Page 34 of Shimmering Emeralds
“Thank you,” I whispered, since my throat was too clogged with hot, unshed tears to speak.
Claire didn’t bother to hold back the tears that trailed down her cheeks as we shared a long moment of sisterly-bonding. Despite our silence, we communicated with each other more clearly and lovingly than we had in years.
“We’ll be back,” Claire promised as Alex began slowly wheeling her toward the door. As if suddenly remembering, she said, “Oh, I had Alex bring your motorcycle over, in case you need to get out of here for a bit of fresh air. It’s parked right out front.”
“I felt like such a badass riding that thing through town.” Alex gave me a half-hearted smile as he tossed me the spare key for the bike.
I caught it with one hand before teasing him, “I better not find any scratches on it.”
My lame attempt at humor fell flat. Alex’s somber nod proved that we were still a long way from the easy-going, sibling rivalry type of relationship we’d enjoyed before I’d accused him of being behind Claire’s disappearance.
Showing that he was still a polite gentleman, Levi jogged over to open the door, since Alex’s hands were occupied.
“Call me as soon as she wakes up,” Claire called over her shoulder.
“Will do,” I promised, smiling over my sister’s ever-present, positive attitude––even as I silently wished that I had inherited that ability to always look on the bright side.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Levi moved to stand close behind my back. I inhaled deeply and savored the warmth of his nearness.
His voice near my ear made the tiny hairs at the back of my neck stand at attention when he asked, “Want me to go get the doctor-on-call, so we can share the eye-opening news?”
“No, we can just tell them when they come in to do their rounds. You know they’re going to claim it’s a random reflex anyway, and I’m not ready to have them dampen my surge of hope from it.”
We stood there in comfortable silence for a moment before I added. “I really want to get Dani’s opinion about it. I bet she’ll pop by soon on her own, but if not, I’ll text her and ask her to come see us.”
Levi said, “Sounds good,” before adding in a rumbling, sexy voice, “I’m so glad you have found it in your heart to trust me with all of this. If you’ll have me, I’ll stay and never leave you or Harper again.”
Dani’s voice startled us both. We had evidently been so consumed by each other, we had failed to hear her medically-trained, silent entrance to the room.
Levi stiffened at my back when the person I thought was my best friend in the entire world said, “Oh, good. You finally told Levi that he’s Harper’s father.”
30
Levi
My blood pumped loudly in my ears as I worked to process Dani’s shocking revelation. My heart refused to accept that Meg had kept this big of a secret from me for all of this time, but my mind was screaming at me that Dani had no reason to lie about it.
Queasiness churned in my gut, and I stepped back away from Meg to turn and peer at Dani. I needed to see the woman’s expression to gauge her sincerity. Some ever-hopeful sliver of me wanted to believe that this was a misguided, cruel joke. I would much rather believe that Dani had a moment of poor judgment, rather than being forced to accept that the love of my life had purposely kept my child from me for all of these years.
Meg kept her head down staring at Harper. I knew she had to have heard Dani, but she was showing no signs of reacting. She was as immobile as a cement statue––as if Dani’s announcement had frozen her into place.
When my distraught gaze met Dani’s carefree one, her expression immediately fell. I watched as the blood drained from her face, leaving it as white as the crisp sheets on Harper’s bed. Her horrified gaze darted from me to Meg’s stiff spine, then back to me again as she fully absorbed the situation.
I glared at the appalled woman, not wanting to believe Meg would have blatantly lied about this for all of these years, but also suddenly aching to believe that precious little Harper might truly be mine.
When I’d first found out that Meg was pregnant, I’d called her immediately. My plan had been to pack up my belongings in Nashville and move home to marry Meg, so we could raise our child together. When Meg told me that she’d had a fling with a random tourist after I left, and that he was the father of her baby, I’d been too devastated to question her. We’d been careful to always use protection, so it never dawned on me that she might have been lying––until now.
I shook my head as I continued staring at Dani. My voice came out as a barely audible croak when I asked, “What?”
Even though I was looking at Dani, my question was actually for Meg. I slowly angled around to look at Meg. Although she still wasn’t moving, tears were silently streaming down her cheeks. That’s when I knew, without a doubt, that Dani’s words were the truth.
Harper was my daughter, and Meg had kept her from me for all of this time. I’d missed years of my child’s life because Meg had intentionally kept her from me.
The realization swept through my body in a wave of nausea as I tried, but failed, to understand how she could have done this. Keeping me out of Harper’s life had to have been a conscious decision that she made over and over again as our baby grew up, but why? What possible reason could she have for not wanting me in our child’s life? Did she believe I wouldn’t be a good father?
I glared down at Meg. She looked so small and frail standing there. My normal reaction would be to reach out and comfort her, but fury and disbelief warred in my system as I tried to come to terms with the truth.
“Why?” My voice was barely above a whisper, but I knew she would hear me and understand the one-word question.
