Chapter Sixteen
Something wasn’t right.
Chance told himself not to read into Maci’s stiffness and slightly weird pauses as he walked her out to the car, but he couldn’t help it.
Certainly, there were a lot of things for her to be stressed over...the window, the doctor’s appointment, her head wound, the stalker in general. But something hadn’t been right about how she’d left.
He’d still let her go and still forced himself to come back into the office once she was gone. He’d felt slightly better when he’d received her text— Made it okay —but something still didn’t sit right in his gut.
He made it another hour before he decided to stop fighting it. “I’m going to go. Maci and I have that doctor’s appointment this afternoon and... I don’t know.”
“You alright?” Weston looked up from his screen.
“Yeah. I just want to make sure she’s okay.”
None of them argued. Luke just tossed Chance his keys since Maci had taken Chance’s car.
But when he got home neither his car nor Maci was there. Normally stepping inside the house—especially since Maci had been staying there—made him relax, but not this time. Everything was silent.
Hoping there was some reason she was here despite the car not being in the garage, he called for her. “Maci?”
Pulling out his phone, he dialed her number and was immediately sent to voice mail. He sent texts, but got no response and no indication they’d been received.
He checked everywhere. The bedrooms were empty, the living room was clear and so was the backyard. There was no sign of trouble or forced entry. Every window was closed, every door locked.
Everything was exactly how it should have been, just without Maci.
Chance tried to focus. There hadn’t been any other signs of attack. Nothing was out of place, no blood anywhere. Plus, no one except his family knew that Maci had been living with him.
So, she probably hadn’t been kidnapped. Had there been a car accident?
No, because she’d texted him that she’d arrived safely.
He froze in the process of looking around again. Maybe she’d left? Like the night she’d snuck out of his bed and never returned. Maybe she’d decided she didn’t want to be here with him anymore.
Maybe she’d decided to cut him out of her and the baby’s life completely.
He rushed to the closet, heaving a sigh of relief when her clothes were still there.
He was about to dial his brothers to start a search party when he heard the garage door open. Relief warred with frustration so acute he had to take deep breaths to keep from losing his cool.
How he acted now was important. Because ultimately Maci was a grown woman and she didn’t have to report any of her actions to him. He needed to show her that he was concerned but not smothering.
She walked in the door and his eyes combed over her—no injuries; that was good.
“Where the hell were you?” he barked.
Great, Patterson. Nice and calm.
She stilled on her way past, eyes narrowing. “I was driving around.”
She looked tired, pale. Why?
“You were supposed to come straight home. Do you have any idea how—”
“I needed some time to think, Chance. Give me a break.”
He could feel frustration bubbling up inside him. “You promised you’d come straight home and let me know you were okay. When I got your text, I assumed that’s what it meant.”
She flinched. “I had something to do first.”
“Which was?”
Maci’s hands clenched at her sides. “Nothing that concerns you.”
“Everything about you concerns me.”
“Well, it shouldn’t! I’m a grown woman, Chance. I can take care of myself for a few hours.”
Chance deflated. He was messing up...again. Letting fear drive him. If he wasn’t careful, he knew he’d drive them apart.
He took a deep breath and tried again. “I know you can take care of yourself. I was worried. I came home and you weren’t here and I couldn’t get ahold of you. We have an active stalker who’s targeting San Antonio Security, so now is a bad time to go AWOL without anyone knowing where. That’s true for all of us.”
Maci’s eyes closed and she sighed. Chance watched the defensiveness in her posture slowly disappear. For a long moment they stood there in silence, then she came over and slid her arms around him.
The knot in his chest finally loosened as he clutched her tight. She was okay. She wasn’t hurt and she hadn’t left him.
When she spoke it was hushed. Apologetic. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t even thinking about all that. I thought I would make it home before you. I didn’t mean to make you worry.”
He stroked her hair, brushing it off her face so he could see it better where it rested on his chest. “I’m sorry that I snapped at you. Are you okay? You look pretty stressed. Is it office stuff? The window?”
He couldn’t blame her if she didn’t feel safe there anymore.
“No. I can’t stand the thought of you guys getting hurt, but that isn’t it. I was at my place with my mother.”
He wanted to ask why being with her mom made her look so defeated and bone weary. But he wanted her to tell him because she wanted to tell him, not because he was prying. “Can I do anything for you?”
“This is good. I think I needed it.”
He wrapped her up tighter, nuzzling his cheek against her hair. “So did I.”
“It’s almost time to get ready for the doctor’s appointment,” she murmured. “They’re going to tell us the gender. Are you nervous?”
“No, not nervous. Are you hoping for a boy or a girl?”
“Maybe a handsome little boy like his father.”
He grinned. “I think I’d like to have a little hellion of a daughter. She’d be the spitting image of her mama.”
