Rescued by the Billionaire (Billionaire Romance Novel) (6 page)

“No, I haven’t. I don’t want to seem too eager or desperate.”
 

“Ah, gotcha. But if I were you, I wouldn’t keep him waiting too long. With his kind of cash, I’m sure women are lined up waiting to date him.” She raved.
 

“I’m more interested in an actual relationship and finding Emma, a good dad. We don’t need millions or billions of dollars to be happy.”
 

“Yeah, that’s right.” Her friend chipped in.
 

“You never know. What if he has all this money, but he’s a complete asshole or what if he’s always gone or what if he’s abusive somehow? I don’t want to rush things only to find too late.”
 

“I understand. So when do you expect you’ll talk to him again?” She pressed.
 

“I’m not sure. I figured I’d hold out at least a couple of days. If he’s actually interested in me, then he’ll wait, but I better hang up. My break’s almost over and if Brian comes in here and catches me on the phone, he’ll flip out. I’ll see you later.”
 

As soon as it was quitting time, she hung her apron in her locker, grabbed her purse and dashed out the door to pick up her cutie pie. She was glad her shift was over; her tips were hideous and business wasn’t picking up. Thoughts of calling Dave preoccupied her brain during her trip to Dawn’s house. What if she was right? What if the ladies actually were lining up to date him? Would he take any of them up on it? If they ever became an exclusive item, would he be faithful to her? Her mind finally shut off as she pulled in front of the house. Without fail, her sugar bug was waiting and watching through the window.
 

“Hi sweet pea,” she greeted her daughter, making her way through the door. “I heard you helped Uncle Derek paint the deck?”
 

“Yep, I sure did!” She announced beaming with pride of her accomplishment.
 

“I bet it looks beautiful. Can we go take a look at it?”
 

“Oh no, momma. We can’t walk out there. It’s wet!” she proclaimed.
 

“I’m glad you’re here,” Dawn teased, walking into the room. “Would you like to tell your mom what else you did today?”
 

The tiny girl glimpsed down at the floor and shook her head no.
 

“What did you do?”
 

“Nothin’.” She lied; smiling as she peered at the walls.
 

“I’ll fill you in on what she did,” Derek interjected, joining the conversation. “She was helping me paint the deck—doing a splendid job—until she had a great idea to pull a prank on me.” He paused, staring at her bright blue eyes. “Your lovely angel took my paint brush while I came in to use the bathroom to paint her tongue red.”
 

Emma interrupted him, “I thought it would be funny to trick him into thinking I bit it and made it bleed.”
 

“Yeah, but there’s more. She realized how awful it tasted so she ran inside and grabbed the
mouth rinse to wash her mouth out.” Derek began laughing so hard, it prevented him from continuing with the story.
 

“She took a swig of it and swooshed it around her mouth,” Dawn continued. “Only except, it wasn’t mouthwash—it was peroxide. Once she started foaming at the mouth, she spit a mixture of paint and peroxide all over the bathroom counter!”
 

At this point, they were all laughing hysterically.
 

“Ah, that’s my little Emma Buggy.” She boasted as she ruffled her child’s hair.
 

“I’m just glad she pulls most of her stunts while she’s with you,” Dawn laughed.
 

After they had gathered up all of her things, they headed home, following their usual nightly ritual of a bath and a bedtime story before Kelly put her to sleep. She lay in bed that night contemplating if she would call Dave the next evening once Emma was settled in for the night. Surely a few days wouldn’t make her seem desperate, she thought. Soon, she dozed off with the remote control still in her hand.
 

In the morning, she was surprised that Emma hadn’t run into her room to wake her up. Normally she was up before Kelly’s alarm clock sounded off. She must be zonked, Kelly theorized as she climbed out of bed to go check on her. When she opened Emma’s door, she found her curled up, crying.
 

“What’s wrong baby?” she wondered as she sat down beside her daughter.
 

“Momma, it’s my knees again. They hurt so badly, and my back too.”
 

“Is it as bad as it was before?”
 

“Yes, but worse! My toes and ankles are sore, too.” She cried as her mom pulled the covers down to determine if the swelling had come back.
 

It had. Her knees were the same as before, but this time, her ankles and feet looked swollen too. She placed her hand on her daughter’s forehead to see if the fever had returned, and it had.
 

“I don’t know honey. Were you kneeling down or squatting when you helped Uncle Derek paint the porch yesterday?” she asked her daughter.
 

“No, I was sitting next to him on the steps.”
 

“Hm. I’ll get your ibuprofen. It seemed to help the last time.” She implied, getting off the bed.
 

When she returned, Emma told her more. “Momma, if I tell you something, do you promise you won’t think I’m crazy?”
 

“No baby, what is it?” Kelly insisted.
 

“My fingers hurt too.”
 

“Your fingers?” She picked up her hand to examine it.
 

They didn’t appear swollen. She had no clue what would cause all of these different symptoms.
 

“Okay, you take this and I’ll phone the doctor. Here, open up,” Her mom ordered as she administered the dose of medication.
 

Before she hopped in the shower for work, she called the doctor’s office. They weren’t open yet, she’d have to wait until it was closer to the time they’d leave. She rushed around, getting both of them dressed and out the door. In the car, she tried once more while on her way to Dawn’s house.
 

“Dr. Hinton’s office, this is Wendy. How may I help you?”
 

