Home Run Baby: A Sports Romance (24 page)

I pause in front of her door, glancing once at my phone to check the time. I’m going to look like a fucking maniac knocking on her door so late, but here I am.

I knock twice, making it loud in case she’s sleeping.

My mind flashes with imagery, easily picturing that blonde hair and those little, blue eyes.

I knock again. “Daisy?”

I press my ear against the door, hoping to hear some movement but there’s nothing.

It’s Thanksgiving week,
I recall.
She’s probably visiting family.

I groan, smacking the door with a few more open palm slaps before giving up.
Dammit
. Why didn’t I think of that before driving all the way out here?

“You looking for the pregnant girl?”

The woman down the hall sticks her head out to glare at me, most likely for making too much noise.

I look at her and nod. “Yeah. Sorry.”

She slips out a little further. “Ambulance picked her up a few hours ago.”

My heart stops.
“An ambulance?”

“Yeah.”

Daisy. My baby.

“Which hospital?” I ask her.

She shrugs. “I don’t know.”

I reach for my phone. “Thank you.”

The woman closes her door, leaving me alone to sink into my panic.

“Pick up, Daisy…” I say, listening to the repetitive ringing echoing back at me.

“Hey, this is Daisy Hawtho—”

I hang up and call back, feeling my heart pound against my ribs.

“Hey, this is Da—”

“Dammit.”
I call back again. “Daisy, come on—”

“Hunter?”

I exhale a hard breath, relieved to hear her sweet voice again. “Daisy, thank god. Are you—”

“No,” she interrupts me. “Hunter, it’s Rose.”

I lean against the wall. “Rose, what happened?”

“How did you know—”

“Just tell me.”

There’s a long pause. Busy sounds shuffle behind her; quick feet and rumbling voices. She takes a breath, stalling even longer and I brace myself for the worst.

“She almost lost the baby.”

I close my eyes, clinging onto the one hopeful word in that sentence. “Almost?”

“Yeah,” she says. “They aren’t out of the woods yet, but the doctor thinks they’ll be fine.”

“So, she… they’re okay?”

“Yeah, they’re both all right.”

“Which hospital are you at?”

“Uh…” she hesitates, “I’m not sure. I can find out.”

“Text me the name. I’m on my way.”

I hang up and bolt down the stairs, waiting impatiently for the text as I make my way back to my car.

I knew it. I knew there was something wrong. There was too much coincidence, too many signs pointing me back here for a reason.

Daisy needs me. She won’t say it but she won’t need to.

Never again.

Chapter 31

Daisy

Is there any word in the English language less pleasant than
placenta
?

I mean, I’m sure I can flip open a dictionary and find one that’s worse if I skimmed long enough, but right now, sitting in a hospital bed, yet again, I can’t quite think of any other word that grates my senses as much as
placenta
.

Placental abruption
. There’s no real way to be sure until after the birth, but that’s what the doc said it might be.
Partially detached placenta.

Ugh…

“I’ll take some extra time off from work,” my mother says, walking back and forth at the foot of the bed.

“Mom, you can’t do that,” I say, “your name is on the sign.”

“Exactly. My name is on the sign, so I can do what I want,” she argues. “I’ll shut down the firm for a while, recommend my clients to colleagues, and move in with you until the baby is born.”

Oh, god. No
.

“Mom…” I close my eyes. “Please stop pacing. You’re making me dizzy.”

She stops and lays her hands along the bottom edge of the bed frame. “Someone has to stay here and take care of you, honey. Bed rest isn’t something you fuck around with.”

“Uh-oh…”
I chuckle at her phrasing. “Whipping out the F-word now.”

“There are very few situations I let it slip,” she says. “This is one of them. I’m staying here with you and that’s that.”

“Well…
fuck
.”

She points a finger at me. “Watch your mouth.”

I laugh and shake my head, glancing at the open doorway in the hopes that Rose will come back and help me talk some sense into her.

“Rose, where is she?”

My ears twitch.
Was that—?

Hunter.

“She’s in there,” I hear Rose say, “but—”

“Daisy—!”
He barges into the room like a damn superhero, halting in his tracks the second he sees my face.

Rose lingers behind him in the doorway with wide eyes, biting her lip and wincing at the mistake he made long before he realizes he even made one.

My mother takes a long stride to stand in front of him and block his path to me. She stares at him with a knowing glare, folding her arms across her chest and standing there like a damn wall.

“Mom…” I say. “This is—”

“Oh, I know who this is,” she says, still leering up at him.

Hunter gulps. “It’s nice to meet you, ma’am,” he says, throwing every bit of sincerity he can into it.

She doesn’t budge from her spot.
“Uh-huh,”
she mutters from the corner of her mouth.

“Mom, it’s okay…” I tell her. “He can come in.”

She glances over her shoulder at me and I nod, motioning for her to step out of the way.

“Hey, Mom,” Rose says. “Let’s go see if we can find some decent coffee around here…”

Mom squints with hesitation before slowly shifting around Hunter to join her.

I mouth a silent
thank you
to Rose on their way out and she closes the door behind them.

“Daisy…” Hunter rushes towards me and falls to his knees by the bed. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay,” I say, chuckling slightly. His face is pure white, except for the thick shadow of hair growing on his cheeks and chin. “How did you know I was here?”

“I just knew.”

“You just
knew
?”

“John Kirby was on the television and a blonde girl ordered a whiskey sour,” he mutters with shifting eyes.

I pause. “Okay...”

He twitches with excitement. “And Devin showed up at the bar and gave me Trisha’s article—”

“Oh,
god
,” I exhale. “I forgot about that thing—”

“And I saw
Alien
!”

