Page 82 of Found By You

I fucked up. And it might have cost me the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. Because she’s it for me. I’d rather die alone than be with anyone else.

I kick off my boots at the door. Everything is a memory that reminds me of her. From picking out the cabinets, the countertops, to the paint, and flooring. Laughing until we cried over shit-stain brown carpet.

My chest clenches.

We should be on our babymoon getaway getting ready for dinner at a fancy, high-rise restaurant. The place where I was going to propose. Not…this. Where we’re taking—what? A break? Space? I don’t even know anymore.

I already feel like a stalker. I’ve been sleeping in my truck outside the cabin every night. Checking in on her at work, at home—I’ve followed her to the damn gas station, for fuck’s sake.

I’m losing it.

I go upstairs to my room to grab my phone off the charger when the same sight that’s been tearing me up inside catches my eye. Not able to stop myself, I walk across the hall into the pastel purple room—the matching wooden crib, dresser, changing table, the fuzzy purple rug, the decorative flowers and butterflies on the wall, the baskets of baby clothes that still need to be put away…and the glider rocking chair I put together last night.

My entire body hurts being in this room without Maci by my side.

I love her so much it hurts.

My gaze lands on the curtain and rod that needs to be hung. I wonder if I should do it while I’m in here, or if it even matters anymore.

A glance out the window shows a cloud of dust forming as my brother’s truck peels in the driveway. My brow furrows when he throws the truck in park, jumps out, and races over to the garage.

I scowl. What the hell does he want now?

I tug on my boots and step outside. “Where the fuck have you been?” he barks out, jogging toward me. “I’ve been calling you for the last hour.”

“Phone is on the charger,” I grunt.

“Maci’s at the hospital. She’s in labor.”

Time stops.

“Yeah, exactly,” he grumbles. “Get in the truck. We need to go. Now.”

A moment later, we’re on the road driving to the hospital. Butch’s phone rings, and he answers. “Yeah, I got him. We’re on our way,” he says. “We’ll be there as fast as we can.” He hangs up and hits the gas.

“Is she okay? What happened? What’d she say?” I rapid fire. Her due date isn’t for another two weeks. Dr. Sanderson told us she might go late due to Olivia being on the smaller side… Maci must be terrified. My heart pounds at the thought.

“My future wife is what happened,” my brother says with a rough chuckle. “I told her to stay out of it, but she was driving me off the wall worrying about you and Maci. So, I drove her to the coffee shop. Long story short, Maci’s water broke, and they’re saying she’s moving fast.”

“Fast? What does that mean?”

Butch shakes his head. “I don’t know, man. That’s what they said when we got her to the hospital. She was…in a lot of pain. Cassidy was freaking out trying to reach you. I…didn’t know what else to do.”

My leg jumps in time with my racing heart. “You got her to the hospital safe, bro. That’s all you could do.”

Butch whips around the loop at the front entrance, and I jump out before the truck comes to a full stop. I hit the elevator and get to the third-floor maternity ward. I look around, desperately trying to remember where they said to go during the tour we took four months ago.

A nurse buzzes me in, and I dart to the front desk. “Maci Baker. She was brought in an hour ago. She’s thirty-seven weeks, four days. Where is she?”

The nurse nods, typing on the computer, and popping her chewing gum louder than anyone legally should be allowed to.

I don’t have time for this.

A cry down the hall catches my attention, and I run toward it on instinct alone.

“Sir. Sir, you can’t go back there,” the nurse shouts, but I don’t stop.

Barreling into room eight, I lay sight to Maci doubled over on the edge of the hospital bed, clutching her belly in a pale pink gown. She’s hooked up to several machines as Cassidy holds a bucket in front of her.

---