Rescued by the Billionaire (Billionaire Romance Novel) (8 page)

“Yes, I took her yesterday as well as last week. The doctor has no clue what’s wrong with her. Originally, her symptoms weren’t as bad; he thought maybe she was sore and swollen from playing on hard surfaces and that she possibly had
a bug, which caused her fever. Now he’s not sure and ordered some lab work.” She explained.
 

“You took her last week? You didn’t mention that when we went out to lunch. If your daughter was sick, you didn’t have to go out with me.” It dawned on him that was probably the reason he hadn’t heard from her—she was busy taking care of her ill daughter. Suddenly, guilt swept over him.
 

“Like I said, the ibuprofen seemed to help her and she was doing a little better. She was able to get up and walk, move freely and her fever had subsided. It wasn’t until after our date when she got worse. I had planned on calling you one night, but that morning when Emma woke up, she was so sick. I had to focus on her. I’m sorry.”
 

“Oh, Kelly, don’t apologize. I know she’s your baby and that you love her; it’s quite evident. I
hope she gets well soon, something like that can be scary. If you need anything, please, don’t hesitate.” He offered. Dave began to remember when his younger brother got sick before he passed away. The feelings were so overwhelming, he could feel Kelly’s worry as they swept over him.
 

“That’s awfully sweet of you, but we’ll be okay. We’ll get the test results back in about a week. Until those are in, all we can do is keep giving her ibuprofen for the pain, stiffness, and fevers.”
 

Dave thought about how much he wanted to see Kelly again but didn’t mean to ask her on a date considering her circumstances. “Listen, I had an idea, but I’m not sure what you’ll say about it.”
 

“What’s that?” She wondered as she peeked her head through the crack of the door, checking on Emma.
 

“I was hoping to see you again, which was the reason….”
 

“Dave,” she cut him off, “I don’t mean to interrupt, but there’s no way I’m leaving my baby to go anywhere. I had a great time with you on our lunch date, but I need to stay here with her right now. I hope you understand.”
 

“I thoroughly understand. Actually, I was going to suggest that I come over to your house and hang out with the two of you.” He paused, waiting to gauge Kelly’s reaction, but it was silent on the other end of the phone. “I’m aware that you said you don’t usually allow people around Emma until you know them, but I was hoping I could be an exception to that rule.”
 

Kelly let the idea sink in for a moment. “I guess you could come over, but I’m not sure how much time we’ll actually have to spend together. My daughter really needs me.”
 

“I don’t mind a bit. I’ll see you in about an hour. Do you need me to pick anything up on my way over? Juice, medicine, dinner?” He was determined to show Kelly that he was sincere and committed to hers and Emma’s happiness.
 

“She’s good on ibuprofen but if you could bring something over for dinner that would be great. I didn’t want to leave her alone for too long while I cooked but I’m hungry and I’m sure she is too.”
 

“Yes, I can do that. Do you guys like fried chicken and all the sides?”
 

“That would be nice.” Kelly hesitated for a moment, “Dave, I wanted to tell you that I haven’t been blowing you off. I’ve been so busy with my little buttercup. It’s hard not having anyone to take care of her other than myself. I know my best friend—who Emma calls Aunt Dawn—has our back and would do anything at the drop of a dime, but she really needs her mom. I hope you can understand.”
 

Dave smiled; he’d wished that his mother would have been that attentive and dedicated to him. This was just another example of why he was so attracted to the Midwestern girl. “Kelly, I completely understand. I wouldn’t expect you to do anything less. I’ll see you soon.”
 

After they had ended their call, she walked back into her room where Emma was resting in bed. “Hey, sweetie pie.”
 

“Hi, momma. Who were you talking to?” She had overheard bits and pieces of the conversation.
 

“A friend of mine. His name’s Dave, and he’s going to come over to hang out with us. He wants to meet you!” She proposed enthusiastically, hoping that her daughter would be happy to have a new visitor.
 

“Why?”
 

“Because I talk about you so much! He’s heard a lot of great things about you.” She explained as she playfully swooped Emma’s nose with her fingertip.
 

“You didn’t tell him any funny stories about me, did you, momma? I don’t like when you do that; everyone laughs at me!”
 

“No, I haven’t told him any of those yet. I figured I’d save the best for last.” Kelly giggled with her daughter. “He’s going to bring us some dinner. Are you in the mood for fried chicken?”
 

“Mm, that sounds good! I don’t know how much I’ll be able to eat, but I’ll try.”
 

“That’s all I ever ask. No matter what, mommy always loves you, okay?” She reiterated as she tearfully smiled at her daughter.
 

When Emma became sick, she hadn’t had much of an appetite. It didn’t worry her at first since Emma went through bouts where she wouldn’t eat anything to where she’d gobble up everything in sight. But these the last couple of weeks, she’d hardly eaten anything. She hoped her decreased hunger was the reason she was so
weak, but her instinct told her that there was a more sinister reason.
 

Before Dave arrived, Kelly ran around the house trying to tidy up. Her home wasn’t ordinarily messy, but since she’d been taking care of her daughter so much, everything kind of fell by the wayside. Scampering from room to room, she was out of breath by the time she was done. That, she thought, will have to be good enough. She checked on Emma again as she finished up with the housework.
 

“Momma, why are you running all over the place?” she questioned when she noticed her mom standing in the doorway.
 

“I wasn’t,” she lied, fanning her face in an attempt to cool herself off.
 

“I could hear you. I bet you ran through every room there is.” Emma laughed.
 

“Mommy was picking up before our friend Dave gets here. I’ll come back in a few minutes to check on you.” She promised.
 

