Page 18 of Heart in Waiting
CHAPTER EIGHT
Another day of Nolanat large, and also another one of Reese being difficult—there was a time when Dane would have loved spending so much time with her. Reality hadn’t lived up to his fantasies. She’d ignored him the night before, and it had been an evening filled with eerie silence. He didn’t push her to talk, but he had hoped she’d quit her silent temper tantrum. She never did. Now it was the next morning, and he had to once again ensure she made it to work without incident.
Dane drove his car into the parking lot and slid into an empty spot. He shifted the gear and then turned the car off. Then, he glanced over at Reese who remained quiet for the entire trip from her condo. It was his second shift staying with her, and the tension remained thick. They had barely said two words to each other. She’d chosen to leave her car at her mother’s since she wouldn’t be driving it until Nolan was caught.
Reese pushed her door open and glanced over her shoulder. “Thanks for the ride. I can make it inside by myself.”
“Not so fast,” Dane yelled after her. “That’s not how this works.” Reese either didn’t hear him or chose not to. He bet it was the latter. Her attitude drove him insane, and he had no idea how to change it. Why was she being so careless with her safety? He jogged to catch up to her as the doors automatically slid open. “Can you stop for a minute?”
She glanced at him long enough to roll her eyes and then kept walking. Dane took a deep breath and rushed to keep up with her. She would have to stop at some point—probably once she reached her office. At least, he hoped so because she was going to listen to him whether she liked it or not. She slid past a group of people exiting the elevator and went inside. Before Dane could get on it, the doors clicked shut.
“Fuck,” he cursed. Then spun on his heels to take the stairs to the third floor—at least she didn’t work on the top floor. Otherwise, he’d tie her up and make her stay home until Nolan was caught. This had skated past ridiculous two days ago and slid right into total rage with her attitude since they both opened their eyes earlier. He had to find a way to shake some sense into her before she did something so monumentally stupid she wouldn’t be able to come back from it.
Dane raced up three flights of stairs until he reached the third floor, then pushed the door open. He took note of where he was and turned in the direction of Reese’s office. She better be there...
“Dane!” a female shouted.
He paused to figure out who was calling him. It wasn’t Reese, but it was definitely a woman. He glanced over his shoulder and met Paige Morris’s gaze. “Oh, hey—shouldn’t you be in bed or a wheelchair?”
“I have to walk some in order to be released on my own.” She glanced past him. “Halie’s on this floor and I wanted to check on her.”
That all may be true, but somehow he doubted they wanted her to travel between floors unaccompanied or not in a wheelchair. “How is Halie doing?” Maybe Reese could wait a little bit longer and he’d take the time to escort Paige to her daughter’s room. He’d nearly forgotten about them once he found out about Nolan’s escape. Paige had always been a good friend to him. The least he could do was check on her, and Halie. They didn’t have too many people that they could count on.
“She’s good.” Paige fidgeted and stared down at the floor. When she glanced up she didn’t quite meet his gaze. “They ran some tests and kept her while they’re figuring out what’s wrong with her.”
“Do they have any idea what it is?” Reese had seemed to think that Halie was being abused. Dane couldn’t believe that Paige would ever hurt her daughter. She loved Halie too much and had since the day she’d been born. He didn’t know who Halie’s father was, and Paige had never offered the information.
Paige shook her head. “The doctor didn’t want to scare me, so she said she’d tell me when she had answers.”
Reese was Halie’s doctor. Perhaps there was another reason for him to track her down. She might be able to put Paige’s concerns to rest. He looped his arm around Paige’s. “Let’s go see your little one. I bet she’s missing her mama.”
Paige’s smile wobbled a little bit. “She looks so tiny in that bed—I was up here last night while she slept. I wish I could have saved her from all this pain.”
“You can’t predict drunk drivers, Pay,” he said in a soft voice. “You’re not responsible for what someone else does.”
She had a faraway look to her gaze. Her caramel blonde hair was stringy and matted. She was probably more concerned about Paige then herself. Something else he’d have to look into. Maybe talk to Lana—she might be able to talk her into showering. Paige had to stop ignoring what she needed, or she’d never be able to take proper care of her daughter.
“I realize I didn’t make Abel drive drunk,” she replied. Her voice was filled with grief as she spoke. “But I was distracted myself and didn’t see him coming. I could have done a better job of looking out for my baby.”
“Halie is going to be fine,” Dane tried to console her. “She has the best doctors looking out for her.”
“I hope so.”
They made slow progress down the hall. Dane had no idea where they were heading, and he should probably ask. The last time he’d seen Halie, she’d been in the emergency room. He hadn’t thought to visit her in the room she’d been moved to since they admitted her. Paige was already skittish, and he wanted to make her feel as comfortable as possible. In some ways, she was still that girl next door to him. She hadn’t changed much over the years, and he didn’t expect she would any time soon.
Some people got stuck in their circumstances and didn’t seem to be able to find their way out. Paige was young when she had Halie, and somehow, he didn’t think she had much time for anything other than working and making sure her daughter was taken care of. Paige’s life mirrored his mother’s and her mother’s as well. She was the next generation of single moms fighting to survive, and it killed him that there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.
“How are you doing?” He wanted to say more than that. To tell her he’d help, but she wouldn’t accept. Pride was the darnedest thing, and hers would put up an impenetrable wall. Offering her help would make her push him away. She would only take so much, and none of it would be what she considered charity.
“I’m fine,” she said. “I was watching the news before I decided to give this walking thing a try.”
“That’s a bad habit. These days there’s nothing good for those anchors to report on.” They were probably broadcasting far and wide that Nolan was on the loose. People did need to realize there was a dangerous man out there; however, he hated to hear about it himself. It grated on his nerves that his evil brother was free to harm someone else.
“They said your brother escaped.” She had no tone to her voice. Dane had complained about Nolan often enough to her that she, more than anyone, realized how much he hated him. Paige had always strived to make Dane try harder with him. She said Nolan couldn’t be that bad, and she’d love it if she had a brother or sister. Paige was like a sister to him—more of a family than his only brother had ever been. He loved her, but Paige didn’t realize what an awful person Nolan was. Hell, Dane hadn’t realized quite how bad the bastard could be. No one could have predicted what he would do.
“I’m afraid so.” He hated that he had to confirm it.
“I’m sure you’re doing all you can to find him.” She nodded absentmindedly. “Do you have any leads?”
