Vindicated (9 page)

He stopped the truck in front of the bus stop and rolled down the window. "Hey, pretty girl. Need a lift?" The bitter cold burned his lungs, while the exhaust from his truck rolled in clouds around the cab, almost obliterating Karly from view.

She’d been looking in the opposite direction but turned at the sound of his voice. Her eyes brightened. A smile lit her face. Plenty of girls smiled at him, but their smiles didn’t churn up his insides the way hers did. He thumped a hand on his chest and coughed to cover up the stir of feelings.

"Yes," was all she said. That one word was enough to drive away the chill of the winter day and warm him from the inside out. Her cheeks glowed with cold. The tip of her nose was bright red as she climbed into the cab. "Thank goodness you showed up," she said as she stretched mittened hands toward the dashboard vents. "Another ten minutes out there, and I would've frozen to death."

"Where's your hat, missy?" he asked in his best stern voice, instantly at ease in her presence. A little of the former jealousy eased. She had every right to see other guys. After all, he wanted nothing from her but friendship. "Didn't your mamma teach you better?"

"It's here." She whipped a blue-and-white knit cap from her pocket and waved it in front of him. "I don't like to wear it. It messes up my hair."

"Of course. What was I thinking? Better to freeze to death than have a bad hair day."

"You know it." She beamed at him again, and the loneliness of the night before disappeared.

“Where are you headed today?” He shot her a sideways glance, struck by the up-tilt of her pert nose and the pouty fullness of her lower lip.

“I was on my way to the hospital. Chelsea’s in labor, and I think Ally needs some backup.” Her fingers played with the hood of her coat as she spoke, like he made her nervous. He smiled and tried not to look intimidating, eager to put her at ease.

“Yeah? Me, too. I just got off the phone with her. She said Jack is having a meltdown. I guess handling Chelsea and Jack at the same time is a little much for any one person,” he said.

“You’ve known Jack and Chelsea for a long time, huh?”

“Yeah. Jack since we were kids. Chelsea not so long, but long enough.” He pursed his lips in introspection, unsure how to explain a relationship fraught with tragedy and bad decisions. “Jack’s been my best friend since junior high, and they were kind of a package deal. I don’t like the way she’s treated him over the years, but she’s not a bad person, really.” He cleared his throat, overcome with the need to explain. “She’s the reason I left your apartment so quickly the morning after our hook-up last summer. She was in the hospital, and she needed someone.”

“Oh,” Karly said. He felt the weight of her eyes on him, full of questions he didn’t want to answer. “Why didn’t you just tell me that?”

“It wasn’t my secret to share.” The heavy tone of the conversation made him shift in the seat. He clamored desperately for something to lighten the mood. “Besides, I’m a little bit scared of her. I think she might be the devil.”

They shared a laugh. The warmth of camaraderie filled the empty hole inside him and chased away the numbness from the previous night. Her hand rested on the seat between them, inches from his. A simple glide along the leather would bring them together. His fingers twitched. Then he remembered she wasn’t his to touch. He cast a glance in her direction and found her watching him with an unreadable expression. They both looked quickly away.

“I see that dude got you home okay. What’s his name? Josh? I didn’t realize you were seeing each other. He seems like a nice guy. Although I always thought he might be gay.”
Where the hell did that come from?
He cringed inside, wishing he could suck the statement back inside and pretend it never happened.

“He’s not gay. He’s heteroflexible,” she replied with a slight smile. Randy didn’t return the smile. A small furrow wrinkled her fair brow. “What about it?”

“I saw the way he had his tongue down your throat.” The hairs on the back of his neck began to prickle as jealousy returned. The memory of the pretty boy with his hands and lips all over her pissed him off all over again. He was being unreasonable, and he knew it but couldn’t stop it. “I guess it surprised me, is all.”

