“Did you get the plates?” Luke asked.
I was about to scoff at Logan, remembering the license plate when Logan nodded once, looking a bit foggy.
He relayed the plates perfectly, though.
Then passed the hell out.
I looked over at Katy to see what she thought of her husband, but saw her asleep, too.
“Well,” I croaked. “They’re just so sweet.”
Dax snorted and walked over to where Logan was sitting straight up in the chair.
Seconds later, Dax had Logan kicked back, the IV pole tucked close to the chair, and Rowen was laying a blanket over him.
I felt a little unsure as I glanced around the room. As if I was the one that didn’t belong.
“Can I go get anyone drinks? Dinner?” I asked softly.
There was a general consensus of ‘yes’ that came out of everyone’s mouth. Then I had a list of what they wanted.
After disappearing out into the hallway, I drew in a deep breath.
Then blew it out slowly.
I couldn’t afford to buy them all food and drinks. But I could make a grocery store run, make them sandwiches, and then bring them back.
Thank goodness I still had Derek’s keys!
Mind made up, I did exactly that, bringing it back an hour later and handing everyone their orders.
After getting a ‘thank you’ from almost all of them, I made one final stop to drop a box outside of the NICU with Derek’s name on it, sent him a text that it was there, and went home.
Chapter 14
V is for Valentine Vodka.
-T-shirt
Derek
I’d never been happier to pass off baby duty before in my life.
I’d sat there for four hours before my mother had finally come to relieve me. But by that point, the baby was doing awesome and maintaining her temperature all on her own.
I had a smile on my face as I made my way to Katy’s room since that was where everyone had gathered—or so I’d been told.
Digging into the box that Avery had left for me with two sandwiches, some chips, and a drink inside, I found my keys and grinned.
She hated holding my keys.
Apparently, they were too bulky.
Whatever.
Smile still in place, I made my way into Katy’s room to find both Katy and Logan asleep, and the rest of my family talking quietly in the corner of the room.
Who I didn’t see was Avery.
But for the moment, my mind was caught on what my dad was discussing with Dax.
“Back up,” I ordered. “What happened?”
“Logan and Katy’s car was hit by a drunk driver,” Dad said.
I winced.
Logan and Katy had literally just picked up that SUV from Avery.
“Well, what they originally thought was a drunk driver,” Dax interjected. “Did you know that Logan and Katy were driving Avery’s mom’s SUV tonight on a test drive?”
I blinked, then remembered Avery saying something about her car being left there not mattering because Katy and Logan had it. She could just text them to keep it for the night.
I’d been in the middle of thinking other, more salacious thoughts, and hadn’t really paid attention to anything she was saying about her car.
I’d been thinking about later tonight and getting her into bed—my bed.
“You think you were hit on purpose?” I asked, looking to Logan.
He nodded once, having woken at some point after I’d entered the room.
“I talked it out,” he rasped, much more alert every second that passed.
He’d broken his arm and had pins in it that were keeping it straight.
My sister was much better off than him. She’d had her C-section, and a bit of bleeding from her spleen. They’d had to remove her spleen, and that was that. She’d have a normal recovery as any new mom would after a C-section.
“Okay, talk me through it,” I urged.
He did.
“Well, Katy and I were driving it to dinner,” he said. “We’d just turned onto the street that led away from Maude Cobb when we were passed by a car that was driving a little too fast. I ignored it. We got almost to Kobee’s when I saw a car make a U-turn and overcorrect. At least, I thought he’d overcorrected. I got his license plate the first time he’d passed me. When he hit me head-on, he didn’t have a license plate on his front. But I recognized the car because it had this stupid sun antenna topper on it. He hit us head-on. Luckily, I’d slowed down, seeing it play out before it’d actually happened.” He paused. “What makes me think it was on purpose was the way that he almost seemed to aim for me. When he was passing us originally, he sort of came into my lane a bit. At first, I thought it was because he was just going too fast, but now that I’m thinking about it, I think he was trying to run me off the road.” He exhaled. “That car—Avery’s mom’s car— was fabulous. I’m talking it had great reaction time. The safety features in it… shit, I feel bad for wrecking her car.”
“Avery won’t care,” I murmured, narrowing my eyes. “Where is Avery?”
Logan looked around as if confused, as did Katy and my dad.
Dax frowned.
“I saw her there after handing out all the food…” Dad said.
I groaned. “She went home.”
“What?” Dad asked. “Why?”
I rolled my eyes and pressed my hands against my eyes, trying to cut the burn that I could feel in them.
“She’s probably thinking that this is family time and that she doesn’t want to intrude,” I muttered.
Dad shook his head.
“Avery really came through for us today,” he said. “I would’ve never asked her to leave.”
“I know that,” I said. “She doesn’t.”
“Call her and tell her to come back.”
That was Katy, who was now more than awake and listening to our conversation, too.
I looked over at her and grinned. “I think, actually, that it’s time for us to go.”
Dax grunted with acknowledgment, looking to Rowen who was asleep on the bed next to Katy.
She was curled up in a ball at the end of the bed, her face resting on Katy’s thigh.
“I agree,” Dax concurred. “She’s worn out.”
“Too much excitement, adrenaline, and terror,” Dad agreed. “We’re staying, though.”
I already knew that.
“What do we do about the drunk driver that’s not actually a drunk driver?” I asked then.
“I called in the plates. They were registered to a man that had his truck stolen two days ago in Harris County,” Dad murmured. “So that’s a dead end. We also had one good Samaritan follow the car that hit Logan and Katy until the truck broke down farther down the road. Watched him bail out of the car and run into the woods. He didn’t pursue him because apparently he disappeared into the shadows of the parking lot and couldn’t tell which way he went after that.”