10
10
Liberty
The banging on the door woke me, and I groaned as I opened my eyes. It had been almost four when I finally fell asleep last night. The music from the club had been so loud; it’d vibrated the walls in the room. Squinting, I looked toward the only window. It was tiny and too high to look directly out of it. But the sun was bright as it poured inside.
“Liberty!” Liam’s voice called out.
I yawned as I sat up and ran a hand over my messy hair before standing to go to the door. He had come up twice yesterday with a tray of food and bottles of water. He hadn’t said anything but sat it outside the door, then knocked and left. It could have been someone else who had brought it for all I knew.
I unlocked the door and opened it to find Liam dressed in his usual attire with his hair pulled back in a ponytail and a scowl on his face. I should be the one scowling.
“Get dressed. We are leaving in ten minutes,” he said, then turned to walk away.
“What time is it?” I asked, stifling another yawn.
“Seven thirty.”
Three and a half hours of sleep. Awesome.
I closed the door, then headed for the bathroom. I was thankful I’d taken a shower last night. Ten minutes didn’t leave me time for much. I hurried to dress and do my morning routine, then pulled my hair up in a ponytail. Slipping on a pair of sandals, I looked around, trying to remember where I had left my purse. When I spotted it on the small chair in the corner, I went to get it, then made my way to the door. I wasn’t sure how long I had taken, but I felt fairly certain it was under ten minutes.
Liam was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest when I opened the door. He barely glanced at me. “Let’s go,” he snapped before going to the stairs.
I wasn’t in the mood for more of his attitude, so I decided to remain silent.
I’d googled the test on my phone last night, and I knew what they were going to do and that it would take up to seven business days for the results. I was not living in that room for seven days. I needed to get a job, but right now, I was too tired to argue with him. Mornings were not my thing.
“I’m pretty sure you need an appointment for genetic testing. I doubt you can just walk in when they open,” I stated the obvious when we reached his car.
There were no other cars in the parking lot this morning. Just his car and his Harley sat out back. I wondered what time all the strippers had left. Did they go at it all night?
“I have an appointment,” he said, unlocking the doors.
Once we were inside, neither of us spoke while he started the engine and pulled out onto the street.
“It’ll take about three days to get the results. Until then, you’ll stay at the club,” he informed me.
“Try seven business days, and I’m not spending all that time up in that room. I have to find a new job, look for a place to live. You can’t just keep me locked away. It’s illegal, not to mention inhumane.”
“I have connections. We will know in three days. You can handle three days. Why do you need a new job? Did you do something to get fired?”
The accusation in his voice had me wishing I had something I could throw at his head.
“Yeah. You. I did you.”
His eyes swung over to look at me. “You got fired because of me?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Yep. Your reputation got me fired. They don’t want anyone connected to you or your family coming in there.”
He didn’t say anything, and I figured he was trying to find out just how much I knew about his life. I wasn’t going to offer the information. Not while he was treating me like trash that had been dumped in his lap.
“When we have the results, we will take it from there,” he replied after a few moments.
“I don’t have time to sit on my ass for three days. I need a job and somewhere to live. Because regardless of the results, I do not want to live with you, and you don’t want me to either. That much we can agree on.”
His knuckles turned white; he was gripping the steering wheel so tightly. I jerked my gaze off him to look out the window.
“If the baby is mine, I will provide for you. I take—”
“Responsibility. Yeah, I heard that already. But here’s the thing: when you find out this baby is yours—because I can assure you without a doubt that it is—you aren’t going to control my life.”
“You walked out of Selena’s and burned that bridge. You have nowhere to live and can’t afford a place, or you wouldn’t have asked your sister for help. Getting a lease approved after just starting a new job will be damn near impossible. If it’s my kid, then I will make sure you’re not living in a box on the side of the road. That you eat properly and aren’t walking home from work at midnight, passing out on the street. Do I want it to be mine? Fuck no! But if I messed up and it is, then I’ll do my best by it. That includes taking care of its mother.”
Angry tears burned my eyes. I didn’t look at him. I kept my eyes on the passing cars and tried to get control of my emotions.
I had known he didn’t want this baby to be his but hearing him actually say it was hard.
I’d had a dad who loved me. He wanted me. Even after he was gone and I lived a life of hell with Abilene, I’d always had my parents’ love with me. I knew the ones that mattered most had loved me.
Would I have chosen to get pregnant? No. But that was neither here nor there. I was pregnant now, and I realized I wanted this baby. It would be the only real family I had. Sissy might be my blood, but we weren’t family. We never had been. She wouldn’t allow it. My baby would be born with a mother who wanted it and loved it. But hearing its father say he didn’t want it cut deep. I didn’t want my child to know that kind of rejection or lack of a father’s love.
We rode in silence until he pulled into a parking lot at a medical building. I had managed to not cry, and I was thankful for that. I reached for the door handle to get out of the car and get some distance from him.
“I have some office work I need done, like filing and paperwork that needs to be scanned and entered into our system. If you want a job, then until we get the results in three days, you can do that for me. I’ll pay you two fifty a day.”
