We left the restaurant together, and Eddie walked me to my car.
“Thank you for dinner. I had a great time.”
“Me too. I hope, maybe, we can do it again sometime?” Eddie asked. His eyes locked on mine for a brief moment before he diverted them to a spot over my shoulder.
“Sure. I’d like that.”
Eddie reached out in front of him, and he leaned in, but a loud ringing startled us both, and I was saved from figuringout if he was going for a hug, a handshake, or a good-night kiss. Honestly, it could have been any of them.
I glanced at my phone. A picture of Luke lit up the screen behind his name. I had taken that picture a few years ago at one of his backyard barbecues, and it had been his contact photo ever since.
His face sent a shiver of awareness through my body, and my heart skipped a beat. I shouldn’t answer him. He knew I was on a date tonight. When he got all huffy about it at work earlier, my heart wanted to see it as jealousy, but my brain knew that wasn’t it. My crush on Luke was entirely unrequited.
“Sorry. I should take this,” I told Eddie.
I was a traitor to my own self. I couldn’t stop myself.
“Yeah, of course. Have a good night.”
“You too,” I told him. I swiped to answer Luke’s call as I got in my car. “Hey,” I greeted him.
“Letty, are you still on your date?” Luke asked. He spoke so quickly it took a second for me to process it. Nerves flowed through my system instantly.
“No. I was just saying good night to him when you called. Is everything okay?”
“Maeve’s in labor.”
“What!” I shouted. “It’s too early. She still has three more weeks. She can’t be in labor yet.” Sweat coated my skin, and my heart rate spiked before I applied all of my training as a police dispatcher. Staying calm in a crisis was a skill set that I was well versed in.
I hit the gas, turning toward the local hospital. Maeve had become one of my best friends over the past year. I needed to be there for her, especially in the event that something wentwrong.
“She’s full term. The baby has been growing at a normal, healthy pace. There’s no reason to think anything is wrong.”
“Yeah. Yeah. That’s true. At thirty-seven weeks, baby Wilder should be pretty well developed,” I mumbled, more to myself than to Luke, my heart rate slowing incrementally. “I’m on my way over there now.”
“Okay, good. I’m sure she’ll want to see you. Wyatt is in the delivery room with her. Me and my dad are here. Reid and Claire are on their way.”
“Where’s Juliet?” I asked. His wife had been frosty with me ever since I met her, but there was absolutely no way I was going to avoid my best friend’s childbirth because of her. But if shewasthere, I just wanted a little heads-up so I could prepare.
Luke’s silence pressed on a beat too long before he replied, “She’s not here.”
The hospital was just outside of town limits. Fifteen minutes later, I was jogging into the building. The woman at the front desk told me where I could find the labor and delivery ward.
“Scarlett, hey,” a voice called from behind me. I spun around quickly, my red curls tangling in my face.
“Hi, Jackson. Josie.” Maeve’s brother had arrived at the same time as me, along with her mother. “Ready to meet the new baby Wilder?”
“More than ready. And it seems like the baby is sick of waiting around to meet us too,” Josie laughed.
They followed me up to the ward. The waiting room in labor and delivery was small. Luke, Charlie, Reid, and Claire were already there, taking four of the six seats. Reid pulledClaire from her seat between him and Luke, positioning her on his lap.
Luke tipped his head toward the seat, motioning for me to sit there.
“Has anyone got an update?” I asked.
Luke quirked his brow at me with a grin. “In the twenty minutes since I called you? No, no update.”
So snarky. I stuck my tongue out at him, crinkling my nose up.
