He’d felt Teri’s absence a great deal in the last few months. He missed her so much.
She had no right to feel this way.
Yes, it was a blurred line between what happened between her and Dane, but it was done and finished. Over with. What happened between her and Dane was in the past.
She wouldn’t even allow herself to be left alone with him.
The pain Kitty talked about was something he recognized. He saw it every single time he was with her, and he didn’t know how to stop her from feeling it.
Suzie came out of the office with a frown.
“What is it?” Damon asked.
“It’s Anna. She’s had to take Cole to the hospital. His temperature spiked and she panicked.”
“What?” Teri asked.
He turned to see Teri already removing her apron. She looked at Kitty. “Will you close the shop for me?”
Damon got to his feet, but Teri was already out of the door, going toward her car. She was about to get behind the wheel when he grabbed her arm. “What the hell?”
“I’ll drive. You’re too upset to do it.”
He was aware of the club coming out of the diner. She opened her mouth as if to argue but threw her hands up in the air and rounded to the passenger side. He didn’t have time to give the brothers a rundown of what was happening.
Damon was shocked by Teri’s concern. He heard she didn’t want Anna to even be at the apartment they shared. She had no interest in a brat, so this reaction was a little shocking.
“You’re worried,” he said as he pulled away from the diner.
“Of course, I’m worried. Anna’s a friend and Cole…”
“Is a brat?”
“He’s not a brat. He’s a sweet baby.”
Damon glanced over at her, surprised. “You’ve held him?”
“I’ve taken care of him,” she said.
This woman was full of revelations today.
“I used to take care of Skylar when she was little. Babies are … they’re easy, okay? You have to learn his cries, and Cole likes to have cuddles and he tends to fill his diaper in the middle of the night. Anna works so hard all the time. I do what I can to help out.”
“You no longer have a problem with Anna staying with you?” Damon asked. “I heard her saying she was trying to save up enough money to move out so she didn’t impose on your life.”
He didn’t know if it was a private conversation between Anna and Kitty, but it had been one he overheard.
“What? She’s not imposing on my life. There’s no reason for her to leave. I don’t want her to leave. She is … she’s a wonderful roommate.”
There was more to this than Teri was letting on, but he didn’t try to chase the answers. The one thing he’d learned about Teri was she’d let him know when she was ready.
He drove to the hospital, aware of her worry. His cell phone went off and he passed it to Teri to give James the lowdown of what was going on. He listened to the conversation as she put it on speakerphone.
Anna wasn’t a club member. She wasn’t even a club whore, but James had said they would be there as soon as they could. This was what the club did.
Anna was Kitty and Teri’s friend. They would help out where they could. At Kitty’s invite, Anna had attended a couple of barbeques as well. The same ones Teri had stopped coming to. She organized the food but always had an excuse.
She was pulling away from them all, and Damon had a feeling he and Kitty were the only ones who noticed.
****
The moment Teri saw Anna in the hospital, she went to her and pulled her in for a hug.
“They’re working to get his temperature down,” Anna said. “They told me I did the right thing. The moment it spiked, I didn’t know what to do.” She sniffled. “Oh, God, I can’t lose him, Teri.”
“You’re not going to lose him. He’s a little fighter. I promise. You’ve got him. Okay? He’s going to get through this.”
Teri kissed Anna’s head, holding her close.
“This is all my fault.” Anna sobbed. “When I was pregnant, I wished I wasn’t. I didn’t know the first thing about taking care of babies and I wished it was going to be gone. I’m being punished.”
She cupped Anna’s face. “Do not think like that. Kids get sick all the time. They run temperatures, but you got him to the hospital. He is surrounded by doctors.” There was no way she’d be able to think of anything happening to Cole. He was a good baby. A sweet baby. The world would be too cruel to take such a kind soul away from them. Even as a young baby, and now slowly moving toward being a toddler, he was a cutie. So sweet and loving.