CHAPTER TWENTY
Riley had been preparing herself for hours to see Sam, but when he burst into Paula’s hospital room it was still like a punch to her abdomen. She hadn’t exactly been completely relaxed before seeing him, but now it was as if every nerve in her body was at attention and every hair on her head was standing on end.
She’d thought she’d have more time to figure out how to tell him he was going to become a father, but fate had taken over this afternoon. Paula had collapsed while outside doing some gardening and now the decision of when had been taken out of Riley’s hands. There was no reason to wait. He was here, Paula was okay, and Riley…? She was still pregnant and quietly freaking out as he rushed to his mother’s side, peppering Paula and Riley with questions about what happened and what the doctor said.
“I’m fine,” the older woman sighed. “I got too dehydrated and my blood pressure dropped. I passed out. That’s the whole story. They’re giving me IV fluids and want to keep me overnight for observation. That’s why I told Riley and Tara not to call you. There was no need.”
After her promise to Sam to look after his mother, Riley had felt duty bound to call him and now here they all four of them were, standing in a hospital room with the tension sky high.
“Jesus, of course they needed to tell me. If you’re admitted to the hospital I want to know about it. Thank goodness a few people around here had some common sense.”
Paula gave Tara a fierce frown. “And they’ll be hearing about that later. I can’t believe you left the film and came down here. How did you get here so fast?”
“I chartered a plane and of course I left the set, Mother. I called the director and he can shoot around me for a few days.”
“As you can see, I’m fine. They’re going to release me tomorrow with a promise to drink more water, especially when I’m outside. Apparently older people can become dehydrated more easily.”
Riley inwardly winced. Paula hadn’t liked it at all when the young doctor had chastised her for not keeping her fluid intake up when she was in the hot sun. Then he’d had the audacity to call Paula a senior citizen. He’d left shortly thereafter, having been on the receiving end of a deathly stare that would have scared the bejesus out of most men.
“You have to take care of yourself–”
“I’ve had about enough of people calling me old in the last few hours,” Paula interrupted. “If you don’t have anything positive to say then you can get back into your fancy rented jet and fly back to New York. It’s kind of been a rotten day.”
Sam’s expression immediately softened. “Do you need anything? A better room? Some food? I can run out and get you something to eat. Whatever you need. How about some books or magazines?”
“The girls have already taken good care of me. Riley got me some dinner and some reading material for the evening, but they actually have cable here. I’ll be fine. Go back to New York.”
Sam’s lips tightened with frustration. “Is my presence bothering you?”
Watching the back and forth between mother and son was interesting. Clearly Paula didn’t want to be a burden and Sam was determined to take care of her.
“No, but I know how you are when you’re making a new movie. You’re buried in your work and the character, usually. Is coming here going to be a problem?”
“I’m not method, Mother.” Sam sighed and scraped his fingers through his hair, reminding Riley of the morning after their night together when his hair had been standing straight up, all tousled and cute. “I’m worried about you and I want to make sure you’re okay.”
Paula sat up and pressed a kiss to her son’s cheek. “I’m fine and I’m glad you’re here. Why don’t you tell us about the new film? I’d love to hear about it and that’s more interesting than television or a book.”
Somehow Sam found more chairs – from a few helpful nurses – and they all sat down to listen to his stories from the movie set. He’d barely turned to look at her the entire time he’d been in the room and Riley was growing increasingly angry with him. She hadn’t expected Sam to throw himself at her feet, but she hadn’t expected to be roundly ignored either. They’d parted as friends but he was acting like she wasn’t even alive. Frankly, it was a crappy thing to do.
Her blood pressure had risen and her stomach tumbled with leashed rage by the time another nurse stuck her head in and said that it was time for them to leave. The nurse didn’t leave, however, hanging around and standing far too close to Sam. Riley didn’t have the right to be jealous but she was.
Paula held out her hand and beckoned to Riley. “Can you wait a moment?”
She nodded to Tara and Sam to go ahead of her while she hung back. “Of course, is there something you need?”
“I’m fine. If you repeat this I’ll never admit it, but thank you for calling Sam. I hate to pull him away from work but it was nice to see his face after such an awful day.”
“Actually, Tara called him,” Riley reminded her.
“It was your idea. I know that he asked you to look after me.” Paula’s smile was full of love for her son. “He’s a good boy. I’ve tried to be both mother and father to him. Frankly he deserved a better father, but I was all he had.”
“You did a great job.”
Sometimes a sign from the universe sits on your shoulder softly and sometimes it smacks you across the face.
Riley’s baby deserved a chance to have a dad. No matter what, she had to find a way to tell Sam. He’d probably just offer her money and go back to his life, but she had to try. Maybe, just maybe, he’d want to parent this child with her in some manner. She didn’t know how they’d work it out but she was sure they could. The nurse eventually came back into the room and shooed Riley out into the hallway with Tara and Sam.
“I need to get back home.” Tara checked her watch and then dug into her purse for her car keys. “Hubby should be off work now. Riley, are you going to take Sam back to Paula’s?”
Riley hesitated, Sam frowned, and Tara didn’t have a clue as to the subtext of the conversation. She’d never told her best friend about her night with the actor.
“Do you have a rental, Sam?” Tara asked when no one spoke up. “If not, either Riley or I can pick up Paula in the morning.”
