Page 16 of Daddy Detectives: Episode 2
“Yes.” He lifts his hands to cup my face, still staring deeply into my eyes. “I saw them, and they broke my heart. Seeing you like that, looking so lost and sad.” Tyler’s eyes harden, pain radiating through them. “I will never let anyone hurt you again, babe.Never.”
My throat tightens, and my voice shakes. “That’s got to be the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me.”
Tyler’s thumbs gently wipe my cheeks. That’s when I realize I’m crying.
“Shh,” he murmurs. “It’s going to be okay, I promise.”
And then he presses a kiss to my lips, so gently it breaks my heart.
“Do you want to hear about your birth mother?” he asks. “I had a rather lengthy conversation with her at the diner where she works.”
“I don’t think so. I’m not sure my heart can take it.”
Tyler pulls back to look me in the eyes, his gaze filled with compassion. “Actually, babe, I think maybe you do.”
* * *
Just as we’re finishing our dinner, Tyler’s phone rings. He picks it up, frowns at the caller ID, and takes the call. “Tyler Jamison.” He listens for a few moments, growing more and more tense by the second. “I’m on my way.”
“What was that about?” I ask the second he ends the call.
He stands. “That was Rhonda Mitchell’s nurse calling, at Rhonda’s request. Gary Sharp attacked Rhonda when she got home from work today. She’s in the ER. She’s pressing charges.”
My stomach knots. “What kind of charges? What did he do?”
“From the sound of it, he tried to kill her.” He gives me an apologetic look.
Someone attacked my birth mother?I can barely wrap my mind around the fact she’s still alive, and now I’ve learned that someone tried tohurther?
“Babe, I’m sorry to take off again,” Tyler says, “but I need to go to the hospital.”
“I’m coming with you.”
Tyler frowns. “I don’t think that’s a good—”
“I’m coming.”
Tyler sighs. “Fine. Then what do we do about the babies?”
“I’ll call my sister and see if she and Jason can watch them.”
He frowns. “Are you sure? Ian, this could be—”
“Yes, I’m sure. I’ll call Layla.”
Thirty minutes later, Layla and Jason are at our front door. Tyler lets them in, giving them a quick rundown.
I show them where the prepared bottles are. “They’re sleeping upstairs in our bedroom right now, but when they wakeup, they’re going to be hungry.” I’m rambling nervously. “Their diapers are—”
Jason clasps my shoulder. “We’ll manage just fine, Ian. You guys go.”
A few minutes later, Tyler walks me out to his car. He opens the front passenger door for me, and I slip into the seat. By the time he’s sitting behind the wheel, I’m buckled in and ready to go.
Or, as ready as I’ll ever be.
As Tyler starts the engine, he glances over at me. “You okay?” He squeezes my hand.
I lean my head back and close my eyes. “Yes.”