“You saw an alien?”

“And that drunk girl handed me a daisy and I just knew there was
something wrong
…”

“Okay…” I rub my eyes. “Now you’ve lost me, Hunter.”

He reaches for my hands. “They were
signs
, Daisy; pulling me back here to you. So, I got in my car and I drove to your apartment.”

My fingers tingle with warmth. “You drove all the way out here from New Jersey?”

“You weren’t there but your neighbor told me an ambulance picked you up and I got so scared, Daisy. I’ve never been that scared before…”

I smile. “Hunter, calm down. We’re okay.”

“No, none of this is okay,” he says. “I should have been there. I know that now. I should have… I never should have let you out of my sight and I won’t let you go again.
Ever again.
”

I squeeze his hands. “Okay, Hunter, come on… Just relax and get off the floor. Sit down —
in a chair
.”

Hunter pushes off his knees and pulls up the nearest chair to sit on, never once dropping his grip on my hand. “Daisy, this—”

“Shhh,” I stop him. “Take a deep breath, Hunter.”

“But I—”

“Shhhhh.”
I inhale and hold my breath, waiting for him to do the same.

Finally, he takes a long breath and we both exhale together.

“Good?” I ask. “Feel better?”

“Yeah,” he nods, dropping his eyes to my stomach. “Rose told me you almost…”

“I
almost
.”

“How? What happened?”

I roll my eyes with annoyance. “Can’t say for sure, but it’s most likely a
partially detached placenta
.”

He winces. “That sounds unpleasant.”

“That’s what I thought, too. Anyway, the assholes have put me on bed rest for the next few weeks — or for however long it takes for her to come out. If it gets any worse, I’ll have to induce early. I can’t do my own cooking or cleaning. I can’t
work
either, so I don’t know how I’m going to pay my rent or break it to Trisha—” I look up to see tears in Hunter’s eyes. “What?”

“Her?” he asks.

I smile at his ecstatic expression. “Yeah, it’s a girl.”

Hunter takes another breath, this one short and shallow, before bringing my hand to his lips. “We’re having a girl?”

“Well, yeah, but—”

He rushes forward out of his chair and kisses me. I think to stop him but the feel of his lips on mine again is far too comforting to break out of. I’ve forgotten how good it feels; how
right
.

He pulls away and looks at me, still holding my face. “We’re having a little girl,” he says again.

“Hunter…” I sigh as the feeling fades from my lips. “We agreed that we
weren’t
.”

“Well, I’m un-agreeing to that.”

“You can’t just—”

“Yes, I can.” He releases me and sits back. “Daisy, I was wrong before.
We
were wrong. There’s nothing out there stopping us from making this work except you and me.”

“Exactly,” I say. “You and me. You have your life, I have mine. Neither of which make raising a baby together easy.”

“So, it’ll be hard. We can do hard.”

“Hunter, we’ve already been through this once.”

“I want to go through it again,” he says.

“No.”

“Why not?”

I close my eyes. I flex my jaw. I do everything I can to keep that sob from exploding out of me. “You should go.”

“I’m not leaving you again, Daisy.”

“Hunter,
please
,” I beg, “don’t make this harder than it already is. Just
go
.”

His face falls and he sits there in silent frustration. Finally, he stands up and walks towards the door, halting to linger with his hand on the doorknob.

“No,” he says, dropping it.

“No?”

“No.” He turns around to look at me. “I have something to say to you.”

“Hunter—”

“Just give me
three minutes
,” he says, his voice calm and steady. “A lot can happen in three minutes.”

I furrow my brow. Three minutes? I should just kick him out. Nothing he can say in three minutes is going to change the facts and I don’t want to keep putting us through this over and over again.

And yet…

“Fine,” I say. “You have
three minutes
.”

Hunter comes back to the bed, his face hard and full of purpose as he sits down. “Daisy…” he says, “you’re a selfish, rotten
brat
, you know that?”

“Wow.” I blink. “You’re off to a
good start
here, Hunter.”

“And I’m a massive fucking jerk,” he continues, shaking his head. “I didn’t want this. You didn’t want this. We…” he chuckles, “we have no business starting a family together and this baby will probably be better off with people that wanted her from the start.”

“A logical statement of facts, yes.”

“Giving her up makes perfect sense,” he says. “It’s what I would tell anyone else in our situation to do. But then, I look at you and… the logical thing isn’t always the
best
thing, ya know?”

“So, what are you saying, Hunter?” I ask.

“I’m
saying
…” he smiles, “that I think we should get married.”

I sit back.
“Get married?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because my heart doesn’t care about what’s logical. I can’t sleep without feeling you next to me. I can’t close my eyes without knowing you’re safe and warm; without…” He lays his hand on my belly. “Without whispering goodnight to your stomach after you fall asleep.”

I stare back at him. “You did that?”

He nods. “I don’t want you to give up our baby, Daisy. I want you, I want this kid, and I want our family. I don’t care if I never hit another ball again. At least, I’ll have you.”

My heart races but not fast enough. “And what are we supposed to do when you’re on the road next season?” I ask. “What am I supposed to do then?”

He shrugs. “Come with me.”

“Come with you?”

“Yes.”
He takes my hand and grins. “Pack up the kid, grab your camera, and come with me. We’ll live in little hotel rooms just like before. I’ll take you to every game, every practice. Hell, I’ll even hire a nanny to travel with us to make it easier.” I laugh at how ridiculous it sounds. “You can build up your portfolio — you already have your foot in the door and being the
Home Run Mommy
isn’t going to hold you back, either.”