Billionaires Dollar Series

“No. But I feel a bit weird.”

“Did it break?” Evie asks, inspecting her sister’s arm.

“It’s a fracture,” Ethan says. “Which means it did break, but only a little.”

Haven nods. “And it will heal really, really fast.”

“Yes, it will. Come on, let’s get home.”

I grab Evie’s backpack and reach for her hand. She takes mine without question, eyes still on her sister’s cast.

“I want one,” she tells me.

“Maybe when you’re older,” I say, which is a beyond stupid reply, but she seems to accept it as normal.

Ethan and I walk out of the hospital, each of us hand-in-hand with a little girl. A smiling doctor stops us when we’re almost by the door.

“This is for you,” he tells Haven, holding up a giant lollypop. “For being so brave while we applied the cast.”

She takes it with big eyes. “Thank you.”

“Of course. And for you, little lady…” The doctor hands Evie a smaller lollypop, forestalling any protests. “There you go. You two take care of your mom and dad, now.”

Oh, Christ.

Do we correct that? I glance toward Ethan to see his response, but a small voice stops us.

“We will!” Evie chirps, already hard at work unwrapping her lollypop.

Wow.

Ethan shakes the doctor’s hand. “Thank you. We’ll be back for the checkup.”

The four of us get settled into the car, snapping buckles for car seats and seat belts. Adorably, Evie holds out her lollypop to me.

“Want to taste?”

“No, thank you,” I tell her. “That’s yours. Besides, candy isn’t good for dogs, you know.”

She blinks at me, and then bursts into delighted little giggles.

“Woof,” I say again, tightening the strap around her. “Woof, woof.”

From the driver’s seat, I catch Ethan watching us with an inscrutable look on his face. He looks away as soon as everyone is locked in and we begin the short drive back to Greenwood.

“Do you want ice cream?” he asks Haven. “You can have some when we get home. And you can choose any movie you want.”

“Any movie at all?”

“Okay.” Haven’s voice brightens a bit. “We should tell Grandma, too. About my cast.”

“We can call her as soon as we get back to the house.”

“And Mommy?”

The pause in Ethan’s reply is slight, but it’s there. I glance toward Evie-but no risk there. She’s completely absorbed in demolishing her lollypop.

“We can call her too,” he says carefully. “If you want, sweetie.”

“Okay. Maybe later.”

Ethan pulls me aside as soon as we get back home, as Haven runs upstairs to get her favorite stuffed animal. “Thank you,” he says, and there’s so much emotion in his eyes that I can do nothing but bob my head. They shine with concern and gratitude and relief.

“Of course. What can I do now?”

He glances from me to Evie, who is ambling around in the living room. “Maria has the night off,” he says. “That would be fine, but now… I don’t want to leave Haven for too long.”All content is property © NôvelDrama.Org.

“Of course,” I say. “Go be with her. I’ll stay with Evie and dig through your freezer for ice cream.”

His hand squeezes mine once. “Thanks.”

I’m a yawning mess when Evie is finally down for the night a long while later. From the murmured conversation in Haven’s room, she’s not asleep yet, still shaken by the experience of today.

I go downstairs and wash up the bowls, tiredness like a gray haze at the edge of my vision. I had no idea that taking care of children was like this-fun and amazing and absolutely exhausting. It’s like I’ve been vigilant nonstop since I arrived. How does Ethan do it, day in and day out?

But then I think of Evie’s little hand in mine, and I understand.

He joins me in the kitchen a while later. The faint lines of his face look deeper, eyes weary.

“What a day,” I say softly.

“The worst.” He braces his hands against the kitchen island. “She wanted to climb the ladder herself. She’s done it a dozen times. Hell, she does more dangerous things than that on playgrounds.”

“It happens,” I say. “Most kids break something, sometime.”

He shakes his head. “I know. But I was right there, and when she slipped, I wasn’t fast enough. I wasn’t even looking.”

“You said it yourself, she’s done it a dozen times.”

“At least she got the color she wanted on the cast,” he sighs. “Small mercies, I suppose.”

I put my hand on his. “You did everything right.”

“I installed a death trap in my backyard,” he says, but his voice is somewhat lighter. Driven by impulse, by the darkness in his eyes, I reach over and wrap my arms around him.

Ethan hesitates for only a moment before his arms settle around my waist. He bends his head atop mine and takes a deep breath.

“You did nothing wrong,” I mumble into his chest. The scent of him fills me, soap and man and him.