“You had a close call, girlfriend. Don’t you dare ever scare me like that again or I’ll kick your ass,” Jade threatened.
“I’ll work on it,” Olivia said. “With Marsden out of the picture and Declan gone, though, the rest of my life should be pretty easy going.”
“Shsh, don’t jinx it,” Jade said. “Don’t invite trouble.”
“Superstitious much?” Olivia said.
“Maybe getting that way,” Jade said. “All the regulars at Howlers’ miss you. They told me to send you their love and to tell you that you had better get your ass back in there and working.”
“It may be another week or so, but I’ll be back. How is Sean?”
“He’s good. He has a scar across his cheek. He thinks it makes him look rakish. I told him that it makes him look like he doesn’t know when to duck,” Jade said.
Olivia laughed and then moaned. “Don’t make me laugh.”
She wanted to tell her friend about the baby, but she needed to tell Zac first, so she kept her secret. Hopefully, they could all celebrate the new life together soon.
Jade hugged her and then said, “I need to be going. I’ll check in on you soon.”
Olivia smiled. Life was good. She just hoped that Zac was going to be as happy about the baby as she was.
24
Zac
Zac had been extremely busy and didn’t get a chance to get to the hospital as much as he would have liked. He actually felt guilty about it, but it seemed like he was going full throttle from the time he got up in the morning until he dropped into bed at night.
Finally, after a couple of days, he made his way to the hospital. Olivia looked a lot better than she had.
“I’m sure that you are tired of being asked this question, but how are you feeling?”
“Less like I got ran over by a freight train, and more like it was just a bus,” Olivia said. “I never got a chance to thank you for saving me – again.”
Zac smiled and said, “That’s what I do. I’m the alpha, and it’s my job to take care of my family.”
Olivia smiled a little, but Zac got the feeling that wasn’t exactly what she wanted to hear.
“Has your family left?” he asked, feeling awkward, searching for something to say.
“Yeah. They had to get back to their lives,” Olivia said. “Now that Declan is dead, they asked if I was going to go back.”
Zac could tell that she was searching his face for some sign of how he was feeling. The thought of her going back didn’t set well with him, especially since he knew she was his fated mate. However, he couldn’t really stop her if she wanted to go.
“What did you tell them?” he asked.
“The truth. I don’t feel like I belong there anymore. I have friends here, who I love. I did try to talk Sandra into moving to Angel’s Creek, though,” Olivia said.
“That would be cool,” Zac said.
After an uncomfortable silence, Olivia said, “I really need to talk to you about something important.”
Zac sucked in his breath. He was positive that Olivia was going to tell him that she loved him, but he wasn’t sure that he was ready to hear that. He cared a lot about her, and deep down inside, he knew that he loved her, too, but he wasn’t at the point that he could tell her.
She started to speak, but the doctor came in.
“I need to check over my patient,” she said. “Zac, you need to wait outside.”
He bent over and brushed a kiss across Olivia’s lips and said, “I’m going to head out. I’ll see you later.” He squeezed her arm and left.