To Love and Protect (Must Love Diamonds 4)

The metallic clang of a door closing somewhere in the stairwell down below jerked her head upright. It was all the reminder she needed of where she was and why he’d scared her so badly in the first place.

Pushing off from the wall, she felt for her keys in her pocket and then pulled them out to fit them between her fingers as she skimmed down the steps. Her heart was thumping hard all over again by the time she reached the skywalk and rushed across to the busier hospital hallways. At the elevator bank, she stretched out her arm to punch the UP button when the doors slid open to reveal Merit, Mae, Ian, and Maverick.

“Hi, Shelby!” Seven-year-old Ian hopped off the elevator and gave her a hug right away.

“Hey.” She turned a smile to her brother and sister-in-law over his head.

Merit frowned as he shifted the car carrier from his left hand to his right. “Everything okay, Bells?”

“Of course,” she replied, though her pulse was still skipping like crazy. “Why?”

“Your face is all red.”

From facing Dev and practically running through the hospital. “It is cold out, you know. Speaking of which, are you guys on your way out?”

“It’s past dinnertime for two of my cranky boys and coming up fast for the third,” Mae said.

Shelby laughed at the way her brother rolled his eyes. She leaned over to peek into the car seat carrier at her nephew, Maverick. He’d been born seven weeks early, but he’d grown like a weed these past two months. Now he was right where he should be if he’d been born on his due date.

The first time she’d seen her youngest brother holding his tiny little son, a pang of longing caught her by surprise, followed by a rush of pride for the man he’d become. And while she took care of animals smaller than her nephew at birth, it had taken her a month to work up the courage to hold the preemie infant.

“Ava is as big as Mav, and she was just born,” Ian said. “Can you believe it?”

“And how big is that?”

He looked up at his mom.

“Seven pounds, eight ounces,” Mae supplied. “But remember, Scoob, they were supposed to be born about the same time, so Mav is where he should be if he’d been born now, too.”

Maverick let out a cry from his car seat carrier, and Merit grimaced. “We should go or we’ll hear that the whole ride home.”

“See you guys at brunch tomorrow?” Shelby asked.

“Yep,” her brother confirmed as they headed for the skywalk.

She watched them go, wanting to ask if they’d seen Dev, but afraid to bring up his name when Merit had already noticed her flushed cheeks.

Thankfully, by the time she knocked on the door to Asher and Honor’s room loud enough to be heard over the crying newborn, her pulse had settled back to normal.

“Hello? Aunt Shelby is here.”

“Come on in,” Honor called out. “Asher’s on diaper duty.”

Shelby entered and saw her older brother standing at a rolling bassinet, his back to the door as he dealt with the baby. She moved over to give her sister-in-law a hug. “Congratulations, Momma. How are you doing today?”

Honor had been in labor almost twelve hours yesterday before Ava had made her grand entrance into the world at six-fifty-seven p.m.

“Tired.” And her smile showed it. “Though I did get to sleep some last night and again this afternoon.”

“Well, I’m not going to stay long.” Shelby walked over to peek at her new niece. She rubbed her hand on her brother’s back as tears misted her eyes. “She’s beautiful.”

“Isn’t she?” Asher gave her a proud papa grin

as he swaddled her in a sunflower yellow, hand-knit blanket. She quickly quieted down when he cuddled her close to his chest, and he glanced up a minute later. “You want to hold her?”

“Definitely. I got all my practice in on Mav.”

He turned to place his daughter in Shelby’s arms. “Ava, meet your Auntie Bells.”