Maci stiffened against him for a moment, then relaxed. “Two Maci Fords in the world is probably one too many.”
Chance wasn’t sure what that meant, so he let it go. It sounded like a cliché, but boy or girl didn’t matter to him. He just wanted both mother and child healthy.
M ACI AND C HANCE sat in silence a few hours later in the ob-gyn’s waiting room. She was feeling more nervous every minute.
When her name was finally called, Chance stuck by her side. He helped her into the gown and moved one of the chairs right next to the exam table. Although she didn’t like to be fussed over, Maci couldn’t help but admit it was nice to not be alone.
A nurse came in and did some medical basics, then the ultrasound tech entered, all smiles. For some reason that made Maci even more nervous.
“Have you seen the baby yet?” the tech asked. Both Maci and Chance shook their heads and she smiled. “You’re in for a treat.”
With a squirt of cool gel and a wiggle of the ultrasound wand, a whooshing sound filled Maci’s ears.
“That hummingbird-like sound is the heartbeat,” the tech explained.
Maci felt the pinprick of tears at the back of her lids. That was her baby’s heartbeat. Chance’s baby. As if she’d called to him, he reached for her hand, squeezing her fingers lightly. She looked up and saw the faintest sheen of moisture in his eyes too.
They watched the wiggling bean on the screen until it was over, and the tech handed them page after page of sonograms. The tech explained that the doctor would answer all their questions, including the gender if they wanted to know, and then left with as big a smile as she’d had when she came in.
“Alright, Ms. Ford. It seems like you’re doing great!” Dr. Harris was also full of smiles when he entered. “You and baby both look healthy.”
“So, the all-day puking she has sometimes is normal?” Chance asked.
Dr. Harris laughed and kept his eyes on Maci. “Yep. Morning sickness is a terrible name considering it has no internal clock, but it’s completely normal. You haven’t lost a lot of weight, so I’m not worried about it. Just keep doing what you can to take care of yourself. That part should be over soon.”
“Thank goodness.” Maci grinned. “I won’t miss it at all.”
Dr. Harris continued to go over test results from both today and ones that had been run at the hospital. He reassured Maci and Chance that the baby was fine. No damage had come from the attack, and there didn’t seem to be any genetic issues either.
“You elected to get an early gender test. We have the results if you still want to know.”
Maci looked at Chance. He shrugged. “Your choice. I’m good either way.”
She looked back at the doctor. She wanted to know. “Tell us.”
Dr. Harris smiled. “Congratulations. You’re having a girl.”
A girl. They were having a daughter. Maci couldn’t pull her focus from that thought.
She was bringing a new Ford woman into the world.
The rest of the appointment felt like it moved at lightning speed, with Maci only partially aware of it. Dr. Harris provided suggestions concerning exercise and foods that might help settle her stomach. He answered all the questions Chance had while Maci sat there feeling numb. By the time she refocused on the world around her, Chance was bundling her into the car.
He slid into his seat and just sat there, keys in hand while he stared out the windshield. “We’re having a baby. A girl. Our girl.”
There was awe and adoration in Chance’s voice. When she glanced over, his eyes practically twinkled with joy. His smile was about to split his face.
So why did Maci feel the heavy weight of despair in her stomach?
A girl . She felt stuck on the knowledge that she and Chance were having a daughter. What did Maci know about raising a daughter when Evelyn was supposed to be her example?
Evelyn had been so deep in her own drug addiction, in and out of court-required rehab, that she didn’t have the ability to protect Maci from anything. Then Maci had followed in her footsteps without a care. She’d found peace at the bottom of a pill bottle or heavier drugs.
It didn’t matter that Maci had cleaned herself up, that she’d been sober for years. She was still always only one bad choice away from being back in that pit.
What kind of person brought a baby into the world to have a mother with addiction?
She put her hands on her stomach. Her baby was just one more cog in the chain of messed up Ford women. Maci didn’t know how to break the cycle. She didn’t know how to raise her daughter right. She didn’t know anything about boundaries or parenting. She didn’t know how she’d keep her child safe.
Her daughter was going to pay the price for Maci’s stupidity. The thought made Maci sick.
She’d ruined her baby’s life before she’d even got a chance to live it.
As they neared Chance’s house, panic forced her breaths to come faster. The second he parked, she shot out of the car—she was going to be sick and it had nothing to do with morning sickness.
She couldn’t be near him, couldn’t speak to him. She’d ruined it all.
“Maci?” Chance grabbed her arm to reel her into his body, but she yanked it away.
“I’m going to go to bed.”
“What about dinner? You need to eat.”
The idea of sitting down and facing Chance made Maci’s stomach clench even worse. “I’m not hungry.”
She could feel Chance’s eyes on her the whole way into the house, but she didn’t turn back. She couldn’t. Not when she’d ruined his life and he didn’t even know it.