Page 194 of The Catalyst

“I like the name Rian with an I instead of a Y.” A blush creeps up her uninjured cheek. “It was my dad’s name, and he was really important to me.”

I smirk as I push the hair out of her face. “That’s an Irish name.”

Her eyebrows furrow with confusion. “Um, maybe? I didn’t really look into it. My dad was of Scottish-Irish descent from my grandmother, so it might’ve been on purpose.”

“It’s been an unspoken tradition amongst the founding families to give their kids an Irish name since that’s where our ancestors came from,” I explain.

Her eyes widen. “Oh…so Oliver is?—”

“Irish, yes. We all have Irish names.”

“Well, that definitely makes naming kids easier. There’s only so many Irish names to choose from.”

Ain’t that the truth? “I’ll make you a deal, crazy girl. We can name him Rian under one condition,” I offer, and her lips pull up into a big smile.

“What’s your condition?” she asks, worry etched on her brows.

“If you ever get pregnant by meagain,and it turns out to be a girl, we name her after my mom.”

A smile pulls at her lips, and she nods enthusiastically. “I think I can work with that. Your mom is important to you, and that’s all that really matters.” She giggles like a little kid before saying, “I would kiss you, but my face really hurts right now.”

I lean into her and press a soft peck to her forehead, and she relaxes, all tension flying away from her flesh, and gratitude flashes in my mind.

“I love you,” she whispers, squeezing my hand, and before I can say anything, the door flies open. I snap my head around as the doctor steps inside and closes the door. He takes one look at us and nods, a reassuring smirk on his face.

“Good luck, Miss Mercer.”

He bought it. He fucking bought it.

CHAPTER 76

BETH

Pulling Oliver’s leather jacket on that I shrunk in the wash, I let out a deep breath to relax. I expected him to be angry about me messing up his jacket, but he didn’t get upset. He smiled and said that now I could always have a part of him that no one would know about. I cried from how sweet that was. He could’ve screamed at me, which would’ve been understandable, but he didn’t. He just hugged me and kissed me like nothing mattered except for me.

I couldn’t believe how well he took it since his jacket was so important to him. It was one of the only things he had left from his dad. The only other thing he had from his dad is that silver coin he always carries around with him.

We’re in the clear, but not completely. We still need to leave Grove Hill without seeming suspicious about our departure.

There are things we have to do before we start our road trip to Montana where Judy’s Aunt Vera lives. Ollie has to pack his things because he’s obviously not letting me go across the country to birth our son without him. That should go without saying. I also need to stop by my mom’s house, grab my things from the hotel, and officially drop out of Grove Hill High. The last thing I need is for my mom to get in trouble because I’m on the run from Nolan.

“Do you want me to go in with you?” Oliver asks as he parks outside the school, and I flip my hair, pulling it past the collar of my jacket.

“I’ve got this. It shouldn’t take me too long.” I grab my wallet from the middle console before giving Ollie a brief kiss. “I’ll be back shortly.” It’s a struggle to get out of the car with how bruised my body still is. My face is mostly back to normal. My skin still has that yellow tint, but makeup easily covers that up.

I move slowly as I walk into the school, trying not to aggravate the tender spots in my ribs. It’s a pretty straightforward process to drop out. I had to sign several forms, and Principal Conway escorted me to my locker.

I unlock it, and as soon as the door opens, a folded-up piece of paper flutters to the ground as if someone tried to slip a note in my locker, and it got stuck in the door.

Weird.

Leaning down, I pick it up and slip it into my jacket pocket to read later. I grab all my things from my locker that aren’t my textbooks because they are keeping them.

“Are you sure about this, Miss Mercer? Your high school diploma is very important, and you’re only a few weeks from graduation,” Principal Conway asks with concern.

He’s a nice man, but he’s pretty clueless. I haven’t been to class in weeks. There’s no way I’m graduating this year, even if I wasn’t pregnant.

“I’m sure. I have a few health issues and need to go off to a special facility out of state. I can just get a GED. My health is my priority.” I’ve regurgitated this line so many times that the lie comes naturally.

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