The Feud, page 21
I’m not sure what it means that it’s starting to feel that the handful of nights I see her each week are not enough. Just like the limited time I get with Ethan isn’t enough. I love that we can schedule dinners and sometimes a lunch, but overnight stays aren’t practical with Sylvie in the house.
Ethan actually brought it up when we were talking on the phone last night and wanted to know my thoughts. I didn’t have a good answer for him because while you have to balance age-appropriate subject matter with a child’s individualized maturity, we also want to make sure Sylvie feels absolutely secure with the Blackburns. By all accounts, she has assimilated and seems to be happy. She’s far more adjusted to the circumstances than I had initially thought possible, but then again, the Blackburns are a pretty amazing family. It’s hard to withstand their charm.
“What’s up?” I ask, waving her in.
She slides through the gap and shuts the door, looking around. “Were you going to take a nap?”
I blink at her in surprise. “No. Why?”
“It’s just… kind of dark in here.”
I spread my arms out to indicate the entirety of my office. “I turn the lights down a bit and put music on to try to relax while I eat my lunch.”
“Does it work?” she asks, sliding her backpack off her shoulder and letting it slide to the floor.
“Not really,” I reply with a grin, then motion to the chair. “Did you eat lunch?”
“Yeah. Just got done, then asked to come see you.”
I sit up straighter in my chair. “Is something wrong?”
Sylvie shakes her head. “Nope. Just wanted to hang out.”
Laughing, I pick up my fork and dig into my salad. “Surely you have cooler friends than me to hang out with.”
“Yeah, I do,” she replies with a sly smile. “But you’re cool in your own way.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Are you coming over for dinner tonight?” she asks.
I shake my head, mouth drawing into an involuntary frown. “I’ve got a meeting tonight with parents.”
Sylvie nods solemnly. “About the banned books.”
Sighing in resignation, I nod as I stuff lettuce in my mouth.
“My dad bought me all of them on the list, just in case,” she says with a grin. “Doesn’t matter if they get banned here at school.”
I chew and swallow, taking a quick sip of my water. “Maybe not to you, but there are some kids who can’t afford to buy books. And they sometimes get banned in libraries too.”
That gives Sylvie pause and she chews on her bottom lip. “Maybe we can start our own lending program for kids who want to read these books. I mean, with their parents’ permission.”
My heart clenches over her thoughtfulness and pride swells within me because that’s a brilliant idea. “Sylvie,” I exclaim. “That’s genius. We could totally do something like that if the ban goes into effect.”
We chat more about that as I eat. Glancing at the clock on my laptop, I say, “You have about five minutes before you need to get to class.”
She nods and bends over to pick up her backpack. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“I think I’ve made my decision that I want to stay with my dad and not go back to the Mardraggons. I’m not sure if that’s something we let the judge know now but I feel like I should let someone know.”
“Have you told your dad?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “No, but I will. I guess I’m more worried about how to tell Rosemund, Lionel and Gabe. I don’t want to hurt their feelings.”
I can’t help my skeptical eyebrow that shoots up.
Sylvie amends her previous statement. “I don’t want to hurt Uncle Gabe’s feelings. I don’t think my grandparents would care either way. Lionel ignores me and didn’t even eat dinner with us last weekend. And dinner… ugh. It’s so formal. We have to dress up and eat in the formal dining room. Rosemund only talks about parties and never tries to talk to me. At least Uncle Gabe asks me about school and Renault.”
“Admittedly,” I say, trying to keep my tone neutral but still clear that I’m on Sylvie’s side, “your grandparents aren’t like others I’ve known.”
Tossing her hands up, she says, “I don’t think they know how to talk to kids. Uncle Gabe told me that he and my mom were raised by a nanny. When my mom was sick, Lionel and Rosemund never came to visit her. I was in there with her, although Gabe came several times a day to check on things.”
“It’s not natural,” I concede.
“My mom taught me better. She showed me what real love is and I can see it in my dad. It’s why my mom wanted me to stay with him.”
