Page 32 of Fractured Dreams

Today she was rostered to provide support in the neonatal intensive care unit. It was her first time in that area of the hospital and as she looked around at all the tiny premature babies, her heart swelled. Seeing the love and worry on the parents’ faces almost brought tears to her eyes. Desperate to help, Eden spent the next few hours trying her best to calm anxious moms and dads, and if they wanted, helping them write songs and sing them to their babies. She didn’t think she’d ever been more sure of her choice of career than when she watched those parents, humming or singing along to her music, while they rocked their little ones or held their tiny hands in the incubators as their heart and breathing rates visibly stabilized.

Several hours later, Eden finished up. It had been an absolute honor to help those poor, worried parents and their beautiful, tiny babies. It made her think about her own parents, and how twenty-one years ago, they were the ones sitting there worrying about her. Music therapy wasn’t as big a thing back then, they wouldn’t have had anyone to help sooth them as they waited. Though she could imagine her mom and dad would have sung to her anyway. It made her heart ache and helped her understand a little better why her parents had worried about her the way they had. Still did. She doubted parents would ever forget those weeks or sometimes months sitting anxiously by those little cribs.

But at least today, she’d been able to help, even if only a bit, and knowing that brought her so much joy.

As she drove back to Noah’s, Eden was filled with an almost dream-like sense of happiness. She loved the work she was doing; she was enjoying being in LA, and although Noah wasn’t there at the moment, knowing she was near him made her even happier than she had thought it would.

And then there was Tex. Nothing had prepared her for how intoxicating it was, being with someone like him. He was everything she could ever want: strong, confident, talented, sexy-as-hell, andsophysically affectionate; he always wanted to be touching her, kissing her. She knew every minute they were together she was risking her heart, but what other option was there? She couldn’t—wouldn’t—break it off now. He’d said they would deal with Noah together when he got back, and she hoped to God that Noah wouldn’t have a problem with it.

But her brother wasn’t the only issue; she would be leaving soon. Eden had been looking forward to her internship, but now whenever she thought about it, she was filled with restless agitation. Six months. Would their new relationship—God, it wasn’t even a real relationship yet—would it survive? Did Tex want it to? Or would he see it as an easy out when the time came. After all, he was a rock star, would he want to restrict himself to one woman for more than a few weeks?

Apprehension welled up in Eden’s chest, but she did her best to push it back down. It was Tex, not Mason. Tex, who she’d known more than half her life. However this ended—wheneverthis ended—she was sure he wouldn’t do anything to deliberately hurt her.

She swallowed past the dryness in her throat. She should really talk to him about it, about where this thing between them might be going. But she was scared. Scared of what his answer might be. Scared of her little bubble bursting too soon, before she was ready for it to be over.

Eden’s cheerful mood had all but disappeared by the time she got back to the house. She sat in the driveway for a few moments, trying to get her head on straight. It was far too early to be worrying about any of that. Far too early to be questioning the future when the two of them had only just started. She needed to let go of her worry and enjoy the present, because she couldn’t get enough of the present.

Feeling a little better, she got out of the car and went inside.

???

Eden found Tex in Noah’s small, sunlit library, sitting in one of the comfortable leather chairs, reading a paperback. She wandered up next to him, putting her hand out and running her fingers through his hair, still surprised she had the right to touch him that way.

He turned his head up toward her, a smile curling the corners of his lips. “How was it?”

“Amazing, but so sad too. I hope I was able to help some of them.”

“I’ve no doubt you did, darlin’.”

She smiled, then moved to the couch across from him, sitting down and pulling her feet up underneath her. “What are you reading?” she asked.

He grinned and held the book up so she could see the front cover. Eden laughed when she saw the beautiful couple staring longingly into each other’s eyes. “The Viscount and the Governess, huh?”

Eden had found out about Tex’s enjoyment of romance novels from Lexie. She loved a good romance herself, but a lot of men wouldn’t admit to enjoying them too. She loved that Tex was comfortable enough with his masculinity to not care. It was one of the things that drew her to him, his effortless confidence in who he was. “So, what is it about romance books you like so much?” she asked.

He looked down at the book in his hand, his face contemplative.

“I don’t know. I guess I like that you can see the spark between them right at the start, no matter how wrong they might seem for each other. I like the slow burn as they realize how much they want each other, then seeing how want turns to need. I like the guaranteed happily ever after. The knowing that even when the pages in the middle rip your heart out and make you bleed, the two of them are gonna end up together.”

He paused, glancing up at her before looking back at the book and riffling the pages as he spoke. “Maybe it was seeing how sad my dad was when my mom left. You know, she was only eighteen when he fell in love with her, but he believed wholeheartedly that she was his happily ever after. It didn’t work out that way for him though. In real life there aren’t any guarantees, so I guess it makes me feel good knowing that at least in a book, all the pain and heartbreak is worth it in the end. That love can overcome anything.”

He closed the book then and threw it on the coffee table in front of him as he grinned at her. “Or maybe I just like reading the sex scenes.”

Eden laughed, but her heart ached at the hint of sadness she’d heard in his voice. She studied him, wondering if she should let it go, move on to less sensitive topics. But she found herself desperate to know him better, to find out more about every part of his life. She may have grown up with him around, but they’d never really spoken much about personal stuff before this week, when it had been just the two of them together. “Can I ask what happened with your mom?”

He didn’t respond straight away, and Eden wondered if she’d overstepped. She was about to start backpedaling when he began talking. “My dad was twenty-two and working as a mechanic. He and his friends used to go to this diner for lunch every day, which is where he first saw Mom. She was new in town and had started working there as a waitress. Dad took one look at her and knew she was the girl for him.” Tex shook his head, a faint smile on his lips. “He asked her out right then, but she turned him down. Apparently, his friends gave him a lot of shit about that.”

Eden smiled, enjoying watching him tell the story, even though she knew it didn’t have a happy ending.

“Anyway, Dad didn’t give up. He’d made up his mind—he was in love and that was it. Every day he’d go in for lunch and ask her out, tell her she was the only girl for him, and he was going to marry her one day. I guess eventually the romance and excitement of it all won her over, and she said yes. They got married a few months later.”

Eden’s brows rose. “Wow, that was quick.”

Tex looked out the window, then back at her, an odd smile on his face. “Yeah. I think that was the problem, she got swept up in it all and didn’t really think it through. Before she knew it, she was married and not long after she was pregnant. Six years later she was gone. Dad was gutted. I’m not sure he ever really got over it.”

“Do you see her at all?”

He shrugged. “We’re still in contact, we see each other occasionally, but we aren’t a big part of each other’s lives. She remarried, but never had any more kids.”

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