The SEAL's Secret Heirs (14 page)

“I'm back in town, practicing family law now,” Nolan explained with a glance at Liam. “Your brother's a client.”

Kyle nodded as his lungs hitched. Liam had a legal retainer who practiced family law? Didn't take a rocket scientist to do that math. When Liam had talked about papers and warned Kyle he'd need a lawyer, it hadn't been an idle threat. They hadn't talked about it again, and Kyle had hoped the idea of adoption had been dropped.

Obviously it hadn't.

But why stick it in Kyle's face like this? It was a crappy thing to do after all the hoops Kyle'd been forced to jump through to prove his worth as a father.
Especially
after they'd had their Come To Jesus discussion and Liam had apologized for the Grace thing.

Wasn't that indicative of Kyle's Royal welcome thus far? That's why he shot first. When he didn't, he invariably took a bullet straight into his gut.

Mouth firmly shut as he processed everything, Kyle took a seat as far away from Liam as he could. When the conversation turned to Samson Oil, it piqued his interest sufficiently to pull his head out of his rear long enough to participate. Especially when Nolan Dane excused himself with a pained look on his face.

“More offers for land coming in,” Liam affirmed. “Wade Ranch included. I think we've got a problem on our hands.”

The other men seemed to share his brother's concern. Kyle leaned in. “What does Samson Oil want? They have to know the oil prospects are slim to none around here. People been drilling for over a hundred years. There's no way Samson will find a new well.”

Case Baxter shook his head. “No one knows for sure what they're up to. Fracking, maybe. But the Cline Shale property is mostly bought up already in this area.”

“If you've got concerns, I've got concerns,” Kyle said as his senses tingled again. “I know a guy in the CIA. Owes me a favor. I'll have him poke around, see what Samson Oil is up to.”

The offer was out of his mouth before he'd thought better of it. He didn't owe these people anything. It wasn't as if they'd rolled out the red carpet for the returning war veteran. Or acknowledged that Kyle Wade owned half a
cattle ranch
and wasn't even a member of the Texas Cattleman's Club.

Royal clearly wasn't where Kyle fit, any more than he had ten years ago.

“I knew you'd come in handy.” Liam fairly beamed.

“That would be great,” Mac threw in. “The more information we have, the better. The last thing we need is to find out they're looking for a site to house a new strip mall after it's too late.”

The expectant faces of the men surrounding him settled Kyle's resolve. He couldn't take it back now. And for better or worse, this was his home, and he had a responsibility to it. He shrugged.

“Consider it done.” Kyle sat back and let the members of the club do their thing, which didn't include him. If he kept his mouth shut, maybe everyone would forget about him. It wasn't as if he wanted to be a member of their exclusive club anyway.

But then Liam's phone beeped, and he glanced at it, frowning. When his grave and troubled gaze met Kyle's, every nerve in Kyle's body stood on end.

“We have to go,” Liam announced. “Sorry.”

Liam hustled Kyle out of the club and into his truck, ignoring Kyle's rapid-fire questions about the nature of the emergency. Because of course there was one. Liam's face only looked like that when something bad happened to one of his prized horses.

Liam started the truck and tore out of the lot before finally finding his voice. “It's Maddie.”

All the blood drained from Kyle's head and his chest squeezed so tight, it was a wonder his heart didn't push through two ribs. “What? What do you mean, it's Maddie? What happened?”

Not a horse. His daughter. Maddie.

“Hadley's not sure,” Liam hedged. Kyle gripped his forearm, growling. “Driving here. Causing me to have a wreck won't get you the information any faster. I'm taking you to Royal Memorial. Hadley said Maddie wouldn't wake up and had a really high fever. With Maddie's heart problems, that's a really bad sign because she might have an infection. Hadley called an ambulance and left Maggie in Candace's capable hands. We're meeting them there.”

The drive couldn't have taken more than five minutes. But it took five years off Kyle's life to be trapped in the cab of Liam's truck when his poor defenseless Maddie was suffering. The baby was fragile, and while she'd been growing steadily, obviously her insides weren't as strong as they should be. His mind leaped ahead to all the ugly possibilities, and he wished his heart
had
fallen out earlier, because the thought of losing one of his daughters—it was far worse than losing Grace. Worse than losing his place on his SEAL team.

Liam screeched into the lot, but Kyle had the door open before he'd fully rolled to a stop, hitting the pavement at a run. It was a much different technique from jumping out of a plane, and his leg hadn't been busted on his last HALO mission.

