“Meg?” Dylan spoke her name.
Her eyes fluttered open. She took one look at Dylan and burst into tears. He stepped closer and eased into a chair by the bed.
“How did you know I was here?” she asked, sniffling as she pulled away.
“Your neighbor found your cell and called your emergency contact.” He met her gaze. “Let’s start with the most important thing. Are you okay? Is the baby?”
“I’m okay. The baby is too … for now. I’m bleeding, so they have me on bed rest, and they’re monitoring me.”
Olivia’s stomach cramped, and she took a step back, toward the curtain and the exit.
“Thank you for coming.” She glanced at Dylan, then raised her gaze to Olivia, acknowledging her with a grateful smile.
Meg didn’t seem to mind that she was there, but for Olivia, this was all way too close to home.
“What happened?” Dylan asked.
She drew a shuddering breath. “Mike finally called me back. I asked him to come over because we needed to talk. I had to tell him about the baby.”
Dylan nodded. “And?”
“I’m not sure, but he might have been drunk. He definitely was off from the minute he walked in. I just wanted to get it over with, and he just … exploded. He accused me of getting pregnant on purpose to trap him. Which is ridiculous. I mean, he wasn’t someone I wanted to keep and—”
“What did he do?”
Olivia heard the steel beneath the question, the simmering anger.
“He grabbed my wrist, told me that he wasn’t paying a fucking dime.
“I said fine. I didn’t want anything from him anyway. I told him I expected him to sign away any legal rights to the baby.” Meg blinked back tears. “He said I had to prove it was his first.”
What a bastard, Olivia thought. At least Jeff hadn’t questioned paternity. He’d just insisted she get an abortion, she thought, the memory coming back with stabbing, painful clarity. He’d said if she was dumb enough to get pregnant, it wasn’t his problem.
“I told him go to fuck himself,” Meg said.
“Good for you, Meggie,” Dylan said, admiration in his tone.
Olivia agreed, silently applauding her backbone and courage. At nineteen, Olivia hadn’t been confident or strong enough to call Jeff the bastard he’d turned out to be. She’d curled in on herself instead. She swallowed over the lump in her throat.
“And then he … he released my hand and shoved me hard. I stumbled back, tripped, and hit the curio cabinet with all my grandmother’s beautiful antiques.” Her voice cracked, and a lone tear slipped down her cheek. “The glass broke, the pieces fell … and he just walked out.” She swiped at her face with the back of her hand. “I didn’t start bleeding till later. And the doctor said it may have had nothing to do with the fall. That it’s so early in the pregnancy it’s hard to know these things.”
Olivia remembered those words too.
It’s hard to know why these things happen, Miss Dare. Sometimes it’s just nature’s way of handling things.
God, she hated that Meg was going through this. Hated remembering her own past even more.
“But the doctor said everything might still be okay. I just have to rest. And wait.”
Olivia hadn’t been that fortunate. She’d already lost the baby by the time she’d gotten to the hospital, and they’d had to do a
procedure
to take care of the rest. She winced at the memory.
“That’s good,” Dylan said, obviously talking about the baby still being okay.
“I want to be a mom,” Meg whispered. “I didn’t know if it would ever be in my plans, but now that I have the chance, I want this,” she said, determination in her tone. “No matter what happens now, I want to make sure the chance doesn’t pass me by just because there’s no Mr. Right.”
“Right now, focus on resting. Everything will fall into place,” Dylan told her.
Meg nodded. “I know.”
Olivia shook her head, her own thoughts spinning because Meg, having gone through her own ordeal, was still thinking about a future, a baby, no matter what happened now. Amazing.
Quietly, knowing nobody would miss her, Olivia backed out of the cubicle and made her way to a small waiting area and settled herself in a chair. She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, lost in thought, in Meg’s misery combined with optimism, and in her own past.
The room was empty, at least for now, and Olivia was grateful for the privacy. She blew out a breath, feeling the sudden need to talk to someone who loved her and understood. Meg had Dylan, and oddly, she didn’t begrudge her that. But she needed someone too.
