As if waiting for her cue, as soon as Meg walked back in the room with the machine, Haley flopped onto the couch and kicked, cried, and wailed. A tantrum deserving of an Academy Award.
Crying wouldn’t help Haley’s breathing, so Meg forced herself to remain calm and got everything set up. Then she sat quietly until Haley realized she wasn’t going to win. After a few more last-ditch protests, Haley grew still, so Meg pulled her against her side. She picked up Goodnight Moon from her feet, placed it on her lap, and then adjusted the mask across her pouting daughter’s face. “Breathe deep until all the medicine is gone. Then we’ll go eat.” She placed Haley’s hands on her stomach so she could feel the air as she drew it into her lungs. “Fill the tummy balloon as big as it can get, then let it all out. Remember?”
Haley’s little nod just about broke Megan’s heart. Her kid was tough to the core.
They were almost finished when Casey slammed through the front door at a full run. One look at Haley stopped her in her tracks. “What’s the matter? Did she have an attack?”
Meg begged with her eyes for Casey to chill out. She didn’t want to scare Haley. “No. Everything’s great! We’re just reading.”
She couldn’t blame Casey. It had taken Meg a while to get used to seeing that contraption strapped to her baby’s face too.
“Oh. Good.” Casey slowly nodded and then sat on the other side of Haley. “I need to tell you something as soon as you guys are done, okay?” Casey’s gaze tilted to the top of Haley’s head and then up to Meg again in a “not in front of the kid” gesture.
They were close enough to done anyway. Freeing Haley from the mask, she said, “You did such a good job, Haley-Bug, you deserve an extra treat.” Meg dug her cell from her back pocket and did something she usually avoided, but Casey’s intense gaze convinced Meg to make an exception. “You can play any game you’d like for a bit while I talk to Aunt Casey.”
Haley’s face lit up and she morphed back into her happy little self. “Yay! The birdy one, Momma!”
“You got it.” Meg set Haley up with the game and then gathered the nebulizer and all the tubing before heading to the kitchen to clean the parts out. Casey followed right behind. “So what’s—”
“He’s in town. Josh. He tried to check into the hotel. It was just luck we don’t take walk-ins. He’s at the diner now.”
The air whooshed from Megan’s lungs. “Are you sure it’s him?”
“Had you ever told me his name I would have known for sure, but how about tall, blond, built, killer smile, Haley looks just like him, Josh Granger?”
Crap!
How had he found them so quickly? Panic rushed through her at the thought of seeing him again. But then determination steeled her spine. She had to protect her daughter. Keep her away from him so Haley would never have to feel the rejection and heartbreak Meg still hadn’t fully recovered from. She might not be in the best of circumstances at the moment, but she’d always been sure Haley had everything she needed. They didn’t need him.
She rushed toward her bedroom to pack, but Casey grabbed her arm and stopped her. “Let go,” Meg said. “We have to leave. I don’t want him to—”
“Isn’t that what the old Meg would have done?” Casey pulled her back into the kitchen. “You said you’ve changed. Time to prove it.”
Meg’s head snapped up at her sister’s words. That’s what she used to do. Run when things got tough. It seemed easier than confronting the people always so quick to judge her. Like her father and the Three Amigos.
But the problem rarely solved itself and running mostly only made it fester and get worse. Best to make a stand right up front and be sure Josh knew no matter what he planned, she’d shield her daughter from him.
Haley appeared in the doorway. “Pie, please!”
Casey lifted Haley up to her eye level. “After my chef met you this morning he made all sorts of treats just for you, my little pie piggy. Let’s go. We’ll eat pie while Mommy does some serious thinking.”
Her sister didn’t know the half of it.
Meg slowly followed behind them down to the sandy shore and toward the hotel. They couldn’t take the road and risk running into Josh.
Maybe he wasn’t going to ask for custody. Maybe he just wanted to meet Haley. Which could be just as bad. Josh would be so busy working, wrapped up in some big project like before, he’d soon forget he had a daughter, but Haley wouldn’t forget him.
Her stomach ached at the thought of seeing him again. She’d finally allowed herself to fall in love for the first time and then Josh had turned around and ripped her heart out. And yet, she didn’t hate the man all the way like she should. She needed to remember the pain he’d caused her and stay strong.