Always With You: Part One (4 page)

CHAPTER EIGHT

Olivia

S
ophie is
smart. I’ll give her that.  She obviously knows Cash well enough to know that he can’t be bulldozed or coerced.  At least not without a damned effective weapon.

And a child–
his child
—is just such a weapon.

“I’m not asking you to do it for
me,
Cash. I’m asking you to do it for your daughter.  So she can rest well.  So she can know her father.  At least until we can figure out a way forward.”

“She’d have known her father already if you’d bothered to tell him that he had a daughter,” he snaps testily.

Sophie casts her eyes down. “I know I should’ve told you sooner. I won’t try to make excuses.  But Cash, I was just a kid.  And the way things ended between us…I just wasn’t sure you’d welcome the news. I know I hurt you.  I hurt you bad and…I can’t tell you how much I regret that, but don’t hold
my
mistakes against Izzy.  She’s just a little girl.”

“Like I would do that. What kind of man do you think I am?” he growls angrily. 

“I know what kind of man you
used to be.
I knew time and life and distance couldn’t change you
that much. 
You’re too stubborn. Always have been.” There’s an intimate ring to her words and she smiles at him in a way that
I know
is meant to drag him back into yesteryear, when they were a couple.  “That’s why I knew I could bring her here. That you’d help. That you’d do right by your flesh and blood.”

Cash surprises me by his next statement, by the blatant insinuation.  But then again, he’s never been one to pull punches. 

“I’ll always do right by my flesh and blood.  As long as they
are
my flesh and blood.”

Sophie manages to look offended, although something tells me she’s not. Not really. If she knows Cash as well as she says she does, she’d know that he would want a paternity test. Cash and I haven’t talked about it, but
I
had no doubts he’d want one.  Any man with a brain would.  And Cash has lots of brains.  Anyone who is fooled by his muscles is just that—fooled.

“You think I’d lie about something like that?”

“I don’t
think
anything, Sophie, but I want to know for sure.  Surely you had to expect me to ask for proof.”

“Look at her!” she cries in outrage, pointing toward the office where her daughter sleeps.  “How could you deny it?”

“She looks just like you.  How could I
not
question it?”

“Yes, she looks like me, only with
your
eyes.”

“Only with
dark brown
eyes.  Davenports don’t hold the monopoly on that color.  Surely that’s not how you expected to convince me.”

Cash’s icy tone cools Sophie’s indignation.  “No, you’re right.  Lots of people have dark brown eyes.  Eyes so dark they’re almost black.”  She adds the last with heavy sarcasm.  “And
of course
we’ll submit to testing.  Just as soon as the holidays are over and everything opens back up.”  Her voice softens and her expression turns to one of feminine sway. She’s all but batting her eyelashes at him.  “That’s okay, isn’t it?  To wait until after the holidays? Surely you wouldn’t make us leave right after Christmas just because the rest of the world closes their offices, would you?”

I could throw up all over her.

Cash’s full lips thin into a tight, straight line.  “Of course not.  Don’t be ridiculous.”

At that, she smiles.  “Yeah, that is kind of ridiculous, isn’t it?”

Cash doesn’t return her smile and I can do little more than just stand here and try not to baulk. I think I’ve had more than enough of this woman for the moment.

I clear my throat.  “Well, if you’ll be staying in the apartment here, I guess I’d better get our things together, right, babe?” I ask, smiling up at Cash, trying to act natural.   Like my chest doesn’t feel as though it’s been ripped open by a dull knife. 

“I’m coming. I’ll help,” he says, reaching out to brush his thumb over my cheekbone and give me that lopsided grin of his that I love so much.

“Olivia,” Sophie says, forcing my eyes back to her and (purposely, no doubt) shattering the tiny moment Cash and I were sharing.  I can’t help wondering if that will be her role from here on out—disrupt at every opportunity.  I turn my attention back to her, although it’s considerably cooler now that I’m onto her ploy.  Or at least I think I am.

“Yes?”

“Thank you. Truly.  As one mother to another, I know you know how much this means to me.”  Ice forms across the surface of my heart and I can feel the color leave my face.  “You
do
have children, right?”

“No.  I-I don’t have any children.  Yet.” I say the last emphatically, as if it’s not even in question.  I hope she can’t detect the fear, the uncertainty, the
panic
in my heart that there’s a distinct possibility that I won’t be able to give my husband a child of our own.

