Always With You (The Connor Family 6)

Hailey stopped, turning to me. “Did you hear that? Or did I imagine it?”

“You didn’t imagine. Come on. Let’s head back.”

Everyone was gathered inside the villa.

“He’s okay,” his mother whispered, checking on him. He did not look fucking okay. He was pale and sweating bullets.

“He was playing hide and seek with Peyton and he hid in the neighbor’s basement. The door automatically shut, and no one heard him until now,” Will explained in a low voice.

Hailey waited until Lori had checked Milo and then hugged him so tightly I was surprised we didn’t hear a bone snap. Then she pulled back, straightening his shirt and lingering with her palms on his shoulders and forearms, as if needing to check every inch to make sure he was really okay.

“I’m fine, Aunt Hailey. Fine.”

“Buddy, you’re going to be triple-checked by every aunt tonight. Fair warning,” another woman said. Valentina, if I remembered correctly. Her voice was shaky. Hailey noticed it too, and she immediately released Milo to Val.

One hour later, Hailey finally agreed that she needed some rest too, and I convinced her to let me take her home.

“I’m so exhausted,” she murmured once we arrived, resting her head on the soft leather. I walked with her inside the house, intent on making sure she went straight to bed. She looked... disheveled, a bit uncertain on her feet. Then she sprinted straight to the bathroom, closing the door. I heard retching from the other side. Fuck.

“Baby, what’s wrong? Open the door.”

“Just... give me a few seconds.”

More retching, and then the sound of water running.

/> “Hailey... do you need me to do something?”

She opened the door, sighing. Her eyes were a little unfocused.

“Stomach bug?”

“No. Sometimes, when I get really upset or anxious, my stomach gives me trouble. Sometimes it’s bad enough that I also get a fever.”

“Babe. Everyone’s fine.”

She sighed, her eyes a little unfocused.

“What’s wrong? Milo’s fine. More scared than he lets on, I think, but okay.”

“I’m worried about Val. She’s pregnant, and she shouldn’t get upset.”

The way she cared about everyone so deeply got to me in a way I couldn’t even describe. It was as if she could feel everyone else’s emotions, as if she’d soaked up everyone else’s worries tonight.

“Hailey. Don’t do that to yourself. Val was shaken, like everyone else tonight, but she’s strong, okay?

“Thank you, Reid. Not just for bringing me home, but for everything you did tonight.”

I stroked my thumb over her lower lip. “You’re amazing, brave girl. Let’s get you to bed.”

She yawned, and I slipped one hand under her knees, the other around her back, and carried her through the house. She sunk against my chest, pointing toward her room.

When I laid her on the bed, she slid under the covers fully dressed.

“Can I give you anything for your stomach?”

She shook her head. “No, it’s psychosomatic. I’ve been like this since I was a kid. Nothing helps. I just have to sleep it off.”

Fuck me. So she just went through this hell every time? What if this got even worse? I wanted to fix this. Before I could ask her anything else, she fell asleep.