Page 139 of Melt For Us, Daddy
“I’m okay, Ivy.”
“Okay? Your face is all banged up! What happened?” Whirling around, she jabbed a finger in Braden’s direction. “How did you let this happen?”
Sensing her babygirl was on the verge of a rather impressive meltdown, Cordelia laid a hand on the back of her neck. “Breathe, blossom. Our boy is safe, Harlan is in jail, and that’s all that matters.”
“But—”
“No, Ivy Mae. Not another word until you’ve taken at least three deep breaths.”
Wrinkling her nose, Ivy let out a small, annoyed huff and Cordelia had to fight not to let her amusement show. Her girl really was adorable when she was full of righteous anger.
After three slow breaths, Ivy peeked up at Cordelia through her lashes, a sheepish smile curving her lips. “Sorry. I was just… flustered.”
“No apologies needed, blossom. I was pretty flustered too when I first got here. But look, our boy is right here and he’s okay. He’s safe.” There would be time to tell her the truth of what happened, at home where she could have her meltdown and then fuss over their baby boy to her heart’s content.
“Poor baby.” Hoisting herself up onto the exam table, Ivy snuggled up against Jacob. “Can we take him home now?”
“He’s cleared on my end,” Dr. Winters said from the doorway, looking surprisingly unruffled given the eventful afternoon she’d had. “I sent the script over to the pharmacy Holden uses. Just ask Betty for the info on your way out.”
“Which pharmacy?” Frowning, Ivy pulled her phone from her purse. “Our insurance is pretty selective, so I’ll need to make sure it’s covered. If not, I can give you the name of the place we usually use.”
“It’s been taken care of.”
Cordelia narrowed her eyes at the doctor, then Braden, who held up his hands in the time-honored gesture of surrender. “Wasn’t me.”
“Holden,” Cordelia muttered, shaking her head. “That sonofabitch.”
“He probably feels guilty because our boy got hurt on his watch. As he should.” With a delicate sniff, Ivy snuggled up against Jacob again. “If he wants to pay for his treatment, I say we let him.”
“Fair enough.” Still, it rankled, and she wondered as she often did if she’d ever get used to having such wealthy friends who thought nothing of buying everyone brunch at expensive restaurants or paying a doctor’s bill.
But just then she had more important issues at hand. Like getting her boy home so they could pamper and spoil him the way he deserved.
“All right. Let’s go home.”
Chapter 47
Ivy
Curled up on one end of their couch, Ivy ran her fingers through Jacob’s hair as he slept with his head cradled on her lap. Cordelia was on the smaller loveseat, her lips turned down in a frown as she tapped out a message on her phone.
“What’s wrong?” Ivy whispered, keeping her voice low to avoid waking their baby boy. Between the events of the day and the pain meds Dr. Winters had prescribed, he’d crashed hard not too long after they’d gotten home.
“The FBI wants to talk to Jacob. And me.”
A protectiveness she hadn’t even known she possessed welled up inside her. “Now? Can’t it wait?”
“Holden managed to buy us twenty-four hours.” Setting her phone down, Cordelia met Ivy’s gaze, the green of her eyes dark with so much pain and worry it made Ivy’s chest ache just to see it. “They’re going to put him through hell, Ivy. And I don’t know that there’s anything we can do to shield him from that.”
“He could refuse to testify.”
“I think we both know he’s not going to do that. And I wouldn’t ask him to. He has as much right as anyone to tell his story.”
“It’s going to be hard. For both of you.” And it killed her to know there was nothing she could do to stop it from being hard. To keep it from hurting the two people she loved most in the world.
“We’ll be okay. We all have each other.” Holding out a hand, Cordelia silently beckoned Ivy to her. As carefully as she could, Ivy wiggled out from under their boy so she could curl up in her Daddy’s lap.
“Mmm. Much better,” Cordelia murmured, nuzzling at Ivy’s throat. “I’m so sorry you got caught up in all this mess, babygirl.”
