Saving This (The McCallans #5) (29 page)

“Oh no. Did he say if Kellie was okay?”

“Yeah, she’s doing fine physically. They’re both just a bit freaked about the premature delivery if it comes to that.”

“Understandably. Do they need anything? Can we help?”

“Yeah, finish eating and then get dressed. We’re gonna stop by their house and grab her hospital bag since they’ll be there for a few days regardless.”

“I’m not hungry anymore.” Anna stood and headed for the bedroom. “Do you want me to drive?” she hollered behind her as she stepped into the closet.

“No, I just messaged Jake. He’s on his way up.”

Twenty minutes later, they headed out in the Escalade.

Max was completely silent on the ride there. He held no expression on his face, nor did he speak. Anna felt he was trying to process everything without showing any emotions. He was pretty good at that. She allowed him that for the time being, and used the time to pray in silence.

When Jake escorted them into the birthing center, Max was on his phone, trying to get a hold of Tate. He wasn’t picking up, and as they stopped at the nurse’s desk to ask about Kellie, the woman barely looked up when she told them no one was being admitted for a visit.

“I need to at least talk to Tate,” Max said calmly. “He called me, and I want them to know I’m here.”

“I’m sorry, but no one is allowed back there at this time—”

“Carol?” Max asked with a forced smile. Anna glanced at the woman’s nametag and read the same thing. “Will you tell them—or somebody—that Max McCallan is here to see his cousin? Please?”

She finally looked up and blinked at him for several seconds. Anna wasn’t sure if the lady actually knew who she was looking at or was just trying to process it, but the nurse didn’t answer him right away. It took another nurse coming around the corner to gasp and stare at him for a few seconds before Carol cleared her throat and spoke.

“I’m- I’m so sorry, Mr. McCallan, but… No one is being allowed in the room at this time.”

“I’ll show you somewhere comfortable you can wait until we can tell you more,” the other nurse said, stepping in front of them with a ginormous smile on her face.

Anna could sense the adoration immediately, but Max no longer appeared so pleasant. He just walked away, even leaving her behind with the nurses.

Anna gave him some space, but gradually made her way down the hall to where Jake was standing guard at a doorway to the right. Max was in a waiting room with his back to the door, staring out a window. She imagined he’d needed to retreat, but she entered the room cautiously until she gently placed her hand on his back.

“I’m here if you need me. Talk to me please?”

His shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath, but he finally turned to face her. He gave her a bit of a smile and kissed her forehead. “I’m fine. Just worried.”

“No, you’re not fine. And I respect the fact that you might need to be alone right now, but you’re allowing yourself to be human and feel what you feel. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

His expression was completely neutral right now, which she expected. She wondered what personality he was going to give her right now, too. It seemed like he was prepping himself for an act.

She pointed her finger into his chest and growled, “Don’t you dare bullshit me right now.”

His eyebrows rose slightly, but their eyes remained locked on one another for a good ten seconds. Finally the intensity in his face seemed to relax, but it also meant his eyebrows furrowed and his forehead creased with worry.

Max looked down at the floor and took another steady breath. Finally he replied, “It’s hard to let down my guard.”

“I know it is.”

“They don’t deserve this,” he spoke softly. “They’ve both been through enough. Seriously, why do bad things happen to good people?”

Anna wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his shoulder. “It’s said that the strongest people are the ones who can handle the most. Both Kellie and Tate are amazing people. You’re right, they deserve some happiness. But if that little girl isn’t meant to stay on earth…they’re going to need a lot of support. They have you, and they have Teague and the rest of the family to support them. They’ll need it.”

His arms wrapped around her and held tight, pressing his cheek against her head. “Please, God. Give them this miracle.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Waiting was the worst. When you have nothing else to do but wait for someone else to make a move, it’s a helpless feeling. Max wasn’t used to life not moving and shaking, so to speak. He was busy from sun up to sun down, always with something to do next.

He took a call from his grandfather, who was checking for an update on Kellie. There wasn’t much to tell him, whether that was a good thing or bad thing. It seemed like hours had passed, but when Max checked the clock, it’d only been twenty minutes.

After he heard a familiar voice at the doorway, he recognized that long dark hair instantly. Max quickly introduced Jake to his mother before motioning her into the room to meet Anna. He hadn’t expected his mom to drop by, but apparently she’d heard from his father that Kellie was in labor. Kellie’s own mother wouldn’t bother with the hassle, and Max felt pleased that his mom would actually be so considerate.

“She’s a fighter,” Elaine assured them both. “That girl can overcome anything.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Max nodded. “Still doesn’t make it easy.”