Kelly made a mad dash to the bathroom, rubbed on some deodorant, brushed out her hair and began to apply a bit of foundation to cover her freckles. She hated having freckles, but that’s the curse you have to deal with when you’re so fair skinned. At least that’s what her mom always told her before she died. She had just opened her tube of mascara when there was a knock on her front door. “Shit, Dave’s here,” she whispered. She quickly swiped her long lashes with a coat of black mascara and yelled, “I’m coming!” as she approached the front door.
 

Dave was carrying a few bags of food with a variety of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, biscuits, Cole slaw and condiments.
 

“Oh my! Dave, you didn’t have to bring all of this!” she marveled as she rifled through the containers, placing everything on the table.
 

“It was no problem. I figured I’d pick up some extras so you can reheat them tomorrow for lunch or dinner,” he smiled at her. It was odd standing in her kitchen. The last time he’d been in her house, he merely made it past the front door.
 

“Thanks, Dave, that was very thoughtful of you,” she gloated. “Here, let’s make our plates and I’ll bring Emma out to join us once everything’s ready.”
 

“You lead and I’ll follow.” He replied.
 

The two formed a nice little assembly line as they put food on the dishes. Kelly was in charge of the chicken and Cole slaw while Dave handled the mashed potatoes and gravy and corn. After their drinks had been poured, she went into her bedroom to bring Emma out for dinner but she was fast asleep. She debated waking her up for a moment but decided to let her rest; she could eat later.
 

“Well, I guess it’s you and me,” she announced as she walked back into the kitchen.
 

“How come? Doesn’t she want to meet me?” Dave frowned, a little disappointed.
 

She shook her head, “No, she’s sleeping. I was going to wake her, but I’d like her to get rest so
she has some strength. She can eat later. I’ll heat it up for her.”
 

As she pulled up a seat next to Dave, she had no idea that her evening was about to become much deeper than she’d ever imagined.
 

Chapter Six
 

“Thanks for dinner. It was delicious. If you don’t mind, I’m going to run to my room real quick to check on Emma. You can go ahead and have a seat on the couch.”
 

Dave nodded as she began making her way down the hall to her bedroom. The door was still cracked open, allowing her to poke her head into the doorway; she spied Emma still fast asleep. She backed away and walked to the living room.
 

“Would you like some coffee or something?” she offered.
 

“Yeah, that would be nice. I’ll help you.”
 

“No, you’re my guest. You sit tight and I’ll be right back.”
 

“Kelly, you’re not at work. You don’t have to wait on me. I insist, let me come help you.”
 

Kelly shrugged her shoulders as he followed her into the kitchen. After they had poured their coffee, they headed back to the living room and sat on the couch facing each other. She sipped her coffee as she noticed Dave looking at all of her pictures.
 

“You sure have a lot of pictures of Emma in here,” he said, smiling in admiration.
 

“Yeah, I live for that little girl.”
 

“Who are those people?” he probed, nodding towards pictures of her mom and dad.
 

“That’s my mom and dad.”
 

“Where do they live?”
 

“They don’t. They’re both deceased.” Kelly grimly responded.
 

“Oh, I’m sorry. They both look young in those pictures.”
 

“My mom passed way before her time,” Kelly replied, replaying her mom’s death in her mind. “She died in a car accident.”
 

“That’s terrible. What happened?”
 

Kelly looked at him for a moment as she tried to gather her emotions to form her words. It was so tragic even though it had been a little over 10 years since the accident.
 

“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. I understand.”
 

“No, it’s okay.” She glanced at her mom’s picture, “I was supposed to marry this guy, Clarence, back in 2001. We’d been high school sweethearts. About a month before we were supposed to get married, he took off. I couldn’t find him and there was no way to get a hold of him. Anyway, I was heartbroken, devastated.” Kelly took a moment to collect herself as she recalled the tragic events surrounding that horrid day.
 

“I was told that he was supposedly staying at his aunt’s house. I was going to over there to talk to him, find out why he took off. My mom insisted on going with me, so she did.” She paused, taking a sip of her coffee.
 

“We were almost there, about a half mile away when I had to make a left turn across a four lane highway. Apparently there was a van headed straight towards us, but I didn’t see it. My mom did—she screamed before the crash. I’ll never forget that.” Tears began to well up in her eyes. Dave reached across the couch and rested his hand on top of hers.
 

“The next thing I remember, I was in a helicopter going to the hospital. I remember waking up out of surgery and Clarence was there. I kept asking for my mom and how she was doing. Everyone lied. They told me she was at a different hospital and that they’d call to check on her, but she died on impact. I didn’t find out until the next day that she had died.”
 

“Kelly, I’m so sorry that you suffered through that. I can’t even imagine.” Dave said at a loss for words. He wasn’t sure how to respond.
 

“Yep, it sucks. My mom was an incredible woman. She always had my back, she stood up for me, she helped me in any way she could and she spent her last day on this Earth with me.”
 

“At least you have good memories with your mom. No one will ever be able to take those away from you.”
 

“Yeah,” Kelly agreed, looking at the stand with her parent’s pictures on it.
 

“And my dad….” Kelly started.
 

“You don’t have to talk about it right now if you don’t want to. We can save that for another
time.” Talking about her mom had apparently upset her.
 

“It’s okay. My dad was an alcoholic. He and my mom fought all the time. After she had died, life was almost unbearable for him. I guess guilt plagued his mind for all the years of abuse that she suffered at his hands. His whole demeanor changed once she was gone; he was so distant, cold, hateful and utterly lonely.”