Page 115 of Mended Hearts

“Okay,” she said, and the disappointment was barely hidden. “But can we thinktogether? Please?”

“About what?”

“Anything. Start with whatever’s got you white-knuckling the poor Bentley. It’s not his fault.”

I huffed a small laugh and loosened my grip. “I don’t know, Leigh. We’ll meet the cardiologist when you’re back and go from there, right?”

“Right.”

“So there’s not a lot to hash out before then.”

“I mean...”

“Just whether or not you want me at your appointments?—”

“Of courseI do.” Her eyes widened, like that was never in question.

“—and at the birth. Carlyhatedhaving me there for Mattie.”

“Ollie, you’re her father.Of courseyou can be there. Not like you haven’t seen everything already.”

“Right. But what if you change your mind?” Because that’s what happened, right? People changed. Said they’d do things one way, then bailed when it got hard. I’d lived that story already. I knew how it ended.

“I won’t,” she said firmly, but I couldn’t stop the next one.

“Will she be a Hart or a Rhodes?”

“Both?” Her brows furrowed. “Ollie, where is this coming from?”

“I’m just—what about school, Leigh? Didn’t your family homeschool? I don’t think I could homeschool. Tutors, maybe? But if the kids are at Emerald Prep, why make the third the odd one out?”

“For a few years, but that’s not—why are we thinking about all of this right now? Can’t we cross those bridges when we get to them?”

“Carly said that,” I muttered. “Then she left before we crossed any of them.”

“Ollie.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, closing my eyes and gripping the wheel again. “I’m just?—”

“Panicking?” she guessed.

“A little.”

“Okay. That’s normal. But we’re a team now, remember?”

“Yeah,” I sighed, squeezing her hand. The Tesla finally turned right on red, and I crept up to the line, my heart still pounding in my chest. “I’m sorry. I really am. You’re the one going through this—growing a whole person—and I’m spiraling about where baby comes home to.”

“With me,” she said with a crooked smile, trying to joke. But it didn’t quite land. “Obviously.”

“To your apartment?”

“No,to a cardboardbox downtown. Yes, to my apartment. It’s way too big for one person, anyway.”

“What about my place?” I asked before I could stop myself. “We’re already set up for everything, and you’re over every day.”

“Like... to live with you?”

“Yeah. That way I can be there—for both of you. For the late nights, the bottles, the sleep regressions. I’m practically a veteran.”

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