Back to You: A Hudson Family Series- Book 1- Synclair and Reece (19 page)

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Wiping my tears with the back of my hand I hung up the hospital room phone. UJ was wiring my half of the money he had gotten, which turned out be close to $500,000 to each of us. I knew some of it was from Reece, but I didn’t care.

I was going to have a baby. I never thought I would ever have children. UJ had asked me if I was going to keep it, for one panicked moment I actually considered that alternative. Then I realized I had a chance to have my own family, I could be a better mom then mine was, I would take trips to Ireland so he or she would know UJ and Cami.

Sighing, I rubbed my hands over my face. My head hurt where I had hit the pavement, but it was nothing compared to my heart. Dalton had sent me a text letting me know he proved the video false. That was another problem. I loved those Hudsons but there was no way I could stay here. Every time I thought about Reece, it made me want to cry all over again. No doubt Dalton had already told him about the video, but this went deeper than that. He should have trusted me, believed in me, but he didn’t, maybe when he looked at me he saw a “street rat.” There was no way I could be around him, he might even try to have me declared unfit and take the baby.
Never, this baby is mine, I’ll protect her, love her and
show her the world. Yeah, I decided it was a girl, I imagined a spunky red-haired kid with big green eyes and dimples.

I wasn’t sure what my next move was, I knew I needed to get out of this bed, out of this town and have a good cry and some really, cheesy nachos, then I could figure out my next step. The idea of partnering with Sara was appealing, I’m sure between the two of us we could make a great restaurant. I was even considering forgoing the idea of the bar add on and focusing on the restaurant side of it, but that would mean staying here and seeing Reece all the time.

Reece. What the hell am I supposed to do about him? He broke my heart again, he let Amber manipulate him
again
and now I have to pick up the pieces of my life
again
. I was beginning to feel like I was on a merry-go-round and I wanted off.

I was about to hit the call button so I could ask the nurse when I could be discharged when the door to my room slowly opened. Suddenly, my room was filled with Hudsons. Rachel, Matt, Dalton and Lucas filed into my small room. Noticeably absent, thank god, was Reece.

One look at their sad faces and I knew the doctor had told them about the baby. Shit. I didn’t know what to tell them, hell, I didn’t know what to tell myself. Deciding I needed to stop moping and take control I addressed my audience. “I guess good news travels fast.”

“Doc told us,” Rachel answered biting her bottom lip.

I sighed. “I’m sorry I don’t have a bunch of warm and fuzzy answers for you. I need to take some time to figure out the future for the baby and me.”

“You mean our baby.” Came a voice from behind the crowd. I knew it was Reece, I cringed inwardly. I had told the doctor to bar him from the room.

“No, Hudson, I mean my baby, mine, and mine alone, possession is nine-tenths of the law, my baby is mine.” My eyes blazed with anger.

“Synclair sweetheart I-.” I raised my hand to silence him. His voice made every thump of my heart hurt.

“What makes you think this is your baby?” I asked in a shrill voice that I barely recognized. “It could be Matt’s. You can’t have kids, remember Reece? I didn’t need to worry about my pills and you didn’t need a condom, but hey, we both know I was fucking your brother before we met up again.” Okay, it was tacky, but I was angry and hurt and I didn’t have a lot of emotional maturity when I was hurt.

I watched as he physically cringed at my words.
Good, now he knows how it feels.
He moved closer to my bed as the rat fink, Hudson siblings parted as he approached. “Don’t.” I croaked out, tears beginning to fall. Damn, I was not a crier but since Reece had come back into my life, it seemed all I did was cry. He didn’t stop walking until he was standing right next to my head. I refused to look at him.

“Get out,” I growled. I wasn’t ready for this confrontation. He had stolen my land right from under me, all so he could manipulate me into staying in Carson City, he had believed Amber over me, and he had called me a ‘street rat.’ Yeah, I was pretty much done.

“No,” He replied in a flat tone. His eyes looked tortured, but I didn’t care. I was done being taken in by his dimpled smile and his green eyes.

