Chapter Eighteen
Daisy-Mae
The nurse pumps the breaks on my wheelchair and sets the weighted balloon bouquet along with the gifts the Winchesters brought me by my feet. “Are you sure you’re gonna be alright out here on your own?”
“Yeah. West should be by any minute now to pick us up. Thanks for everything, Donna.”
“No problem. You just holler if you two wanna come inside, okay?”
“Will do.”
I cradle Waylon in my arms and stare down at his little face.
He didn’t get a lick of my ex-husband’s looks.
Thank the lord, because if I had to see that cheating asshole’s face every time I looked at my baby, I think I’d sink even deeper into depression.
His blond hair and fine features are all mine.
He is all mine. Oh god. I’m a single mother with a baby. How am I gonna do this on my own?
Deep breaths, Daisy. Just like West would tell you.
Except, West isn’t here. West apparently forgets that his friend is stuck at the hospital with no ride home.
Maybe I’m too much. Maybe he’s had enough of playing husband without any of the actual benefits.
I’ve asked so much of him these last few months, and I haven’t taken any of that for granted, but even so.
West didn’t sign up for any of this. This is not his baby cradled in my arms.
He’ll be here. He won’t forget, I tell myself, but after the way he freaked out in the birthing suite, and the lack of texts and calls, or presence at the hospital in the two days since I was admitted, maybe he decided he’s done with me and it’s best to keep his distance.
Two hours later, Waylon is fussing because of the late autumn chill, and I’m exhausted from cradling him. I’m just thinking about calling Donna to help me back inside, when Lemon exits the hospital doors. “Daisy-Mae? Oh my gosh, I thought that was you.”
“Hey, Lemon. What are you doing here?”
“Prenatal scan,” she says, rubbing her distended belly. “Are you waiting on West?”
I nod, because I can’t answer with the lump forming in my throat. Tears prick my eyes and I blink them back furiously.
“That asshole. How late is he?”
I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter. I must’ve got the time wrong.”
“Daisy,” Lemon urges.
“It’s fine. I can just call an Uber.”
She growls, low and deep and it causes me to freeze and look up at her. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
“It’s okay.”
“No. it’s not. He’s really been a jackass since ... You know what? I have a car seat already anchored in the Porsche. I’ll drop you home.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I do, because apparently my brother is a forgetful twat waffle.” Her own eyes get a little watery and she takes her sunglasses from her head and slams them in place, then she clears her throat and straightens her spine. “Let me just bring the car around.”
“Okay,” I finally accept because I really have no other way of getting home.
Even if my car was here, I couldn’t drive myself for another six weeks, and I don’t relish putting my newborn in the back of an Uber.
She waddles off through the parking lot, and when I follow her path with my gaze, I realize she’s furiously screaming into her cellphone.
I can’t hear her over the traffic, but her body language says enough.
Five minutes later, Lemon pulls to a stop in front of us. She takes Waylon from me, and sets him in the car seat, strapping him in as she talks to him as if he already understands everything she’s saying.
Then she helps me into the car, places my belongings in the tiny trunk, and climbs in. I glance around at the fancy, red-leather interior. “I’ve never been in a car this nice before.”
“I just can’t bring myself to get rid of it. I know it makes no sense to drive it now that I’ve replaced New York streets with dusty ranch roads, but it was the only good thing to come of leaving home, you know?”
“Surely there were other good things. I mean, I’ve never been, but it’s New York, Lemon. What about the friends you made there?”
“Well, since I found my best friend balls deep in my fiancé, I don’t have a lot of regard for them. I do miss Ambrose though. He’s my gallery manager. Come to think of it, I should invite him to the ranch and introduce him to Wyatt.”
“I never took you for a matchmaker.”
“What can I say, I love love. And I want everyone to be as happy as Colt and I are.”
The last time Lemon and I were alone, she was setting her brother up with the new girl in town, and I hope she’s not harboring any weirdness towards me over those plans not working out. “Sorry your friend and West didn’t hit it off.”
“Lainey? Yeah, that was a bad idea.” Lemon scoffs. “She hated him. I would have said that it seems he’s only nice to you, but after that jerk-face left you and your beautiful little baby at the hospital, it seems he’s an asshole to everyone.”
“I’m sure he just got caught up at the ranch. Don’t be too hard on him.
“Oh, I’m not going to be hard on him. I’m going to tear him a new one.”
“It’s fine, Lemon. I’ve got to get used to doing things on my own. West has been a really good friend, but I think it’s time I stood on my own two feet.”
“Daisy, you just had a baby. You can’t drive for six weeks. West should have been here.”
I’d do anything to change the subject, because yes, he should have been here.
It’s not like him to not show up, but West isn’t responsible for me, and I think Lemon giving him a piece of her mind is just going to make him feel resentful.
It’s not his job to take care of me, it was my husband’s and since he’s nowhere to be found, I’m realizing the only person Waylon and I can truly count on, is me.
But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t sting to know West Winchester is just like all the other men in my life.