She sounded like she was, but it never hurt to ask.
“Yeah, I’m doing better, thanks to you,” Abby said. She paused. “I was kind of hoping you’d still be here, though.” She laughed, and I could tell she was embarrassed at having confessed that. “I mean, I know you have a life as well, so it’s not like I can keep you here held hostage forever. But I was just used to the idea of having the whole weekend with you.”
“I’m at lunch with Austin right now, but why don’t I come over afterward?” I offered immediately.
“I’d like that,” Abby said, and I could hear the relief in her voice.
Austin was grinning at me when I got off the phone. “Go on,” he said, flapping his hands at me. “Get out of here.”
“I can at least stay to finish up lunch,” I protested. “Remember what you said earlier, about how it’s been so long since you’ve seen me out in the daylight? I don’t want you to feel like I can’t make time for you.”
Austin rolled his eyes, but his amusement was even more pronounced than when he’d been reading off some of the tabloid headlines. “Go on. I know you’re always going to be my best friend, even if you’ve got a girlfriend now. Besides, I like Abby. And we both know that she’s been through a lot this weekend. If she needs you, she needs you.”
I grinned at him, grateful for his understanding. “Thanks, man,” I told him. “Let’s definitely grab drinks sometime this week, okay?”
“You know where to find me,” Austin said. “Now get out of here so I can eat the rest of your sandwich. I’ve been having order envy this entire time.”
I laughed and shook my head, deciding not to argue with that. I headed straight over to Abby’s and was knocking at her door in a matter of minutes. When she opened it, she immediately stepped into my arms. I automatically pulled her closer to me, resting my cheek against the top of her head. “Hey,” I said quietly.
“Hey,” she said, her voice muffled by my shirt. She took a deep breath and then pulled away. “Daniel, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”
I felt ice settle in the pit of my stomach as I looked down at her serious face. Anxiety gnawed at me. Was there something more to the tabloids, something that Austin hadn’t seen? Or had Matt and Leanne decided to have another talk with Abby about our relationship? There were so many possibilities, but whatever it was that was making Abby look so worried right now, I wasn’t sure that I really wanted to have this conversation.
I was too afraid that what had started out as a great weekend was going to take yet another dramatic turn, this one for the worse. But all I could do was nod at Abby. “Yeah, sure,” I told her. “Ask away.”
I remembered what Austin had said, about how Abby and I should have the difficult conversations sooner, rather than later. And I remembered what I had replied, about how I thought I was already in over my head. That had never felt more true than it did at that second. But what else could I do? There was no backing out now.
Chapter 22
Abby
EVEN THOUGH I WAS PRETTY sure I knew what Daniel was going to say, I felt nervous asking him about this. There just didn’t seem to be any tactful way to bring it up. On the one hand, I was sure that if Daniel really wanted me to know, he would have told me about it before. But at the same time, I couldn’t handle not knowing. This could change things in our relationship, I was sure. I didn’t want there to be any secrets between the two of us.
I took a deep breath, fiddling with the buttons on Daniel’s shirt for a moment while I collected myself. Then, I looked up at him. “Did you pay for Matt’s hospital bill?” I asked.
Daniel stared blankly down at me for a second, and then his expression smoothed into one of relief. “Is that all?” he asked. “I thought you were breaking up with me or something.”
I quickly shook my head. “No, of course not,” I hurried to say. “I was just surprised. We asked about the bill, and the doctors said that it was all taken care of. By an anonymous person. And I was wondering if that might, in fact, be you.” I paused, trying to make a joke out of it. “It’s not like I know that many rich people who would go out of their way to make sure my family was okay.”
Daniel looked embarrassed. “Yeah, it was me,” he admitted, scratching the back of his head. “Sorry I didn’t tell you. It just occurred to me this morning after I picked up all our things from the hotel. But I didn’t want to bother you guys at the hospital; I was sure you were enjoying some much needed family time.”
“Aww,” I said, shaking my head. “You wouldn’t have bothered me. Seriously. You should have stopped in.”
Daniel shrugged. “Well, I’m here now,” he pointed out.
“That you are,” I agreed, nodding seriously at him. “And I guess I’m going to have to come up with some way to thank you for being so generous and helping out my family in a time of need.”
Daniel shook his head. “You don’t need to thank me for that,” he told me. “I just didn’t want you to have to worry about it. I have the means to help.” He paused, frowning. “You’re not mad that I did it, are you?”
“Of course not!” I said. “I am kind of confused about why you felt like you had to do it anonymously. Did you think Leanne and Matt wouldn’t take the money if they knew it was coming from you?” I paused. “You realize they probably figured who it’s from just as easily as I did, right?”
Daniel looked surprised and then shook his head. “That wasn’t it at all,” he said, looking amused. “I did it anonymously so that if the press or anyone managed to get a hold of those hospital records, they wouldn’t see I had been the one to pay. That might lead to some awkward questions, you know?”
“Of course,” I said, feeling silly for not having thought of that. I shook my head. “Well, I’m definitely not upset about any of it. It would have taken our family forever to pay off that bill, what with the ambulance ride and the surgery and everything else. Matt’s got insurance, but it isn’t that good. And it would have affected the kids. They probably would have had to dip into their college funds to pay it off.”
Daniel was smiling at me, but it seemed like there was some lingering uncertainty in his eyes. “I’m glad you’re not mad,” he said. “And that’s all that you wanted to talk about?”
“That’s all,” I told him, although for a brief moment, my thoughts were drawn back to what I’d been thinking in the hospital. There was so much we needed to talk about if I was in love with him, if this was the kind of relationship that didn’t just fizzle out.