Chapter 14
Amelia had drifted off but heard voices coming from downstairs. She swore she heard Lainey speaking. She sat up, listening more intently. She could hear a child, but it wasn’t her child. Then another child spoke, and she knew it was Lainey.
Amelia raced from the room and held onto the railing as she ran down the steps. She stopped one step from the bottom and watched Lainey dance around the main room with another girl who seemed to be a little older than her but not too much older.
Avery stopped speaking, and the woman he'd been talking to turned to look at her. The woman's lips spread into a broad smile.
“You must be Amelia. Lainey has told us what a great mother you are.”
“Mommy!” Amelia yelled and came running over.
She sat down on the stairs and opened her arms wide, catching Lainey as she launched herself into the air. Tears filled her eyes and ran down her cheeks as she held onto her baby. She kissed Lainey's cheeks, then pulled her close again before pushing her to arm's length.
Sadness and happiness mixed together. If she hadn’t been rescued, she never would have seen her beautiful daughter again. She couldn’t tell Lainey everything. Her daughter was too young to understand what had happened. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too. You look weird.”
The words startled her, but she let go a laugh. “I lost some weight.”
“Miss Ava baked some cookies.”
She glanced up and met the woman’s eyes. “You must be Ava.”
“I am. I’ve been helping Apple out while I’ve been between jobs. Lainey is a very bright child.”
“Apple?”
“That’s what my friends call me,” Avery said.
“Oh.” She turned back to Ava. “Thank you for helping with Lainey.” She turned to Avery or Apple, whatever he was being called. “Where’s Dena?”
Lainey pulled from her hold and went back to playing with the girls. Avery moved closer and took her hand, pulling her to stand.
“Dena had an accident. She’s in the hospital.”
“Wait, what?”
“The doctors don't think she's doing great. She had a business trip to Los Angeles, and there was an accident. Maybe once you get settled, we can drive up there and see her.”
Amelia nodded, feeling incredibly overwhelmed. She’d lost everything, and now she had the most important thing back, but what about everything else?
“Hey,” Avery squeezed her hand. “I have to be at work in thirty minutes, so I have to leave.
I know you don't know Ava, but she and a few other women will be stopping by to make sure you and Lainey are okay today.
Consider that room you slept in last night to be yours and Lainey's room.
Eat anything you want from the refrigerator.
I'll be home close to three thirty or four.”
“But you were out all night last night. How can you—”
“It’s okay. I’m fine. I’ll probably want to go to bed early tonight, but we can talk later. There’s a daycare I found close by. Lainey likes it. She can go tomorrow, and it will give you time to think.”
“Oh. How long have you had Lainey?”
“A few weeks. Ava has been helping out a lot. Tonight, I’ll answer any questions you have. We’ll work it out, okay?”
She didn't know how to reply. Avery was back in her life, which was shocking by itself, but he was caring for Lainey, which she had never expected. He'd ignored her before, but he'd stepped up now. What did that mean?
The questions swirled through her mind as she watched Lainey give Avery a huge hug.
Her heart almost shattered as he kissed her on the tip of her nose, and they both laughed.
It was obvious Lainey liked her father, even if she didn't know him as her daddy.
She had a lot to get through, and it wasn't happening like she thought it would.
After Avery left, Ava stepped close. “We set up an appointment for you at a clinic for this morning.
The guys are great, but they weren't really thinking about your long-term health issues.
I'll stay with Lainey. My two are headed to school, and Danika and Rowan said they wanted to take you to the medical appointment. Both of them are good, and neither of them will judge you.”
Panic slid through her. “Are you sure?”
Ava nodded. “Oh yeah, I’m positive. Their story is theirs to tell, but you aren’t alone.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ve got to take the kids to school. Do you want to ride with us?”
Amelia glanced down, seeing she still only had the shorts and T-shirt Avery had given her for after her shower. “Um, am I dressed okay?”
“Sure. It’s the drop-off line. We won’t be getting out.”
“Okay, sure.”
The drive to the school wasn't long, and the line moved fast. Ava's children, Emma and Lila, talked over each other, their excitement for the day easy to see.
When Ava dropped them off, they told Ava they loved her before taking off.
It was heartwarming and scary. She'd just gotten Lainey back and couldn't imagine dropping her off for anything.
Ava watched Lainey while she showered and dressed.
She liked having help. Ava reminded her of Dena.
Thinking of her friend hurt. She didn’t know what would happen to Dena.
It scared her to think of her friend injured and alone in the hospital.
She would need to drive to the hospital and see her, but she had Lainey to take care of.
She would have to figure out when she could go based on the daycare schedule.
Danika and Rowan were very nice. Neither of them said anything derogatory about why she was going to the medical appointment. Both women came into the waiting room, and when it was time for her to go back, they went with her and held her hand while the nurse asked her questions.
When one of the nursing assistants started getting snarky, they shut the woman down fast. The doctor gave her antibiotics and an antiviral.
Blood and urine were taken so tests could be run.
The doctor assured her they could deal with anything that came back positive.
The doctor also set up appointments for her with the mental health side of the clinic.
Everything felt overwhelming, and she was glad these women had come to help her. The appointment had been scary, but by the time they left, she felt better. On the drive home, they stopped to pick up a couple of pizzas. The food smelled so good she almost wanted to cry.
Once back in the car after getting the pizzas, Danika started talking.
“When I was with my ex, he used to drug me and allow his friends to have sex with me. I’m mostly over it but I think it will take all my life to really get over it, if I even can.
I blame myself because I knew he was doing that, and I stayed. ”
Amelia shook her head. “Oh, Danika, you can’t blame yourself.”
“But I do.”
Rowan chuckled. “I still have times I blame myself for being abducted.”
Danika snorted. “There ain’t no way you were responsible for that.”
Rowan shrugged. “Our minds are weird. We will take the blame even when it lies squarely with someone else. Yes, there are a million different things we could have done to change how everything turned out, but that doesn't mean we should keep blaming ourselves.”
“It’s hard.”
Amelia stared out the side window, her thoughts twisting through what she’d done and how she’d been taken.
“I wasn’t a dancer at the club, but I was there.
I knew questionable people showed up, and some worked there.
I knew the man who owned the place was into some potentially dangerous stuff, but I didn’t know being taken by some jerks was a possibility. ”
“What they did was wrong. I heard Sharp talking to Thario. He heard that the FBI is raiding the place today.”
“That’s good.”
Rowan reached over the seat and squeezed her hand. “You’ve got us now to help out. We’re here for you.”
“Thank you.” It hadn't even been twenty-four hours, but she felt safe.
It was a weird feeling. Maybe it was because the shock of seeing Avery had jolted her.
She was thankful Lainey was safe. If anything had happened to her, it would have destroyed her.
Now, she just had to figure out what to do with her life and where to go because going back to New Mexico was out of the question.