“It’s Luke. They’ve made it to Colorado Springs.”
“Okay. Good.”
The drive took a little over an hour, and we drove in silence. By the time we made it to UCHealth Memorial, we were all directed into one big waiting room. They’d wheeled Demi somewhere with Luke and Emery in tow, since the latter refused to leave his twin’s side.
“Bet he’s driving the doctors bonkers,” Fern snickered next to me.
I took a headcount and for the time being, it seemed like only Bodhi, Crew, and Gemma were missing from action.
“We taking turns?” I asked Fern since she was the closest.
“Yeah, Bodhi said he had something to do and would get here as soon as possible.”
Maybe thirty minutes later, the door to the room opened and Emery walked in. He looked upset, but in that annoyed way that suggested he’d probably been kicked out.
“Mom?”
Mom was already out of her seat and embraced him on her way to Demi.
Emery went to a chair, then turned around and didn’t sit. He ran his fingers through his hair.
“She’s fine so far as are the babies. This might take a while, so if anyone has anywhere to be, she said—”
“Absolutely not,” I said firmly. “Goddamn Cahill and his horse are at the ranch, and I won’t miss this even for them.”
Everyone looked at me, and just like that, nobody had anything else to say.
Another half an hour went past as we waited, and then my phone buzzed.
It was Russ. I groaned.
Mal raised a brow at me.
“Cahill’s going to wherever he’s staying and coming back tomorrow,” I explained.
“How did he seem?” Dad asked from where he was sitting in a recliner, trying to seem as if he wasn’t worried at all. He fooled absolutely no one.
I shrugged. “Wealthy city boy who doesn’t really have any respect for my skills so far.” It felt weird to call a man in his early-to-mid forties a boy but oh well.
“Did he think Russ was you?” Dad made an educated guess.
I smirked.
“What?” Mal asked, clearly confused. “How is that possible?”
“I don’t know. I mean I have a hunch. I had a couple of people messaging me before all of this started that his PA”—there were a couple of snorts around the room—“was asking around to see if I was as good as everyone says. So maybe he didn’t actually do any of his own research or something. But his expression was kind of priceless when he realized who I was.”
Dad chuckled. “Good luck with him.”
Sighing, I grunted, “Thanks.”
Fern and Dad went to see Demi next. When they came out with Luke, the dad-to-be told Mal, Emery, and me to go hang out with Demi and Mom so they’d be suitably distracted while Luke went to get something to eat in the cafeteria.
We did as we were told, of course, and the room they’d put Demi in was pretty packed with the four of us there.
Mal went to give her a kiss on the cheek as he glanced at the… whatever you called the thing attached to her stomach that measured something.
“Dr. Gomez says it all looks good,” she explained, and Mal relaxed.
