Chapter Ten
After another round of vital checks and a clear CT, Dr. Ashburn agreed to release Maci. While the rest of his family went home to grab some sleep, Chance stayed so he could take her home. The shock of learning about the baby hadn’t worn off, but his trepidation had.
His brothers would spend the bulk of tomorrow following up on what happened tonight—finding out what they could about Bert and Ernie and checking all the footage from the apartment building. He trusted them to handle it thoroughly, because he wouldn’t be there.
Maci was pregnant with his baby, and he was going to be there for them both. Whatever it took. He’d already sent Weston by to get a bag of his clothes and necessities, because he wasn’t going to leave Maci alone. Not today. Not tomorrow. If he had his way, not ever .
The sun was starting to come up as they got her discharged and wheeled out to the car.
“What’s with the bag?” She nodded to the duffel in the back seat.
“Clothes for me. I’m taking you home and I’m going to stay with you for a few days.”
She let out a small sigh. “Chance, this isn’t necessary. The stalker isn’t after me, he’s after Stella. I can take care of myself.”
“That’s all true, but I want to be there anyway.” He sighed, running a hand over his face. “It’s been a rough twenty-four hours, and I’d just feel better if I was close to you. You and the baby. Is that okay?”
She looked like she was going to fight him until she caught sight of his face. Something in his expression convinced her otherwise. “Okay.”
“I thought you were going to fight more on this,” he admitted with a laugh.
“I know Dr. Ashburn wants to make sure I’m monitored for a while. And you’re right. We’ve all been through a lot the last few days.”
It wasn’t until Chance put the car in Drive that he realized he didn’t know where she lived. They’d spent nights at his house and days together in the office, but he’d never gone to her place.
Not that he hadn’t wanted to. It was just how things had always ended up. Was that part of the reason she hadn’t wanted to immediately tell him she was pregnant? Part of the reason she stopped wanting to see him a couple months ago? She thought he wasn’t interested in her life?
“Uh, I don’t know where you live.”
She nodded then gave him directions as he drove. The farther they went, the more Chance’s frown grew. It wasn’t the worst area of town, but it wasn’t anywhere he wanted Maci and their child to be. When she directed him to pull into an older apartment’s parking lot, he tried to refrain from making any comments. The window frames drooped with water damage, and the squat buildings themselves had definitely seen better days.
Maybe he could convince her to move in with him before the baby came. It would be a tough sell, but he would try. Even as uncertain as everything was, he wanted the three of them to be a family.
In the meantime, he’d stay with her wherever she was.
He found a spot close to the doors and helped her out of the car—despite her grumblings that she wasn’t an invalid—giving her space once she was steady on her feet.
They made their way to her apartment silently, with Chance taking everything in and Maci watching him. She seemed to shrink the closer they got, like she was embarrassed.
“It’s not pretty, but it’s home.”
He shrugged. “I’ve lived in worse places.”
Hell, he’d spent most of his childhood in worse places.
“Yeah?” She glanced at him as they rounded the final bend in the stairs. Chance tried not to read into her expression too much.
“Yeah. I didn’t always live with Clinton and Sheila. Some of my group homes left a lot to be desired. So yeah, I’ve lived in worse places than this.”
“Me too,” she said quietly, stepping into the hallway and leaving him to trail after her. For a moment, he couldn’t.
Had Maci Ford grown up like he and his brothers had? Had she been forced to grow up too soon, to take care of herself when no one else would? Had her home situation been something no child should have to go through?
And why hadn’t he ever asked?
She’d had him listed as her emergency contact, for God’s sake. Didn’t that state a lot about her relationship with her family?
He was so lost in his own thoughts he didn’t realize Maci had stopped in the hallway not far from her door.
“What’s wrong?” Out of instinct he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her behind him. But other than a middle-aged woman standing in front of one of the doors, he didn’t see anything amiss.
“Going to introduce me to your friend, May May?” the woman asked, her eyes traveling over Chance’s body. While he didn’t like her ogling him, he could definitely see a resemblance between her and Maci.