Pain knifed up his knee and clear into his chest cavity, which didn't need any more stress. The leg nearly crumpled underneath him, but he ignored it and stormed into the emergency room, looking for a doctor to unleash his anxiety on.

The waiting room receptionist met him halfway across the room. “Mr. Wade. Hadley requested that you be brought to the pediatric ICU immediately. Follow me.”

ICU? Shades of the tiny room in Germany where Kyle had lain in a stupor for months filtered back through his consciousness, and his stomach rolled involuntarily, threatening to expel the beer he'd been happily drinking while his daughter was being subjected to any number of frightening people and procedures. The elevator dinged but he barely registered it above the numbness. Liam and the receptionist flanked him, both poor wingmen in a dire situation. But all he had.

Finally, they emerged onto the second floor and set off down the hall. Hadley rushed into Liam's arms, tears streaming down her face. They murmured to each other, but Kyle skirted them, seeking his little pink bundle, to assure himself she was okay and Maggie wouldn't have to grow up without her sister. The girls had already been through so much, so many hits that Kyle had already missed.

But he was here now. Ready to fight back against whatever was threatening his family. And that included his brother. The adoption business needed to be put to rest. Immediately.

“Who's in charge around here?” Kyle growled at the receptionist, who must have been used to people in crisis because she just smiled.

“I'll find the nurse to speak to you. Dr. Reese is in with your daughter now.”

The receptionist disappeared into the maze of hospital rooms and corridors.

Hadley and Liam came up on either side of Kyle, and Hadley placed a comforting hand on his arm. “Dr. Reese is the best. He's been caring for Maddie since she was born. He'll know what to do.”

That was far from comforting. If only he could see her, he'd feel a lot better.

A woman in scrubs with balloon decals all over them emerged from a room and walked straight to Kyle. “Hi, Mr. Wade, I'm Clare Connolly, if you don't remember me. We've got Maddie on an IV and a ventilator. She's stable and that's the important thing.”

“What happened? What's wrong with her?” Kyle demanded.

“Dr. Reese is concerned about the effects of her high fever on her heart,” Clare said frankly, which Kyle appreciated. “He's trying to bring the fever down and running some tests to see what's happening. The last surgery should have fixed all the problems, but nothing is guaranteed. We knew that going in and, well, we're going to keep fighting. We all want to win this thing once and for all.”

This woman genuinely cared about Maddie. He could see it in the worried set of her mouth. Nurses were never emotional about their patients, or at least the German ones weren't.

“Thanks. For everything you're doing. May I talk to the doctor?”

“Of course. He'll want to talk to you, too. We all want to see Maddie running alongside her sister and blowing out candles on her birthday cakes for a long time to come. When Dr. Reese is free, he'll be out,” Clare promised, and extended her hand toward the waiting room outside the pediatric unit. “Why don't you have a seat until then.”

Clare bustled back into the room she'd materialized from, and Kyle nearly followed her because the waiting room was for people who had the capacity to wait, and that did not describe Kyle.

But Hadley's hand on his arm stopped him. “Let the doctor do his thing, Kyle. You'll only be in the way.”

Long minutes stretched as Kyle hovered outside his daughter's room. What was taking so long? Pacing didn't help. It hurt. Everything inside hurt. Finally, another nurse dared approach him, explaining that the hall needed to be clear in case of emergency. Wouldn't he please take a seat?

He did, for no other reason than it would be a relief to get off his leg. Now if only he could find something to do with his hands.

People began filtering into the waiting room. Mac McCallum came to sit with Liam and Hadley, who promptly excused herself to fill out paperwork for Maddie, which she'd offered to do in Kyle's stead so he could be available the moment the doctor came out with news. Hadley's friend Kori came in and took a seat next to Liam.

They all had smiles and words of encouragement for Kyle. Some had stories of how Maddie was a fighter and how many people had sat with her through the night when she was known as Baby Janey. This community had embraced his daughter before they'd even known whom she belonged to. And now that they did, nothing had changed. They still cared. They were all here to provide support during a crisis, which is what the very best of neighbors did.

And then the air shifted, prickling Kyle's skin. He looked up.

Grace
.

She rushed into the room, brown curls flying, and knelt by his chair, bringing the scent of spring and innocence and everything good in the world along with her. As he soaked up her presence, he took his first easy breath since Hadley's message to Liam had upended his insides.

