Page 44 of Whiskey Reveals

Chapter 23

Once again,Fox found himself standing in a hospital room, looking down at someone he cared about. He’d done it for Ms. Pearl only two weeks ago, and now he was looking down at the mother of his child—the woman he loved. He couldn’t believe that a fucking car had almost hit her. Yes, she was going to be okay, but a car had almost hit her.

That didn’t happen in Whiskey. Even with all the tourists and cars on their tiny roads, people didn’t get hit by them.

But, apparently, the love of his life did.

Melody told him not to blame himself, but he was going to, at least a little bit. Sarah had found out where Melody was because of his viral news story. Because Sarah had learned of Ms. Pearl long before his article ever reached the internet, and she had known exactly who was related to the woman who danced for the Rat Pack and possibly the mob. The woman had used that and Fox’s details to find out where Melody was so she could take out her sick revenge on her. Sarah wasn’t a dancer anymore. And, apparently, seeing Melody dance even as an instructor had been too much for her. So she’d broken and tried to break Melody in turn.

“If you keep pacing and beating yourself up over this, I’m going to get out of this bed and smack you upside the head. Don’t make me get up when the doctor told me to lay down for just a little bit. Come over here and hold my hand.”

Fox glared at the love of his life and held back the bitter retort that he wanted to say. It wasn’t her fault that she’d gotten hurt. None of this was her fault. And she had told him more than once that this wasn’t his fault either. It didn’t make the pill he had to swallow any less bitter.

“I’m fine, Fox. Please, just stop pacing. I don’t have a headache, but you are about to give me one. The doctors didn’t even put me in a gown. I’m still wearing my clothes.”

“I can see you’re wearing your own clothes because I can see the hole at the elbow where you scraped yourself when you fell down. There’s a bandage under that hole. I can see the white of it. Don’t tell me that you’re fine when you were clearly bleeding earlier.” But he did stop pacing and went over to her side. And then he sat down right on the edge of the bed and held her hand, lowering his head so he could press his forehead to hers.

“Fox, baby, I’m fine. Yes, it was scary. Sarah is behind bars and, hopefully, she’ll get the help she needs. I knew it either had to be her or someone else close to the accident. When I told the police her name after the ballet slipper incident, they said they were going to look for her. It hurt me at first because I didn’t want to encroach on her life any more than I already had, but I had no idea where she was. I haven’t heard from her since right after the accident when she yelled at me. Yes, I know she was drunk, too, but I was the leader, and I failed.”

This time, Fox did growl after kissing her hard on the mouth. “You did not fail. You made a mistake. But so did she. But did you go and stalk her like an insane woman? No. Sarah is disturbed, and she could’ve hurt you. The only reason she’s the one with the concussion is because she hit a pole instead of you or Ainsley. She could’ve hurt way more people than that.” He cupped her face, holding her close. He knew his hands were still shaking after being so close to losing her, but he didn’t care. She needed to see the breadth of his emotions, the depth of what he felt for her. Because that wouldn’t change anytime soon. He’d fallen in love with Melody, and it was past time the told her.

“And she won’t be able to hurt anyone else or herself again. I’m okay, Fox. That part is over. Now, we only get to look at the future. Right?”

There was a slight uncertainty in her tone that worried him. But he hoped it was just because of the adrenaline fading after the accident.

“Right.”

She let out a breath, and a small smile appeared on her face “You know, I was going to wait until tonight when I ordered some onion rings and we could munch on them together, but I figure this could be the perfect time.”

“You and your onion rings,” he murmured, earning him a smile.

“Don’t knock them. But what I wanted to tell you tonight was that I love you. I love you so damn much it’s scary. I think I started falling for you that first night we drank too much whiskey. When we created our baby together. I don’t know what will happen in the future, but I do know that our lives will be forever intertwined because of this child. But I don’t want our lives to be connected just because of him or her. I want us to be connected because I love you. And it didn’t take someone behind the wheel of a car trying to hurt me for me to figure that out. I knew before, and I think it’s time you know.”

This time, it was Fox who got choked up. “You stole my thunder, baby. I was finally going to tell you that I love you tonight. Only over grilled cheese instead of onion rings.” She licked her lips, and he laughed. “We can still have both tonight. But, Melody? I love you so damn much. You’re it for me. I love your strength, your tenacity, your talent, your beauty, your brains, and the fact that you make me smile. I love that you make my family happy, and you’re forever trying to make sure that everybody’s included. I just love you so damn much. And I should have told you before this, but right now, with you in my arms looking at me like that, I guess it’s the perfect time.”

And then he kissed her, not able to hold himself back. He had one hand on her belly, her fingers tangled with his, and the other in her hair as he kissed her. He was sure the doctor was going to come in any moment, or maybe the rest of his family to check on them. But he didn’t care. He had the woman he loved in his arms, and that was all he needed. After searching Whiskey for far too long, he’d finally found exactly what made him Fox.

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