See You at the Finish Line (Run, Love, Repeat #1)

33. Paige

We’ve been in the car for four hours and have barely spoken. Adam asks if I need anything every thirty minutes or so—it’s sweet. He packed some protein shakes as well as precut veggies and fruit from his fridge. What kind of man keeps precut fruit and vegetables in his fridge? A fictional man, that’s who. It wasn’t even one of those prepackaged trays either. They were in containers, washed, with paper towels in the bottoms. The grapes were so crunchy I hoarded them and ate every last one without any guilt. They were the best grapes I’ve ever eaten.

I’ve tried to call Ian but he hasn’t picked up the phone, and it’s exactly the kind of petty thing he would do to punish me for not answering my phone right away. Asshole. Despite the fact that he signed away his parental rights and has no custody of Levi, the hospital has just informed me that they’re planning to send Levi home with him since there’s no other family in the area.

“No way in hell are you giving him to the man who gave his sperm and nothing else to that baby,” I tell the nurse.

“Levi is healthy and will do better at home. ”

“Ian is not his home and he is not family. He has no legal right to Levi and if you send him with a complete stranger, I will call the police and report you for aiding and abetting a kidnapper.”

The other end of the line is silent. Adam is getting to see all sorts of different sides of my personality. I sneak a glance at him and his brows are furrowed. He meets my gaze and nods in solidarity. He’s fighting this battle with me, and I’m grateful he’s got my back.

“I understand this situation is upsetting, dear. Is there any other family in the area—”

“There is no other family. Both our parents are dead and they had no siblings, so there are no aunts, uncles, cousins, or fairy-fucking-godmothers to come to the rescue. I’m the fairy-fucking-godmother, and all I’m asking is for Levi to stay one extra night until I can get there.”

Adam’s head whips towards me. Shit, he didn’t know my mom died. I talked about her a lot during the ultra two years ago and had even said she would love him. I couldn’t wait for her to meet him. Now she never will.

“I’m going to put you on hold,” the nurse says, resigned. Gentle music filters through the speaker.

“She’s putting me on hold,” I say through my teeth.

“That’s a good sign. She’s going to ask whoever’s in charge of babies if it’s okay for him to stay,” Adam tries to reassure me.

“Or she’s letting me sweat, making me think she can help just to come back with more bullshit.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll guard the door while you fight her.”

A laugh huffs out of me .

“I appreciate the backup, Ashford.”

He looks at me briefly before turning back to the road, and I know he wants to ask but won’t push.

“My mom died during surgery for a brain tumour just over a year ago,” I say under my breath. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to say the words out loud, and they hit my heart with a brutal force. If Leah dies, I am going to murder her. She’s all I have left.

“I am so sorry, Paige,” he says, his voice breaking. I watch as he swallows.

I want to tell him about my mom, but the hold music stops and a new voice is on the line. I immediately put my guard up, ready to fight with this person too.

“Ms. Harrison?” another female voice says.

“Yes, I’m Leah’s sister and Levi’s guardian in her absence,” I say firmly.

“I have been made aware of that. My name is Ashlynn and I am the social worker on Levi’s case.”

“Are you aware that Ian is no more than a sperm donor?”

“Yes, I am now aware of that as well after reading his file and I want to apologize for the confusion. Ian introduced himself as Levi’s father and his name is on Levi’s birth certificate,” she explains. That little shit. “We have asked Ian to clarify the situation, and he told us it was true. Again, I am very sorry.”

That they had to corroborate my story with him bristles my already shredded patience. At least he told the truth. “All I care about is that Levi is safe until I can get there tomorrow.” And that my sister lives, but she can’t help with that .

“Of course. He’s currently sleeping, and I assure you, the doctors were thorough. He is fine and suffered no more than a few bruises. Your sister’s attention to proper car seat safety saved his life. That’s not always the case.” I laugh, relief flooding me.

Leah was obsessed with watching all the videos and reading the horror stories about car seats. She made sure I knew that Levi was to never ever wear a snowsuit in his car seat. When I made a joke about it, she sat me down and made me watch the videos so he would be safe when I was babysitting. I couldn’t exactly argue with a fire breathing, nine-month pregnant woman, so I sat through over an hour of videos. I’ll never make fun of her for it again.

“That’s a relief to hear.”

“And we will, of course, keep him overnight and wait for your arrival.”

“Thank you.” I breathe. A fresh wave of tears, this time of relief, washes over me. Adam reaches over to place a steady hand on my thigh, and I instinctively lay my hand on his, holding it there.

“Okay, if he wakes up and is fussy, he loves ‘Wheels on the Bus’ and ‘Fight Song’ by Rachel Platten.” I see Adam smile from the corner of my eye and the social worker laughs. “He will absolutely lose his mind if you try to feed him the wheat cereal, he’s a bougie baby and only likes the oat kind. His stomach also can’t handle the powdered formula, so it has to be the premade stuff. Trust me, your laundry service and your ears will thank you.”

“This is very helpful, Paige, thank you. Ian wasn’t able to give us much. ”

“Yeah, that’s because he’s a dipshit who skipped out on my sister as soon as the stick showed two lines.”

“I understand,” she says reassuringly.

“Oh and if he starts missing his mom”—my eyes well up and my nose stings—“she lays him on her chest so he can listen to her heartbeat. It settles him right down.” As the tears fall, Adam squeezes my thigh.

“I’ll let the volunteers know. He’ll be well taken care of.”

“Thank you.”

“Is there anything else?”

“I think that’s all for now. Do you have any news about my sister?” I ask desperately.

“I’m sorry, Paige, I don’t. Do you want me to transfer you back to the nurse’s station?”

“No, they don’t know anything either.”

I hang up, feeling a tiny bit better knowing Levi is safe.

“No update isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It just means she’s still in surgery and they’re fighting for her,” Adam tells me.

“How do you know?”

“My mom is a surgeon.”

Right. I knew that. “At least that’s a more trivial fact to forget than someone’s name I guess.” I take the jab at him and he smiles, narrowing his eyes at me in a playful way.

“You’re never going to let that go, are you?”

“Nope. I’ll bring it up in every argument we ever have. We’ll be eighty and I won’t remember where I put my teeth, but I’ll remember this.” I clamp my mouth shut as it slips out .

Adam doesn’t call me out on it. He laughs. “I look forward to it, Paige Elizabeth Harrison.”

My heart can’t handle the emotions shooting through my body. Too much. This is too much.

“I can’t lose her,” I whisper. His hand tightens on my leg, and I realize I’m holding it so hard my knuckles are white. “Sorry for crushing your hand.” I loosen my grip but he doesn’t let me get far. He laces his fingers through mine and holds on firmly.

“Squeeze as tight as you need.”

I’m distracted by the simple gesture of Adam holding my hand. We’re driving like we’re teenagers—except his hands are not those of a lanky sixteen-year-old boy. They’re large with all these veins popping out as his grip tightens. His hands are sexy as hell, and they look ... capable. If I told Leah I was admiring his hands while she was open on the operating table, she would scold me and then congratulate me on getting to third base.

We didn’t know anything about anything when we were kids, so we made up our own bases. First base was being called a girlfriend, second base was an arm around the shoulders, third base was holding hands, fourth base was going on a date, fifth base was a hug. You get the idea. I think sex was like fifteenth base. We also knew nothing about baseball.

His hand is a comforting presence in mine, and I lean my head against the headrest, closing my eyes. I focus only on the spot where his thumb moves in reassuring strokes, soothing my entire nervous system. His touch allows my mind a reprieve. I drift off to sleep.