“I came as soon as Hadley called me,” she said, her brown eyes huge and distressed as her gaze flitted over him.

The muffled hospital noises and people and everything around them faded as they focused on each other. Greedily, he searched her beautiful face for some hint as to her thoughts. Was she getting any sleep? Did she miss him?

She slid her hand into his and held on. “I'm sorry about Maddie. How are you doing?”

“Okay,” he said gruffly.

Better now. Much better. How was it possible that the woman who continually ripped his heart out could repair it instantly just by walking into a room?

It was a paradox he didn't understand.

She climbed into the next chair, her grip on his hand never lessening. Her skin warmed his, and it was only then that he realized how cold he'd been.

“What did Dr. Reese say?” she asked.

Did everyone in town know the name of his daughter's pediatrician? “He hasn't been out yet. The nurse, Ms. Connelly, said her fever might be causing problems with her heart, but we don't know anything for sure.”

His voice broke then, as sheer overwhelming helplessness swamped him, weighing down his arms and legs when all he wanted to do was explode from this chair and go pound on someone until they fixed his precious little bundle of pink.

“Oh, no.” Grace's free hand flew to her mouth in anguish. “That's the one thing we were hoping wouldn't happen.”

He nodded, swallowing rapidly so he could speak.

“Thanks,” he said. “For coming.”

He wouldn't have called her. But now that she was here Grace was exactly what he'd needed, and he never would have taken steps to make it happen. What if she'd said no? But she hadn't, and he didn't care about anything other than sitting here waiting on news about his daughter with the woman he loved. Still. In spite of everything.

If only it made a difference.

Eleven

G
race normally loved being at Royal Memorial because 99 percent of the time, she was there because someone was giving birth. That was a joyous event worthy of celebration. Waiting on news about the health and well-being of Kyle's baby was hands down one of the most stressful things she'd ever done.

At the same time, it was turning into a community event, the kind that strengthened ties and bonded people together. And she hadn't let go of Kyle's hand once. People seemed unsurprised to see them together. Not that they were “together.” But they were easy with each other in a way that probably looked natural to others.

Inside, she was a bit of a mess.

How many times had she replayed that last conversation with Kyle in her head, wondering if she'd been too harsh, too unforgiving? If her standards were too high? She'd finally had to shut it down, telling herself ten times a day that she'd stood up for what she wanted for a reason. Kyle wasn't a safe bet for her heart. He'd proven that over and over.

But being here with him in his time of need brought all the questions back in a rush. Because it didn't feel as if they were through. It felt as if they were exactly where they were supposed to be—together.

It was all very confusing. She just hoped that supporting him during this crisis didn't give him the wrong idea—that she might be willing to forget her standards. Forget that he'd stomped on her heart again the moment she'd let her guard down.

Grace had lost track of the hour and only glanced at the clock when Kyle's stomach grumbled. Just as she was about to offer to get him something to eat, Dr. Reese appeared at the entrance to the waiting room, looking worn but smiling.

The entire room ceased to talk. Move. Breathe.

She and Kyle both tightened their grip on each other's hands simultaneously. When he rose, she followed him to the edge of the waiting room, where Dr. Reese was waiting to talk to Kyle privately. She stepped closer to Kyle in silent support, just in case the news wasn't as good as the expression on Dr. Reese's face might indicate.

“I'm Dr. Reese.” Parker held out his hand for Kyle to shake. “Your daughter is stable. I was able to bring the fever down, which is a good sign, but I don't know if it adversely affected her heart yet. I need to keep her overnight for observation and run some more tests in the morning after we've both had some sleep. She's a fighter, and I have high hopes that this is only a minor setback with no long-term effects. But I'll know more in the morning.”

“Call me Kyle. Formality is for strangers,” Kyle said, and his relieved exhale mirrored Grace's. “And any man who saved Maddie's life is a friend of mine. Can I see her?”

Parker nodded instantly. “Sure, of course. She's asleep right now, but there's no reason you can't stay with her, if you want—”

“Yes,” Kyle broke in fiercely. “I'll be there until you kick me out.”

That meant Grace wasn't going anywhere, either. If there were rules about that sort of thing, someone could complain to the hospital board, the mayor and Sheriff Battle. Tomorrow. No one was going to stand between her and the man who needed her.

Unless Kyle didn't want her there.

Would be weird to spend the night in the hospital with a man she'd told to get lost?