Sam was staring over Tara’s shoulder so it looked like Riley wasn’t the only one he didn’t want to make eye contact with. He was acting so strangely tonight and she was the one with the huge secret. What was his excuse?
“I don’t have a rental but I can get one.”
“No need.” Tara waved away the offer. “We can get her, no problem.”
More silence but this time Tara seemed to get the idea that something was going on and she didn’t want to be any part of it. Smart.
“Well…goodnight. See you tomorrow.”
Tara fled and that meant that Riley had run out of time. Delaying wasn’t going to help and Sam’s idea of pretending they weren’t standing a foot from each other wasn’t going to work either.
“I’ll give you a ride,” she said, turning toward the exit and hoping he followed without too much of an argument. Once they were alone she could tell him. Now that she’d decided she wanted it over with as soon as possible. “It’s on my way home.”
Not really but close enough. The town was small so it wasn’t an imposition.
“I can call an Ub–”
“You’ll have to wait for them,” Riley replied quickly, not giving him a chance to dispute her claim. “Quicker to just ride with me. Let’s go.”
She thought he’d argue more but to her relief he followed her out of the hospital without a word. She’d thought so often about what she’d say when she saw him again but now that the time had come all those words had flown straight out of her head. Not knowing how he was going to react, it was difficult to form a strategy as to how to break the news. Gently? To the point? Slip a note in his fortune cookie?
One thing was for sure though…
Sam not liking the news didn’t change the reality. He was going to be a father.
* * *
The ride from the hospital was quiet. Sam didn’t know what to say and Riley didn’t try and start a conversation, which was a relief. The moment he’d seen her standing next to his mother’s bed he’d been hit over the head again with just how damn beautiful she was and how kind, too. For a brief moment he’d thought about what Nate and Paige had said earlier today, urging him to find someone to share his life with. But then he’d realized that once again he wasn’t there when a loved one needed him. Luckily Paula’s friends had been here when she’d collapsed, otherwise… He didn’t want to think about the alternative endings to this story.
Riley cared for Paula like she would a member of her own family. In Sam’s experience, behavior like that was rare.
He’d been knocked almost speechless so it had been easier to not say anything to her at all, focusing his attention and energy on his mother. They were alone now, however, and he needed to say something. Anything.
Maybe he could tell her he’d missed her. Perhaps she’d missed him too.
Stupid idea. You’re leaving again.
Riley pulled up into the driveway and cut the engine. “I was hoping we could talk a little bit.”
Talk? About what? Did she want to talk about that night? And what did he want?
I don’t know. I just wish things were different.
“Sure. Come on in.”
He headed straight for the kitchen when they were inside, pulling out a bottle of red from the wine cooler he’d bought Paula two Christmases ago.
“How about we relax with a glass of wine?”
A drink seemed like a really good idea right about now. He was acting like a boy on his first date instead of a grown ass man.
Riley shook her head and perched on the edge of a sofa cushion. “I’ll pass, but please, go ahead. You’ve probably had a rough day.”
He poured himself a glass and sat down in the chair next to the couch. Close enough to talk but not so close that he might get an idea to touch or kiss her. Bad idea. He wasn’t here to rekindle their romance. Nothing had changed. He was still the wrong man for her.
“So what did you want to talk about? Is it my mom? Is there something else going on that I don’t know about?”
Her eyes widened and she shook her head. “No, this isn’t about Paula.”
She shifted on the cushion, clearly nervous about talking to him which wasn’t like Riley at all. It looked like she’d rather be any place but here with him.
Has she fallen for another guy? Is that what she wants to tell me?
Leaning forward, he caught her hand with his own, giving it what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze.
“This is Sam, okay?” he said softly. “It’s just me and you and you can tell me anything, right?”
Her fingers pleated the leader strap of her handbag and now it was her turn not to look him in the eye. Whatever she wanted to tell him had to be bad. Shit, was she getting married? For the love of God, had she reunited with Chad the douchebag?
“I’m not sure I can tell you this.”
“Sure you can,” he cajoled. “Did I become scary in the last couple of months? C’mon, Riley. Talk to me.”
Those fingers paused for a moment and she looked up at him, their gazes colliding. Her eyes were bright with tears and he wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her everything was going to be okay, but he didn’t have a clue as to why she was upset. He didn’t want to lie to her.
“It’s just that–”
He waited not wanting to interrupt what was clearly difficult for her. His own heart had accelerated in his chest as terrible, awful thoughts began to fill his brain.
She had a terminal disease and she was dying.
She was back with Chad-boy.
She’d thought about it and she hated Sam.
She was moving to a sparsely populated island to live out her dream of climbing a volcano.
“It’s just that,” she began again, exhaling noisily. “I have some news that you need to know. I wasn’t sure when I was going to tell you but now that you’re here the time seems to be now.”
This was it. She was back with that asshole. He braced himself to hear the words but he couldn’t help the anger that churned in his gut. That jerk would only hurt her again and here she was going back for a second helping. What was it with women and douchebag guys?
Well, it was her life and he was out of it. If she was the kind of woman that would take Chad back then she wasn’t the person he’d thought she was.
He’d thought she was different. Perhaps it had only been wishful thinking.