Except they didn’t hate him. Both Emma and Sonya had given her the “you knew what to expect, Dani” speech. Cat was the only one who had joined in her Screw You, Dylan Pierce party. But she supposed after today he was going to be back in her good graces.
An ache stirred in her chest. Maybe it should be enough for her good graces too. At least enough for her to drop the silent treatment. He’d really stepped up today, been that guy she knew he was. If it weren’t for him, who knows what would have happened to Cat or the baby.
She stole another look at him. His thick eyelashes fluttering while he dozed, his mouth pulled into a frown. She racked her brain for something to say that would unfreeze the room but not sound too friendly. She was still trying out opening lines when the sound of dress shoes running on tile snagged her attention.
Dylan’s eyes popped open and he sprung up from his chair. He caught Josh with a hand to his chest as he barreled through the door. “Hey, man.” Dylan put a finger to his lips to say be quiet, but Josh wasn’t seeing him. He just stared at Cat, his eyes glassy. He didn’t look like he was breathing in regular intervals.
What the hell?
“Josh?” Dani stood up, half afraid she was going to have to get the nurse for him. She’d never seen Josh anything but laid-back and smiling. This was weird.
Dylan took a step closer, grabbing him by the shoulders. “They gave Cat something to help her sleep. She’s fine. Hey, you hear me, man?”
Josh was making her nervous, but whatever was going on with him, Dylan seemed to have anticipated it. Had he done this before?
“Josh. Look at me.” Dylan tapped his fingers on Josh’s cheek. “She’s fine. The baby’s fine. Okay?”
Josh nodded, finally meeting his eyes. “You’re sure?” Josh’s voice cracked, and a sob tried to rush out of Dani’s mouth, but she clapped a hand over her lips.
“You’re not losing anyone today, bro.”
Josh’s whole body seemed to loosen at that. His eyes rolled closed and he let Dylan wrap him in a hug. They stayed there for a minute, talking too low for her to hear. Dani watched them, fascinated by this dynamic, until finally Josh looked up and noticed she was there.
“Hey, Dani,” he said, crossing the room to hug her. It was tight and shaky, and she clutched the back of his jacket.
“Hey, Joshy. Cat’s going to be so happy to see you.”
He ran his hand through his hair and sniffed. “Thank you for being here.”
“Of course.”
As soon as she let him go, Josh shrugged off his jacket and crossed the room, climbing onto the edge of Cat’s bed.
Dylan watched him, his feet planted and his arms folded across his chest like a soldier on guard until Josh, carefully avoiding the monitors on her belly, wrapped his arms around Cat and pressed his face into her hair.
Only then did Dylan gather his coat and head for the door. Dani followed him out of the room in silence and when the door shut behind them, she told herself to just keep walking, but the image of Dylan talking Josh down like that was too jarring to ignore.
“Hey,” she said as Dylan zipped his fleece jacket.
He looked at her in askance, his face tired and a little sad.
“Is that why you wanted to stay? You knew he was freaking out?”
Dylan looked away and ran a hand over the scruff on his chin. He seemed uncomfortable with the subject, but he blew out a breath and spoke in a half-whisper. “Josh wasn’t home when his parents died. He was away at a friend’s house. He found out the next day.” Dylan rubbed at the corner of his eye, then gave her his full gaze, his eyes hard. “He and I were out of town on a ski trip senior year in college when he got the call about his grandfather passing. You get what I’m saying?”
She nodded, swallowing hard.
“I’ve only seen him like that once, but I had a hunch, with the similarities, he wasn’t going to deal with it well. I wanted to be here just in case.”
She’d only heard a brief rundown of Josh’s past from Cat. These extra details made her throat tight. She used to wonder why Josh and Dylan were so close—Josh being the mature one, the trustworthy one, the one who had his shit together. She’d come to realize Dylan had that in him too.
But what started out as a thawing between them, suddenly calcified and pricked at her brain. “So much for your ‘you can’t count on other people’ excuse,” she said.
His forehead scrunched. “What?”
“Josh can count on you. Maybe it was just me. Either way, you’ll just have to come up with another one, because that one is obviously bullshit. ”
Dylan winced then nodded, turning away.
“Wait,” she said, touching his sleeve. “Dylan. Listen, I know you were helping Josh out, but Cat’s my best friend, so thank you for taking care of her.”
“I didn’t just do it for Josh. I love Kit Cat.”
Her face softened into a smile. “Everybody does.”
“Yeah.”
“And everybody loves you too.”
“Not everybody.”
She dropped her eyes to the green and white tiled floor, scuffing her winter boot. What could she say to that? She’d tried. She’d wanted to.
When Dylan spoke again his voice was raw. “Seeing them just now, it made me think about a lot of stuff, Dani. Josh would do anything to get back here. To be where Cat needed him. I always thought of it as a huge ask—being responsible for someone like that. But maybe when it’s the right person, it’s not that hard.” His voice dropped to a whisper and his eyes were pleading. “I can do better, Dani.”
“Dylan—”
She took a step back, but he followed. “Wait, Dani, please. Can we just talk?”
“I’m sorry. I can’t. I have to go.” She buttoned her own coat, ignoring the way his face was lined in pain. She wasn’t here to do this with him. What could he possibly say to erase what she’d seen with her own eyes? He’d lied once before, and she wasn’t going to stand here outside of her friend’s hospital room and listen to it again.
But before she walked away she needed him to know something. “You were really good today, Dylan. You’re better than you think you are.”
His shoulders fell and he nodded. “Thanks, Dani-pie.”
Thirty-eight
“Okay. Seriously, Josh, go!” Dani kicked the back of Josh’s leg as he stood by Cat’s bedside, fussing over her, still. He’d had his coat on and had been “headed out the door” for the last fifteen minutes.