Chapter 5
When Evan’s phone rang, he glanced at the illuminated clock on the bedside stand.
Fuck.
His mind immediately went to his SEAL team. He tried to remember which platoons were deployed and which troops were training and where.
Fumbling for the phone, he realized he wasn’t back in his condo in Virginia Beach.
He was in the VIP quarters on base in Coronado.
Even though his eyes were blurry, he didn’t recognize the phone number but knew the area code was California.
Who the hell could be calling him at that hour?
He’d be really pissed if it was a wrong number.
“Captain Hubbard, who the fuck is this and why the hell are you calling me at three twenty-five in the morning?”
“Evan.” Genevieve’s voice broke on his name.
Wide awake, he sat up straight in the unfamiliar bed. “Vivi, what’s wrong?”
“She’s…” His ex-wife gasped in a breath. “She’s gone.”
“Vivi, I need you to take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then tell me who’s gone.”
The woman he’d loved for years did as instructed. “Kylie.” She broke into uncontrolled tears.
He was already out of bed and sliding into khaki slacks and a polo shirt. “I’m on my way.” No matter what, whether this was real or imagined, Genevieve needed him.
“Now, tell me why you think Kylie…” Fuck. He couldn’t say the words as his throat tightened and closed. He swallowed hard as he slipped into a pair of loafers without socks. “Did someone from the hospital call you?”
“Yes,” she squeaked out.
“What exactly did they say?”
It took a few tries, but she finally got her breathing more under control. “They said that they don’t know why.” She sniffed. “But when they walked in the room the baby was crying and Kylie…was…gone.”
“Gone, as in she’d left the hospital?” That didn’t sound like his Kylie, but he liked that idea better than the alternative.
“No. She’s…dead.” Even though Genevieve’s words were just above a whisper, it was as though someone kicked him right in the solar plexus. Thank Christ he was passing the couch and sat down on the arm because his knees wouldn’t hold him up.
Nothing is ever as bad as first reported , he reminded himself.
He prayed she was wrong. He prayed that once they got to the hospital, they’d find his little girl sitting up in that bed eating Jell-O. He prayed it was a mistake.
As he started to stand, another thought hit him.
What if she’d taken her own life? She hadn’t been thrilled about having a baby.
Had he been an asshole for asking her to give it twenty-four hours?
Had he pushed her over that edge to the point where she felt like suicide was her only way out?
He’d heard that postpartum depression could really fuck with a woman’s mind.
Heat seared the back of his eyes.
You know better than to jump to conclusions! he chastised himself. Get the facts. Assess the situation. Deal with whatever comes next.
Evan took a deep breath and stood. “I’ll be there to pick you up in just a few minutes.
” As he glanced around the unfamiliar two-bedroom quarters, he wondered where the keys were to his rental car.
His aide had pointed out an SUV parked in the garage when he brought him home from the hospital last night.
He refused to be that much of an ass and call Lieutenant Commander Harrison at this hour of the night just to ask where the fuck he put the keys.
Flipping on a few lights, he found a bowl next to the door with two sets of keys; ones that were obviously house keys and the other with a car rental tag.
“Vivi, I’m heading out right now.” With the house still locked up tight for the night, Evan exited the side door to the garage. As he slid into the SUV, it dawned on him. “Do you still live?—”
“I would never sell this house,” she snapped at him.
“I’ll be there in less than five minutes. Can you be ready to go to the hospital?” Then he reconsidered the purpose of her call. “Or do you want me to do this by myself?”
“You don’t have to come and get me. I can drive to the hospital.” She sniffed then blew her nose.
He softened his voice. “Vivi, you’re in no condition to drive. Will you be ready when I get there? I don’t think the hospital staff would appreciate seeing you in your pajamas.”
“I’ll be dressed.” She let out a long breath. “Thank you, Evan. I really am glad you’re here.”
As he drove the nearly empty streets to a house he’d called home for twelve years, memories of their marriage flooded him.
Maybe they’d been married too young but the June Week wedding at the Naval Academy seemed like the right thing to do.
They’d been dating for two years, they’d both finished their degrees, and marriage seemed like the next logical step, especially since he was moving immediately to Coronado for SEAL training.
