Page 48 of Blue Norther
“Colt wouldn’t?—”
Nate pinned me with a stare so ridiculous all I could do was smile and sigh. “Fine. Give me a second to pay and we can head back to the station.”
“All taken care of, doll.” The server at the register smiled as she handed me the receipt.
I glared at Nate, who had the audacity to laugh.
“Come on, everyone knows you don’t let the pregnant person pay for food. That’s one of the perks. Let’s get this food back to the station before it gets cold. You can scowl at me all the way back if you want.”
I’d grown up with Colt’s little brothers driving me up a wall like they were my own—Nate reminded me a lot of them.
Jessie and Hawk stood up just as I turned, taking the smallest bag off the counter with a huff.
I smiled as Jessie walked over to me, waving at the woman behind the counter before looping her arm through mine.
“Oh, we parked right by each other! That’s fun!” Jessie stopped walking as soon as we got to the parking lot, wrapping her arms around me and squeezing tightly. My head was suddenly stuffy and my eyes burned.Damn hormones. “Send me a text when you make it home later, okay?”
“What a good mama bear you are,” I joked as I tried to cover the sniffle that escaped.
She laughed, shaking her head at me. “It’s just payback for all the times you forced me to stay home with you and Colt so I wouldn’t be out drunk in a field somewhere with my friends.”
That made me snort. “God. You’ll be exactly the same way when Beckett gets to be that age. Make sure you give him a cuddle for me tonight.”
“Of course.”
“Bye, guys.” I waved as I turned to Nate’s patrol vehicle. I heard the locks release before I walked to the door he had opened. But a piece of paper on his windshield caught my attention.
Wasn’t it illegal for people to solicit that way?I thought I’d read something in the news. Certainly not a great idea to leave it on a Deputy’s patrol?—
I dropped the bag of food, and the ground spun as I tried to comprehend what I was looking at. If my hands would stop shaking, I might be able to convince myself it wasn’t what I was seeing. Dark dots danced at the edge of my vision, and I heard someone in the distance gasp.
Or was that me? It was hard to tell with the panic swelling in my body. Cold sweat dotted my skin as my stomach flipped. Oh,I was going to be sick.
I turned, my eyes locking on Jessie and Hawk as they walked back towards me with a million questions written on their faces.Nate was asking me something, but the ringing in my ears was too loud.
I held out the paper to him, and then everything went black.
Violet
Ishifted my hips, trying to get comfortable while the monitor wrapped around my belly continued to track the baby’s heartbeat. It was loud, and steady, and filled the silence that fell into place as Jessie held my hand.
“Jess, honestly, I really appreciate you being here, but you can have Hawk take you home.”
“We’re not leaving,” Hawk grumbled, lifting his eyes from his phone. “I have to make a call. I’ll be right back. Don’t leave them alone in here.”
That last part was directed at Nate, who was so pale I thoughthewas going to be the one that needed a hospital bed in a minute.
As soon as Hawk was in the hallway, I appealed to Jess. “You can’t stay. Aren’t you supposed to pick up Beckett? He’ll be missing you.”
“That boy would leave me in an instant to get time with any of his aunts or uncles. Besides, Mae won’t mind watching him for a little longer. Honestly, I wouldn’t feel right leaving until we know you’re not going to pass out again, and that nothing’s wrong.”
“I didn’tpass out. I simply wilted a little from the shock. And being hungry. I should have shoved a piece of that chicken in my mouth before Nate insisted on rushing me here.”
“Wilted a little, my ass,” Nate grumbled.
“I’ll make sure you get that chicken. Can’t deprive my sweet nephew of that.” Jessie crossed her arms and sat back in the chair next to my bed. God, I missed it when Jessie was thirteen and thought I hung the moon. She was already too far into her maternal instincts. “Vi, what’s going on? Who the hell would have been at the ranch taking a picture of you like that?”
Before I could answer, I heard boots stomping in the hallway, urgent steps walking up to the nurses’ station. My room was just across from it, so the four of us had already been privy to two frantic dads bringing their laboring wives in while we waited for the doctor to come back in and check me.