Chapter 18

Karly turned to gape at Randy, who’d apparently lost his mind. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She cocked her head and stared at him, thoughts warring between amusement, surprise, and irritation. Was he jealous? To stir the pot, she decided to add a little flavor to the situation and see where it went. “He’s very hot, don’t you think?” Randy glowered. A second, less amusing thought entered her head, followed by the quick flush of anger. He could have heard the campus rumors about her and, by the tone of his voice, believed them.

“I wouldn’t know,” Randy said, his voice rough. “But apparently you think he is.” He shifted away from her. “Or was that just a random hook up?”

Anger flared her nostrils. She sucked in a deep breath and prepared to unload on him. “I don’t know what you’ve heard about me, but I don’t shag random guys, especially while I’m working. I know you and I hooked up last summer, but it’s not something I make a habit of. And if you think for one minute that I’m—.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Randy raised both hands from the steering wheel for a split second. “Calm down. It’s not my business.”

“You’re right. It’s not your business.” Her fingernails cut into the palms of her hands as she clenched her fists. How dare he judge her? “And he’s ten times better than someone like Amber Patrick.”

“I already told you, I’m not fucking Amber.” His voice rose to match hers.

“Not now, maybe,” she snapped, feeling completely unreasonable and unable to stop. He took his eyes from the road long enough to glare at her. She bit her lower lip, determined to remain quiet.

“Sorry I brought it up,” he replied tersely.

The remainder of the drive to the hospital teemed with tense silence. Once they arrived, Randy held the hospital entrance door open for her and said nothing. The scent of antiseptic and illness hit her with full force, bringing back memories best left forgotten. He seemed intent on leaving her in his wake, striding down the hallway on long legs, causing her to trot beside him, heels clicking on the linoleum.

They found Jack in the lounge, staring into the coffee vending machine as if it were hiding the secrets to the universe. His dark hair, usually in a state of orchestrated disarray, stood out in frantic spikes. Randy cleared his throat. Jack whirled around to face them, a look of utter panic on his face. Once he recognized them, the strained lines around his eyes relaxed, and he smiled.

"Dude, the last thing you need is a cup of coffee. You're jumpy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs." Randy clapped Jack on the shoulder and squeezed while Karly hung back, still steaming from the drive.

"I know, but I'm losing my freaking mind out here." Jack scrubbed over his face with both hands then swept them through his hair, explaining the traumatized hairstyle. "You got any smokes?"

Randy dug into the breast pocket of his shirt and came out with a crumpled soft pack of Camel menthols. He pressed it into Jack's hand. "What are you doing out here, anyway? Shouldn't you be in there?"

"The nurse threw me out. Said I made Chelsea's blood pressure shoot through the roof every time I opened my mouth."

"Is something wrong? Where's Ally?” Karly took the cigarettes from Jack's hand and shoved them back into Randy's pocket with a meaningful glare. “This is a no-smoking facility. You don't want to get thrown out, do you?"

Jack grimaced. "Chelsea wanted Ally in the room with her. I haven't seen or heard from anyone since she went in there."

"I'll go see if I can find out what’s happening," Karly said. She needed a minute to collect her thoughts and rein in the flood of emotions evoked by the hospital. Emma had been born in this same unit, a few rooms down the hall from Chelsea. The events of the day might have blurred with time, but the euphoria of holding the tiny bundle and counting ten perfect fingers and toes would never fade. Neither would the memories of the pain that followed.

Chapter 19

Ally held a bundle of blankets in her arms, clutched protectively to her chest. She turned to face the nursery window with a huge, beaming smile, still flushed with adrenalin. "Look! Isn't she beautiful?" Ally tilted the bundle to reveal a small, reddened face peering at them through the folds of the blanket. To Randy, it looked more like an angry gnome than a baby, but he nodded politely and smiled for Jack's sake then moved away to the window, where he felt less obtrusive.

