Page 22 of When Stars Fall

“This is conditional on Haven being out of the hospital.”

“I know, Ellie. You’re a good aunt.”

I can’t make eye contact when I give him a curt nod.A good aunt.

He steps closer to me and places his hands on either side of my waist. He kisses my cheek, and I breathe him in. Can’t help myself.He’s here.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He turns his baseball cap around and slips his sunglasses onto his face before heading for the stairs.

“Wyatt!” I call after him. “How are you getting back?”

“Calshae said the hotel can send a car,” Wyatt says. “Go be with your family.” He disappears down the stairs with a final wave.

On the threshold of Haven’s room, I pause. Her storm of questions awaits me. Taking a deep breath, I enter.

Haven’s raised her bed to an upright position, and as soon as she sees me, she says, “Is he gone?”

“Yes,” I say.

“Mom, you have to tell him,” Haven says. “He’s so nice. And he’s my dad. He should know he’s my dad. He came, right?”

“Haven, honey. We’ve talked about this before.” My heart squeezes at the joy and confusion on her face. I sigh and drag my chair close to the side of her bed.

“I know.” Haven releases a heavy sigh. But the defeat doesn’t last long. Her resolve roars back. “I want to know him. I’m old enough to get a choice.” She reminds me so much of Wyatt—impulsive and bullheaded. Scares me to think where it could lead.

“You’re nine. You’re not twenty-nine,” I say.

“If he comes tomorrow, I could tell him. Or I could slip and call you Mom in front of him.”

Her attitude is partly the fever. I told her if Wyatt ever came looking, and he wasn’t sick anymore, we’d tell him about her. We only recently started discussing the realities of her father’s sickness. Wyatt is right about YouTube. Wonderful and horrible when your daughter is curious about her famous father.

“I’ll consider it. He’s here for the week. If you want to spend time with him, you can. But whether we’re going to reveal you’re his daughter . . . As long as you’re living under my roof, it’s my choice.”

Haven huffs out a breath and stares at Nikki. “I spend a lot of time under your roof too. Can I tell him at your house instead?”

Shit.Her teenage years will be fun.

“Speaking of which,” I say, and I glance at Nikki, “I might need a favor.”

“What’d Wyatt get you to agree to outside in the hall?” Nikki’s eyes narrow.

“Dinner tomorrow night.”

“I’m coming!” Haven says.

“No, Haven,” Nikki says. She gives me a pointed look across the bed. “If you want your mother to tell Wyatt he’s your dad, then she needs to be sure he’ll be good for you.”

I nod, as though that’s what I would have said. Our daughter as a buffer, a reminder, might be nice. Whether or not Haven could go a whole night without calling me Mom is questionable. Whenever she visits movie sets with Nikki, she calls us both Mom. People have assumed it’s a cute affectation. Bermudian citizens have protected our privacy from any prying eyes, and Nikki jumped in to help me with Haven the minute I faltered and has been by my side ever since.

The nurse comes back with the bed and rolls it in. She clicks the wheels into place. “Evelyn is on rounds tonight. Hospital is buzzing that Wyatt Burgess visited.” She grimaces. “You’re going to tell your mother that he was here, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll speak to my mom before she hears it from someone else.” Since she’s the doctor on call tonight, I might even get a chance to speak to her in person. Best to warn her before the hospital gossip mill gets to her. I take my phone out of my pocket and notice Wyatt’s already sent me his grocery list. I type out a message to my mom and then open Wyatt’s. A long list of ingredients, some I have, others I’ll have to buy. As I’m reading the list, another message from him appears.

Did you watch the whole interview the other night?

“If I turned off the interview the other night, the one Wyatt gave, would I have missed anything important?” I stare at the text. Doom drops like a stone into my stomach.

Nikki’s complexion loses its color. “You didn’t watch the entire thing? I thought you watched all of it.”

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