Forever Rockers (31 page)

Rex raked a hand through his hair and I noticed he needed to get it trimmed—and probably wash it too. Was he not going home? “Todd Jones bailed me out five years ago, Harper. I was just looking for a quick infusion to keep the magazine floating until I could get everything sorted again after the stock market crashed. He gave me more than that, and for that I will always be grateful.” He grimaced. “When I got a call from Emmie to give your work a look over, I’d already gotten one from Todd as well. So I gave you a chance, but I was determined not to let nepotism from my silent partner influence me. I want you to know that me giving you a job in the first place was because I saw some raw talent in you. When the editor position opened up, I knew that I wanted you for it. So please, whatever else you might think, don’t assume that I did it because of your father.”

I nibbled on the inside of my lip, but kept quiet as he spoke. Honestly, I had been wondering about all of that. It had been driving me nuts and had even made me a little more irritated with Rex because I’d been second-guessing myself and my abilities. I’d wondered constantly if I’d gotten to the position I was in because my father had owned the magazine.

“I never thought about what would happen if Jones died,” Rex went on, shaking his head. “Not once had it crossed my mind, but I know it should have. I was lost in the paradise I’d created, and I know that I have you to thank for that. Not just because of the inside stories you’ve gotten us, but because you have a vision that has caught our customers’ eyes and keeps them coming back for more.”

“Thank you,” I murmured, stunned by his compliment.

“You hold all the cards here, Harper. Whatever you decide to do with the magazine, I don’t really have much say in it.” He clenched his jaw and lowered his gaze to the cherry finish on the table that separated us. “All I ask is that you treat the magazine like your baby, as I’ve done.”

“Rex…” I blew out a long sigh and set my hands on the table. “Over the last few weeks I’ve wanted to slap you so many times I’ve lost count. I’ve changed my mind about what I want to do even more times. But we both know that I would run the magazine into the ground within a year. I don’t know the ins and outs like you do. So, I put the personal dislike I’d come to feel for you recently aside.” I stood and walked across the room to the door. Opening it, I waved the two lawyers in while Rex watched me with apprehension.

Retaking my seat, I leaned back and crossed my legs. “Gentlemen, if you could pass out the contracts, we can begin.”

Two separate contracts were passed to Rex and then to myself. I already knew what it said, so I kept my eyes on Rex as he skimmed his gaze over them. Almost immediately his head shot up, bloodshot eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

I shrugged. “It’s the smart thing to do, don’t you think? Cecil suggested it and at first I didn’t want to agree to it. You said a few things that were stick pricking at my pride and I was thinking of ways to decapitate you.” I grinned when he grunted and then smiled. It was the first sign of humor I’d seen in him in months. “So what do you say, Rex? Shall we share this equally?”

“But you’re just giving it to me,” he protested. “I can’t let you do that.”

I lifted a brow. “Why not? It was given to me. I paid nothing for it. Besides it’s only one percent. I’m not up for doing the math on what one little percent will cost you.” I pulled the second contract toward me and flipped to the last page. “Now this one, this contract is the fun one. I’m going to branch
Rock America
out and start my own little magazine. You know, once I’ve learned everything from you.”

Rex sat back, looking winded and more than a little shocked. “I don’t know what to say, Harper. If I didn’t think Shane Stevenson would kill me, I’d probably kiss you right now.”

That had Cecil laughing, the first show of any real emotion from my stepfather since we’d gotten there. My stepfather had schooled me on what was going to happen that day, but he’d let me take the lead. This was my show and he was only there to back me up and help if I ran into any roadblocks. I’d been thankful for his presence, grateful for his continued love and acceptance of anything I did.

“I’ll pretend you didn’t say that,” Cecil told Rex as he chuckled. “Now, let’s start going over these contracts, children. I need to be back in New York tonight.”

Shane

I was in a deep sleep when the phones started going off. My cell first, then Harper’s, and then the house phone. I groaned, reluctantly letting go of my wife as I blindly reached for my phone. Without opening my eyes, I lifted the phone to my face. “Yeah?”

