Heart Strings

“Don’t be ridiculous. Josh died of leukemia—it had nothing to do with Lottie. She gave her stem cells, but it didn’t work—the disease was too far advanced.”

“Did you ever assure her of that? Tell her in no uncertain terms that his death wasn’t because of her?”

He opened his mouth but faltered.

“From the day he died, she has spent her life thinking you blame her for Josh’s death. Trying to atone for it—as if a child her age had anything to atone for. You left her alone in her grief and guilt, and it has stuck with her for her entire life. Are you aware of how much she hates her job? She only does it as penance. She does it to try to get you to love her.”

His face paled at my words, but I kept going.

“You caused this. You and your wife have wasted all this time—why, I have no clue. You are missing knowing and loving the best, sweetest, most wonderful woman I have ever met.” I shook my head, my voice dripping with fury. “If you had seen what I did when I walked into her office, even your black heart would have suffered. So if you think I am letting you even remotely close to my future wife and the mother of my child, you can think again, Charles. Because those two facts right there give me the right.”

His face became ashen and he tried to talk, but I cut him off. “She is not coming back to work. I suggest you meet with your HR department and figure things out.”

He sputtered, but I kept talking. “She is the most important thing in this world. I will protect her from you if it’s the last thing I do. If I have to give up every other dream in the world to do so, then so be it.” I stepped back, letting my loathing for him show. “I will love her so well, she will never doubt how important she is. And our child will know the same sort of love.” I sucked in some much-needed air. “Now, excuse me. My fiancée needs me. Go back to the office, Mr. Prescott. It’s where you hide the best. I’ll be sure to let your wife know when Lottie can go home.”

I turned and walked away. I knew I shouldn’t have said anything about the baby. I also knew Lottie was my fiancée in name only, although I planned to change that very quickly. But my anger overtook my common sense, and there was nothing I could do to take it back. I paused as I left the waiting area, glancing over my shoulder.

He was sitting, his head in his hands, not moving. His shoulders were slumped, his entire frame defeated. I felt a small flicker of guilt, but I turned my head away. He deserved it.

Lottie needed me. And right now, that was all that mattered.Chapter 23LottieI sighed and burrowed farther under the blankets, grateful to be home. They released me from the hospital once my blood pressure leveled out, and Logan assured them he would be with me. When we got home after dinnertime, I had taken a quick shower, then Logan tucked me into bed. He got some noodles and dumplings delivered from The Koi House and insisted on sitting beside me in bed and feeding them to me.

I had to admit, it was nice to be spoiled. Trev and Brianna dropped by, bringing Logan some things. They said a quick hello to me, Brianna telling me she would come the next day and sit with me so Logan could go and see Bobby. I protested.

“I am fine. I’ll be perfectly able to take care of myself tomorrow while Logan is out.”

“No,” they both stated in unison, making me roll my eyes.

“Logan is right,” Brianna insisted. “I have something I want to talk to you about anyway.”

“Fine.” I conceded easily, seeing the determined look on Logan’s face.

After they left, Logan pulled open the curtains and turned down the lights so I could watch the snow falling. There was a strong wind, so the snow hit the glass on occasion and swirled madly in the air. I rubbed my stomach, whispering to the tiny little dot inside.

“You’ll love snow, baby. We’ll go for walks and make angels and have so much fun.”

Logan walked in and sat in the chair he had dragged beside the bed. “Daddy will help you make snowmen too. Afterward, we can have hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows and whipped cream.” He winked and lowered his head to my stomach. “That’s the only way to have it, Nugget. Trust me.”

I smiled. “Daddy’s right.”

His grin was wide. “I can’t even begin to tell you how much I like that name.” He paused. “Daddy.”

“You’ll be a great one.”