Learning to Breathe Again (26 page)

Jack swore under his breath, reaching over
and grabbing the tank top she’d pulled off of herself. He sat her
up and pulled it over her head, and then made her lay back down,
pulling the blankets over her. He slid out of bed, grabbing a
t-shirt out of his bag and turning off the bedside light before
joining her in the bed again.

Settling in beside her, he pulled her into
his arms, making sure the blankets stayed tucked around her. She
settled her head on his shoulder and although the sobs had stopped,
he could feel her tears soaking into the t-shirt. “It’s okay,
Bayleigh,” he murmured against her hair. “I’m just going to hold
you tonight. That’s all,” he reassured her.

“
I’m sorry, Jack. I really
thought I could do it tonight,” Bayleigh released a heavy sigh,
tipping her head back to try and see his face. “Please don’t leave
me,” her voice broke on the plea.

Jack’s arms tightened around her. “I won’t
leave if you don’t want me to, I’ll hold you all night if that’s
what you need. But please, baby, don’t push yourself past your
limits because you think it’s what I want, Bayleigh,” he shifted
her slightly so he could press a light kiss to her lips. “Go to
sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow, okay?” Jack shifted his hips away from
her as she burrowed in closer to him. It didn’t take long before he
felt the tension ease out of her muscles as sleep claimed her. He
laid awake, holding her to him, for hours, keeping the nightmares
away, for both of them.

THE NEXT MORNING, THE weather had cleared at
last and the temperature was already above thirty-two degrees
before Bayleigh had even made it downstairs. Brian was already
making arrangements with the airfield to get the helicopter ready
so he could fly back to Waco and switch it out with his friend for
his small jet. Jason and Nicole had offered to drive him to the
airfield and then they were going to head to the hospital to see
the Carly and the baby.

Jack and Bayleigh were cleaning up the
kitchen while the others all got ready to leave. Jack finished
loading the dishwasher and watched Bayleigh wipe down the
countertop and table.

“
You okay this morning?” he
asked, taking the rag from her hands and tossing it into the sink
before sliding his arms around her waist and pulling her up against
him.

“
I’m just tired,” she tried
to smile at him.

He shook his head and bent to kiss her softly
on the lips. “Don’t ever lie to me, Bay,” he whispered as he pulled
back. “You can tell me to buzz off or it’s none of my business, but
please don’t lie, to me or yourself.”

Bayleigh took a deep breath, glancing over
his shoulder towards the doorway, making sure no one was lingering
there to listen in on what she was about to say. “I don’t want to
tell you to buzz off, and I would say you have a vested interest in
what’s going on with me right now,” she pressed her lips together
briefly, struggling to find the right words. “But right now, Jack,
I’m not sure how I’m doing. I want to be okay, I want to be back to
my normal self, but every time I think I gain a few steps, I
realize I’m right back where I started, if not even further
behind!”

Jack nodded, taking a step
back from her, but holding her hands tightly in his. “I think
you’re trying too hard, at least where I’m concerned,” he squeezed
her hands when she opened her mouth to interrupt. “Don’t get me
wrong, I find you hot as hell, and I want you in my bed and I want
to find out if what we have is as explosive as I think it’s going
to be. But we can’t force it.
You
can’t force it, Bayleigh,” he reached up and
cupped her face with his palm. “We need to take a few steps
backwards together, this time. When we leave this morning, we’re
going to go back to my place and get all your stuff. We’ll pack it
up and take it and your car over to Jason’s, and then I’ll drive us
to the hospital.”

“
What if that’s not
what
I
want?”
Bayleigh asked, turning her head just enough to press a kiss to his
palm.

“
It’s not what either of
us
want
, baby. But
I do believe it’s what you need. At least right now,” he pulled her
up against his chest and gave her one of his scorching kisses.
Bayleigh moaned as he lifted his head and he gave her a half-grin.
“Don’t worry. We’re going to start dating and getting to know each
other, just like we talked about the other night. And while we’re
doing that, you can figure out what you want from all of this, too.
But for both of our sakes, we can’t keep playing with fire, like we
did last night.”

“
I still say it’s you,” she
whispered as he took a step back.

“
God, I hope so,” he
muttered with a wink. “Now, you go find your friend Brian and tell
him good-bye. He was shooting daggers at me this morning. You need
to assure him that I’m the good guy here!” he gave her a gentle
push in the direction of the door.

Bayleigh made her way to Mitch’s home office,
tapping on the door when she saw Brian standing by the windows. “Is
everything okay?”

“
What?” Brian’s head shot up
and he turned towards her. “Oh, yeah, it’s fine, just can’t get in
touch with Kaitlyn.”

“
Kaitlyn? Isn’t she the
young woman…?”

“
Yeah, she’s the one,” Brian
glanced at her and scrutinized her face. “You and Jack working it
out?”

“
There’s nothing to work
out. Right now, we’re just working on it,” Bayleigh shook her head,
rolling her eyes. “I found a guy that doesn’t care what happened
last year, well, he cares, but he cares because of what it’s done
to me. He doesn’t care that it happened. I mean, oh shit, I don’t
know what I mean,” she sat down on the couch in the room and buried
her face in her hands. “The man has me so tied up in knots right
now, Brian, I don’t know what to do!”

“
But you’ve told him what
happened, right? All of it?”

“
Yes, he knows all about it
now. I kind of had to tell him most of it when I started having
panic attacks moments after meeting him,” she gave him a rueful
grin.

