Perfect Catch(42)

The youth charities he contributed to probably got more time and money from him than his own daughter. And he was willing to be photographed with those kids.

“Thanks,” she said again, refusing to look at him. She was tired and angry, and she was sick to death of crying, so it seemed safest to keep her eyes focused elsewhere.

“It’s the least I could do,” he replied.

“Yeah. It is.” Alice couldn’t bite her tongue in time to keep the comment from slipping out.

“Are we really going to do this right now?” Matt sounded as tired and frustrated as she felt, which didn’t seem fair because he was just a tourist in their tragedy.

“When would you rather do it? Or do you want to ignore me awhile longer until you can pass it off to your lawyers again? How are Andrew and David these days anyway?”

Matt’s nails dug into the foamy exterior of his cup. “Why do you have to make everything so difficult?”

“Me? You’ve got to be kidding. You’re never around, you avoid us, you don’t care about her unless something happens—”

“Mom?” The voice was quiet and raspy, like it hadn’t been used in years, but it was unmistakably Olivia’s.

All the animosity between Alice and Matt vanished with one syllable. He shot up from the chair. “Livvy?”

“Daddy?” One of Olivia’s eyes wouldn’t open all the way, and her mouth appeared tight when she tried to form words. She didn’t seem to be in too much pain, but the doped-out slurring to her words suggested the morphine was doing its job.

“Hi, baby girl,” Matt cooed, brushing her cheek softly. This was the charming guy who had lured Alice to bed, but now all his charm was for their child. It was better this way, since his sweet nothings were just that to Alice. Nothing.

“You came?”

“Of course I did, sweetheart.” Matt kissed each of her cheeks and grasped her hand. Alice stayed in her place on the end of the bed, one hand clamped down on her baby’s leg. She was afraid to let go, worried one wrong move would make the girl slip away again.

“What…happened?”

“There was an accident, baby,” Alice whispered. “But you’re okay.”

“Uncle…Kevin?” Olivia tried to look around but winced and lay still, watching the two of them imploringly.

Alice glanced in the direction of Kevin’s bed. He hadn’t stirred since the accident, but the doctors assured her there was no reason to worry. He ought to make a full recovery.

“Uncle Kevin is fine. Everyone is fine.”

“I’m really tired.” Her voice sounded whiny, but for once it didn’t bother Alice in the least.

“You can go back to bed. Sleep all you want.”

“Are you staying?” Olivia asked, her wide eyes focused solely on Matt.

“For a little while.”

“Until I wake up again?”

“Yeah, honey. I’ll stay until you wake up. I promise.”

“’Kay.” Liv’s eyes closed, and soon soft, even breaths came from her mouth, announcing her sleep.

“Promises, Matt? I didn’t know you knew how to make those.”

“No. You just didn’t know I knew how to keep them.”





Chapter Nineteen

At first Alex thought she was avoiding him.

Then after two days of no messages, of not seeing her around town, he started to think something else was up. He didn’t want to be the guy who creeped around asking after a woman, but he was beginning to worry. Even when he’d been in another state, she’d texted him almost every day. He knew he hadn’t done anything to upset her. So it had to be something else.

He debated what he ought to do for an unhealthy amount of time, then finally called the diner where she worked to see if she was in. He thought it was mildly less creepy than driving by her house a hundred times.

They were the ones who told him about Olivia’s accident.

A chatty woman filled him in on all the details, explaining Alice hadn’t been to work since it happened, and no one was certain when she’d be back. Did he want to leave a message?

Alex hung up.

It didn’t feel right going to the hospital—there was no way he could show up without her invitation. He wanted to be supportive, but he was uncomfortable butting into a family matter. Flowers weren’t the way to go, either. What child wanted flowers? Or maybe they did. Alex didn’t understand kids.

After several agonizing hours, he gave up trying to think of what he should do and just texted her. Heard what happened. Hope you’re okay. Let me know if you need anything.

Maybe it wasn’t the best thing he could do, but he had to do something.