“Oh. I just assumed…I mean, Cash wasn’t really the marrying type, so I assumed you were…that he had to…” 

Silence falls into the room like a thick, dark cloud until Cash’s voice pierces it like an ominous crack of thunder.

“You assumed that she trapped me? That she tricked me into marrying her?”

Sophie’s eyes widen.  Obviously she
does
know Cash well enough to know when she’s pushed him too far.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that…I know how you used to be and…and…”

“I married Olivia because I can’t live without her.  I
wasn’t
the marrying type until I met her.  Now, I’m happier than I’ve ever been. 
Ever. 
And we
will
be having kids. We’ve got all the time in the world, though, so we’re waiting until our house finished. Waiting until everything is perfect.  As perfect as she is,” he says, turning to smile down into my face and coming to my rescue in the most amazing way possible.

I lean up to place a quick kiss on his chin before I turn to walk away.

“Thank you, Olivia.  And I’m sorry,” Sophie calls out behind me.

My step stutters slightly.  I want to turn around and snarl at her, to sneer that
I’m
sorry, too. Sorry that Cash ever knew her.  Sorry that she found us.  Sorry that he might’ve had a child with another woman.  But I don’t do any of that.  I pull myself together and throw my brightest smile over my shoulder.  “I just hope you know how to bartend.”

And, with that, I leave her behind.

At least for the moment.

CHAPTER NINE

Cash

W
hen I
find Olivia, she is standing in the doorway of the office, staring at the sleeping girl on the couch.  I stop behind her, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her into my chest.  She doesn’t turn, but rests her head against my shoulder and continues staring at Isabella.

“I don’t like that she calls her Izzy,” she says in a whisper.

I smile. “I don’t either.  She doesn’t look like an Izzy.  She looks like an Isabella.”

“Exactly,” she agrees.  After a full two minutes of silence, she speaks again.  “She really is a beautiful child.”

I don’t argue with her because I can’t.  Isabella
is
a beautiful child.  But what I
do
tell my wife is the truth as I see it.  “No human will be as beautiful as
our
child will be, though.  Her dazzling green eyes will confound scientists.  Her creamy skin will entrance artists.  And her brilliant smile will be the envy of the stars.”

“God I love the way your mind works,” she replies, a hitch in her voice.

I release her only enough to turn her toward me.  Her emerald eyes are shiny with unshed tears.  “I’m right, you know.  There will be no comparison to what we create together.”

She nods, but doesn’t speak for a few seconds.  “But still, she’s beautiful,” she says, tipping her head back toward Isabella.  “And you’ll love her, too.  Because that’s just who you are.”

Even though her heart is breaking right inside her eyes, she’s trying to make the best of this. To think the best of
me. 
It makes me love her that much more.

“I’m the best me when I’m with you.  I’m the best me
because
of you.”

As I watch, fear skates in across Olivia’s features, draining all the color from her face.  “Cash, I’m scared.”

I pull her hard against me, burying my nose in her neck and bending to lift her off her feet.  “Don’t be scared.  You’ve got me.  All of me.  You had me from the second you took my shirt off. You stripped me that night. More than you’ll ever know.  No one could ever take me away from you, or from the family we’re going to have. No one. I swear it.”

I feel the shudder that trembles through her slight body and I squeeze her tighter, wishing I could absorb her hurt.  Take it away.  Make all of this better.  Because it seems to be getting worse.  Now not only do I possibly have a daughter, but my ex is staying in my apartment and working in my bar.  With my wife.  And while Sophie always had a good heart, she’s devious and determined. If she thinks she can get me back, she won’t think twice about doing whatever she thinks she needs to in order to get Olivia out of the way.  That’s why I’m going to have to set her straight as soon as I can get her alone.  And keep an eye out for anything suspicious.  I still care about Sophie, but I can’t say I’m glad to see her again.  She was trouble before. I get the feeling she’s gotten even worse with age.

But still, she is an old friend. An old
family
friend.  And my mom loved her.  And more than any of that, she might be the mother of my first child.  The results of that paternity test will set us on a path forward. Until then…I just have to bide my time.

“I love you,” Olivia mumbles as she turns her face toward my ear.

My favorite words. 

“I love you more,” I tell her.

“Not. Possible.”

“Quite. Possible.”