But then he turned to her, his expression flickering between cautious optimism and fatigue. “I'm glad you're here.”

And that decided it. It still might be weird for her to stay, but he needed her, and she could no sooner ignore that than she could magically fix Maddie's frightening health problems.

They gave the others a rundown of the situation and implored them to spend the night in comfort at their homes with a promise to call or text everyone with more news in the morning. With hugs and more murmured encouragement, one by one, the full waiting room emptied out. Kyle smiled, shaking hands and accepting hugs from the women, while Grace watched him out of the corner of her eye to ensure he was doing okay.

What she saw surprised her. His small smile for each person was genuine and he returned hugs easily. For someone who hadn't wanted to come home, he'd meshed into the community well enough. Did he realize it?

Hadley stayed where she was.

“Liam and I will wait with you,” she insisted, stubbornly crossing her arms.

Liam quickly hustled Hadley to her feet with a hushed word in her ear. Whatever he said made her uncross her arms but didn't get her moving out of the waiting room any faster.

“I appreciate that,” Kyle said. “But it's not necessary. You've done enough. Besides, I need someone I trust at home with Maggie, so Candace can get back to her housekeeping. That's the most important thing you can do for me.”

Grace's heart twisted as she got more confirmation that she'd made the right decision in leaving Maddie and Maggie with Kyle—he clearly had both his daughters' interests in the forefront of his mind.

“Candace is trustworthy,” Hadley countered. “She's watched Maggie plenty of times.”

Liam captured his wife's hand and pulled on it, his exaggerated expression almost comical. “Sweetie,
Grace
is staying with Kyle.”

Comprehension slowly leached into her gaze as Hadley finally caught her husband's drift. She started shuffling toward the exit. “Well, if you're sure. We'll be a phone call away.”

And then they were gone, leaving Grace alone with Kyle. There was still tension between them but for now, the focus was on Maddie. This was the part where they'd be adults about their issues, just as they should have been all along, and get through the night.

“Guess they thought they'd leave us to our romantic evening,” Kyle commented wryly as he nodded after Hadley and Liam. “I'm pretty sure that's why they went to Vail. To give me the house to myself for the weekend in hopes that I'd call you.”

Not to get him to step up for his girls. That wasn't even necessary, probably hadn't been from the beginning. Liam and Hadley had gone to Vail for
her
benefit. Hers and Kyle's. And it would have been perfect if she and Kyle had only hashed out their issues before getting involved again, instead of hiding behind their defense mechanisms.

That's why she couldn't give him the slightest false hope that she was here because she wanted to try again. The problem was that she might have given
herself
that false hope.

For all her conviction that she'd made the right decision to walk away from him, something inside kept whispering that maybe it wasn't too late to take a step toward talking about their issues.

“Will you go with me to see Maddie?” Kyle's eyes blinked closed for a moment. “I'm not sure I can go in there by myself.”

He'd been stalling. How had she missed that? Because she was busy worrying about what was going on with the state of their relationship instead of worrying about the reason they were here: Maddie. Some support system she was.

Grace smiled as she took his hand again, holding tight. “I'm here. For as long as you need me.”

When his eyes opened, he caught her up in that diamond-hard green gaze of his. “Grace,” he murmured, “come sit with me.”

Meekly, she complied, following him into the hospital room where Maddie lay asleep in a bed with a railing. It looked so much like her crib at home, but so vastly wrong. Machines surrounded her, hooked to wires and tubes that were attached to her tender skin. Grace almost couldn't stand to internalize it.

Clare was checking something on one of the machines and smiled as they came in. “She's doing okay. Worn out from the tests. That couch against the window lies flat, like a futon, if you plan to stay. I have to check on some other patients but we've got Maddie on top-notch monitors, and I'll be back in a couple of hours. Press this button if you notice any change or need anything.”

She held up a plastic wand with a red button at the end.

Kyle nodded. “Thanks. We'll be fine.”

Then Clare bustled out of the room, leaving them alone with Maddie.

“I would trade places with her in a New York minute,” Kyle said softly, his gaze on his daughter. “I would
pay
if someone would let me trade places. She's so fragile and tiny. How is her body holding up under all of those things poked into her? It's not right.”

Grace nodded, her throat so raw from holding back tears, she wasn't sure she could speak.

All at once, he spun toward her, catching her up in his desperate embrace, burying his head in her hair. She clung to him as his chest shuddered against hers while they both struggled to get their anguish under control.

