DANE

I rolled my eyes when I heard Hales’ voice from where I was in a room.

“Hales has such loud voice,” I said with a chuckle. “You may want to go save whoever she’s yelling at.” I winced as the doctor worked on my hand but I kept my eyes on Sadie.

She shook her head. “Nope. I’m good.”

I clenched my jaw as the doctor finished putting my hand and wrist in a brace. I felt sweat forming on my brow.

“I’ll get some medicine for you to take. You won’t need surgery, but the brace will need to stay on for several weeks.

Sadie chuckled. When the doctor gave her a disapproving stare, she covered her mouth. The doctor shook his head and left the room. Just as he shut the door, Hales barged into the room.

“Did you scare the hell out of a poor nurse?” I asked with a frown.

Hailey’s eyes went to Sadie after she saw that I was okay.

“Why are you smiling?” she snapped.

Sadie’s mouth opened but closed again. She glanced at me and then at Hales. “The doctor was giving Dane orders, and I thought it was funny. Dane is stubborn.”

“And how the hell would you know that? You’ve been gone for eight years!”

“Hailey, don’t,” I said through a clenched jaw.

Sadie looked at me. “I’ll be waiting outside.” She kissed the top of my head before walking out.

Hailey’s mouth fell open. “Tell me you’re not back together!”

“We’re not together, but we are working on getting along.” I was trying to keep my voice lowered but needed her to hear how serious I was on the matter. “I won’t have Millie or Tate in a home filled with tension.”

“Why is she going to be involved at all? She gave up those rights, Dane!”

“She was fourteen, Hales. Only a little older than Millie. She was being pushed by her parents to give him up. No, I don’t agree with it and, yes, I’m still pissed she didn’t tell me. But she’s his mom.”

“And your dad is your dad, but he isn’t fit to be,” she retorted.

“My dad is an abusive asshole. Sadie was young and stupid. Besides, if we deny her rights, she’ll fight us, and that’s not something I want to put Tate or me through.”

That calmed her down. Some. She pointed to my hand. “Did she piss you off?”

“Does it matter? I was an idiot and broke my hand. I shouldn’t have let my temper control me. I know better.”

“Yes, it matters, Dane. It matters a whole helluva lot. I’m not letting her destroy you again.”

A nurse came in and kept a safe distance between Hailey and her as she handed me discharge papers. “Mr. Shaw, you’re free to go.” She backed away and waited near the door, keeping her eyes on Hailey.

Hailey rolled her eyes. “Okay, so I came in a little dramatic.”

“A little? You terrified the poor girl.”

She smiled a little when I raised a brow. “They weren’t going to let me back. They said the room was at capacity.”

I chuckled and shook my head, standing. “Hales, no matter what happens, I’m not going to leave again. I made a promise to all of you and to Millie. I’m not going anywhere.” I knew that was what she was afraid of. She was scared I’d get hurt and leave her again.

“It’s not just that, Dane. You deserve to be happy. This curveball Sadie threw… It’s worse than any curveball I’ve ever thrown. And I’ve thrown some really badass ones.” She leaned in closer. “I have every right to not like her. I’m going to try. For you and for your son. But right now, this is hard to forgive. It’s almost unforgivable. And I can’t keep my crazy-pregnant self quiet. You know that.”

“I know. It’s going to be hard on everyone. Zach wants to kick her ass, and if she wasn’t a woman, he probably would.”

She watched me sign the discharge papers.

“Well, if I wasn’t pregnant, I would.”

I took the prescription from the nurse and the medicine that I probably wouldn’t take. Sadie was right; I was stubborn as a damn mule. “Do you still want me to come to your house tonight?”

“Yes. I want to make sure you don’t bring that bitch into your bed.”

The nurse stood by the door unsure of her next move.

I rolled my eyes. “I wasn’t planning on it.” I looked at the nurse and smiled. “Ignore her. She’s pregnant and cranky.” I winked at her.

She opened the door to let us out.

Sadie was in the waiting room chewing on her nails, a habit that hadn’t changed over all the years. She stopped when she saw Hailey and me.

“I’ll see ya at your house soon,” I said to Hales as I nudged her toward the door. After she left, I turned to Sadie. “You ready? I can drive you home.”

She put my keys behind her back and shook her head. “You took a pain pill. The nurse told me.”

I blinked a few times. “Only one. It won’t do much to me. Besides, I’m going to have to drive once I leave your place anyway.”

“I don’t like that idea. How about you leave your truck at my house, and I drop you off at Zach and Hailey’s?” Her tone didn’t leave much room for argument.

“All right. But you can just take me home and drive my truck. I’ll get Trevor to pick me up from work and swing me by to get it.”

She thought about it for a second and then nodded.

Sensing her tension, I attempted some small talk. “Have you met Jason yet?”

“Briefly,” she said, acting like she didn’t really want to elaborate.

“Did you not like him?”

“It was in passing, on my way to the guest bedroom above the studio.” She cranked the engine.

“And?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. We all loved Jason.

“I can’t say if I like him or not yet. He literally handed me a blanket from a closet and said goodnight. That was it.”

“You’ll like him once you get to know him. We all love him. He makes Trev very happy.”

“I know he does. I’m just… I don’t expect many people to like me here, Dane. I really fucked up.” She shrugged. “Are you and Trevor okay?” she asked as she started driving. “I put him in a hard place asking him to keep that from you.”

“We’re fine. After I calmed down some I was able to talk to him.”

She smiled, but it faded a little as she got lost in her thoughts. “I wonder who he looks like. I hope he has your red hair and freckles.”

I stared out the window. “I honestly hope he’s nothing like me.”

“Oh stop.” She laughed a little. “I hope he gets my olive skin so the sun doesn’t hate him like it hates you.”

“Yeah, it does hate me. And working in construction doesn’t keep me out of the sun much.”

“The sun makes your freckles play connect the dots.” She snorted when she laughed harder. “Remember that time Trevor and I connected your freckles on your face with a Sharpie in the fourth grade? They sort of resembled a really weird butterfly.” She was laughing so hard that I worried she might not be paying attention to the road.

“I remember. It took me forever to get it off.” I smiled. “Now pay attention to the road, Daisy.”

Her laughter faded and she held the steering wheel with both hands.

When we got to Zach and Hales’ house, she parked in the driveway and got out to open the door for me before I could do it myself.

“Sadie, I’m fine.” I got out and looked toward the front of the house. Zach and Hales were waiting on the porch. “Looks like Mom and Dad waited up,” I said sarcastically.

“Wonder if they’d freak out if I kissed you goodnight.” She bit her lip, fighting a smirk. She stopped just as we started walking. She looked at me in awe.

“Why are you looking at me like that? It’s weird.”

“You called me Daisy.”

I felt my cheeks turning red. “I guess I did. Goodnight, Sadie.” I kissed the top of her head before turning and headed toward Zach and Hales, who were waiting to hear about my entire night in detail. All I wanted to do was go curl up next to Millie and go to sleep.