“No?” I gasped in disbelief. I was beginning to feel my heart race and my head already thumped from the lump on the back of it.

I picked up the hospital television remote and threw it at his head. He was so shocked he didn’t even try to dodge it. It hit its mark, square in the middle of his large, stupid forehead. Rachel gasped but his brothers snickered.

“Dammit Synclair I’m trying to apologize.”

“Apology.” I threw my water cup at him, “Not.” This time, I threw the empty,
pity,
bed pan. “Accepted.” Last I threw the plate of food I hadn’t eaten. I looked at him, covered in water and hospital food, rubbing his forehead. Then I really lost it, “Get out, get out, get out.” I shrieked at the top of my lungs. Machines started beeping as my heart raced. I was vaguely aware of nurses rushing in and pushing everyone out the door, Reece struggled but Matt and Dalton yanked him back. Doctor Williams pushed past everyone and stuck a need in my IV and sleep took over.

When I woke it was dark outside, the room was illuminated by a small dim light above me. I reached for my phone on the bedside table. Still feeling groggy from whatever they knocked me out with I stumbled through a text message to Sara. I needed my car, which meant I needed her to get my keys and purse from the Hudson house and drive it to me. I was asking a lot and given the late hour I was surprised when she told me she’d do it. Part of me was sad I was leaving, I had really come to like Sara, she was funny, smart and had dealt with a lot of crap in her life.

Now I just needed to get dressed. I looked down at my arms and realized the IV was no longer there, just a Band-Aid. All the machines were pushed to the side and my finger no longer had the heart monitor attached to it.  I saw my discharge paperwork on the small tray to my left just waiting for my signature. Everything had been cleaned up and replaced, I had a remote, a new water cup and a bed pan.

Grimacing against a headache, I stood up from the bed and tried to get my bearings.
Come on Synclair, you just need some coffee and some space, you can do this.
Mentally flipping off my inner voice’s idea of a pep talk, I walked to the bathroom. Sitting on the sink was a pair of jeans, soft burgundy sweater, underwear, bra, socks and ankle boots. Rachel must have brought them to me, I guessed. I got dressed quickly and opted for the headband that Rachel had included, feeling like my normal ponytail would make my head hurt worse. I gingerly felt the bandage on my head that hid my stitches. I was supposed to have them removed in ten days, I figured I could do that anywhere. I grabbed a bag that looked like it held my belongings.

I had just finished signing my discharge paperwork and had pocketed my discharge instructions when my phone beeped. I figured it was Sara.

12:50 a.m. sorry sis, Sara can’t come out and play right now

SHIT, it was Matt answering me on Sara’s phone. That meant they knew I was leaving. I pulled open the door to my room, the bright hallway momentarily blinding me. I crept past the empty nurse’s station and peered into the waiting room. Rachel and Lucas, we slumped against each other sleeping. I didn’t see Reece or Dalton and apparently Matt was with Sara, so I walked as quietly as I could down to the lobby. Screw it, I’d send someone for my car. There were services that did that stuff. But all my cards and my driver’s license was in my purse. My phone had been in my pocket but I assumed I had dropped my purse when I fell along with my keys. Just to make sure I felt the plastic bag I was carrying it. Smiling I pulled out my purse and checked my wallet.
Damn, now I’m in business, I’ll just send someone for the car, preferably some huge, gargantuan of a man to beat anyone would get in his way.
Okay, I know I sounded bitter- Fuck yes I was bitter. I was blowing this town. I googled a cab service. I made arrangements for the cab to pick me up at the Denny’s that was about a block up the road. My next call was to UJ, I explained what was happening, and I turned down the offer to go to Dublin, there was no way I was sitting on a plane for ten hours, there just weren’t enough barf bags.

Ignoring the throbbing headache and my stomach that was protesting each movement, I put my hand on my belly,
hang on baby, momma is gonna get us through this.

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“How the hell does a woman with a head injury just walk out and nobody notices?” I shouted. I couldn’t believe it, Synclair had walked past both Rachel and Lucas, slipped past all the nurses and somehow gotten herself discharged.

