The sliding doors swished open to admit more of the late-night crowd, except a much-better dressed new batch—his family. They must not have had time to change out of their party clothes before the call about Kyle came in. His mother rushed toward him, Matthew and Ashley close on her heels.
He bolted forward and slid an arm around his mother’s shoulders. “Have you heard anything about Kyle?”
Matthew shook his head. “Nothing yet. The General’s out in the parking lot making more calls, trying to tap into his military contacts. Jonah stayed at the house to man the phones.”
Sebastian exhaled hard, wishing for more information while grateful that at least there hadn’t been bad news. Still, his mother must be feeling torn in two tonight. Her clothes might be camera-ready perfect, but the rubber gardening clogs on her feet declared how frazzled she must have been as she rushed out the door.
“Mom, you didn’t need to come here.” He gave her a light one-armed hug. “You’ve got enough to worry about right now.”
“You’re my son, too.” She pressed a maternal kiss to his cheek, the strain around her eyes painfully evident. “Every child is equally important in my heart.”
“I’m okay. It’s Marianna—” and their baby “—that I’m concerned about.”
She gripped his arm, her eyes searching his face. “You said on the phone that you were with Marianna, but you didn’t say what happened to her.”
“She’s still in the exam room.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “She hit her head on the passenger window when I swerved to miss a drunk driver.”
“Son, I can’t even begin to understand what’s going on between the two of you lately. I’m just glad you’re both all right.”
Half the time he didn’t even know where things stood between him and his ex-wife. “Thank you for coming, but you really can go home. I’ve got this.”
She cupped his cheek. “You of all my boys understand the fears of a parent’s heart.”
For a second he thought she’d found out about the baby, then he realized she meant Sophie. He stood stock-still, frozen from the inside out. No one other than Marianna had dared mention his daughter’s name around him, not after he’d cut off conversations often enough. That his mother would bring her up now only proved how stressed she must be. He stayed silent and let his mother keep talking.
“Even though you know Sophie’s well cared for, it’s difficult not to worry about our children when they’re out of our sight, much less when you know you can’t see them again. You and Marianna have been through so much these past months.”
Now that part, he had heard from his mother—her softly spoken suggestion that he and Marianna not go through with the divorce so quickly. Which only proved how well he and Marianna had hidden their problems from even those closest to them. The lead up to ending their marriage had been protracted and painful, dragging out over the past two years.
“Sebastian, did you hear what I said?” his mother’s worried voice yanked him back into the cold, antiseptic present.
“Sure, Mom, absolutely.” He hoped he hadn’t just agreed to something too outrageous.
Matthew took her elbow, angling her toward the exit. “You’ve seen with your own eyes that he’s okay. Let’s go back to the house.”
The doors leading to the exam rooms swished open and Sebastian pivoted fast, his family pretty much fading away. Dr. Cohen strode through with brisk efficiency, her red glasses hanging from her neck. “Mr. Landis, Marianna is awake. By all indications, she and the baby are both perfectly fine.”
He gripped the back of a chair, his legs suddenly not too steady under him. “How much longer until I can go back to see her?”
“In a few minutes. She’s getting dressed, then you can take her home. She’ll need someone to check on her through the night, just to be on the safe side with that bump on her head.” The doctor tapped his arm with the edge of the chart. “You’ve got a tough one there, both her and the baby.”
“Thank you again, Dr. Cohen. I appreciate your coming to the hospital so quickly.” The E.R. docs had said they could handle Marianna’s case. But with the nightmare of that long-ago miscarriage still so starkly fresh in his mind, he’d demanded they call Marianna’s ob-gyn to check her over.
The doors slid closed after Dr. Cohen, and he turned around to find his family gawking wide-eyed back at him. Even the General had arrived just in time to hear everything, his arm already around Ginger to steady her. Ah, crap. Wrapped up in his need for news about Marianna’s condition, he’d all but forgotten his relatives were even there.
“Baby?” his mother whispered, her smile quivering in time with a tear.
So much for waiting to tell everyone about the pregnancy. At least Marianna wouldn’t be able to blame him for spilling the news.
Matthew scratched his head, cheeks puffing with a long, slow exhale. “That sure answers a lot of questions, like why you two have been so chummy all of the sudden.”
Sebastian rocked back on his heels. “That day she fainted at the courthouse, we found out about the pregnancy when she saw the doctor afterward.” He figured it wasn’t any of his family’s business that Marianna actually had known a few hours before the divorce, a fact that still grated. “Marianna and I wanted to find the right time to tell you—once we’ve had a chance to make plans.”
His brother clapped him on the shoulder. “Congratulations, bro.”
His mother rushed to hug him. “I’m happy for both of you. A baby is always cause for joy.”