I nod in understanding. She’s finally seeing the wisdom of her mother’s decision. “Do you not want to go back for visits? Because you don’t have to.”
Sylvie’s expression is tortured as she worries at her bottom lip but finally says, “I like spending time with Uncle Gabe.”
“But you can set that up outside of overnight visits if you want,” I say, confident that Ethan will agree with that. “Dinner, lunch. Maybe your dad can invite him over—”
I’m cut short by the pointed stare Sylvie levels at me that basically says, Yeah, my dad will never invite Gabe over for anything.
“Regardless,” I continue. “There are alternatives.”
“I’ll talk to Uncle Gabe about it this Saturday when I stay over. Maybe Lionel and Rosemund just need time to learn how to be grandparents.” I marvel that this child is wiser and more caring, empathetic and mature than Lionel and Rosemund Mardraggon could ever hope to be. “I’ll also talk to my dad about it tonight. He always seems to have good advice.”
“Yeah, he does, doesn’t he?” I say softly. Ethan always knows the right things to say and it’s one of the reasons I adore him so much. “Okay… off to class with you. I’ll see you tomorrow night for dinner.”
“Awesome,” Sylvie says as she rises from the chair. She heads for the door, pauses and then turns back. Dropping her bag, she walks around my desk and flings her arms around my neck. “Thank you, Ms. DeLeon… for everything you’ve done for me.”
Tears sting my eyes and I hug her back. “I think when we’re alone, you can call me Marcie, okay?”
She nods against me before pulling away. I watch with a smile as she grabs her bag and heads out of my office.
When the door closes, I pick up my phone and shoot Ethan a quick text. Just had a lovely lunch visit from your daughter. She’s something else.
I go to set my phone down on the desk but it rings and I see it’s Ethan. I connect the call. “Hi. What are you doing?”
“Calling you,” he teases, his low, velvety voice making my belly flutter.
“Yes, you are. But you’re also an incredibly busy man during the day.”
“Not so busy I can’t call you. Plus, you’re busy too, but since you just texted me, I took a chance you had a minute. What’s Sylvie up to?”
Chuckling, I lean back in my chair. “Without divulging anything, let’s just say she’s far too mature for her age, but in a good way.”
“I won’t pry,” he assures me.
“You don’t need to.” I nab my fork, poke around at my salad but realize I don’t like salads all that much and drop the utensil. “She’s going to talk to you about a few things. She seems to think you give good advice and I agree.”
Ethan doesn’t press me for details, nor does he bask in the accolades. Instead, his voice drops even further. “I can’t wait to see you Saturday night.”
“I’m going to see you tomorrow,” I remind him breathlessly because I know exactly what he’s inferring. We haven’t had a night together, alone, since the first time we had sex this past weekend. And well, we had it three times that night, but still… it’s a long wait in between so I admit, “I can’t wait for Saturday either.”
CHAPTER 23
Ethan
I’m a light sleeper by nature, trained to pop out of bed when the alarm goes off or when a midnight emergency happens at one of the barns. But with Marcie curled up beside me tonight—and last Saturday, for that matter—I sleep like the dead.
So I’m groggy as I rise out of slumber, not sure what woke me up. I’m unsettled and it feels like I might have had a bad dream, but I don’t remember a single thing. Lifting my head slightly from the pillow, I see the digital clock on the bedside table says one twenty a.m.
I settle back down, pulling Marcie in closer. I’m spooning her from behind, her naked bottom pressed into me in a way that makes me wish she was awake too. But I know she’s exhausted because after we had dinner (we ordered Chinese takeout), we tore off each other’s clothes and ended up in my bed where we stayed all evening. I doubt I’ve been asleep more than an hour.
The room isn’t quite pitch-black, but it’s dark enough. No moonlight filters through and I seem to remember a storm was forecast to roll in, so I’m assuming it’s heavy cloud cover. I embrace the darkness and close my eyes, letting my mind drift over all things Marcie. As good as it feels to have her in my bed and makes me want it every night, I want more than just sex. I want her at my dinner table and walking the pastures with me and taking Sylvie clothes shopping for school. It’s not hard for me to envision a complete life with her and Sylvie. On the contrary, it might be something I desperately need now that I’ve seen how damn good it can all be.