Normally, she’d call Avery, but her sister was tied up with her own drama at the moment. Olivia loved her mother, but she’d never felt like she understood her choices. She didn’t want to bother Ian and Riley, so she dialed her brother Scott. As a cop, he worked odd and often late hours, so she could count on him to answer the phone.
“Hey, Liv,” he said, picking up almost immediately.
“Hi. Are you busy?” she asked.
“Just got off shift. What’s up? Everything okay?”
She blew out a long breath. “I guess I just needed to hear a familiar voice.”
“Uh oh. What’s going on?” he asked in that brotherly way he had, the one that told her, like Ian, if someone had deliberately hurt her, there’d be hell to pay.
“Well…” Scott wasn’t as up to date on her love life as Avery, or even Ian, so she summed up her night as best she could. He knew Dylan and had been at her birthday party, so their involvement wasn’t a shock. She gave her brother the bare basics about Dylan’s friendship with Meg and how they’d ended up here at the University of Miami hospital. “So I left them alone to talk, and I’m sitting here by myself. I—”
Scott cleared his throat. “Listen, Liv. That’s pretty damned close to home for you.”
“Yeah.” Her voice caught, and she realized she was shivering.
“The station’s not far from the hospital, and like I said, I just got off duty, so I can be there in ten minutes,” he said.
She shook her head. “No, you don’t need to come. I just wanted to hear your voice.”
“See you in a few, Livvy,” he said, using her childhood name. And he hung up before she could argue further.
She tapped her phone against her temple, cursing those domineering Dare genes that the men in her family seemed to have inherited.
True to his word, Scott arrived not long after. He had dark hair like Ian and indigo eyes like hers. He was older than her, younger than Ian, and a rock-solid man, someone she could always rely on.
He walked in, having changed out of his uniform into a pair of jeans and a black tee. He took one look at her and held out his arms.
She stepped into her brother’s embrace. “Thank you.”
“For not listening when you told me not to come? You’re welcome.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m sure this is rough for you. Kind of like reliving things?”
“Yes, except … I’m on the outside looking in, and suddenly I’m seeing things I never let myself before.”
“Such as?” He grasped her hand and led her to the chairs.
“I’ve been looking at my future, at my
life
, from the perspective of a nineteen-year-old. Dylan said as much, but I didn’t know what he meant. I couldn’t
see
.”
I even know you believe you don’t want children. But
…
that’s your past talking. That’s the little girl whose father was never, ever around, who doesn’t want to be hurt again. Left again
…
It’s also the young woman who lost both a baby and a man who should have been there for her talking. But it’s not who you are today
.
“So what’s changed?” Scott asked.
“His friend Meg. She was pushed around by her ex-boyfriend; she’s pregnant and hoping she doesn’t lose her baby. Yet she realizes even if she loses this baby, she
wants to be a mother one day
.” Olivia wiped her damp palms on her jeans and rose.
Scott followed, but he let her pace, let her think.
“That’s such an adult thing to say,” Olivia murmured. “So wise.” She spun back around to face her brother. “And it’s not something I would ever let myself feel, because I was thinking with my nineteen-year-old brain and all those pent-up emotions and the hurt from back then. I wouldn’t let myself move on.”
“Liv, I hope you understand where you’re going with this, because I gotta admit, I’m sort of lost.”
She grinned. Such a typical man. “That’s okay because I’m not. I finally see and understand what I want.” Olivia laughed and threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you for listening.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “I’m so glad you understand. And you’re happy. That’s all I want.”
Olivia blew out a breath. “That’s all I want too.”
* * *
Dylan knew the minute Olivia stepped out of the room, but he couldn’t up and run after her just yet. He shook his head, hating being torn in two. “Did you call the police about Mike?” Dylan asked.
Meg shook her head. “He didn’t assault me; he was frustrated and—Don’t look at me that way! I’m not making excuses. I don’t want that bastard anywhere near me. I had to call 911 when the bleeding wouldn’t stop and was so heavy, and the paramedics saw the mess with the cabinet. They asked what happened… I had to tell them anyway, in case being shoved impacted the bleeding, so it’s all documented.”
He frowned, knowing if he saw Mike on the street, he’d knock the other man into next year. “It’s not enough.”