“No, it doesn’t. But we can pray for her and be here to help her through it. Waiting is tiresome, I know. But in the meantime, so we can pass some time until we hear news, I’d really like to get to know Anna.”

It was actually nice to be a third wheel as Anna and Elaine talked to each other. He could tell his mom really liked her, and since Anna was so easygoing, she flowed through conversation with his mom easily. Eventually they’d dragged him into the conversation, but the timing was actually nice. He’d been sitting by the window, checking the clock every thirty seconds, and beginning to let negative thoughts take over.

Finally he stood. They’d been trying to guess what theme Tate had used for the baby room to kill time, but he was getting way too restless. “Let’s go see whose ass needs to get fired in order to see my cousin, okay?”

Anna playfully shoved his shoulder, but smiled along with him. “Maybe I need to do the talking this time, huh?”

As they left the little waiting area they’d been in, Max noticed there were several people milling about in the hallway. When they saw him, most of them pretended to be doing other things, but a couple of people continued to stare. There weren’t just hospital employees present, but also a few family members of other patients. A young woman was standing at the nurse’s station with whom Max assumed to be either her husband or boyfriend, and she couldn’t stop gawking at him.

He and his mom stayed with Jake while Anna went to the desk again. This was a private facility with exceptional care and security—he could now see a couple of security officers in the vicinity. But it didn’t exactly put him at ease and he was extremely glad he had his own personal attendant.

“Mr. McCallan,” the original nurse, Carol, said as she came down the hall with Anna. “I’m, um, I’m so sorry about earlier. I’m just not allowed to give out information to people who haven’t been preapproved by the family. I know who you are, but, um…”

It wasn’t that he expected her to grant him entry based on who he was. His initial frustration had more to do with how stupid both nurses had reacted. This was an elite facility and their professionalism should reflect that. No one should give a fuck what celebrity walked in here. She was now staring at his mom, obviously recognizing who she was as well.

“Can you please give me information about Kellie McCallan? Sullivan,” he added as a correction.

Her eyes returned to him again. “Ahem, yes. She’s been taken to surgery for emergency caesarean.”

Max felt panic rush through his chest but calmly asked, “What’s happening?”

“It’s all I know so far. My apologies. As soon as someone is available to answer your questions, I promise I will let you know.”

A disturbance at the end of the hall caught everyone’s attention. Rayne Sullivan, Tate’s sister, was almost running down the hallway but Jake stepped between her and Max and blocked her way.

“Oh my God, what’s going on? Let me through, you big asshole!”

“Jake, she’s family,” Max told him.

Jake stepped aside, but not before Rayne cast him the nastiest glare she could give him. Her blue hair, piercings and tattoos huffed past him and stopped in front of Max, frantic with eyes full of fear. Security had also come closer, so Max took her by the elbow and led her back to the private waiting room.

“Kellie went into premature labor.”

“I know that,” she growled at him. “Tate said the baby wasn’t breathing so they were doing an emergency c-section! Or maybe I have that mixed around. Jesus, I have no idea! I’m freaking out!”

Again Max’s heart dropped into his stomach. She must have received more recent information from Tate than he had.

“That’s all I know as well,” he told her evenly. “They said they’ll let us know as soon as they can.”

She hit him in the chest with both hands as a sob came out of her mouth. “You’re Mr. Big Shot! Can’t you go strut your high society ass in there and find them!? You don’t even care!”

Jake had moved to intercede, but Max gave him the silent signal not to. He didn’t know what else to do or say because right now he felt exactly how Rayne did. He wanted to yell and cry, and he wanted to punch something extremely hard. But no, he remained emotionless just to keep himself composed.

“I’m sorry, Rayne,” was all he could say.

She scoffed at him but turned away. Anna was there to talk to her though, so Max headed for the window to stare outside. It was a beautiful evening in southern California, but definitely not one to enjoy right now.

She was right. High society
nothing
. Money or status couldn’t help what was going on with Kellie and Tate right now. Just like how he couldn’t make Olivia love him six years ago.

Olivia. He scowled to himself. He still couldn’t wrap his head around that disaster. And since she’d been spotted in L.A., there were tabloid stories about her everywhere. Some stated she was making a comeback, others stated she’d come back for Max. He never saw any of that crap, but word gets around. His former PR rep had even contacted him with the news, most likely hoping he cared and would give her her job back for her dutiful service.

He heard voices behind him—a mixture of tones, male and female. His brother had arrived with Camryn; Jay and Melanie were getting an update from Rayne. Tyse and Sarah showed up a couple minutes later and were speaking with Elaine.