“Mom.” Maci stepped around and in front of Chance and moved to the door. Her knuckles were white as she gripped her keys. She definitely wasn’t excited to see the woman standing at the door. “What are you doing here?”
“Can’t a mama come to visit her only child every once in a while?” She looked at Chance again. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”
“No.”
That was it. Just no. Maci’s mom looked irritated but not surprised. It was easy to see in the way Maci kept her eyes angled toward her mother that she didn’t trust the woman. Chance stepped closer to her on instinct.
Maci unlocked the door and shoved it open. She moved to step inside, but he grabbed her arm.
“Can I clear the apartment first?”
Maci nodded. Without another word, he stepped inside.
The one-bedroom apartment was just as small as he expected, but neatly furnished. Everything looked well used, but it was tidy and clean. Pops of vibrant colors bled through the white-on-white color scheme, reminding Chance of Weston’s gardens. It was beautiful and homey, just like Maci.
He took his time clearing each room, even going so far as to check the window locks. There were a few things he’d do to up the security of the place if he couldn’t convince Maci to move in with him.
Once he was satisfied that the apartment was clear, he went back out to Maci and her mother. The two were talking to each other in low, tense voices. They stopped when he approached.
“We’re clear.”
“I need to talk to my mom for a minute alone.”
He had to fight the urge to push himself into their conversation. Maci looked tense and almost scared. This definitely wasn’t a good relationship.
But pushing now wouldn’t do him any favors. They had to learn to trust each other, and there was no better first step than giving her the space she needed. “Okay. Are you hungry?”
He almost slipped and mentioned the baby. That would’ve been a huge error, given the nonverbal interaction between the two women.
“I could eat. Grab whatever you want to eat or drink too,” Maci said, nodding toward the kitchen with her chin as she gripped her mother’s arm. Maci practically dragged the woman into the bedroom without a single glance back.
Chance tried to think of logical reasons that Maci would be so detached from her mother, but nothing good came to mind. The desperate need to do a background check on Maci’s mom pressed against him until his skin felt tight, but he wouldn’t. Not without Maci’s permission first.
If she wanted him to know about her past, she would tell him.
Though it was a solid reason, it still chafed—especially knowing the woman was his child’s biological grandmother. The reminder that they’d eventually have to tell his own mother filtered through his brain, and he actually smiled. Sheila Patterson loved children, and she had been not so subtly hounding his brothers for more of them since Brax’s son, Walker, entered the picture.
She was going to lose it when she found out Maci was pregnant. The two of them had met quite a few times since Maci started working for San Antonio Security.
Finally, the ladies came back. Maci looked even more tense, but her mother was smiling.
“See you soon, May May!”
Maci didn’t respond and she definitely wasn’t smiling. The second the door closed on her mother, Maci collapsed onto the threadbare couch in the living room. As suddenly as she dropped, she was on her feet pacing again.
He cleared his throat, gathering her attention. He pushed the sandwich he’d made toward her over the counter, but she shook her head, obviously too wound up to eat.
He wanted to push. This was part of the secrets she was keeping and he wanted to know. But when he looked at her, Chance could see the exhaustion setting in. It had already been a traumatic night, and the strained relationship Maci had with her mother was taking a further toll.
He pushed the sandwich toward her again. “I’m not going to pry, but I’m sorry having your mother here made things more stressful.”
Maci rubbed at her eyes. “Mom has a gift of making everything more stressful.”
“Does she show up a lot?”
“More than I’d like.”
That didn’t tell him much, but it gave him an idea. “Would you like to come home with me instead of us staying here? It’ll be a lot calmer there, plus no unexpected visitors.”
He held his breath, fully expecting her to say no. And if she did, he’d honor it. But at least at his house he felt like he could better protect her.
Even from foes he didn’t even know she had.
“Yes, please.”
No arguments. No complaints. Nothing. Chance couldn’t help the grin that spread over his face, one that got bigger when she let him hold her hand. “Let’s pack a bag and take you home then.”