“You’re right, it’s not.” He winked, loving seeing her playful side. It meant she was coming back to herself. To prove he wanted more than just her in his bed, he laid his cards on the table and hoped he didn’t lose the pot for showing his hand too early. “I want you to be my wife, Jess.”
Her mouth actually fell open in shock and her eyes went wide. He wanted to have a real talk with her about the rest of their lives, but the door swung open behind them and Greg’s voice broke the tension.
“You need to deal with this, Dylan. She’s had enough today, and I don’t want her more upset.”
Dylan turned. His mother, father, and Will walked toward them down the long hallway. His mother held Will’s hand, and Dylan’s anger flashed. He had to rein it in. His son didn’t need to see him angry with his grandmother. Hell, he shouldn’t be with them in the first place.
Chapter Twenty-Four
* * *
THEY WALKED AS a group down the corridor, but Jessie only had eyes for the little boy. Dylan’s son. Her heart felt like someone had thrust a dagger into it, ripping apart old scars and making them bleed.
Dylan swore softly and put a hand to her cheek to get her attention. “Jess, I’m sorry, sweetheart, I haven’t had a chance to tell you about Will.”
She averted her eyes, unable to meet his gaze. “What’s to tell? He’s your son.” She turned to the drawer next to the bed and took out her heart-shaped locket. She draped the long gold chain over her head and let the locket rest between her breasts over her wrecked heart.
“What’s that, honey? It’s beautiful. Looks old, the rose on the front is pretty. Is it an antique?” He kept eyeing his parents’ progress down the corridor, ever getting closer.
Jessie wished they’d disappear.
“It’s a picture of our daughter and a lock of her hair.”
She turned away and lowered herself into the bed. Her muscles throbbed with fatigue. Her head was still spinning from that kiss Dylan planted on her. Most of all her heart ached for all they’d lost. It hurt seeing him break down and grieve for their daughter. This is why she didn’t want to tell him. She hated putting that sad look in his eyes and breaking his heart.
He’d said he wanted to marry her, and she couldn’t quite believe in the words or him. Unsure he’d even said the words, she found it difficult to switch gears and remember this was the man she loved with her whole heart. This was the man she’d given herself to, body, mind, heart, and soul.
Dylan reached out and touched his fingertips to the locket. His pinky brushed the swell of her breast, and her nipples hardened under the thin hospital-gown fabric. His eyes met hers and they stared at each other for a long moment. Electricity crackled between them. She wished they were somewhere else. Alone. A different time. A different place. A different past. She looked away first, breaking the spell and the building tension.
“Can I see?” he asked, his voice gruff.
She opened the locket and looked at their daughter’s picture inside. She kissed the photo before turning it around to show him.
Dylan breathed in sharply at the first glimpse he’d ever had of Hope. His daughter. “She . . . She looks just like me,” he stammered. He could see it immediately. A lock of her dark hair, the same shade as his, encased behind glass. A little pink ribbon held the soft, wispy strands together. Hope’s little eyes were closed, her cheeks round and pink, her face soft and content. Like Jessie had told him, she slept with her little hands clasped together near her pretty bow mouth.
His eyes glassed over, filling with tears. Jessie wiped away the tear that slipped down his cheek with her fingertips. He leaned into her touch, needing her comfort, knowing she understood his pain.
“She’s beautiful, Jess. You made a beautiful baby.”
She held his face in her hands while he stared at the photo in her locket. “We. We made a beautiful baby.”
“Son? What’s wrong?”
Dylan turned partway and glared at his father, standing in the doorway with his mother. His mother stood rigid, back ramrod straight, hands clasped tightly in front of her. She could barely keep from turning away. Everything about her appeared defiant and guilty all at the same time.
“Nothing’s wrong. I was just looking at a picture of my daughter. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen her.” Jessie gently slid the locket out of his grasp. She kissed the picture again before closing it with a distinct click. She tucked it down her hospital gown and stretched out in the bed on her side, ignoring everyone in the room. Including him.
He pulled the blanket around her. The dark circles under her eyes reminded him she wasn’t a hundred percent yet. In the last few minutes, she’d withered before his eyes, tired beyond anything a person should endure. The last few weeks had been rough on her. She masked it well, but right now, everything had finally caught up with her.