Max kept his distance, letting everyone go through the exchange of information all over again. He was sort of used to maintaining that distance, hanging out away from the family clique. It wasn’t that he preferred it; just that he felt he belonged on the outside. And now that Sarah was in the same room as him, Max couldn’t help but stare at her as discreetly as he could. Yes she did look a lot like Olivia, but who
was
his ex anymore? Last week in the car pretty much rocked his entire outlook on that situation. And there was his mom, talking to her sister like she didn’t have a care in the world.

The murmuring shushed almost instantly as a doctor in his late thirties entered the room and the bodies parted to give him space. “Friends and family of the Sullivans?”

Max hated the indifference painted on the doctor’s face and his heart sank into his stomach again.

Chapter Thirty-Four

The doctor’s presence had silenced everyone for only a brief moment.

“I’m his sister,” Rayne blurted out, practically pushing Camryn out of the way.

“I’m Kellie’s brother,” Jay spoke. “And her other brother,” he pointed to Tyse. “Cousins, whatever the fuck. But yes, we’re all family here.”

“I’m Dr. Richie. You can all take a deep breath, mom and baby are good, and dad is finally on his way to recovering.”

A few people appreciated the light humor and chuckled. But it was like a huge cloud had been lifted off the room and there was a physical change in aura. Max could feel it, and he could tell everyone else felt it too.

“However, we did come across some scary moments,” the doctor continued. “Baby was struggling, ready to exit a few weeks early, but had a slight tangling up with the umbilical cord. We performed an emergency caesarean because of the baby’s position—forcing vaginal labor would have made it worse. Baby Sullivan wasn’t breathing for a bit, and it took a bit of time to fix that, but you’ve all got yourselves a little fighter added to the family.”

Everyone ensued with hugs, moving from one family member to another. Max remained off to the side, thanking God that his cousin was granted a miracle. He forced himself to be emotionless and asked what was in store for the baby’s recovery.

“Good question,” Dr. Richie nodded as everyone went silent again. “A preemie needs a little extra time, so of course we aren’t out of the dark just yet. Those five pounds and four ounces needs some time here with us for monitoring. We’ll know more in the next twenty-four hours.”

“Well what did they have?” Melanie asked, holding her own stomach. “A boy or a girl?”

Excited chatter ensued, everyone eager to hear the answer or reminding others what they had their money on. It was pretty apparent that at least Teague and Jay had some sort of bet going on. Max felt somewhat privileged to have been the first one to know, even though the information hadn’t been intentional. He thought maybe Rayne might know too, but she was impatiently waiting for an answer also. And Anna hid her knowledge pretty well when she slid her arms around Max and gave him a big hug. He could feel her relief and genuine gratitude in just that moment of affection.

“Well, I was instructed not to tell you,” Dr. Richie answered coyly. “Even when Kellie was in hard labor she specifically instructed us not to tell a soul until they were ready.”

“That turd,” Camryn frowned with a chuckle.

“She’s been set on torturing us,” Sarah finally spoke. “I guess we can let her for a bit longer.”

“Ha,” Rayne narrowed her eyes. “I can’t even believe they’ve kept it this long. My brother even
locked
that baby room at their house after he finished it.”

“Yeah, I haven’t seen it either,” Melanie agreed.

There was a short lull before the doctor said, “Well, if that’s all for now, I’m going to get back to baby and mom.”

Everyone thanked him before he left, and then turned to each other for more chatter.

Max retreated back to his corner for a bit. His mom told him goodbye and asked him to update her. She had a flight to catch to Tucson to discuss filming a new series there. He knew she’d been considering it for a while now, but his earlier thoughts about her being concerned and supportive of Kellie seemed a bit misplaced now.

Teague had a short conversation with him about his movie and the locations they’d be filming at. There were some combat scenes coming up and Max was set on authentic action scenes without digital effects. There would be a
special
effects team on site, but the less computer technology used as embellishment, the better.

“If you’ve got the budget for it, that sounds awesome,” Teague said.

“I’m willing to splurge on the budget just so it’s realistic. It’s important to me. Still stateside, but that’s the only option.”

“Totally understand.”

“And…I think you should come on location with me when we go.”

Teague didn’t even seem surprised by the invitation. “New Mexico?”

“Yeah, for five days. And then Colorado for three. After Christmas through New Years.”

His brother slowly nodded his head. “Man, I’m so tempted…”

“I’ll add you to the set, Teague. Seriously, Justin and his crew would love to have you. Talk it over with your wife. She and C.J. can come too if you want. They can spend the time with Anna. I mean I’ll keep you busy as hell, but I’m just saying the family is always welcome. Spend New Year’s with us. They’re hosting a huge party at the resort for the cast and crew the night we get to Denver. Nothing too crazy, though. We can take turns sitting with the kids while they sleep up in the room.”