Maybe it is indeed time to talk to Sylvie about Marcie staying over some nights. Well, all nights. Not like asking her to move in permanently, but… well, maybe. Fuck if I know. I only know what I want.
My phone rings, cutting through the silence and my thoughts. It’s of Marcie I think of first, not wanting to wake her. I reach backward with my right arm, nabbing the phone and am able to thumb the slider and connect the call, but not before I see the name Gabe Mardraggon on the screen.
In the span of the less than one second it takes to put the phone to my ear, I am acutely aware of the time, that Sylvie is staying over at the Mardraggons tonight and Gabe would not be calling if it wasn’t important.
“Is Sylvie okay?” I demand as I sit up in bed, reaching over to turn on the light. Marcie sits straight up, hair mussed but looking at me with clear, worried eyes.
“No,” he replies and my entire body goes numb. “She’s on her way to the hospital. The ambulance is pulling out right now and I’m following.”
I put the phone on speaker so Marcie can hear and swing my legs out of bed. “What happened?”
Marcie scrambles out as well and we both nab our clothes from the floor.
“I don’t know. I was out and when I got home, I swung by Sylvie’s room to check on her. The door was open and I saw her on the floor. She was unconscious, barely breathing. I called 9-1-1 and they got here quick, Ethan.”
“But what happened?” I growl, setting the phone on the bed so I can get dressed while talking.
“I don’t know,” he snaps back, and I can hear the worry in his voice. If that asshole is worried, then I really need to be. “I came home. She was on the floor. I called the ambulance. Rosemund said she was fine after dinner. Went to bed around nine.”
I talked to her about eight thirty tonight and she was eager for me to pick her up early, but for no reason other than we were going to get her up on a horse today. Marcie too for that matter.
“Just get to the hospital,” Gabe says. “Anything I need to know or tell them? Has she been okay since she’s been with you?”
His question is legitimate and not accusatory. “She’s been fine. But remember to tell them she’s allergic to penicillin.”
“Yes, I know that,” Gabe replies. “We’re pulling in now. I’ll see you when you get here.”
♦
When we arrive at the hospital, Gabe meets us in the lobby, ushering me to the reception desk. “They’ve got her in a room and they’re working on her. They wouldn’t let me go back but they said you’d be able to. This is Sylvie Mardraggon’s father.”
I’m apparently expected as the woman buzzes back to someone. A door clicks open and the woman says, “Go down the hall all the way to the end, turn left and then take the second right. She’s in emergency bay two.”
I glance back at Marcie and I want to pull her into my arms and tell her it will all be okay, but I don’t know that. I don’t know anything right now. I reach out and squeeze her hand. “Call my parents and let them know what’s going on.”
She nods, squeezes my hand and then reaches into her purse for her phone. I glance at Gabe, give him a nod and head through the doors.
When I reach the emergency bay, I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t a large glass window looking into a room where Sylvie lies in a bed with tubes everywhere. Her eyes are closed and she looks so small and fragile.
The door is open so I walk to it, step just inside. Three women are around her bed and I’m ignored at first, but then one of them, who I assume is a doctor, sees me. “I’m Dr. Jacobs. You’re Sylvie’s father?”
“Yeah.” My eyes cut over to her. “Is she going to be okay?”
“We’re treating her as best we can right now. She’s got very low blood pressure and a weak pulse, plus some difficulty breathing. Her EKG is normal, but we can’t rule out a heart issue. I’ve got her going on fluids and oxygen and we’ve given her a dose of epinephrine to help raise her blood pressure and improve blood flow to the heart. Right now, she’s stable and we’re going to admit her.”
“Jesus,” I mutter, dragging my hand through my hair. “What do we do now?”
“Tests,” Dr. Jacobs says. “We’re running her blood work now and I want to get a CT scan of her chest. I’ve asked for cardiology and pulmonology consults.”
