Chapter 34
RILEY
FOUR WEEKS LATER
“M r. Laffery wants you to call him back at your earliest convenience.” Harriet catches me as I march through to my office.
“Got it,” I call back, pausing at my office door when I feel my head spin. I nearly jump out of my skin when I eventually open it and see Eleanor Chambers sitting in front of my desk.
“Eleanor, I had no idea you were in here.” I fake a smile as I move toward the window and let some air in. It seems more stuffy in here than normal.
“I let myself straight on through, I didn’t think you’d mind.” She smiles.
“So, what can I do for you?” I press my palm against my forehead when I feel it thumping. I’m not up for her mindless chit-chat today. I spoke to Lily on the phone last night, and I hate that I have no news for her. She should be enjoying her freedom, not trapped in a new prison. She assures me that she’ll be taken care of at the safe house, and she sounded a lot more upbeat than she did a week ago. But I still feel like I should be doing more.
“It’s a sensitive subject, but one that needs to be talked about.” Eleanor lowers her voice. “You haven’t actually confirmed who the father is.” Her eyes linger on my ever-growing stomach. I already feel the size of a whale, and I still have thirteen weeks left.
“Correct.” I give nothing away. I’ve managed two whole months of the whispers and judgmental looks, I can manage a little longer.
“Well, I respect your right to privacy, but I do need some assurance that I have no involvement.” She confuses me.
“I wasn’t aware of your ability to produce sp?—”
“You know that's not what I mean!” she snaps. “Everyone in town is convinced it’s Sawyer’s. He was the one who broke the news, and Jean has some theory about muffins. But I know from experience that the obvious choice isn’t always where you should put your money.”
“Are you suggesting that there's illegal gambling taking place in town?” I question her sarcastically.
“It’s just an extra option added to the sweepstake, and sweepstakes are not illegal, they’re a town tradition,” she shuts me down.
“I’m going to ask you a question, Sheriff Hale, and I only want the truth for an answer.” Her voice turns stern. “Is Hayden the father of your child?” Her lips purse together when I instantly burst out laughing.
“It’s not a laughing matter. I know how closely you work together. If he is to blame for your condition, I will ensure he takes responsibility for it.”
“Eleanor, relax.” I put the old woman out of her misery. “Hayden is not the father.” She sighs with relief as there’s a knock on the door and Harriet steps inside. “I have Mr. Laffery on the phone again,” she informs me, and although it’s not a call I’m looking forward to, it’s a good excuse to get Eleanor out of my office.
I stand up, a little too quickly, and make my way to the door, sending Harriet on her way and gesturing for Eleanor to follow her. My hand grips the frame when I feel my feet wobble and the room starts to spin, next comes the heavy thud when I hit the floor.
* * *
“Riley, Riley. Are you okay?” I slowly open my eyes and see Harriet peering over me.
“Oh, thank god. It’s okay, everyone, she’s come around!” Eleanor’s voice dramatically carries down the hall.
“What happened?” I try dragging myself up to a sitting position, but Harriet stops me.
“Don’t do that too fast.” She eases me back down.
“I don’t do anything fast these days,” I remind her, stroking my hand over my huge, round stomach and taking some deep breaths.
“Through here, doctor.” Eleanor guides Dr. West through the door, and when he sees me on the floor, he immediately crouches down beside me, pressing his fingers to my wrist so he can take my pulse.
“I’m fine, honestly. I stood up too fast and got a little lightheaded,” I assure him.
“Where is she?” I hear Sawyer bellow, and he almost knocks Eleanor off her feet when he skids into the room.
“Fuck.” His eyes stretch wide, and he rushes straight to me, kneeling beside me and grabbing my hand.
“What happened? Did you fall on your tummy?” His hand touches it protectively, and I see the look Eleanor and Harriet give each other.
“Riley, are you feeling okay now?” He takes my head in his hands.
“I think I should be the one asking the questions, Sawyer,” Dr. West reminds him. “There are a lot of people in this room. Why don't we give Sheriff Hale some space?” He glances up at Eleanor, Harriet, and Hayden, who are now standing by the window, and when he looks at Sawyer, I shake my head.
“He can stay.” I take hold of his hand and give Eleanor Chambers full ‘ you heard it here first’ bragging rights.
