Page 101 of Educating Arrogant Mr. Hunter

Her eyes glittered with tears. “I’m sorry, Ms. Winter.”

I held her hand. “I know you are, sweetheart. But please don’t ever do that again. I don’t think my heart can take it.”

“I’ll do my best, Ms. Winter, but I am a kid. We like to climb things and test our limits.”

I laughed. “Test your limits, huh?”

She grinned. “Yeah, I heard it on TV or something. Is it a good thing?”

“It can be. It’s doing things that are beyond what you think you’re capable of. Pushing yourself to try new things even if you might fail because, on the flip side, you also might succeed.”

She nodded and winced. “I test my limits all the time then.”

My phone rang, and I picked it up. “Beckett, we’re just pulling into the ambulance entrance right now.” The EMT told me how to direct Beckett to where they’d take Zoey into the hospital.

“Can I talk to Zoey?” I hated the hardness in his voice when he spoke to me.

“Sure.” I handed her my phone.

“Yeah, uh huh, Ms. Winter is with me, so I feel safe.”

It was weird only hearing her side of the conversation.

The ambulance stopped.

“Okay, Daddy, I’ve got to go. They’re getting me out of the truck. Yup. See you in a minute.” Zoey handed me my phone.

The EMTs carefully lifted Zoey on the stretcher out of the vehicle, and rushed her inside with a precision born of doing this hundreds of times. I quickened my steps to keep pace with them.

We burst through the door, and my gaze found Beckett. His hair stuck out at all angles, and his eyes were wild with worry. Every instinct told me to wrap my arms around him and offer comfort. He made his way to Zoey’s side, and even though I knew he struggled with it, he quietly talked to her.

Beckett barely looked at me, and the blatant dismissal sent stabbing pain through my heart. I rubbed at my chest, wishing the small movement could heal the persistent ache that told me we were over. If I could just talk to him, maybe we could figure out how to make a relationship work. Inside my mind, I screamed at him to look at me, to give me a sign that I wasn’t the only one suffering.

He never once glanced my way. It was like everything we had shared was gone and meant nothing to him.

I stepped back and swept my gaze around the room. Families huddled together in the waiting area of the emergency room. A few individuals casually scrolled through their phones, likely waiting for news. They all looked like they belonged and should be here. I was the one who was out of place.

Now that Zoey was at the hospital, there was no more use for me. I bit my lip, forcing back the words to beg Beckett to let me accompany them. If he had wanted me by their side, he would have said so. His silence was enough of an answer about where I stood in his life and his daughter’s.

They wheeled Zoey to the doors leading into the patient area beyond the waiting room. I gave her a tiny wave and forced a weak smile to my face. She frowned and lifted her hand in a half-hearted wave. I wondered if she was just as confused as I was about why I wasn’t back there with her. But she was the one that got hurt. On my watch nonetheless. A shuddery breath escaped my lips.

Beckett’s eyes never left his daughter’s face as they moved through the electric doors. How had everything changed so quickly? I rubbed my hand up and down the side of my leg. This breakup hurt so much worse than any in my past. Now I was losing the two most important people in my life, and I wasn’t quite sure how to deal with the gaping hole left behind by their absence.

The moment they were out of sight, it all came crashing down around me. I’d lost them both. I sat on a hard plastic chair in the waiting room and burst into tears. The adrenaline from earlier was wearing off. Aches and pains rippled through me, and my knees throbbed from when I threw myself to the floor to catch Zoey. Already big, ugly purple bruises were forming.

Beckett would likely never forgive me for what happened. And I didn’t blame him. Guilt was a steady companion that settled into my heart.

The handful of people in the room sent me sympathetic glances but didn’t get too close. I didn’t blame them. I was a snotty mess on the verge of wiping my arm down my face if I couldn't find a tissue. With one hand, I dug inside my purse to find something to help mop the tears still streaming down my cheeks.

My phone dinged. With my mind elsewhere I swiped on the screen, opening up the incoming text message.

Evil Stepmother:How dare you cut me off! You’re going to pay for this.

What in the world was she talking about? What had Bruce done?

I started to cry harder, if that was even possible, when I didn’t find a single thing to wipe my face. Nothing was going right today, and I didn’t expect it to for a long while.

Chapter Twenty-Five

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