“But I want you there,” I said, tugging on his hands. “And besides, it won’t be any more crowded now with you in there than it would be tomorrow with the kids in there. At least Matt can trust you not to jump on top of him.”
Daniel grimaced, though, glancing over at Leanne. He leaned in close, lowering his voice. “I just want to make sure...”
I knew exactly what he was about to say. Leanne had come around to him today, even going so far as to apologize to Daniel for trying to tell me not to date him. But Matt didn’t know about any of that. Daniel didn’t want to rock the boat, and I appreciated that. But at the same time, I wanted him there with me. And with all the help he had given me throughout the day, he deserved not to be pushed aside and left out in the waiting room.
So I cut him off with my fingers against his lips. “Please,” I said quietly. “Come with me?”
Daniel smiled behind my fingers and nodded at me. “All right,” he said.
With that sorted, we followed Leanne down the hall in the direction that the doctor had indicated, and soon we were clustered around the foot of Matt’s bed while Leanne stood near him, tears trailing down her cheeks as she stroked her fingers over the back of his hand.
I swallowed hard, leaning in to Daniel. There were the surface marks that showed that Matt had been in an accident, from the small cuts on his face and arms to the dark smudges beneath his eyes. He was pale, and his left arm was wrapped in a heavy cast. But the look in his eyes was really the most marked change. I was used to Matt smiling and laughing, almost constantly. Now, though, there was a pain in his eyes and a darkness. When he looked up at Leanne, it was clear that he knew exactly what he had almost lost.
“I’m going to be all right,” he said quietly, smiling around at me and Leanne. “I’m sure the doctor’s told you, but I have a tricky recovery ahead
of me. But I’m going to be all right.” His eyes paused on Daniel. Then, he frowned over at me. “What’s your boss doing here?” he asked. “Were you at work?”
I blushed and ducked my head, trying to think of a way to respond to that. But it was Leanne who responded. “Of course she wasn’t at work,” she said matter-of-factly. “They were out together, and Daniel brought Abby back here. He’s been helpful all day too. And great with the kids.” She looked over at me, a smile dancing in her eyes.
Matt gave me a look of surprise. But then he smiled, his eyes slipping shut as he stroked his thumb gently across the back of his wife’s hand. “Then I suppose I should say thank you, Daniel,” he said.
“I sent the kids home with Hannah tonight,” Leanne said to Matt as she settled into the seat at the head of his bed. “But as for me, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Neither am I,” Matt said gravely. “Neither am I.”
Chapter 21
Daniel
I STAYED OVER AT ABBY’S apartment on Saturday night, just holding her close after everything she had been through with her brother. She was exhausted, and I could tell that even the smallest of touches did wonders to make her feel a little better. I felt lucky to still be there next to her.
I was falling hopelessly in love with her. I didn’t know what I was going to do if she chose not to be part of my life anymore because of the whole media thing. But I was putting off having to think about any of that. Just get through the weekend first, give her everything she needed. I had already promised her I would drive back out to the hotel the next day and collect all our things from the suite. As much as I wished I could be bringing her back there, I knew that the timing just wasn’t right. We would have to have our romantic weekend away some other time.
For now, it was enough to just hold her and know that she was going to be all right. Even better that now I had the tacit acceptance of her brother and her best friend for us to continue whatever sort of relationship this was.
Abby was out of there early on Sunday morning, claiming that she wanted to go make sure Leanne and the kids were all right and to help out as she could. She told me I could stay at her place, but instead, I headed straight over to the hotel to get her things for her, remembering her mentioning the night before that she hadn’t meant to forget her phone charger in her bag. I’d rescue that for her, as well as the rest of her things.
But I didn’t want to linger around the hospital that day. I was glad that I’d been able to help out some, but at the same time, this was their family time, and I respected that. I didn’t want them to think I was overstepping or anything.
Instead, I called up Austin and asked if he wanted to grab lunch with me.
“I can’t remember the last time I saw you in the daylight,” he joked as we sat down at a sandwich place near his apartment building.
I rolled my eyes. “Come on, it hasn’t been that long,” I said. “We get drinks all the time.”
“Daylight,” Austin repeated. He paused, cocking his head to the side. “Not that I’m complaining or anything. Just, I normally expect you to be working on the weekends. What’s up?”
“I finished up all the work I would have done this weekend,” I admitted. “On Friday evening.”
Austin raised an eyebrow at me. “Just so that you could get lunch with me today?” he asked.
I snorted. “You wish,” I told him. I shrugged. “I had some plans for the weekend. But they changed.”
“Oh yeah?” Austin asked, immediately alert. “You all right?” I could see the sympathy already there in his eyes. I knew he was probably remembering all the plans that had changed when I had found out that Ivy was cheating on me. But this was nothing like that. To be honest, I felt like this weekend might have turned out even better than it would have if Abby and I had just gotten the romantic, relaxing getaway I had planned for us.
“Things are good,” I told Austin. “Things are really good. Just, I had planned to whisk Abby away for the whole weekend. But that didn’t exactly work out.”
Austin grimaced sympathetically. “The media find you guys?” he asked. “You should have told me in advance. I could have run interference for you.”