Page 39 of Coast

“She seemed fine when I put her down for her nap.”

Well, maybe that wasn’t true. She’d been restless all day. Whiny. And she hadn’t had her usual interest in her bottles.

But we were still in a wicked hot spell. I thought she was just miserable about that and all the dog-walking and delivery trips.

God, what was wrong with me?

I should have noticed sooner.

I should have…

“Okay. Alright. Well, we don’t have to panic. But she’s really burning up good. I think you need to take her to see someone. I know this really good clinic. They have some kind of funding where they work with mamas like us on a sliding scale, so it doesn’t break the bank to get care. Hold on. Lemme get that name. No, you march your cute little butt right back inside,” shecalled to Scout. Or Soleil. I still couldn’t tell them apart. “Don’t need you or your siblings getting sick, now do we?”

I watched, jiggling Lainey, heart gripped in a vice, as Brooke dug through her purse for what felt like forever before finding the business card she was looking for.

“Here it is! Now, you want me to come with you? I could get Tasha up here to watch mine.”

“No. No, thanks. I’ll be okay.”

I would be no such thing.

I was already very much not okay.

“Alright. Go get that baby some medicine. Give me a knock when you get home.”

“Thanks, Brooke. Really.”

I was already blinking back tears as I ran down to my car, strapping my weirdly listless infant into her car seat and plugging in the clinic to my GPS.

I wasn’t sure I noticed a single stop sign or red light on the drive in toward Miami. Then through a shady area of town that had me double-checking my locks and making sure the windows were all rolled up completely.

The clinic was situated in a well-lit strip mall—looking like a shining beacon of hope for a worried mom with a sick baby.

I grabbed Lainey, holding her hot body to my chest, then ran in the front doors of the clinic.

“Zo?” a voice called, making my belly flip-flop as I whipped around to see Coast walking toward me, blood trickling down his face.

“Coast?” I croaked, the dam breaking again and tears pouring down my face. “I need help.”

CHAPTER NINE

Coast

“What the fuck was that about?” Caymen asked, passing me a wadded-up pile of napkins he’d snatched off the bar before I’d gotten us kicked out.

“What was what about?” I asked, pressing the napkins to my gushing nose.

“You started that fight outta nowhere.”

“Did I? Felt like he instigated it to me,” I said, shrugging.

“Bullshit,” Caymen said, shaking his head. “You wanna lie to yourself, that’s fine. But you can’t bullshit me, man. You were looking for a fight all night. Congrats. You found one. Feel good about it?”

When I first met them, I thought Dixon would be more my speed. But Caymen was really growing on me. He was a straight shooter. I appreciated that.

“Feeling alright,” I lied. My nose hurt like a mother.

“Should have saved some of those napkins for your eye. That’s looking rough. You need to get it checked.”

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