Rush (Roam Series, Book Four) (4 page)

His youngest daughter
, I thought wryly.

“She’s fine. No unusual bleeding, not much pain. I promise you, Logan, I’ll tell you if there’s a problem.”

Logan nodded once, and I stared at him, trying to picture him as the cute high-school boy I’d met in Russia, not the insanely gorgeous man nearly surpassing West in height.

“Okay, we’re pretty well stocked here for a few days. I want to take Roam and Eva over to the hospital tomorrow morning, if the rain stops. Both of you, try to get some sleep.”

“No problem,” I yawned my words, dropping tiredly to the couch. “Get me if you need some help,” I offered.

West turned to me and smiled thankfully. He crossed to the couch and brushed his hand down the length of my hair.
“I appreciate that, Violet.”

The pure joy that ran through my
bloodstream was quickly replaced by my pride.
The first loving gesture he’s ever shown you, and you respond like an eager five-year-old.

“Goodnight,” I replied stiffly,
turning away from him.

I waited until I heard the bedroom door close before sighing, laying back on the couch.

“Shit just got real,” Logan said, dropping to the arm chair near the back window. “I’m going to dig up something to eat in the kitchen. Are you hungry?”

“No, we just ate an
hour
ago.”

“I know. God- I feel like I’m always hungry.”

“Maybe it’s because you’re so huge and- ripped.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied.
I opened my eyes, watching him flex his arm into a dramatic pose on the chair, his thumb and forefinger framing his jaw in an L. He raised one eyebrow, sending a smoldering look my way.

I burst out laughing, shaking my head and pinching my eyes closed again. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Maybe I should wash a load of laundry- on my abs.”

“Shut the fuck up,” I fought the urge to cover my mouth, my smile refusing to leave my lips.

“
Everything
is bigger- in 1955.”

“How nice for you,” I slung my arm over my face, curling my lips inward to stop laughing. “Do you need some alone time with yourself?”

“No no, I’ll share my incredibly hot presence with you. It’s the least I can do.”

“Oh, wow, thanks,” I sighed, resisting the urge to steal another glance his way.

I listened to him move around in the kitchen, wondering about his relationship with Roam.
It’s obvious that he still loves her.
I was surprised he could even tolerate being in the same room with West.

Maybe he just doesn’t have a choice.

I must have fallen asleep. Hours later, the crying baby snapped me back into reality, and I watched as West paced calmly by the back door with Eva in his arms. His mouth moved in a half-song, and his face radiated with devotion. “
Shh… I have you… I have you now,
” he repeated lovingly.

I tucked my hands into my pockets, clearing my throat.
“Um…where’s Logan?”

“Out guarding Troy,” he answered in the same even tone, still gazing down at Eva.

The sun was masked by dark storm clouds; the ocean beat against the shore relentlessly. “How is she doing?”

“She’s hungry,” he cradled her in his arms, lifting her to press a kiss to her forehead.
“I just can’t believe she’s here…
thank God she’s here.
”

The reverence in his voice told the story of centuries of heartache.
How many times has he lost her? And now, here she is, right in his arms.

I stretched and stood, walking to them. “Do you want me to take her, so you can wake up Roam?”

“No, I’m going to let her sleep as long as possible. You can help me change her diaper, though,” he suggested with an excited grin, lifting his eyes to mine.

I nodded, yawning. “Sure.”

He held my gaze, lowering his voice. “I have so much to say to you, Violet. When we’re alone, and we have each other’s attention, okay?”

Surprised, I nodded eagerly, my
childish need for him once again rearing its ugly head.

“For now, I want you to know how incredibly proud I am of you. You’re so brave… and beautiful,” he added
, moving closer. I fought the lump that rose into my throat, taking a steadying breath. “I just want you to know that I love you… and have loved you… all of your life. I don’t expect you to acknowledge me as your father, but I hope that you’ll at least accept that I care about you very much.”

I looked down and focused on the hardwood
floor. My heart slammed against my chest as I felt his kiss on my head… the same kiss he’d given my infant sister only moments before.

Adrenaline rising
, I lifted my face to his, the thousands of unspoken words that I’d been holding back over the years crying to come out. “Did you know when my mom was gone?”

To his credi
t, his steady gaze never left mine. “Yes.”

“You knew that I was only nine years old, alone, and still didn’t come for me?”

Pain
. My words did more damage than any weapon could. His jaw clenched. “I could try to apologize, or explain, but I don’t think that’s what you want right now.”

“How do you know what I want?” I narrowed my eyes, knowing they matched his watery, blue gaze exactly. “
I’ve been in four foster homes, West.
Four
. Do you want to know why I had to leave
three of them?
” He cradled Eva closer as my voice rose, and I shifted my eyes to the floor, shaking my head. “Never mind. I’ll be outside.”

I barely made it out of the back door before bre
aking into a run. The rain cooled my burning eyes, and I stopped at the shore, taking deep, steadying breaths.

Two came to mind. I organized my foster homes by number, and Two by far was the worst. I only thought of Two at my very darkest times, and
involuntarily, I longed for the imaginary hero who had never come to save me.

Only then did I realize that the hero I was waiting for was my father.

“You okay?”

“I just need to be alone, Logan.”

I spoke without turning.

“
You should get out of the rain.”