Dr. West ushers everyone out, except for Sawyer, who aids me in getting up and sitting in my chair.
“I promise I’m fine,” I assure Dr. West once he’s closed the door.
“I’m sure you are. Fainting during pregnancy is very common, especially when expectant mothers don’t listen to their bodies.” He rests his ass on the edge of my desk and crosses his arms like he’s about to lecture me.
“How many hours do you work a week?” he asks.
“I don’t know, forty-five?” I shrug.
“Lies,” Sawyer intervenes. “She does at least fifty, and that ain’t even counting all the work she does from home.”
“I’m the sheriff, it’s not a nine-to-five, and I’m working on an important case,” I defend myself.
“You're a mother before anything else.” Dr. West explains, and when Sawyer stands beside him, folding his arms too, I scowl at him.
“Have you been under any extra stress lately?” Dr. West continues his questioning.
“Maybe a little, but nothing I can’t handle,” I lie, because knowing that there are girls out there suffering is driving me crazy and making me doubt all my decisions. I’m scared that my attempts to protect Lily and get more evidence are cutting them off from resources that could help find them.
“Well, I think you need to rest. Take a week off, and see how you feel. You're almost twenty-eight weeks, there's always the option of maternity leave.”
“I don’t want to take leave that early.” I press my hand into the base of my spine while I stretch, and the good, hard jab I get to the ribs lets me know my baby girl’s just fine.
“I want you to come to the office so we can take a listen to the baby's heartbeat, we'll take some blood just to be sure. Then go home .” He emphasises his last three words.
“Great idea, Doc.” Sawyer nods his head before holding out his arm for me. “Shall we?”
* * *
“What are you doin’?” Sawyer looks furious when he comes into my room and sees all the paperwork spread out on my bed.
“I’m just looking at some maps and calculating some options,” I tell him innocently.
“You're workin’, which Doc told you not to do.” He places my tea down on the bedside table and starts gathering up all the map sheets I’ve printed out.
“Come on, Riley, you passed out today. You need to switch off from all this, even if it’s just for a little while.”
“Do you think I made a bad call?” I ask, feeling my emotions take over. “Do you think hiding Lily was the best option? We could have called in the FBI on this, they have much better resources.”
“You had to hide her to protect her.” He gives up being mad at me and sits on the bed beside me.
“They’ve probably moved the girls she was with to a new location when they realized she was gone. I wanted all this done by the time she got here, and I’m running out of time.” I slide my hand over my belly and feel like such a failure.
“Hey, there ain’t no ‘I’ in team, we’re all workin’ on this. We’re gonna get that evidence.”
“I don’t want my little girl growing up in a world where men like them exist.” I dance my fingers over the ridge of my stomach, knowing that it makes her respond. I need another reminder that she’s okay, because Sawyer’s right, today was scary even if I’m trying to convince everyone that it wasn’t.
“Hey, she’s never gonna have to worry, not while her dadd—” Sawyer stops himself from finishing his sentence and tries to hide his hurt with a smile..
“I’m not gonna stop you from being her daddy,” I tell him, feeling tears prick the back of my eyes as he stares back at me. “I want her to have the best of everything.”
“Are you serious, right now?” His eyes fill up with tears of his own.
“Well, I figure we ain’t getting rid of you, anyway.” I roll my eyes and smile back at him.
“Don’t joke, Riley. I need to know you mean it. Are we really doin’ this?” The excitement in his voice picks up.
“You said yourself there's no ‘I’ in team. But you have to realize that there can’t be an us . I’m her mum, you’re dad, we work together to make her happy and give her what she needs. But that's as much as we can be. The sleepovers and the sex need to stop once she gets here. I’ve seen how love can turn into hate real fast, and I won’t have her suffer us hating each other.”
Sawyer's happiness seems to falter a little as he takes in what I said.
“Riley, I’m not gonna let you down, I’m gonna be everything she deserves, and more. No matter what. But…” He pauses and takes my hand. “I don’t think I could bear to see you with another man,” he admits, stroking his thumb over the finger where Jack’s ring used to be.
“Sawyer.” I reach my palm up to touch his stubbled jaw. “Trust me when I say, they’ll never be another man.” He nods acceptingly, before turning his head to kiss my palm, and heading out the room sadly.