“They aren’t going to arrest him for shoving me once. And considering his reaction, he won’t be back. He doesn’t want anything to do with me or the baby.” She covered her stomach with her hands. “I didn’t realize how much I wanted to keep the baby until I saw all that blood and realized I might lose it. All I care about now is holding on to him. Or her.”
As Dylan patted Meg’s hand, he remembered Olivia saying the same thing when she’d described her ordeal, and for the first time, he realized how hard this night must have been for her too. Hearing Meg’s story had to have brought up all those painful memories. The ones she was trying to get past in order to give
them
a future.
He swallowed a curse.
Meg leaned her head back against the pillows, obviously exhausted.
He rose to his feet. “I should let you get some rest.”
She nodded. “I’m tired.”
He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I’ll come back and check on you soon, okay?”
“Thanks, Dylan. And thank Olivia for me. I’m sorry I interrupted your date.”
“Just think about yourself and the baby. It’s all good,” he told her, hoping he was right.
After leaving Meg, Dylan asked a nurse where he could find the nearest waiting room. He followed the directions, hoping Olivia had gone there and hadn’t left the hospital instead.
He heard voices as he approached and paused in the doorway, startled to see Olivia hugging another man, who, when he stepped back, he realized was her brother.
Jesus, he did not need any more shocks or surprises tonight. “Everything okay?” he asked, walking into the stark waiting room. Other than a few plastic chairs and a table with undoubtedly outdated magazines, the room was sparse and empty.
“Fine,” Olivia said, meeting his gaze. “I called Scott, and he was in the neighborhood after work, so he stopped by.”
Dylan raised an eyebrow. She’d called him to say hello at almost midnight or because she was upset?
Except she didn’t seem as upset now as she’d been before.
“Scott,” Dylan said, extending his hand.
“Rhodes,” Scott muttered. He accepted the handshake.
“How is Meg?” Olivia asked.
Dylan shrugged. “Exhausted. Scared. But she’s resting, which is good.”
Scott stepped forward. “Olivia filled me in. Did your friend file a police report about her assault?” the cop asked.
Dylan shook his head. “She doesn’t think one shove is an assault.” He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated by that.
Sympathy crossed the other man’s face. “Do you want me to talk to her? At the very least, she can file for a restraining order. Maybe I can explain that to her.”
Dylan gave the suggestion some thought. “I want to say no because it might upset her, but I’d rather she do something now than have the bastard try to come near her again.”
Scott gestured with one hand. “Why don’t you introduce me, and we’ll go from there?”
Dylan glanced at Olivia. “Come with us,” he said, unwilling to leave her alone or let her walk out on him again.
“Okay.”
He led them to Meg’s room and pushed the curtain aside. Meg’s eyes opened at the sound. “Hey. I have someone I want you to talk to. Do you think you’re up to it?” he asked.
Meg narrowed her gaze. “Who is it?”
“Olivia’s brother Scott is a police officer,” he said, bracing himself for her anger.
“Dylan!”
“Just let him explain your options. That’s all I ask. What you do after that is up to you.”
She leaned her head back on the stretcher the hospital called a bed. “Fine.”
He turned and gestured for the other man to join him.
Scott pushed past the curtain and looked at Meg. If Dylan hadn’t been watching the other man at the time, he’d have missed the complete look of interest on his face.
Meg, too, looked interested and perked up upon seeing the good-looking man.
“We’re going to leave you two to talk,” Dylan said. “Meg, you get some sleep. I’ll come back in the morning to check on you. Let me know when they decide to discharge you. I’ll pick you up and get you home.”
He grasped Olivia’s hand and tugged, leading her out of the room so they could have some time alone.
* * *
To Dylan’s surprise, Olivia didn’t argue when he told her he was driving them back to his place. She seemed more relaxed than he’d expected, and he figured he’d wait until they were in his apartment before bringing up the similarities between her past and Meg’s present. And have yet another conversation that would, in all probability, go nowhere.
“Did you notice that Meg took one look at my brother and she was a goner?” she asked as he drove.
“I noticed the same thing about Scott. If that’s the case, the man’s going to have his hands full.”