Should’ve Known It’s You (Not You Again #7)

Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

AUSTIN

I paced the waiting room, anxious for news from Kenny. I really hadn’t seen my day taking a turn like this. I didn’t even know these people but I still felt like I had to stay.

No. I want to stay.

The look on Kennedy’s face when she’d gotten that phone call had spoken volumes, and I wanted to make sure she—and by extension, her family—was okay. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how scary something like this was for her.

I’d already checked in with Jess three times since Kenny had raced away to go see her sister, and although my own family had assured me that Jess was perfectly fine, it was hitting me like a ton of bricks that nothing was guaranteed in this life.

Sliding my phone out of my pocket, I checked it again, ignoring all the communication from work and clicking into my text threads first with Jess and then with Slate again. Neither of them had sent anything since their last messages confirming that they were fine, and that the baby was too, and I sighed. Rubbing the back of my head, I thought about my conversation with my brother-in-law the other night.

I had been joking about her giving birth while milking a cow, but my sister was still running at full speed. Sure, her pregnancy wasn’t very far along yet, but shit. She wasn’t even running at full speed. She’d been at double speed the last few months.

Maybe I should talk to her about slowing down.

I knew she hadn’t wanted to hear it from Slate, but perhaps it would make a difference if it came from me. He had been protective of her since they’d met, but he’d turned into a lion protecting its cub since he’d found out she was pregnant.

Generally speaking, I was more even keeled. If she found out that even I was worried about her overexerting herself, it was possible that it would make a difference. Maybe she would realize that Slate wasn’t only talking to her about slowing down because he was being extreme, but rather because we were all worried about her.

As I mulled it over, two people came into the waiting room, striding through to the nurses’ station with their noses in the air and a decidedly haughty look about them. They were older and well dressed, in a huff as they confronted the nurse responsible for buzzing people into the maternity ward.

“We’re the parents of a patient,” the woman announced as if the nurse had committed a horrible crime for stopping them at the door. “Winrey Sweet. Our names are Lori and Jeff Sweet.”

“We are to be let in,” the man added. “Right now. Our daughter is in there, for God’s sake. She needs us by her side.”

I frowned at them for their abrasive treatment of a medical professional who was only doing her job, then found myself doing a slow double take when it sank in what they were saying.

Those are Kennedy’s parents. They have to be.

They were not what I was expecting at all.

Right off the bat, I noticed a few things that would’ve leaped out at anyone who was looking at them right then. Lori Sweet, for example, was the spitting image of Kennedy.

I couldn’t remember if I’d ever met Winrey even as a kid. Perhaps I would recognize her if I ever saw her again, but for now, Lori might’ve been Kennedy’s sister for all I knew. That was how much they looked alike.

Outside of the fact that Lori was staring down her nose at the nurse while Kennedy always looked at people—except for Tate—with a big, friendly smile on her face. The woman’s dark hair was almost as long as her daughter’s, her frame skinnier, but I could’ve sworn I remembered her being curvier when she’d been younger.

This is probably what Kennedy would look like if she followed one of those country club, fad diets, I realized. My nose wrinkled and I zeroed in on the handbag hanging over her shoulder.

A girl I’d gone out with a few months ago had had that exact bag, and she’d boasted to everyone who would listen that it’d cost her around six thousand dollars. It definitely wasn’t a purse just anyone could buy.

Similarly, the father had a Rolex on his wrist that was worth at least thirty thousand dollars and the jewelry on the woman was staggering. Gold and diamonds sparkled around her neck, on her wrists, and in her ears.

All things considered, I was looking at some serious wealth. Why does Kennedy need help so badly with starting her business when she clearly comes from money?

The question popped into my head unbidden, but it was a good one. It’s weird. Why doesn’t she just ask her daddy?

Ultimately though, I would have to get my answers another day. This wasn’t the time for that kind of speculation, so I strode over to them, wanting them to know that I was here to help if there was something I could do for their family.

As I approached, Jeff Sweet spotted me and I offered him a polite smile. “Hi, sir. I’m a friend of Kennedy’s. I came here with her. She’s in with Winrey right now, but I have a car here, so if any of you need anything, just come let me know and I’ll be happy to go get it for you.”

Both Sweets looked at me like I was an alien.

I frowned. “I’m Austin Merrick, Jess Merrick’s brother? She and Kennedy were good friends back in Firefly Grove.”

“Merrick,” Lori said thoughtfully, but the name clearly didn’t ring any bells for her.

Jeff, however, suddenly seemed to have a flash of recognition. He gave me a quick onceover, seemingly surprised to see me here.

“Farmers,” he said somewhat smugly as he glanced at his wife before he looked back at me. “We won’t need anything.”

Without bothering to thank me or anything, he turned back to the nurse just as she set the phone she’d been speaking into back in its cradle. “You may go in now, Mr. and Mrs. Sweet. She’s in room 206.”

They didn’t thank her either, simply turning and striding into the maternity ward once she buzzed them in. I exhaled a deep breath, wondering how Kennedy could be related to people like that. Kennedy, who just an hour ago, had been looking around a dirty, ramshackle house with stars in her eyes, a sense of childlike awe in her voice.

I exchanged a glance with the nurse, who just shrugged and went back to work, and then I shook my head, going back to the waiting room to grab a seat. I wonder what the hell that was all about.

Now that their parents were here, I was more sure than ever that I could probably leave. They would likely be able to give her a ride home if she needed one and I had no idea how long it was going to be until they were ready to go, but I wasn’t leaving until I saw Kenny and confirmed with my own two eyes that she was okay.

That look on her face when she’d gotten that call would haunt me forever. I’d never seen the face of sheer terror until that moment. No one had ever looked so scared in my presence.

I leaned back in the uncomfortable chair, contemplating heading downstairs to grab a coffee. I hadn’t had nearly enough of the stuff today, and it had been a day worthy of caffeine so far. While I tried to decide if leaving the waiting room was worth the risk, I became aware of things going on around me that I hadn’t really taken notice of until then.

I’d been so busy pacing and checking on Slate and Jess that I’d somehow missed the people coming and going all the time. As I watched them, I was suddenly confronted by things I’d never thought much about.

Pregnant women were wandering the halls, either trying to induce labor or speed up the process. Husbands and boyfriends were hurrying out of the ward to run to the cafeteria, reappearing at super-human speed with bags of chips, sodas, sweets, water, and one guy even raced back into the maternity ward carrying an old-fashioned boombox. New fathers burst through the doors every so often, beaming and some of them in tears as they announced to waiting family members that the baby had arrived safe and sound and that Mom was doing well.

I took it all in, wondering if it was going to be like this when Jess had her baby. There was no hospital in Firefly Grove, and she and Slate would have to travel a couple of towns over to get to the closest maternity ward when the time came.

Depending on how long her labor lasted, I might not even make it there on time to be there when Slate was the dad bursting through the doors.

And then, for the first time in my life, I wondered if I wanted this.

Fatherhood.

It scared the hell out of me, but as I watched the joy all around me, I smiled, and also for the first time, I had a feeling that I might actually want this. All of it.

Someone to share my life with—and someone to do it all for other than myself.

God, my mother would be thrilled.

Eventually, I decided that I needed a break from all the baby vibes before I offered to impregnate the nearest women, and I went to grab that coffee. A little while later, after I’d finished my brew and once I leaned back to resume my people-watching, I caught sight of Kennedy coming down the hall.

She looked absolutely drained. Her hair that had been loose this morning was tied into a hasty knot on top of her head and her cheeks were pale. I got to my feet to meet her at the doors, my pulse spiking as I waited to hear what she was going to say.