Page 40 of Fought and Freed

Why did everything in life have to be so damn hard? Hadn’t they suffered enough? Why couldn’t it just…stop?

Dr. Hayes wouldn’t like where her thoughts were going. She wiped away the tears that escaped.

Maddy could only imagine what Skylar was going through. If the roles were reversed, she’d be scared shitless.

Hell, if this child was Skylar’s, Maddy would help to take care of it. Holy shit, was she ready to be a mom? Did she even know how to be a mom?

She wished there was a class to take on how to be a good parent.

When she was little, she used to visit the park and watch the kids with their moms. There was so much she didn’t understand about being a mother. It was more than being a swing pusher, boo-boo fixer, and lunch maker.

All she could promise Skylar and the baby was that she would love them and always be there for them. That was if the baby was his.

They would need to watch Amber carefully.

The manipulative bitch would do everything in her power to break them up. But it wasn’t just Maddy. There was also Skylar’s relationship with Jace.

A knock sounded on her door.

Maddy rolled over. “Come in.”

Jace’s head popped into her room. “Can I stay with you?”

“Sure.” She patted the bed beside her. “Leave the door open, so if Skylar comes home, we’ll hear him.”

Jace left the door open and crawled into bed.

He laid on his back and pulled Maddy close to rest her head on his chest. “Having trouble reading?”

“Yes, nothing I was reading was sinking in.” She wrapped her arm around him. “Too much has happened since I came back.”

They lay there in silence while Jace ran his fingers up and down her back.

“How do you feel about Amber’s…news?” She couldn’t bring herself to say the word pregnant out loud.

“I honestly don’t know.” His hand stilled on her back. “I’m afraid, if I think about it too much, that it will come true. I’m worried about Skylar, and I hate how he takes off on his bike whenever something happens instead of talking about it.”

“It’s his way of dealing with things.” Maddy had done the same when she closed herself in her bedroom. “I understand his taking off, but it doesn’t mean I’m not worried.”

Jace’s heartbeat picked up. “Do you think it’s his?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” A tear ran down her face and landed on Jace’s chest. “If it is, I’ll be behind him one hundred percent, whatever he decides.”

“She’d slept with half of the football team.” Tension thrummed through Jace’s voice. “It could be anyone’s, but by the time we find out the truth, we’ll all be emotionally invested. It would destroy Skylar to find out months later that it’s not his.”

Jace sighed. “I think that’s part of her plan. If she waits until the kid is born, Skylar may not ask for the test. I searched about fetal DNA tests, and there’s not that much risk. If she’s sure it’s Skylar’s baby, she should have no problem taking one.”

Maddy nodded. “We need to bring that up to him when he gets home, whenever that might be.”

Silence filled the room for a moment.

“You don’t have to answer this, but Cody said she wanted their money. But what money?” Maddy tilted her head up to see Jace’s profile. “Cody flips houses, and Skylar’s working for your dad, but I feel like there’s more.”

“Giselle, Skylar and Cody’s mom, came from a very wealthy family. When her parents passed, their only child, Giselle, inherited all of their possessions,” Jace explained. “Giselle and Jared never flaunted their wealth.”

Admiration filled Jace’s voice. “They still did what they loved, even though they never had to. And while they paid for Skylar’s and Cody’s education, the guys have to work for their money.”

That’s the way everyone should do it. Otherwise, they end up like Trisha, the rich bitch at school who picked on Torri and Maddy all the time. She felt entitled to step all over other people just because of who her parents were.

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