“Can I stay in here with her?”
Dr. Jacobs smiles. “Of course. She’s been drifting in and out, but she’ll be happy you’re here. She asked for you.”
I nod mutely and move to the side of her bed. Taking her small hand in mine, I start praying for her.
♦
Marcie rubs my lower back as we sit side by side at Sylvie’s bed. She was moved into her own room on the children’s floor a few hours ago and she’s been sleeping since then. I took a few minutes to talk to my family, who showed up en masse, and they’re all still waiting in the lobby for an update. I tried to make them go home, promising to keep them apprised of developments, but Kat called me an asshole for suggesting such a thing.
The sun has risen, but it’s gloomy and overcast, same as my mood. Sylvie was taken for a CT scan and Dr. Jacobs said it was clear, which is a good thing. The consult doctors will be by this morning but I’m getting agitated that no one seems to have any answers yet.
“Can I get you some coffee?” Marcie asks softly.
I shake my head, turning to smile at her. Leaning over, I kiss her temple. “I’m glad you’re here though.”
“Nowhere else I could possibly be,” she replies.
“Dad,” a croaking voice says, and Marcie and I both whip our heads to Sylvie. Her eyes are open and she sounds groggy. “Where am I?”
I bolt out of my chair and lean over the bed so she can see me more clearly. Marcie stands as well but hangs back a little. I take Sylvie’s hand. “Hey, baby… you’re in the hospital, but you’re going to be okay.”
Her eyes widen with alarm but I stroke her hand, reassuring her quickly. “You’re fine now. They gave you some medicine and you’re going to be just fine.”
That might be a fucking lie for all I know, but seeing the relief on her face makes me feel good about it.
“What happened?” she asks, eyes sliding over to Marcie. She manages a wan smile.
“Hey, sweet girl,” Marcie croons, now stepping up to the bed, shoulder to shoulder with me. “We’re not sure. Your uncle Gabe found you on the floor by your bed and he couldn’t get you to wake up. So he called the ambulance and then called your dad. But the doctors are taking really good care of you.”
“Do they know what’s wrong with me?” she asks.
I shake my head. “We don’t know that anything’s wrong just yet, but they’re going to have some special doctors look at you today.”
Her beautiful green eyes fill with tears. “I’m scared.”
“Oh, honey… I know.” I lift her hand to my mouth, press a kiss there. “But I promise you’re in good hands and I’m not leaving your side. Mamie and Papi are here, as well as Trey, Kat and Wade.” I turn to Marcie. “Do you mind letting them know she’s awake and I’ll come out in a bit to give them an update?”
“Of course,” she replies and then leans over the rail, brushing her lips over Sylvie’s forehead. “Brave girl.”
Sylvie manages a smile and when Marcie’s gone, I pull the chair up closer and sit back down, never relinquishing my hold on her hand.
“I don’t feel sick,” she says, tipping her head to the side and taking in the IV pole. She grimaces as she looks at the tube running down to her inner arm. “How long do I have to stay?”
“Dr. Jacobs said as long as you continue to improve, just one more night. So tomorrow morning. The good news is the CT scan they did yesterday looks good and your blood work so far looks good. It’s a bit of a mystery though. Do you remember anything? Feeling bad last night?”
She shakes her head. “No. We had dinner and then Uncle Gabe and I played Scrabble. He went out and I went to my room and read a book. I felt fine when I went to sleep.”
I give her a wink. “Medical mystery, indeed. I’m just glad you’re doing better.”
Sylvie nods and her gaze slides away from mine as if she’s contemplating something. When she returns her attention to me, she says, “I don’t think I want to do overnights at Lionel and Rosemund’s anymore.”
My hackles rise along with my protective instinct. “Why? Did they do something to make you feel unwelcome?”
“No,” she rushes to assure me. “Not like that. It’s just… they don’t do anything. Lionel is never around and Rosemund barely speaks to me. Uncle Gabe is the only one who spends time with me, but maybe I can just go out to dinner with him or he can come over—”