I turned to him. “I’ve never had a cold in my life.”

“Well, if the prophecy is over… then you may not be immortal anymore, either. Since we don’t know where all this fun immortality is coming from, you’d better take care of yourself.”

“Where it’s coming from? It’s coming from
him
. Obviously. And that baby is probably just like I am. He just gets to start over, you know? From scratch. It’s not fair.”

“
I wouldn’t call this ‘starting over.’ Roam and their baby have been murdered six times. Well, seven, if you include the pool at the high school. Try to put your dear-diary drama away and cut the teen-angst shit for about five minutes and look at the big picture, okay?”

With that, he turned and stalked back to the house.

My mouth hung open as I watched him leave, the rain picking up and dampening my hair.
He’s right. I have to be mature.
It was possible that his scolding was more effective because he looked older than he actually was, but whatever the case, I went back into the house to help with Eva.

I thought about Logan for the rest of the morning. While I was irritated with this brutal honesty, I…
welcomed
it. He didn’t say what he thought I
wanted
to hear, he said what was on his mind. He was obviously attracted to me; I caught him gaping at my chest about seven times before noon. Aside from that, I decided that we could probably be friends.

We were a lot alike.

After lunch, Logan and Roam curled up in the big bed for a nap, and I tried to ignore my unfounded jealousy.
Seriously- this is not the
Bachelorette
. Focus on finding Mom.

“
Violet, can we talk for a while?”

West’s voice interrupted me as I scrubbed at the lunch dishes. I shrugged, drying my hands on a towel near the sink.

“I guess.”

He sat down at the table, and I chose the seat next to him to
prove
that I wasn’t intimidated by him. His bearded face added a few years to his appearance, but even so, he could barely pass for thirty.
And if I saw him on the street, I’d know, without a doubt, that he was my father. How is that possible?

“Where would you like me to begin?” He asked gently. I sat back, shrugging again.

“The beginning?”

“The beginning,” he repeated, his eyes sparkling in the fifties-era pendant light hanging over the table. “I came in the cottage I’
d built for your mom one day after work, completely covered in car grease. It’d been the shittiest day I’d had in a long time, and the heat wave passing through Jefferson soaked me on the way home.”

“Laurel ran to me in the driveway, dragging me out of the car to tell me she was pregnant. I’d never seen her so
excited,” his voice trailed to silence.

I sat perfectly still
.

“The day you were born, when I held you in my arms… it was the happiest moment of my life, Violet.”

“You didn’t wish I was Roam’s child?”

“Absolutely not. I loved
your mother.”

“
Why’d you leave, then?”

He dropped his light smile, looking down at the grooves in the table top. “Your mom became very depressed. She… wasn’t herself. One day, I came home from the shop for lunch.” He stopped speaking, and I leaned closer.

“What?” I encouraged, waiting.

“I found you in the crib. You weren’t breathing.”

“What happened to me?”

“I don’t know for sure. But I began CPR, and you started breathing again.”

“What made you think that I was immortal? CPR probably saved me.”

He was quiet for a long moment. Finally, he cleared his throat, his words pained. “Laurel… your mother… admitted that it wasn’t the first time you’d… died.”

The bridge of my nose began to burn. I looked down, pressing my fingertips into my temple.

“She was very depressed after you were born. I worked so much,
and she was alone with you…,”

I knew what was coming. The tears
started, no matter how much I fought them back.

“S
he did an awful thing. Twice.”

That was it.
I began to cry, my voice disappearing in my throat. Barely able to form hoarse words, I lifted my eyes to his.

“My own mother tried to… kill me?”

I remembered the long days she’d spend in bed, and the intense crying spells. I was only seven or eight years old when I begged her to tell me what was wrong, what I did wrong,
why
was she crying?

“She went on medication. It helped. Violet, she loved you so much. She just needed help, but I didn’t see that. I began to piece things together… I had a strong suspicion that you were immortal, like me. I knew the numbers were coming, so I had to leave... I couldn’t put either of you in danger. The day I drove away from you was one of the worst days of my life.
Violet
.”

He stood, and I let him put his arms around me. I cried with everything I had, disappointed in myself for my crumbling resistance but unable to keep from pressing my face into his shoulder. He whispered soothing words, gripping me to him.

“I’ll get her back, Vi, I will,” he promised.

“I want to hate you,” I
confessed tearfully, into his shirt. He nodded against my hair.

“I deserve that.”

“You’re all that I have,” I admitted, pulling away and dragging the backs of my arms over my eyes.

“Now that I have you, I’ll never let you go again,” he cupped my face in his hands, catching my eyes. “Do you hear me? If you’ll let me, I am going to be your father.”

I wrapped my fingers around his wrists, pushing him away. “I need to be alone, West. Thank you for telling me… this.”

Shakily I climbed to my feet, going out back to find Logan.

Logan

Watching Violet make dinner was the most amusing disaster I’d ever seen.

S
he tried standing two feet away from the counter while attempting to mix a meatloaf. The clothes she borrowed from Annie’s closet were far too snug, and I enjoyed the way her very flat stomach hinted above the waist of her pants.

“
You know, if you’re not doing anything but staring at my ass, you could come over here and help me.”

“
I’m done staring at your ass, actually, and I’ve moved on to your stomach.”