Page 82 of Utah

“Dad can be scatterbrained sometimes.”

“Scatterbrained? Where did you learn that word?” I asked.

“I told you, I’m almost ten.” He walked out of the room as if he’d given me all the explanation I needed.

“That kid.” I chuckled.

“He’s great, isn’t he?” Emmy’s dimples were on full display as she talked about Colton. I was happy the kid finally had a mother figure in his life, one who would do anything for him. Because God knew Maxine was a lost cause.

“He is. I hope my son is just as great.”

She gasped. “You found out the sex? It’s a boy?”

“No. Ria wants to be surprised. But it just has to be a boy. I can’t deal with a girl.”

“Oh, you’ll be fine if you have a daughter. Us women are awesome.”

“And us men know that, which is the problem. One I don’t wanna deal with.”

Her smile was contagious, and I was so happy Renner had found a good woman.

“Did you wanna stay for dinner? We have plenty.”

“No, but thank you. I’m gonna clean up and get home to Ria.”

“Of course.”

I gathered my tools and shoved them into my bag. “You guys will have to shower in the other bathroom for now. I’ll be back in two days to grout.”

“Okay, I’ll let him know.” She looked like she was going to say something else, but Colton rushed into the bathroom.

“Here,” he said, shoving my phone at me. “It keeps ringing.”

“Thanks.” The screen lit up with Ria’s name a second later. “Hey, babe. I was just about to—”

“Utah, this is Evie.” Her words came out in a rush, instantly making me panic. “Where have you been? Never mind, just get to the hospital. I’m checking her in now.”

“What’s going on?” No answer. “What happened?” I tripped over my bag but caught my footing before I fell on my face. Still no answer. “Hello?” I looked at the screen only to discover that Evie had hung up on me. What the fuck?

“Is everything okay?” Emmy asked, stepping out of my way before she got trampled.

“Ria is at the hospital. I don’t know. I gotta go. Fuck, where’s my phone?”

“You’re holding it,” Emmy answered, pointing at my hand. “Do you want me to drive you?”

“No, I’m fine.”

I heard Colton saying something about how it’s not fair thathe can’t curse every once in a while since everyone else does. I didn’t have time to be amused. I was too busy panicking, praying nothing was wrong and that Ria just went into labor. As if that thought alone wasn’t enough to give me a fucking heart attack.

I broke every traffic law on the way to Lakeland Memorial. And when I arrived, I scared the hell out of the nurse at the desk by practically shouting for her to tell me what room Ria was in.

No matter how many times I told myself to calm down, that my anxiousness would make any situation worse, I couldn’t stop my heart from thundering inside my chest. Or my head from spinning story after story of what I was going to walk into. I’d tried to call Ria’s phone several times on the way, but no one answered.

As I rushed down the hallway toward her room, my steps faltered when I was several feet away. Evie stood outside, speaking in a hushed voice. When she turned toward me, she was on her cell and had a smile on her face. Smiling was a universal good sign. My feet propelled me forward as I finally managed to get ahold of my nerves.

“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been calling you for like an hour.” Evie tucked her phone into her back pocket, the smile she wore seconds ago disappearing.

“I’m sorry. I thought I had my phone near me when I was at Renner’s, but I didn’t. Is she okay?”

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