“She appears to be quite stealthy.” Replied a stressed out looking nurse.

“Stealthy? I thought you weren’t going to discharge her until later?”

“Doctor Williams wanted the paperwork drawn up so when he spoke to her later, it would be ready, apparently one of the nurses left it in her room, so she technically signed herself out.” The nurse stated crossing her pudgy arms over her uniform scrubs.

I rubbed my hands up and down my face in frustration. I had fallen asleep on the sofa, exhausted after I was literally forced from the hospital. Apparently I was so tired I didn’t hear Sara Wilmington sneak in the front door and grab Synclair’s car keys off the counter. Luckily, Matt did, I only heard her say that Synclair asked her to before I grabbed my keys and shot out the door.

“Put me down! Matthew Ryan Hudson put me down right now.” I turned to see Matt carrying a kicking and screaming Sara over his shoulder. He winked at me as he walked past me to stand in front of Lucas. Matt gently put her on her feet and Lucas whirled her around. I wasn’t sure who looked more pissed, Sara or Lucas.

“Geez, you Hudsons are like Neanderthals, you just manhandle everyone to get what you what!” She spat at Lucas. Lucas held her shoulders and bent so they were eye to eye.

“You and I will talk about you trying to help an injured, pregnant woman bolt from the only family she has stateside in a minute. Right now, I need to know where she went.” Sara’s eyes got wide when she heard the part about Synclair being pregnant.

No doubt she was thinking about her son and how she had gone through her pregnancy with no one to help her. “I-I didn’t know she was pregnant. She just asked me to help her get her car, so I did, I didn’t ask anything else, I figured she’d explain when I got here.” Sara turned and her worried gaze landed on me.

“Is she really gone?” Sara asked.

“We figure she left about an hour ago. But she had no car, so she had to call a cab, but they won’t give out any info, I checked the airport and there are four flights that are leaving that she could have made if she went straight from here to the airport. One to Tampa, One to Los Angeles, One to Chicago, and One to Portland.” Dalton supplied, his laptop sitting open on his legs. “Had she took her car, I could have tracked her, but she split without it.”

I had no clue where she would go, and wherever I thought she might go, she would probably go to the opposite city, just to spite me. FUCK. The woman I loved was injured, pregnant and probably felt like she was all alone in the world.
I was such an asshole.

Then it hit me, I looked up at Lucas, “I need you to have my receptionist cancel all my appointments and hold down the fort for a while. Lock up her car in the garage, if someone asks about it pretend we have no idea what they’re talking about unless you can get a delivery address," Lucas nodded and pulled out his phone, keeping one hand gripping Sara’s arm.

I turned to Rachel, “I need you and Matt to go to the house and pack me a bag, warm stuff, and my passport. Meet me at the airport!” Without a word Matt and Rachel took off.

“Dalton I need you to give me a ride to the airport,” I told him feeling like I had a plan for the first time.

“Okay, but where are you going? She could be in four different locations.” Dalton asked obviously confused.

“Dublin, Ireland,” I replied.

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3 Months Later

I lifted my face to the warm sunshine. I had never been to Tampa, Florida but so far I loved it. I loved the ocean, I loved the palm trees. I wasn’t so crazy about the bugs or watching out for alligators and I was told the late summers were crazy, humid but right now I was happy. I rubbed my hands over my belly as I lounged in the back yard of the beach cottage I was renting. It wasn’t much, but the backyard backed up to the sand and I could watch the sunset every afternoon. The morning sickness was getting better, and I had started seeing a doctor in town for my prenatal visits.

UJ kept his word and deposited the money. He kept insisting that I tell him where I was, but I didn’t want to risk him showing up on my doorstep or anyone else for that matter. It wasn’t until four days ago when UJ told me I had to sign paperwork for the fire insurance, and that they needed to be originals of my signature, that I finally broke down and gave him my address. After all, it had been months, I was sure Reece had moved on to Amber or some other Barbie bimbo.