“Never.”

“Always.”

I feel her lips spread against my skin and I know she’s smiling.  That’s become sort of our thing.

“I think we’ve got some…work to do tonight, don’t you?”

“I think you might be right.  How about we light up the Christmas tree at the condo?  The
right
way?”

“Mmmm,” I growl against her throat, my dick twitching at the imagery. “You, naked, bathed in twinkling lights, moaning my name?  Hell yeah!  That really
is
the right way!”

CHAPTER TEN

Olivia

I
have
just finished packing the last of our things and stripping the sheets from the bed when my phone rings. I answer it, tucking my cell between my shoulder and my ear as I take the sheets to the washing machine and stuff them inside.  “Hello?”

“May I speak with Olivia Davenport please?”

“This is she.”

“Yes, ma’am, I’m calling from St. Joseph’s Hospital.  You’re the emergency contact listed for Darrin Townsend.  Do you know someone by that name?”

My heart begins to pound wildly as my hands still on the closed lid of the washer.  “Yes, he’s my father. Is something wrong?”

“We have your father here in the cardiac cath lab.  He was transferred from an urgent care unit in Salt Springs. Would you mind coming to the registration area to fill out some paperwork?”

I am instantly sick with worry.  My father is in the hospital?  In a cath lab?  Does this mean he had a heart attack?

Ohgod ohgod ohgod!

“Of course. I’ll be there as soon as I can get there. I’m leaving now.”

“Thank you.  When you’re finished at registration, you can come back to the cath lab waiting room and call the nurse’s desk from the phone in there.  Just ask for Amber and I’ll update you.”

“Okay.  I-I will.  Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.  See you soon.”

“Yes.  Thanks.”

My fingers are trembling when I press the END button on my phone.  As I was packing up our things to take to the condo, I made the mistake of thinking to myself that nothing could make this holiday worse.

But I was wrong.

So, so wrong.

I abandon the sheets and the packing and go straight for my shoes and purse.  I walk out into the garage bay to where my husband is loading the car with our stuff.  He looks up from behind the trunk lid when I call his name.  His expression falls into one of deep concern when he sees my face.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

He knows me so well. 

Cash doesn’t hesitate to stop what he’s doing and take the few steps to me.  He winds his long fingers around my upper arms and bends to look into my eyes, his own nearly-black ones glittering with apprehension.

“It’s Dad.  He-he’s in the hospital. The cath lab. At St. Joseph’s. I have to go fill out paperwork. I…I…I don’t know what’s going on, but it must be bad, Cash. It must be
really
bad.”

I feel tight as a drum from head to toe.  Rigid, like my muscles are bracing themselves. For what, I’m not sure.

Gently, my husband takes the keys from the edge of my purse and ushers me to the passenger side of the car, opening the door and shuffling me inside.  I stare straight ahead, my mind buzzing around a dozen different scenarios, kind of like buzzards circling the air over a fresh kill.  Watching.  Waiting.

When Cash slides in behind the wheel and starts the engine, he hits the button to lift the garage door and then takes my fingers in his. They’re warm and firm and familiar. Safe.  “Whatever it is that’s going on, he’ll come through. Your dad is one tough man.  Remember when he broke his leg?  How hard it was to get him to stay down? He’s a fighter.  Strong. Stubborn.  Just like his daughter.”

“I know he is, but stubborn can’t stop a heart attack.”

“No, but it can bring him through it. He’d do anything for you, to keep you happy and never hurt you.  He knows he can’t leave you yet.  That’s why he’ll fight tooth and nail—
for you
.  You know that.”

“Yeah, I know. But Cash, his heart?  Oh God!” 

I drop my face into my hand and will myself not to fall apart.  I want to. I feel like I need to in some ways. Like the stress of the last couple of days is just too much and I need to check out of reality for a little while.  But I can’t.  Now is not the time to be weak and frail. Now is the time to suck it up and be strong.  Even though I don’t feel strong. 

Cash brushes his lips over the knuckles of my left hand before releasing it to back out of the garage.  I feel the loss immediately.   When he’s touching me, I feel as though nothing can hurt me.  But the instant he lets go…

Always sensitive to my needs, to what I’m thinking and feeling, Cash reaches for my hand again after he pulls out onto the main road.  He doesn’t let it go until we pull into St. Joseph’s parking lot some thirty minutes later.