“I'm sorry,” she whispered, forcing the words out.

“Thank you for staying with me. My life was so empty, Grace,” he murmured. “For so long, I was a part of something, and then I wasn't.”

“I know.” She nodded. “You told me how much the military meant to you.”

“
No
. Not that.
You
.” Fiercely, he clasped her face in both palms and lifted her head and spoke directly to her soul. “Grace. Please. We have to find a way to make it work this time because I can't do this without you. I need you. I love you. I always have.”

And then he was kissing her, pouring a hundred different meanings into it. Longing. Distress. Passion. Fear.

She kissed him back, because
yes
, she felt those things, too. He was telling her what she meant to him, first verbally and then through their kiss, and she was finally listening. But this was how it was with them. She got her hopes up and he dashed them.

What could possibly be different this time? She took the kiss down a notch, and then pulled back. “Sit down with me and let's talk. For once.”

That was
not
what she'd meant to say. She should have said no. Told him flat out that they were not happening again. But the eagerness on his face at her suggestion—maybe talking was that start toward something different than what she'd been looking for.

“We're not so good at the talking, are we?” he asked rhetorically, and let her lead him to the couch. They settled in together and held hands as they watched the monitors beep and shush for a moment. “I'm sorry about Emma Jane.”

That was so out of the blue, she glanced at him sideways. “I've already forgotten that.”

“I haven't. It was low. And totally unfair to both of you. I apologized to her, too.” He stared at Maddie, his gaze uneasy. “I wish I had a better excuse for why I did it. I have a hard time just coming out and saying what's going on with me.”

She bit her tongue—hard—to keep from blurting out,
Hallelujah and amen
. She didn't say a word. Barely.

“It doesn't come naturally,” he continued, his voice strained, and her heart ached a little as he struggled to form his thoughts. “I'm used to being stomped on by people I trust, and I guess I have a tendency to keep my mouth shut. My rationale is that if I don't tell people what I'm feeling, I don't get hurt.”

The tears that had been threatening spilled over then, sliding down her face as she heard the agony in his words. He fell silent for a moment, and she started to give him a pass on whatever else he was about to say, but he glanced at her and used his thumb to wipe the trail of tears from her cheek.

His lips lifted in a wry smile. “Guess what? It doesn't work.”

Vehemently, she shook her head, more tears flying. “No, it doesn't. If I'd just told you how I was feeling ten years ago instead of breaking up with you and then pulling that ridiculous stunt with Liam, we'd be at a different place. Instead, I hurt both of us for no reason.”

All of that had been born out of her own inability to tell him what was going on with
her
. They were so alike, it was frightening. How had she never realized that?

“I've already forgotten that,” he said, and this time, his smile was genuine and full.

“I haven't,” she shot back sarcastically in a parody of their earlier conversation. “I spent ten years trying to forget you, and guess what? It doesn't work.”

“For the record, I forgave you way before I ever showed up at your door with those poor flowers.”

Chagrin heated her cheeks. That was mercy she didn't deserve. Actually, none of this was what she deserved—which would be for Kyle to walk out of this room with his daughter and never speak to her again.

Instead, it looked as though they were on the verge of a real second chance.
Please, God. Let that be true.

“I'm sorry about the flowers. I was just so hurt and mad. It never even occurred to me that part of the problem was that I wasn't opening my mouth any more than you were. I don't even have a good excuse. So I'm trying to do things differently this time. Starting now.” She covered their joined hands with her other one, aching to touch him, to increase the contact just a bit. “I have a hard time with separating what I think something should look like from reality. I wanted you to be dashing and romantic. Sweep me off my feet with over-the-top gestures and babble on with pretty poetry about how I was your sun and moon. Silly stuff.”

Saying it out loud solidified that fact as she took in Kyle's still closely shorn hair that the military had shaped. He'd traveled to the other side of the world in defense of his country, seeing and doing things she could only imagine. What could be more dashing and romantic than
that
?

“I'm sorry I don't do more of that,” he said gruffly. “You deserve a guy who can tell you those things. I can try to be better, but I'm—”

“No,” she broke in, even as her voice shattered. She wasn't trying to make him into someone different. He was perfect the way he was, and she'd finally opened her eyes to it. “You do something wonderful like bring me flowers, and I don't even take them. I'm just as much to blame for our problems as you are. Probably more. You'd never have left if I had just told you every day what you meant to me.”