Page 6 of Mad Love

Was.

There’s no way I can think of my sister in the past tense.

No one has ever confused me for Sasha, but we look like sisters, like family.

I wonder if Weston’s thinking about their night together or the way he avoided her calls afterward. If he has any idea what she went through to have this baby.

“So you’re not the mother?” he asks. “Are you related to Sasha?”

Unbelievable. He doesn’t even remember Sasha?

“Do Ilooklike someone you slept with?” My hands are shaking, just from being in the same room with him. I hate that I’m having to talk to him at all, especially right now.

Dr. Williams turns to Weston in confusion.

I scroll through my phone until I find the picture Sasha sent of her and Weston at the bar the night of their one-night stand. When I hold it up, Weston’s face pales.

“Now, do you remember her?” I spit out.

Weston swallows hard and he nods slowly.

“Can one of you please tell me what’s going on?” Weston asks.

“Sasha and Caleb were in a car accident early this morning,” Dr. Williams says. “Sasha’s injuries were extensive and unfortunately, she passed an hour ago. We went through the usual protocol of trying to notify family and saw that Sasha and Caleb had been in this hospital before. We found the birth certificate first and got your name from that,” he tells Weston before looking at me, “and then found your name, Sadie, from when Sasha was admitted for delivering Caleb.”

“I was in the room with my sister when she had him,” I whisper. The tears just won’t stop falling. I look at Dr. Williams pleadingly.

Dr. Williams is paged over the sound system and he gives us an apologetic look. “Excuse me,” he says, bolting from the room.

It’s quiet for a few seconds as we both look at Caleb.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Weston says. “Your sister. I…I can’t imagine.”

I’m caught off guard by how genuine he seems. But in the next second, my anger flares hotter.

“This is an opportunity for you.” I grip the crib until my knuckles are white. “You didn’t want to deal with Sasha when she was pregnant, but now you’re all over this? No, you don’t get to do this now.”

He takes a step back. “I had no idea she was pregnant. And if I’d been told, I wouldn’t have abandoned her. I’m not that kind of guy.”

A caustic laugh erupts out of me and my face crumbles. I put my head in my hands. I’ve just lost my sister, and as complicated as she was, I loved her with all my heart.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and I go still. It’s huge and warm and it’s been a long time since a man has touched me. I’m running on fumes and no sleep, and if I could, I’d pretend I didn’t despise the man for this moment of comfort, but I can’t.

I’ve been working nonstop for the past two months because my sister couldn’t and because this man wasn’t in the picture, and I’m tired.

My eyes lift to his and my expression makes his hand drop from my shoulder.

“Don’t trouble yourself with us,” I say. “We’ve been just fine without you, trust me.”

“Sadie, if Caleb is my son, I’m not walking away.”

He stands taller and I just thought his height was intimidating before. When his eyes drill into me this way, the soft edges disappear and I see the man I’m usually watching on the TV screen when he’s facing an opponent out on the field.

He walks closer to Caleb and stares at him for a few long moments.

“He’s so tiny,” Weston whispers.

Caleb is a two-month-old baby. I’m not sure what the guy expected.

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