All the emotionalism started to make him itchy. He just wanted to see Marianna—and holy crap—there was still the uncertainty with his brother. How could he have forgotten about Kyle for even a second? “About Kyle, Marianna and I will be over as soon as—”
His mother held up a hand. “You need to be with Marianna, and it sounds like she should rest. We’ll keep you posted the second we hear anything.”
He hesitated, his need for news about his brother at odds with concerns for Marianna. “You’re sure?”
“There’s nothing any of us can do now except wait.” She nodded toward the door leading back to the exam rooms. “Go be with Marianna.”
His mother was right. He couldn’t help Kyle, but he could take care of Marianna. “We’ll be by tomorrow to talk more.”
And once his mother didn’t have so much worrying her, he intended to make it clear Marianna would be a part of their family in every possible way. He would get his life on track.
He couldn’t get Sophie back. But he damn well wasn’t going to let anyone take a child of his away again, not even his stubborn ex-wife.
Marianna rested her forehead against the cool glass of the car window and looked out at the homes in their neighborhood. Her neighborhood, since Sebastian had moved out.Had it really only been a couple of hours since she and Sebastian had raced into the house expecting to be sex buddies? Now they didn’t know if Kyle was alive or dead. They themselves could have died because of that drunk driver.
Life had a way of reshuffling cards faster than she could think. Like with her teen pregnancy and how her elderly parents had been so disappointed in her. Would things have turned out differently—better—for her and for Sebastian if she’d pushed him for more time to get to know each other rather than rushing into marriage?
As he pulled into their driveway, she slid her hand over her stomach and her eyes toward him. The two most important people in her world were okay. She should take great comfort in that, yet she still felt so unsettled. Yes, Sebastian mattered to her and in a way that went beyond sex buddies. But what had changed between them? Feelings weren’t so easily cut off simply because they’d signed their names to a divorce decree.
None of which she could deal with or resolve tonight, not with the fear of that near-wreck leaving her emotions raw. And certainly not while concerns for his brother loomed.
Sebastian opened his door and met her as she swung her legs out. She couldn’t help but compare this somber walk along the pavers with their frantic rush up the porch steps earlier. Her senses hummed with the memory of his arms wrapped around her, carrying her inside. She could use the comfort of his embrace again.
What if he wanted to pick up where they’d left off on the stairway earlier? She wasn’t sure if that was wise or not, but she did know she needed to be honest with him.
She stepped inside, kneeling to catch Buddy before he sprinted outside. She glanced up at Sebastian as he secured the front door. “I don’t know if we should have sex tonight.”
He pocketed the keys, studying her with inscrutable eyes. “You need to rest. I’ll wake you every couple of hours.”
He’d given in so easily that she didn’t know whether to be relieved or insulted. “I’m sorry to keep you from your family. You must be worried sick about Kyle. I’m worried sick about him.”
He reached down to pat Buddy, calming him with the slow, steady dog-whisperer way of his. “There’s nothing I can do for Kyle, and Matthew promised to call if there’s any news.” Buddy circled them once more then trotted away, nails clicking on the hardwood floors before she heard the doggie door swish open and closed. “I’m where I’m supposed to be right now. You and this baby are my family.”
The sincerity of his words whispered over her like a breeze stirring the water at night, disrupting and enticing all at once. “The baby’s fine. You can stop worrying about that much, at least.”
His jaw flexed as hard as the muscles bulging along sleeves of his jacket. “I shouldn’t have let the news about my brother compromise your safety.”
He blamed himself? That was so unfair—and such an awful burden to carry. “Good God, Sebastian, it wasn’t your fault. The other guy was drunk.”
He gripped her shoulders, his face tight with unmistakable pain. “I thought you were going to die tonight.”
His words now echoed words he’d spoken nine years ago after she’d woken from surgery after the ectopic pregnancy had ruptured her fallopian tube. Suddenly she realized the hell he must have gone through tonight, experiencing what must have seemed like a replay of the past. Could he somehow have blamed himself for that night as well?
Damn keeping her distance.
Her hand gravitated up to caress his neck, her thumb stroking his tensed jaw. “Sebastian…”
She didn’t even know what else to say to him. Then his mouth sealed over hers with a fierceness that touched her heart and rekindled her banked yearning from earlier. Each tender stroke of his hands over her shoulders nudged aside the emotional boundaries she’d tried to put in place with him. His one admission of fear for her made her more weak-kneed than the velvet sweep of his tongue.
Sebastian slipped a hand behind her head and cupped her neck. With the other, he palmed her waist, his fingers hot along her back exposed by the party dress she’d chosen hours ago. Marianna slid her hand inside his jacket, her fingers spreading wide against his chest, digging past his shirt.