I didn’t want to work for him or be near him. But it was unlikely I’d find a job today where I could make seven hundred fifty dollars in three days. That would be enough to get an apartment, but Liam was right; without a job, a lease would be hard to get.
“Fine,” I muttered, opening the door and getting out.
In three days, he’d find out he was going to be a dad again. To a kid he didn’t want. Until I knew what he was going to do about it, I could stay at the club and work. Sleep would be difficult, but I’d manage. I’d slept in worse places.
Once we were in the waiting room, Liam walked up to the window and spoke to the lady while I stood back and waited. He was only up there briefly when he turned and motioned for me to follow him as he headed to the door that was being opened by a nurse. That was fast service. There were at least six other people in the waiting room.
The nurse smiled at me. He was a tall ginger with blue eyes. “Miss Dillard,” he said, and I nodded. “I’m Holden, and I’m going to be taking your blood. Do you need to use the restroom before we get started?”
I shook my head. “I’m good.”
“Very well then, come with me.”
He led us into a room with two tall chairs and some equipment. “You can both take a seat,” he said. “I’m going to swab Mr. Walsh’s cheek first, and then we will move on to drawing your blood.”
I’d known this involved my blood sample, but I hated needles. I’d hated them all my life. I felt the familiar panic that came when I knew I was getting a shot or having my blood taken. Not wanting to appear childish, I clasped my hands tightly in my lap and took deep breaths. It was just some blood work. I was an adult. This was fine. I wouldn’t look at the needle. Just a little poke—that was all.
“Are you okay?” Holden asked, and I realized he was speaking to me.
My eyes darted up from the spot on the floor I’d been focused on, and I gave him a forced smile, then nodded.
Lie. I was not okay.
His brows drew together. “Are you sure? You’ve gone pale. Do you need some juice or something?”
I shook my head, holding on to a smile I did not feel.
He didn’t seem to believe me, and he studied me for a moment, concern etched on his face. He swabbed Liam’s mouth, then placed it in a vile before turning back to me.
“You’re still pale. I’m going to get you some juice. Not sure what we have, but we should have something. I don’t want to take your blood if your blood sugar is low.”
“My blood sugar is fine,” I told him.
He opened his mouth to argue again, and I sighed in defeat. I was going to have to admit the issue.
“I don’t like needles.”
He visibly relaxed as understanding crossed his face. “I see,” he said. “That’s common. Why don’t you take a few deep breaths for me?”
I could feel Liam’s eyes burning a hole in the side of my head. I knew he was probably annoyed, and I refused to look at him. So I had a fear of needles and I was a grown woman. He could get over it.
I took deep breaths, as instructed.
“I’ll make this quick,” Holden said. “Tell me something about yourself. What do you love to do?”
I stared at him, and he grinned.
“It’ll distract you.”
I doubted it, but I was willing to try anything. Although I didn’t have much time for things I enjoyed to do. Lately, every day felt like another day I had to wake up and fight to survive. When was the last time I had done something fun?
“Gardening,” I said finally, and a smile touched my lips.
His eyebrows shot up. “Gardening, huh? I can’t keep a cactus alive.”
“My Mama D had the most amazing flower gardens. She would plant everything and anything. She could save a plant on the brink of death and bring it back to life.”
Memories of her always seemed to make bad days better.
“Your grandmother?” Holden asked.
I nodded. “Yes. My dad’s mother. We spent hours in the sun, planting things. I don’t have a yard or a chance to do that now, but I have a scrapbook. I pick up brochures with flower gardens, cut out pictures I like, and save them so that when I do have a yard one day, I’ll have all those ideas to work with.”
Wallace used to make fun of my book full of flowers and plants. I never cared. It made me happy to sit and look over all of them. Daydream about the day I could plant gardens that would make Mama D proud.
“I like that,” Holden said as he untied the rubber strap around my arm.
I looked down to see the bandage taped at the bend of my arm, then jerked my gaze back up to meet his. “You got it already?” I asked in amazement.
He nodded. “Yep, and I think I might just take up gardening.”
A laugh bubbled out of me as I turned, remembering Liam was beside me. I’d forgotten about him. He was studying me as if I were some curiosity he’d never seen before and wasn’t sure what to think of it.
He stood up, turning his attention to Holden. “I was told three days until I get the results.”
Holden nodded. “Yes. We got the instructions to expedite this. You’ll get a call in three days’ time.”
“Let’s go,” he said to me as he walked around me.
“She might need a moment,” Holden said, turning to me. “Are you weak or dizzy?”
I shook my head and scooted off the chair to let my feet fall back down to the floor. “I’m fine.”
“All right then. Good luck.”
I had needed someone to be nice to me today. I liked Nurse Holden. “Thanks.”
He glanced over at Liam, and his smile fell before he nodded, then turned to walk away. Shifting my attention to Liam, I saw the scowl in place that I assumed was only reserved for me. He didn’t say anything more, but headed for the exit. I hurried to keep up and tried hard not to think about what the future held.
This man was determined to hate me, and we were going to have a child together. I needed all the luck I could get.