Harper was fumbling around for her own phone, trying to move around Ranger who was hogging her side of the bed and had forced her into the middle. The dog wasn’t happy to have the late night interruption and whined pitifully when Harper finally grabbed her phone. “Dallas?”

The house phone went silent and as soon as I heard Axton’s voice I realized Linc had probably answered it. “Hey, bro. Get your wife to the hospital. If she wants to see this baby enter the world, she’d better get a move on. We just got here and the doc says Dallas is already dilated to a seven. It can happen at any time, man.”

“What?” Harper exclaimed into her own phone. “Okay, I’m on my way. Cross your legs or something. Don’t you dare have this baby without me, bitch.”

I could hear Dallas laughing through my own receiver and realized that Axton was in the same room as his wife. “Where’s Cannon?” I asked my friend as I got out of bed and headed for the closet where Harper was already tossing on clothes.

“Kenzie’s home for winter break. She offered to keep him because Austin and Tink are here with us.” He sounded a hell of a lot steadier than he had when Dallas had gone into labor with Cannon back in February. Maybe Dallas had slipped him something to calm his nerves. Or maybe he was sweating buckets and I just couldn’t see his face to know.

From the background I heard Dallas groan. “Sonofabitch!” she cried out.

Axton inhaled sharply and I realized my friend didn’t have it as together as I’d originally thought. “Get the fuck here, Stevenson. I gotta take care of my wife.”

The line went dead and I found myself just standing there staring down at my phone. Was this a taste of what I would go through when Harper went into labor? Oh, fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fucking, fuck, fuck. My legs went weak and I fell onto the ottoman that was beside the closet as I pictured the most important person in my life going through the pain I’d just heard in Dallas’s voice.

There was a hard knock on the door seconds before it opened and Linc stuck his head in. “Hey, Kenzie said that Dallas is at the hospital. You guys ready?”

“I’m putting my shoes on now,” Harper told him. “Grab me a water out of the fridge, okay?”

Linc left to get it, but I just sat there, still trapped in the hell of the possibilities that were to come when Harper had our baby.

“Shane?” Soft hands touched my face, pulling me out of my personal nightmare. Violet eyes were bright with a mixture of amusement, concern, and urgency. “You okay?”

“I’m gonna mess it up.”

Her brows lifted. “Mess what up?”

I lifted a hand and touched her still-flat stomach. She was nearly out of her first trimester but I could tell some big differences in her changing body, and I was enjoying each and every one of them. “This,” I breathed, my throat feeling tight with emotion. “I’m gonna fuck it up. I want to hold your hand through it all, but you know how I am when I see blood that’s not my own. How am I supposed to help you if I can’t keep it together to watch our miracle come into the world?”

She crouched down in front of me, her eyes soft with love and understanding. “You’re going to be great. You’ll just keep your eyes on mine and never look away. Okay? I’ll have Dallas and Emmie in the room with me for all the other stuff. Okay?”

My eyes widened. “Emmie? You want her in there with us? I thought…” I’d thought Linc or Lana. Emmie had been further down the list of people I would have expected Harper to have wanted in there during delivery. Not because Harper didn’t love and appreciate Em, but because she had a stronger bond with her other friends.

“Emmie deserves to be in there with us, don’t you think?” She smiled and my heart literally hurt at the sight of how beautiful she was. “Aunt Emmie needs to welcome the newest addition and give her kiss of approval.”

Tears filled my eyes and I pulled her onto my lap, burying my face in her hair. I knew we should have been rushing to get to the hospital, but right then I needed a few seconds of breathing Harper in. “Yeah, beautiful. She needs to do that.” For me, Emmie was the most important chick in my life, second only to Harper. She was my sister by choice, my voice of reason, a part of my heart and attached to my soul in a way I could never begin to explain to an outsider. That Harper wanted her in the delivery room with us told me that she understood my connection to the first girl who had ever burrowed her way into my heart.

The door opened again and Linc stuck his head in. “Hey, hurry the fuck up.”

Ranger barked at him unhappily and I let Harper go so she could give the dog a goodbye hug while I quickly dressed.

