called all the time, just to see how she was doing and
offered to do anything he could to take care of her and his son.
Then, just like a light switch, Sean watched as it was all turned
off.

In
the blink of an eye, Carla disappeared. With no warning and no
looking back, she moved. Her number was changed and not even with
Finlay's money nor the help of hired investigators could he find her.
For months he tried, and for months, he got nothing. He couldn't hold
on forever, after a while, he just assumed she'd moved on. Maybe
she'd found another man and fallen in love and wanted to avoid the
whole platonic parenting deal, but either way, Sean had watched
everything his friend had gone through.

“Maybe
she just doesn't want te see me...” Finlay ran a hand through
his long hair as they stepped into the dimly lit bar. “Maybe...
I'm not the baby's father, and she's back with the man who is.”

“Then
why would she call you?” Sean followed him inside and they
found their usual spot at the bar.

“She
didn't, mate. I already signed as the father at our first
appointment, it was the hospital that called.” Sean nodded and
gave Finlay a firm pat on his shoulder.

“I
told ya, she's probably jus' tired is all.” He still wasn't
sure what he could say that would make Finlay feel better. Finlay
wasn't even sure about things either; how he felt or how he was
supposed
to feel. He had gone from bachelor to daddy overnight
and it was almost too much to process.

*****

Hours
later, Morgan smiled at the sounds of the ocean before even opening
her eyes. She'd slept in, finally, and had sprawled across the bed
all night, loving the fact that she didn't have to share one inch of
space with anyone. If it hadn't been nearly noon, and her need for
food wasn't forcing her eyes open, Morgan would have enjoyed her time
in the soft, vast bed a little longer.

She
yawned in the most unladylike way possible, then threw her legs to
the side of the bed. The large double window was still wide open,
and the sight of birds dipping into the surf for their meal made her
laugh out loud. “Oh, I wish my breakfast was that easy to
find.” Her stomach, as always, gave her a loud reply. “Yeah,
yeah.”

The
area where she was staying had more restaurants than she could ever
visit in one week, but the idea of leaving her secluded sanctuary
left her searching the desk full of pamphlets for any place that
would deliver. She had no desire to go anywhere, or see anything,
and the last few weeks of her life had left her physically and
mentally exhausted. Her mood, however, was perfectly intact, and
with a few days of rest and relaxation, the rest of her would be as
well.

Morgan
found a place not one mile from her room, and after making a quick
phone call to place her order, she dressed for her day of doing
nothing while she waited for her food. Breakfast was no longer being
served, but a burger and fries would be just as good.

She wore her favorite white shorts and a purple baby doll shirt,
which were perfect for sitting on her private dock, and watching the
world go by. That's exactly what she was doing when her food
arrived, and where she stayed as she slowly enjoyed each and every
bit of it. If it hadn't been for hearing her phone sounding behind
her in the room, she would have stayed right where she was for the
rest of the afternoon.

“I'm
coming! Hold on!” She yelled at her phone as she ran up the
dock, and nearly lost her footing on the weathered wooden planks.
“Shit! I'm coming!” She grabbed her phone from the
nightstand and fell to the bed in one swift move. It took her less
than one second of scanning the lit up screen to see who it was.

“Angel!
Say words to me.” She raised her knees and crossed her legs as
she laid back on the bed.

“Stick-a-licious..
how's Hay?” Morgan giggled and shook her head.

“Te...
and you know exactly
how
he is.” She moved the phone
away as Angel laughed loudly on the other end. “Yeah.. you
have jokes.. alright. Actually, it all turned out perfectly.”
Morgan went on to tell Angel how the past few days had been, and she
made him nearly howl in laughter as she described the scene with his
family in their store. “So... I'm on my own for a few days,
and I couldn't be happier.”

“I
would have warned a bitch, but you said...”

“Not
to interfere... I know. We'll work on that one.” They both
laughed as they discussed their guidelines, and they agreed that
Angel could speak up if Morgan chose another gay client. “Speaking
of clients, thank you for helping Clay with the charm. I freaking
love it!” She held her wrist in the air and watched as her
growing collection dangled from her chain. She wanted to call Clay
as well, and tell him herself how much the gift meant to her.

“That
shit wasn't easy either, you were all snoring and flipping around
like a fuckin' trout... but I got the bastard on.” Morgan
laughed at the scene that he described, knowing that it was nothing
like what he'd said, but thanked him just the same. “It's all
good.” She heard PoPo repeating him, then the bird shouted a
few words that she'd never heard before.

“Did..
did he just say
cocoa puff
?” She laughed when Angel
tried to quiet the stubborn bird. Clearly, Angel had taught him
another nickname for his boss.

“G-Strap
is climbing the mothafuckin' steps... I got to go. Call a bitch.”
He kissed into the phone, then let PoPo sound off a few smooches to
her as well, and the call came to an end. Morgan rolled to her
stomach and smiled at how grateful she was for having him in her
life.

She
ran her finger over her contacts, and allowed memories of each person
to fill her mind. Her finger kept moving until she found Clay, but
she made a mental note to catch up with everyone else over the next
few days. He answered the call on the second ring, and her smile
quickly faded at the tone of his voice.

“What?!”
She mentally stumbled with her words, but was saved when Clay took a
look at his phone and saw that it was Morgan on the other end.
“Sorry.. what... what's going on?” She took a deep
breath and answered.

“Actually,
I just called to thank you for the charm.. but.. uh, what's going on
with you? You sound... upset.” He sounded more than just
upset. He sounded frantic.

“I..
I have fucking investors here this week.. and I … need to take
off work.. and I can't cancel.. I don't..”

“Wait?
What? Why would you need to take off work? What's going on?”
She quickly sat up in bed and moved the phone to her other ear.

“I
need to stay with her... and I can't get out of …. shit... I
can't... she's all alone..” Morgan closed her eyes and tried
to speak calmly, as Clay was getting more and more agitated by the
second.

“Clay..
listen to me. Why do you need to take off work?
Who
is
alone?”

“Abby...
he fucking shot her! That bastard that chased you.. he got out of
jail on some bullshit technicality! He came here early this morning
and shot her! She's going in for surgery this afternoon.. but she's
not... they said that she's not.... she may not make..”

“No!
Oh God.. no!” Tears instantly swelled in her eyes, and slid
down her cheeks within seconds. Abby had risked her own life for
Morgan, and the man returned to take care of Abby in revenge. The
weight of the world fell on Morgan's shoulders as she began to
realize that it was all her fault. “I'm... I'm leaving right
now. I'll be on the first flight there. Tell me where to go..
just... where is she?” Clay's mind wasn't lucid enough to
grasp what Morgan was saying, but he did rattle off the name of the
animal hospital that had Abby. “I'll call when I get there.”
Morgan stood, then fell to her knees in front of her bags. She
sobbed loudly at the thought of the poor girl that must be so afraid.
“I'm so sorry... I'm so, so sorry, Abby.”