Reece. I thought about him constantly. The worst of it was how much I missed him, all the Hudsons actually. They had made me feel like I was part of a family for the first time. Now that was over.

I knew at some point I would have to deal with Reece, I couldn’t exactly keep his child from him. We would have to work out some custody arrangement and maybe in time, we could even be friends. But right now the ache in my chest was too sharp, I loved him and I was miserable without him, but it was clear he thought lesser of me. He didn’t trust me, in the end, I didn’t need to bolt because he was never all in with our relationship anyways.

Sighing, I looked over at the built-in barbecue. I decided to go and get a steak and some vegetables to grill tonight. I stood up from the lounge chair and stretched. Gone were my jeans and sweaters. Now I wore jean cut-offs, bikini tops with a tank top over it and flip flops. I wasn’t even showing yet, so I figured I would dress comfortable for as long as I could. Walking through the back door into the comfortably, furnished cottage I grabbed my purse and walked the half mile to the market at the end of the block.

By the time, I turned up the driveway the sun was starting to set. I walked up the side yard to the gate that led to the back. Thinking I would start the grill before I unloaded the small bag of groceries, I opened the gate, walked through and dropped the groceries to the ground.

“Hey ya, sis, we were just grilling some chicken for dinner,” Matt announced like it was perfectly normal for him to be standing in my back yard.

“Wow, Synclair you look like you could use some lemonade, here I just made it.” Rachel suddenly appeared in a pink sundress and shoved a glass of lemonade into my shaking hands.

Overwhelmed, I dropped the glass and whirled around and ran right into a grinning Dalton. Shit, no escaping that way. Turning back toward the yard I moved toward the back door. I opened it, turned, shut it and locked the door. I leaned my forehead against the cool wood, trying to get a grip on my rapid pulse.

“Where do you want it?”

Shrieking, I whirled around, one hand over my pounding heart.

“Hmm- wha-what?” I asked a smirking Lucas. He was dressed in a hideous Hawaiian shirt that only UJ could love, shorts and sandals. He looked relaxed without his usual scowl.

Praying my brain would engage or, at least, wake me up from this nightmare, I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened one eye. Damn, Lucas was still standing there with a box in his hand. “What is that?” I asked looking at him like he was carrying a bomb.

“It’s a bassinet, for the first few months the babies sleep in them so they can be close for the mommies,” He replied like I was a village idiot.

Freaking out, I walked past Lucas to the living room, I looked around but didn’t see Reece. I had just let out a relieved breath when I heard his voice from behind me.

“Hello, sweetheart.” I knew that deep baritone. I turned around before I could stop myself. He was so close, we were chest to nose. I tipped my head back to look up at him and I almost cried. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days, he hadn’t shaved in at least a week and his eyes looked dull and sad, so very sad.

I was frozen, I literally couldn’t move, then he dropped down to his knees and nuzzled his face into my belly. The mere contact of his hands holding my hips almost made me light headed. He murmured something I couldn’t hear, kissed my belly button and stood up.

“UJ ratted me out,” I told him. There could be no other explanation.

“Well, it was either that or I was never going to leave. Since I didn’t know where you were, I went to Jack in Dublin and told him I would camp out on his front lawn until he told me where you were.” His mouth turned in a sad smile.

“Cami took pity on my dumb ass and set me up in the guest room where I waited while Jack tried and tried to get you tell him where you were. Had you taken your Mustang we could have found you easy since Dalton put a tracking device on it. But you had to be difficult. Your car is fine by the way, Dalton put in the garage. Finally, just when I thought I was going to become a permanent part of the Irish landscape, you gave your uncle your address.”

I didn’t know what irked me more, the fact that Dalton had put a tracker on my beloved Mustang or that fact that they all knew I couldn’t send for it or they would find out where I was. But what really threw me was the fact that Reece got UJ to tell him anything. UJ was more stubborn than I was. Something definitely was off.

Hands on my hips, my eyes narrowed. “And what did you promise UJ, for him to give over this bit of information?” I asked, barely noticing his siblings piling into the small, cramped living room.