Fresh snow blanketed the courtyard below the window, tinged with the golden tones of the mid-morning sun. The day Caleb had been born, he’d sat in the same courtyard, and again when his mother had died three days later. Those days had been a mixture of excitement and heartbreak as one life ended and another began. He passed a hand across his eyes at the remembrance, as if he could wipe away the sting of loss.

"And she has a gorgeous head of hair," said one of the nurses. She tugged the tiny knit cap from the baby's head to reveal a thicket of fine red curls.

A collective gasp drew Randy’s attention back to the present. Three pairs of questioning eyes trained on him. Confused, he lowered a hand to check his fly and, finding everything in order down there, coughed to cover his self-consciousness.

"Is there maybe something you need to tell us?" Ally asked in her usual forthright manner.

"Uh, what?" He caught a glimpse of his reflection in the darkened window and his deep auburn hair. “Don’t look at me. I can't believe you’d even think that." He shot an accusing look at Jack.

Jack shrugged and raised an eyebrow but smiled. Randy exhaled a sigh of relief. He might have a truckload of flaws, but shagging his friend's ex-wife wasn't one of them. He’d leave that kind of behavior to Mitch.

"Is that normal?" Jack asked the nurse. "Or will it maybe change color later?"

"It might lighten up a little. But it's going to be either red or blond," the nurse replied, oblivious to the turmoil. "Look how fair she is. And she's going to have pretty blue eyes too."

Randy felt Jack stiffen beside him. The nurse reclaimed the baby and whisked it away. Any questions about the baby's paternity took on a new slant at this unexpected revelation. Jack's hair was a rich chocolate brown, due in part to his Italian and Greek heritage; Chelsea's hair was the deep blue-black of a raven's wing.

"Jack, are you alright?" Ally’s green eyes filled with concern. When he didn't respond, she turned to Randy. "Why don't you guys go downstairs and get something to eat? I think he's in shock."

"Did Chelsea say anything about this?" Karly asked Ally when the guys were safely out of earshot. They were still standing in front of the nursery, watching the tiny babies through the glass.

"She hasn’t said a word. Completely mute," Ally said. "She just burst into tears. And she didn't want to hold the baby or anything. I think she's having some kind of breakdown." With an exhausted sigh, she collapsed in a nearby chair and groaned. "The doctor says it's not uncommon, especially with someone who has her kind of issues. Post-partum depression and all that."

"I bet she's depressed." Karly snorted. "She was banking on Jack being the dad. Her whole world collapsed."

"I know. Jack's super pissed about it. Especially after the hell she's put us through. I guess the paternity test will settle everything. The results won't be back for a while though." Dark circles smudged beneath Ally's green eyes. She stretched and groaned.

"You look wiped. Do you need anything?"

"Sleep," Ally replied with a tired smile.

"This whole situation is so screwed up," Karly said, shaking her head. "I mean, this deal with Chelsea and Jack. You're more of a woman than I'll ever be. I don't know how you do it."

"Simple. I do it for Jack," Ally said with a shrug. "Just wait until you find someone you love and then you'll understand. You'll move heaven and earth to make them happy.”

Karly shook her head, unconvinced. No guy was worth so much pain and heartache. "Umm, I'll take your word for it."

“So, you came here with Randy? What’s up with that?” Ally tried and failed to hold back a small smirk, as if she was personally responsible.

“Nothing is up with that,” Karly retorted. “He saw me at the bus stop and offered me a ride.”

“Well, that was nice of him,” Ally said. She quirked an elegant eyebrow. “He’s very hot, don’t you think?”

“Ally, don’t do it.” Karly pointed a finger at her friend in warning. “I am not going there, and neither are you.”

“Never say never,” Ally replied.

“He thinks I shagged Josh last night,” she huffed out with renewed irritation. “As if.
As if!
” She snorted, fiddling with the edges of her coat. “Like it’s any of his business. And I told him so, too.”

“Sounds like he’s jealous,” Ally said. “I saw the way he looks at you when you’re not looking. Randy doesn’t give much away, but it was written all over his face.”

***