Page 60 of Love and Other Lost Things

Nik focused back on his computer screen, clicking over to the information the receptionist had typed into Scarlett’s medical record. He briefly skimmed the address—Los Angeles. At least Jane had been telling the truth about that. And then he checked Scarlett’s birthdate.

August 2nd.

Nik slumped back in his chair. Scarlett had turned nine this past summer. Which meant that Jane would have been in LA for months before her child was conceived. So that was why she’d never contacted him. She’d met someone else, gotten pregnant, and moved on with her life.

It should have come as a relief that Scarlett wasn’t his child. What would it have meant to learn that Jane had kept something like that from him on top of all her other secrets? How would he have ever forgiven her? But as Nik glanced at the handsome man smiling up at him from his phone, something knotted in his gut. Maybe Jane had left Linden Falls to protect him. But she’d run straight to this Matteo DeLuca in Los Angeles. Matteo had kissed her, touched her, been inside her mere months after she’d been with Nik. Mere months after she’d shared the most important moments of Nik’s life.

And now Matteo had everything Nik had always wanted.

From the moment she’d walked back into this town, Nik had known. He still wanted Jane in his life, in his bed. He still wanted her laughter, her friendship. Her heart. But that guy in the photo and the little girl in the exam room next door meant he’d never have any of those things. Jane had a family and an entire life that he wasn’t a part of. Hell, Jane had an entire life he didn’t even know anything about.

Nik took one more look at Matteo’s face and then closed the browser window. It was probably better he’d found out this way. Because this solved all the mysteries about where Jane had been and why she’d stayed away. And he could finally let her go and move on.

At that moment, the computer beeped, announcing a message had come in. Scarlett’s test results. He clicked open the window and scanned the report. Scarlett had a distal radius fracture and would need to be fitted for a cast on her arm. He continued reading. The MRI had picked up some slight swelling in her brain. It was recommended they keep her overnight for observation.

When Nik entered Scarlett’s hospital room to let Jane know the results of the tests, he found her lying in the bed, her back against the pillows, with Scarlett’s head on her chest. Her eyes were closed, and the only sign she was awake was the way her hand gently stroked her daughter’s hair. It hit him all over again that Jane had a child, that this was the reason she hadn’t come back for the past decade. Somehow, he felt both happy for her—and utterly left out of her life.

Scarlett stirred, shifting on the bed and opening her eyes. “Mommy, I want to go home.”

“I know, honey,” Jane murmured, as if it took a supreme amount of effort to form the words. “It will just be a little longer.” She looked so tired, so worn out, with dark circles under her eyes and a heaviness to her movements like she’d attached weights to her arms.

Nik stepped inside the room, rattling the curtain. “Hey.”

When she spotted him, Jane slid her arm out from under Scarlett so she could sit up.

He waved a hand in her direction. “You’re fine there, you don’t have to get up.”

“No, it’s okay.” Jane climbed out of the bed and perched on the edge.

Nik approached Scarlett. “How are you feeling?” They’d given her a wrap to secure her arm, and she looked exhausted but otherwise okay.

She shrugged and looked away, suddenly shy.

He looked to Jane. “Any more headaches or nausea?”

Jane shook her head. “The nurse gave her something that helped a lot. Now we’re just ready to go home. Is there any news about the test results?”

“Well,” Nik said, “the good news is that Scarlett is going to be just fine. She has a small fracture that will require a cast, and a little bump on her head. But we’re going to have to keep her overnight to monitor that bump.”

Scarlett let out a little whimper.

“It’s just a precaution, I promise.” He tried to keep his voice upbeat as he turned to look at Scarlett. “We have comfortable rooms upstairs, and they have nice big couches where your mom can sleep.”

Scarlett stared wide-eyed, and Nik braced himself for the girl to start crying or at least to whine that she wanted to go home. He delivered a lot of news like this, and kids usually didn’t take it so well. But though Scarlett’s eyes filled with tears, she remained silent.

Jane stroked her daughter’s hair again. “I’ll stay here with you the whole time, okay?” She rubbed her temples like her head had suddenly started throbbing and turned to Nik. “So, what happens now?”

“The nurse will be in sometime in the next hour to get Scarlett fitted for her cast and then coordinate her admittance to the inpatient unit.”

“Okay.” Jane nodded. “My mom is out in the waiting room. I’ll need to let her know she should go home.” She hauled herself up from the bed, and then hesitated. “Scarlett, will you be okay for one minute? I’ll be right back.”

Nik checked his watch. He only had about a half-hour left on his shift, with an hour of paperwork to finish. But then his gaze slid back and forth between Jane’s exhausted face and Scarlett’s anxious one. “Take your time. I’ll hang out here with Scarlett.”

Jane hesitated. “Are you sure? I don’t want to keep you from your other patients.”

Nik tapped the phone on his hip. “They’ll call me if they need me.” Then from the pocket of his lab coat, he pulled out a pack of Uno cards. “While we’re waiting…” He gave Scarlett a grin. “What do you say I beat you at Uno?”

Scarlett’s eyes lit up and she sat up in the bed.

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