Not bothering to wake Peterson or Theo, I drove the three of us to the Women’s Center where I knew Axton was waiting on us. As soon as we got to the labor and delivery floor, Axton came into the waiting room and grabbed Harper’s hand. “She’s at nine,” he’d told us, looking pasty and sweating so much his shirt was soaked.

The waiting room was already filling up with family and friends. We’d just done this a few weeks ago with Natalie so this was nothing new to most of us. Dallas’s dad and stepmother were sitting by the nearest window. Tink patted her husband on the back reassuringly while Austin Bradshaw rubbed his hands repeatedly over his face. Linc and I took the chairs across from them just as the waiting room door opened and Nik and Emmie came in.

“Any word?” Emmie asked as she and Nik sat beside me.

“We just got here,” I informed her. “But Axton didn’t look too good. Said she was at nine. What the hell does that mean?”

“It means that she’s dilated to nine centimeters,” Nik explained, a pro now it seemed since he had two kids of his own. “It’s almost time for her to push, dude.”

“I’m going to start getting security taken care of,” Emmie said as she stood. “Keep me posted, okay, babe?”

Nik stood long enough to kiss her and then dropped back down next to me. My eyes followed Em until the door closed behind her before I looked at my bandbrother. “How is she?”

“Better. She’s been to three visits with Dr. Rayner.” He grimaced and slouched down in his chair to get more comfortable. “It’s going to be a slow process, but we’re getting there. He’s got her on melatonin to help her sleep and so far she’s been getting a few hours each night. But, hell, bro. That’s a few more than she had been getting.”

I nodded my head but my hands clenched into fists against my thighs. I hated that Emmie was having to go through all that shit. When my bandbrothers and I had gotten custody of her after the death of her evil mother, I’d promised myself that she wouldn’t ever have to be afraid of anything ever again. Yet, there she was, having to face a new nightmare.

One that was all my fault.

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
T
HREE

Harper

“Ah, fuck!”

I flinched as Dallas cried out in pain for the third time in as many minutes. Her contractions were coming even faster and I knew that it was nearing time to push. I didn’t envy her this part of the pregnancy, but still, just watching her heightened my own excitement for when it would be me lying in that bed getting ready to push out my child.

“Baby…” Axton’s voice cracked as he held her hand and wiped her brow with a damp cloth. “Just breathe. You got this. You’re okay.”

“Shut the fuck up, Ax.” I bit my lip to keep from grinning as my best friend gave her husband a glare that would have turned anyone else into stone on the spot. “I hate you.”

His hands shook as he continued to wipe the sweat off her face. By the looks of the poor guy, he needed that more than Dallas at that moment. It was obviously killing him to see her in so much pain.

Within seconds Dallas was breathing out a relieved sigh. She turned tired blue eyes back to her husband. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

He nodded. “I know, baby. I know.”

“It hurts so bad, Ax. I don’t remember it hurting this bad with Cannon.” Her chin trembled. “I’m so tired.”

Tears filled Axton’s hazel eyes. “I know, baby. I know.”

Dallas opened her mouth to say something else but then clutched at her stomach. “Fuck!” she screamed. “Fuck!”

I moved closer to the bed, hating that there was nothing I could do for my best friend. “I thought she was going to have an epidural,” I whispered to Ax.

“There wasn’t time,” he whispered back. “By the time the doctor finished the epidural on the woman in front of Dallas, she was already too far along to give it to her.”

Dallas lifted her head. Her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, but it was starting to fall and was soaked in sweat. “Go tell that fucking doctor to get his goddamn ass in here,” she yelled at Axton. “I’m pushing in two minutes whether he’s here to catch this kid or not.”

“Shit,” he muttered and practically ran out of the room.

Dallas watched him for only a second before she was clutching at her stomach again. “Ah, fuck. Fuck. FUCK.”

I took Axton’s spot, wiping her brow and holding her hand. At one point there had been a cup of ice chips, but she’d grabbed them during a particularly ugly contraction and told Axton to go fuck himself and his ice chips. I hadn’t known whether to laugh or run, but as soon as the contraction was over she’d apologized and told Ax she loved him more than life.