Until our fight a couple of days ago, I would have agreed that I hated her father with every fiber of my being.
“I don’t hate him.” My chest rose and fell, and I raised my head to meet Ozzie’s gaze full on. What did he know about what I was going through? He had my fatherandmy brother while the one man—the first man I’d ever fallen for was out of my reach. “I’m angry, or I was angry, but then holding her…”
I couldn’t explain it, but that baby in my arms felt larger than any hate that had festered in my heart over the years.
The front door banged open, startling Ivy, but she didn’t wake up.
“What in the world!” Ozzie cried.
I rose to my feet with the baby still cradled in my arms. Who the hell had entered the house like that? Whatever it was, it sounded urgent.
“Ozzie!”
The second he shouted—sharp, frantic, echoing off the hallway walls—my entire body went rigid. My blood turned to ice.
Hudson.
Shit.
My heart slammed against my ribs like it was trying to punch its way out. I looked down at the little girl in my arms, hyperaware of how tightly she was wrapped around me, how her cheek was still pressed to my shoulder.
Fuck.
I’d just spent the last ten minutes holding the daughter of the man I’d never forgiven. The man I’d never stopped wanting. Panic flared in my throat, thick and hot. I shifted to hand her off to Ozzie, but he was eyeing the entrance and not paying attention.
Ivy whimpered and clung harder, like she never intended to let go. My breath caught. Too late. Hudson was already storming into the room. His eyes landed on me, on us, and his whole face changed.
“Hudson, is everything all right?” Ozzie asked as if he was oblivious to the major problem right there in the room with us.
“What are you doing with my daughter?” he demanded, nostrils flaring.
“It’s okay. He was only helping her get back to her nap,” Ozzie said quickly.
I opened my mouth to deliver my usual scathing remark, but no sound came out. Nothing had prepared me to survive this scenario. I did the only thing I could think of. I lowered the child back to the makeshift bed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have.”
Because she was his daughter, and only he had a say inwho watched his daughter. For some reason, the thought scalded.
I tried to brush past Hudson, but he stepped easily in front of me, blocking me. “No, don’t?—”
“Get out of my way, Hud.”
Fuck.
Hud.
My huddlebug.
I hadn’t called him that in years.
And then he made it worse by placing a hand in the center of my chest. Oh God, I missed his touch.
“I would, but it’s your dad,” he said. “He’s had an accident and?—”
“Wait, what?” Ozzie rushed closer. “What kind of accident?”
“He got kicked in the head by a horse, but he’s going to be all right. Someone’s taking him into town to see the doctor. He wanted me to let you know he was fine.”
Fuck. I knew Dad. Saying he was fine didn’t necessarily mean he was. Probably the opposite. He didn’t want us to worry.
