Page 34 of The Chase
She had hated it.
That was behind her now.
But tonight…here in the hospital for the first time since her final surgery when she’d been twelve, she was fighting the memories.
Janie told her to just press the button if she needed anything, then dimmed the lights and slipped out. Greer would be okay. And if she wasn’t, Aubrey and Genny were sitting up with George and Ronnie and the babies in the room right next door. Gia was around, too. She was going to spend the night with Greer, too.
She drifted for a moment, trying not to focus on what could have happened. What her family could have lost today. She’d snuck into George and Ronnie’s room before Janie and Gennyhad caught her. She’d just wanted to seethem.Her new niece and nephew. To make sure they were okay.
They were beautiful, precious, and just perfect. Genny had helped her hold little Max. He was beyond beautiful. His sister Mira had been fussing. The sound had brought tears to Greer’s eyes. They had almost lost her, especially. It had been so close—Mira’s placenta had torn, and they could have lost her. That precious baby girl.
Greer’s hand covered where her own baby rested. Mira looked just like Genny had as a baby. No one could ever deny that. Greer’s baby could look just like her, too.
She just stayed right where she was and imagined what her life was going to be like once her own baby was here. There was a little trio of black and white images on the table next to the water bottle Janie had left.
They were the most precious photos Greer had ever seen.
Her baby.
Guthrie had ordered an ultrasound, just to make sure everything was okay. He said they’d do another in the morning before they let her go home. Just because he said they would, and Aubrey had agreed.
It paid to have the head of Obstetrics as her big brother, no denying that.
She was holding those images in her hand when a sound at the door had her looking up.
To stare.
“What are you doing here?”
27
She was sittingin a hospital bed, staring at him like he was a little green alien or something. The woman he wanted more than any other on the planet had been in a car accident. Where else would Kurt be? “I’m here to be with you. I would have been here earlier, but I was in Fort Worth today. Dealing with the rest of my girls’ parents’ estate. How are you feeling, sweetheart?”
And he and Lassiter had had a meeting with a contact of Lassiter’s. Kurt hadn’t given up on finding outwhyKevin’s file had been so…spotty.
“Not your sweetheart, remember? Your biggest mistake, I believe is what I am. I am sore. But the baby is okay, and that’s what matters. You can go home to the girls now.”
“What happened?”
She eyed him suspiciously.
Well, maybe heshouldn’thave tried to kiss her before he and the girls had left the barbecue Saturday. He’d just not been able to resist. She’d been helping Bristol with her ice cream cone mess and Kurt had just looked at Greer and fallen even more in love. He’d kissed Bronte, then Bristol, and then…before shecould escape…he’d kissed Greer Katarina. For real kissed her, while Bristol had giggled between them.
He hadn’t imagined it either—Greer Katarina had kissed himback.Until her daddy and two of her brothers had interrupted instead. Asking just what he thought he was doing and all. He’d merely told the mayor the man should know what he was trying to do, since the mayor’s wife was pregnant with their fifth and all.
“A truck ran us off the road. I was coming to the doctor today. George and Ronnie were driving me. I am going to go to the same obstetrician she goes to.”
“What did the doctor say?”
“No signs of distress or anything like that. The baby looks healthy.” She reached for something on the tray next to her bed. “Here. I suppose you do get to see him-or-her. I’m scheduled for another ultrasound in the morning.”
She reached out to him. With something in her hand. He took it automatically and looked down. At ultrasound photos. “Well. He or she…looks…like a blob?”
He tried, but well…he wasn’t all that certain what he was looking at here. Except…that was… “It’sourbaby. For real.”
“Yes.”
And big, beautiful hazel eyes were watching him right now. He really hoped she didn’t still think he had gotten her pregnant on purpose. He hadn’t. This time, anyway. Their next one would be a totally different story, if she wanted another when the time came.