“I’ll talk to her, and I’ll tell you right now she’ll say yes.”

“Well I’ll have Mary book you guys a room where everyone else is staying. Cool?”

“Who’s Mary?”

“My new assistant.”

Teague leisurely nodded his head in thought. “I guess you’ll have to introduce me to all these new people in your life. You know, if they’re gonna have to put up with me showing up now and then.” His attempt at hiding a smile was weak.

Laughing, Max agreed.

***

After they were finally admitted into a recovery room to see the new baby, there really was preferential treatment granted when they were allowed as an entire family. The room was large enough for them all, but again, Max hung back and let the women ogle the baby first. From a distance, though, as she was still in a cautionary state and being passed around was not on option.

“So what the hell is it?” Jay finally asked after a few minutes.

It’s true there were no true signs of gender in the room. The blanket the baby was swaddled in was white, and Camryn had even looked for a name label on the little bassinet in the room but there wasn’t one.

Kellie looked absolutely exhausted, but her smile was beautiful. Max was happy she and Tate looked happy, and that was good enough for him. But she said, “We named our baby Phoenix.”

Everyone paused in silence, and it was pretty obvious that name could go either way.

“And a middle name?” Melanie inquired.

Kellie smiled at Tate, giving him the go ahead. “Elizabeth,” he told them.

There were all sorts of reactions, from
oohs
and
ahhs
, to “I knew it!” and other comments. And upon hearing that name—the name of Tate’s Grandma Sullivan—Max reflected on the woman’s insistence that
some
baby was going to be named after her. No one was surprised.

“Phoenix Elizabeth Sullivan,” Melanie blubbered. She was crying, saying something about pregnancy hormones turning her into a huge wuss. “That’s so cute, you guys.”

“Hmm, it’s kinda weird but whatever,” Jay added.

“Shut up!” Melanie swatted him in the chest.

While everyone conversed about the name, something triggered Max’s memory. He was remembering Tate’s journals, and he made eye contact with him at that very moment. Max knew the significance of the name—the baby he’d called a phoenix, the one that had kept him alive when he was about to die—and his heart felt a tremendous amount of respect for the guy.

Max whispered to Anna that he was going to head out but she could stay if she wanted. She only shook her head no and slipped her hand into his. They heard the nurse tell everyone she was putting an end to visiting because they needed to keep the baby safe and run some more tests.

Upon returning home, it was clear that Max’s new house had been discovered. There were a few extra cars in the area, parked unsafely along the mountain road in the dark. When they were about to hit the somewhat concealed driveway entrance that led to the house, Jake asked, “Would you like me to keep driving, sir, to throw them off? Looks like they’re probably not sure which drive is yours.”

With a sigh, Max replied no. It was inevitable anyway, and even though today was not a day he wanted to deal with anyone trespassing on his property, he just wanted to be home.

“I’ll implement our security plan as soon as possible,” Jake added as he pulled up to the gate. He used the remote that was in the vehicle for entry instead of on the gate keypad; yes, just in case binoculars were being used to spy on the code. Extra measures had to be taken.

“I hope you’re ready for this nonsense,” Max said as he squeezed Anna’s hand. “I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. I’ve been through this too. Well, not quite at your level,” she smirked.

Chuckling, he kissed the back of her hand. “You remember everything we went over, right?”

“Yes.”

“And I’m serious, Anna. I don’t want you to risk your safety. Use the drivers, use the security, and please don’t talk to anyone.”

She leaned over to kiss him. “Got it.”

“I’m wondering if it’s even worth it to make all the changes here, or just go back to the Malibu house.”

“You hate that house.”

“I don’t hate it, I just don’t prefer it. It’s way too big. But…the security in the area is top notch.”

“You don’t need to worry about your safety, sir,” Jake said as he pulled the SUV into the garage. “I assure you, I have it covered. You and the Miss can go inside and I’ll go straight to work.”

“You’ll be living in the guesthouse full time now, correct?” Max inquired.

“Yes sir, that was the plan. Seems like moving day for me tomorrow.” He offered a tiny smirk, which was the most Max had ever seen him smile.

As he and Anna entered the house, Max stopped suddenly, just to pull her in for a hug. No words were exchanged, but he felt a rush of relief that everything was okay with Kellie and baby Phoenix.

The day had been an extremely long one, and after five minutes lying down on the bed with Anna, his mind went blank with sleep.