“
Yeah, well you tried to
deny anything was wrong when I saw you have one, so let’s not delve
too deeply into what that means, shall we?” he grinned at her as he
watched the blush creep over her cheeks. “And you’re going to tell
Jason all of it now, too, right? I can hand over my big brother
card to him?”

Bayleigh laughed and hugged him. “Yes, go
back to being just Maddie’s big brother. I’m going to work on all
of my relationships for a while, so tell Maddie to be ready for a
long visit once I finish my songs.”

“
So you are serious about
that?”

“
My songwriting? You better
believe it. I was never meant to be the one up on stage singing.
And after what happened last year, well, that just clinched it.
Someone else can have that fame and glory. I’ll stay backstage and
just bask in the knowledge that I created the beauty my way,” she
kissed his cheek and stood up. “Promise to message me when you land
in Tennessee?”

“
I promise either Maddie or
I will let you know I got home,” he stood up and gave her a hug.
“Take care of yourself, ‘Leigh.”

“
You take care of yourself,
too, Bri,” Bayleigh hugged him tight and stepped back. “I’ll talk
to you soon, then.”

Jason was in the foyer when she stepped out
of the office, and he glanced up when he heard her footsteps. “Jack
says you want to come stay with us. Is everything okay?”

Bayleigh stepped up to her brother and hugged
him tight. “I’m getting there, Jason. I’m not there yet, but I
promise, I’m getting there.”

Jason drew back and studied his sister.
“You’re going to stop talking in circles and clue me in,
right?”

Bayleigh nodded, hugging him again, “I
promise, later today, after we’ve had our fill of newborns and
family members, you and I will have a long talk. I didn’t mean to
keep you in the dark for so long, and I want to fix it.”

“
We are ‘fixed,’ little
sister. The moment you booked your flight to Texas.” Jason hugged
her tight again and then released her as Nicole and Jack entered
the foyer from the kitchen and Brian entered from the
office.

It only took a few minutes to make sure
everyone had their belongings packed up and they were all headed
out the front door. Brian was anxious to get in the air. While the
storm seemed to have finally moved on from Texas, it was wreaking
havoc to the east and he wanted to get back to Tennessee.

“
Everything okay?” Jack
asked Bayleigh as he drove back to his place. With the ice melting,
he had decided to take the main road instead of driving across the
range so they were already turning off the road and onto the lane
leading up to his house.

“
I can’t say I’m thrilled
you’re kicking me out but I am looking forward to spending some
time with Jason, and getting to know Nicole,” she answered,
glancing over at him.

He took one hand off the steering wheel and
reached over to take hers. “I’m not thrilled either, Bay, but I
really…”

“
I know. And I think you’re
right,” she broke in, giving his hand a squeeze. “I think a little
space will be good for us. Still doesn’t mean I have to be happy
about the idea.”

Jack brought her hand to his mouth and kissed
her fingers. “Then I’ll work on making you happy, too.”

“
I like the sounds of that,”
Bayleigh teased with a giggle.

Jack smiled at her and parked the truck in
front of his house. “Let’s get you packed up and moved over to your
brother’s. If I know him, he’ll start calling in about twenty
minutes wanting to know why we’re not at the hospital yet.”

“
Is he using this as some
sort of payback for anything you did when he and Nicole were
dating?” she asked as they headed inside.

“
I refuse to answer that on
the grounds that it may incriminate me.”

“
Uh huh. And who was worse,
you or Mitch?”

“
By far, Mitch, since he’s
actually related by blood to Nicole and she was living with them at
the time,” he grinned. “But since Mitch is already married, and has
been for quite some time, I think Jason is only out to get me
back.”

“
Do I need to be worried
about what he’ll do to get you back?” she asked as they walked into
the kitchen.

“
I don’t think so. But if
you could put in a good word for me, I’d appreciate it.”

Bayleigh rolled her eyes and headed down the
hallway. “It won’t take me long to get things packed. I’ll be ready
in just a few minutes,” she called over her shoulder.

Within twenty minutes, Bayleigh had
everything packed and Jack helped her get it all loaded into her
car. He led the way to Jason’s and Nicole’s house and helped her
carry everything inside and up the stairs to one of the guest
rooms.

“
How do you know they’ll
want me in this one?” Bayleigh asked, looking around.

“
It’s the only one fully
furnished, at the moment,” Jack explained, setting her guitar down
on the bed. “Do you need to change or anything before we head
out?”

“
Nope, I’m good,” Bayleigh
shook her head and stepped out into the hallway, waiting for Jack
to follow. “I’m ready to head to the hospital, if you
are.”

Jack nodded and led the way downstairs and
out to his truck, pausing only to make sure he’d locked the front
door. He glanced over at Bayleigh as he slid behind the wheel and
started the engine.

“
So, got any plans for this
week?”

“
Try to write my music,
start looking around at possible living and working arrangements.
You know, the usual,” she grimaced.

“
I meant in the evenings,
when Jason and Nicole get off work. Do you have any plans for the
evenings?”

Bayleigh turned in the seat so she could
study him while he drove. “Depends on what offers I get,” she
raised an eyebrow when he glanced over at her.

“
Who do you expect to make
offers?”

“
Your buddy Paul, maybe? Is
he taken?”

“
Ha, good luck with him.
He’s like your friend Brian. He has his hands full with an ex who
isn’t really an ex,” Jack gave a short laugh, shaking his head as
he pulled into the hospital parking lot and parked his truck.
Turning towards her, he reached out and took her hand in his. “Miss
Morrow, would you do me the absolute honor of joining me for dinner
tomorrow night?”