When he pulled up to the pretty white stucco house, he felt like he was coming home, as though nothing had changed between them.
But everything had changed.
Within seconds of Evan pulling into the driveway, the garage door opened.
Genevieve had her head down as she left the house through the garage.
He shouldn’t have worried about her changing clothes.
She’d always known the right thing to wear whether she was playing her role as a teacher or the wife of a naval officer.
He got out of the car to meet her the minute he saw her shoulders shake. She stepped into him the same way she had a million times before…before they were separated…before they were divorced.
“Oh, Evan.” With her arms around his neck, she cried until she was hiccupping and gasping for air. “She’s gone.”
Pulling her to him, holding her tight, they shared the pain of their loss.
Evan then did something that he hadn’t done in many years.
He hadn’t dared. Real men, tough men, SEALs, don’t cry.
But as he held the mother of his daughter in his arms for the first time since a year before their divorce, he cried.
Even though they shared custody and he’d spent as much time as possible with his Ky, he cried for all the missed opportunities, those special moments as father and daughter that they would never share again, for the little girl with big dreams that would never come true.
Part of him felt terrible for his selfish thoughts. Vivi had to be hurting ten times worse.
He hugged her, hoping that she would take some strength from him. “I’m so sorry.” He said the phrase over and over.
In all the years they’d been married, Evan had never seen her this way.
Genevieve was one of the strongest women he’d ever known.
When one of his Academy company mates lost his life in a helicopter accident, she’d gotten a little teary at the funeral, but nothing like this.
Not even when her parents died, only a few months apart, and shortly after Kylie had been born. No. Genevieve had always been his rock.
He looked down at the top of her head and ran his hand over her soft-as-silk hair. There were more than a few gray strands. That revelation made him smile. He was happy that she was allowing her hair to change color naturally. It wasn’t surprising, though.
That again, was Genevieve. She hated fakeness, especially in people’s actions.
But the raw emotion of pain and sorrow he saw in his Vivi’s eyes made his heart physically hurt for her. For a moment, he wondered if he was having a heart attack until he realized his grief equaled hers.
They’d both lost their daughter.
Evan thought about the last time that he’d seen her, trying to get some sleep in the hospital bed. They’d told her to try to sleep when the baby did.
“Oh my God. The baby.” Evan leaned back and looked at Genevieve’s face. No. She hadn’t thought of the little guy either.
“We need to get to the hospital and check on Ian.” She stepped out of his embrace and trotted to the other side of his SUV.
By the time he turned over the powerful engine, she was already strapped into her seat. “Ian?” He asked as he backed out of the driveway.
“Didn’t you read the text?” She looked at him as though he’d grown a horn. “It was a group text, you, me, and Kylie.”
He fumbled to find his phone deep inside a pocket.
“You drive and keep your eyes on the road.” She smoothly extracted her phone from the outside pocket of her purse and read the text out loud.
“Of course, we meant it when we said we would help her raise the boy.” Evan slid a glance toward Genevieve. “You think the father’s name was Ian?”
“No.” Then she corrected herself. “I really don’t know.” When she stared out the window for a long time, he didn’t think she was going to say anything more.
Then she started talking. “Kylie was very withdrawn since she came home from college in December. Then she decided to go to school online. She was very good about keeping up with her classes, but she refused to talk about the baby or its father.” She turned in her seat to look at him.
“As soon as I saw she was pregnant, I did the math. She conceived last summer.”
Genevieve dropped her head. “I’m sorry. It was her first summer home from college.
She had a great freshman year. I was just trying to give her the freedom that my parents gave me at that age.
Kylie is…” She sniffed. “Was…always so mature. I knew she wasn’t a virgin, but I also knew she was careful.
She was scared to death of getting an STD or worse, a life-threatening disease. I was giving her space.”
His ex-wife broke down into tears once again.
More quickly this time, she regained her balance and continued.
“I know she was dating someone almost the whole summer. She told me once she just wasn’t ready to bring him home and introduce him to me.
I figured she’d found herself one of the rich bad boys from her high school.
Growing up on Coronado wasn’t exactly easy for the daughter of a schoolteacher. ”