For a moment he just looked at me, then he smiled his full dimpled grin, “Why, I promised him we’d have the wedding in Ireland, of course.” He announced like he was talking about the weather.

I swear my heart stopped, I looked around the room at all the faces, all smiling at me. Damn, this wasn’t fair, why did they all come? Why couldn’t just let me have my dramatic ride off into the sunset? Freaking Hudsons.

“We know Reece fucked up, it probably won’t be the last time, he is a Hudson after all,” Lucas said.

“Yeah, but we decided we want to keep you, you’re part of the family now whether you like it or not and you are carrying my niece in there.” Dalton pointed at my stomach.

“And you’re going to need help, and babysitting and I am so down for babysitting.” Rachel offered beaming.

“And you don’t have to keep my secret, I told my family I do escorting, on the side of the accounting, so they all know why I knew you before and how you have been helping me.” Matt chimed in.

“Yeah, that’s a whole new conversation,” Lucas said laughing.

“Someone is gonna need to keep Reece in line, you know, whack him upside the head when he's an idiot and since you’re in a delicate way- we are all offering our services.” This came from Dalton.

“Wait, what are you saying?” I was confused. Why would they help me? I had left, no, I had bolted from their lives. My heart was beating with a new feeling, not panic but hope.

“If you don’t want to come home with us to Carson City, then we’re going to move in here. You are not alone, you have us and we are going to be here for your stubborn, mule ass until you love us again.” Rachel stated.

I looked from Reece to each Hudson and back again. They were so sincere. They were actually willing to move their lives for me. They were willing to help me and the baby and love me, no matter what. Family, I realized, I had a family. That left one huge, white elephant in the room.

Reece grabbed my shaking hands and turned me slowly to him. “Me too Synclair. This whole time I was trying to save you from your past, save you from your life and the whole time it was you saving me. Things happened so fast and I got spooked and reacted badly because suddenly, I have everything to lose.” I pulled my hands away to wipe the tears,
damn hormones.

“I need you to save me, sweetheart; I can’t live without you or our child. I know I messed up, but I signed the deed to the Vegas property over to you. If you want to go back there and rebuild, then I’ll move my practice and we’ll build a life there together.”

Taken aback I asked, “What about your family?” I couldn’t imagine him living so far from them.

“We’ll visit, I want a life with you Synclair, I want you to be my wife and I want to make you happy. I don’t care if you want to build a bar, a restaurant or a race track, just let me stand by you and take care of you, of both of you.” He put one hand on my stomach.

Do I trust him? He could hurt me all over again? But I love him, dammit. No halfway here Synclair, do we do this or not?
I didn’t know what to do, and I was completely overwhelmed.

“What if it doesn’t work? What if Amber pulls her crap again? What if I’m a terrible mother? Oh my god, what if you suck as a father?” I rambled. Reece looked over my head at his family, a concerned look on his face.

“Pregnancy hormones.” I heard someone whisper.

“Yeah that’s right, crazy, woman pregnancy hormones, and it’s your fault because you knocked me up and I’m going to get really fat and have cankles!” I whined tears spilling down my cheeks before I could stop them.

Reece hesitated for about a second and pulled me sobbing, into his arms. Then I felt Rachel hug me from behind and before I knew it I was encased in a Hudson group hug. Pushing my face deeper into Reece’s cotton t-shirt I smiled. “What the hell is a cankle?” Dalton asked.

The room was filled with laughter and the sound of Dalton being smacked in the back of the head. I pulled back as much as I could being surrounded by all the Hudsons and looked at Reece. Warmth and love shone in his tired green eyes.

“Let’s go home, we have an Irish wedding abroad to plan.” I had no sooner got the words out then Reece grabbed me up and kissed me. His tongue invaded my mouth and his arms were so tight around me I could barely breathe, but I didn’t care. I was going home with my family, with the man I loved and I was getting married. I didn’t know if my mother would be proud of me or not but I hoped she was smiling down at me from somewhere.