“Hi, Wendy. This is Kelly Hall again. Dr. Hinton examined Emma last week and said that he thought it was a bug or something, but her symptoms have returned and now she’s
complaining that her fingers hurt. Is it possible to get her in this week?”
 

Wendy looked over the schedule. “Yes, we have an opening on Friday at noon. How does that sound?”
 

Kelly hesitated for a moment. She knew that she was scheduled that day and her boss gave her hell for attempting to take off the week before. She quickly decided that she would see if her friend would drive her to the appointment. “Yes, that’ll be okay. I have to work so can my best friend bring her?”
 

“Sure, no problem.”
 

When Kelly dropped Emma off, she told Dawn how the symptoms had returned and explained the
Friday appointment. She agreed that she would take her.
 

While working, she worried about her all day. She also thought about how much these doctor appointments would affect her bank account. Since the business had died down and her tips had dwindled, she was only clearing around a thousand dollars a month. They were barely scraping by as it was. While she was grateful that her friend didn’t charge her for babysitting, she felt guilty that she had her running all over town taking her to her doctor appointment. On this particular afternoon, she was glad that the restaurant was slow. She had so much on her mind. There was her sick child, the worrisome bills and the billionaire—whom she still needed to call.
 

Kelly decided that he would just have to wait—billionaire or not. Her baby came first. She always did and always would. It didn’t matter if he had a woman for every dollar he had lined up waiting to meet him. They could all have him if he weren't patient enough with her. On the flip side of the coin, she didn’t want him to get away either. He was so kind, friendly, funny, smart and outgoing; the complete opposite of the loser guys she regularly fell for.
 

On her 15 minute breaks and her lunch period, she checked on Emma.
 

“How’s she doing?” she asked.
 

“She’s been hanging out on the couch. I gave her the medicine that you sent, but her fever seems to come back just as it’s time for her next
dose. I don’t think this is a stupid bug or virus.” Dawn confided in her.
 

“You might be right. You’ve heard what they say about mother’s intuition, and I suspect it’s something more sinister.”
 

“All we can do is keep fighting for her and taking care of her. Don’t worry about her while you’re away. She’s in the best of hands here—at least when she’s not with you, I mean.”
 

“I know she is, but I’m worried about her. I better get back to work. I’ll see you in a bit.”
 

When she got to Dawn’s house that evening, her love bug wasn’t in the window as usual. She frowned; sensing something was wrong with her baby. She always watched for her to pull up. As she made her way to the front door and was about
to grab the handle, the door opened from the inside.
 

“Oh, Hi Kelly. I was heading out to go pick up dinner.” Derek explained.
 

“Hey,” she nodded, trying to muster a smile.
 

He shut the door behind him so Emma couldn’t hear what he was about to say. “Kelly, I want to talk to you about Emma.” He began, looking over at the window to make sure she wasn’t sitting in it. “Dawn won’t worry you while you’re at work, but she wasn’t herself at all today. She lied around on the couch the entire time and anytime she moved, her face flinched in pain. She wouldn’t let us touch her or anything.”
 

“Ugh, I can’t deal with this right now. I’m so stressed out. I just want her to get well.”
 

“Dawn was planning on telling you when you came to pick her up, but I was worried that she would downplay Emma’s symptoms so you wouldn’t be as concerned.”
 

“She told me some of it on the phone. I have a doctor’s appointment for her on Friday at noon. Dawn’s driving her to it for me since I can’t take her.”
 

“That’s what I heard, but I wanted to let you know that if you need anything—we’re here for you.”
 

“You’re sweet Derek, that really means a lot to me.”
 

After he had left, Kelly walked into the house. Emma was lying on the couch covered up with her
favorite blanket. She smiled at her daughter, hoping to relieve her some since she was there.
 

“I’m okay momma,” she mumbled as she watched cartoons, sensing her mom was worried.
 

“Okay. I’m going to go talk to Aunt Dawn. I’ll be right back.” She kissed Emma’s forehead and called her friend.
 

“In here,” Dawn said as she emptied a cap of detergent into the washing machine.
 

She walked into the laundry room and asked, “How did she do today?”
 

“She wasn’t her usual self. She seems frail and exhausted. It was a chore for her to lift her head. I even carried her to the bathroom once.”
 

“Seriously?” Kelly’s heart dropped. What was wrong with her little girl?
 

“I guess all we can do is give her ibuprofen until she gets into her pediatrician, and you’re taking her, right?”
 

“Yes, I am. Could they get her in any sooner than Friday?”
 

“I doubt it, but I’ll ask.”
 

She tried, but they were booked solid and Friday was the earliest appointment available, which was only because they had a cancelation before Kelly scheduled Emma’s visit.
 

 “Can you help me carry her and her things out to the car?”
 

“Of course.”
 

That night, she carefully watched her darling and saw what her friend told her about. She was so weak. Her frail body looked delicate and fragile as she lied next to her in bed.
 

“How are you doing sweetie?” she asked her daughter.
 

“I’m okay momma.”
 

She kissed her on the cheek and wished her a good night before flipping off the light. A tear rolled down Kelly’s face as horrible thoughts raced through her mind. She’d already lost her mom and her dad, she didn’t want to lose her only child too. It was more than she could bare. She tried to shut off her mind as she fought to fall asleep.
 

The next morning, Emma was still the same, which made it too difficult to wake her up. She did what she had to do and notified her boss she wouldn’t make it in.