Jace was surprised. While Parker and Porter had always been wild, they’d found an outlet for that wildness in the rodeo. Now it seemed as if Parker had grown out of it. “I’m happy for you, Parker. Call me next week and we’ll squeeze you in. What does Porter think of it?”
Parker’s lips thinned as his jaw tightened. “I just don’t want to let my brother down.”
“He’ll be proud of you, Park. Just like I am and I’m sure everyone else will be,” Jace assured him.
“Come on in, I don’t want dinner to get cold. Thanks for picking it up for us. It’ll be nice to hang out tonight.” Parker walked up the steps and opened the door. Jace heard the sound of the television as he entered.
“Jace brought us dinner,” Parker told Porter, who was sitting on the couch with his feet on the low coffee table in front of him.
“Great. I’m starving. Where’s Stella?” Porter asked as he looked back to the door.
“With Molly for some girl time.”
“Molly’s cool,” Porter said as he moved his feet off the table. Jace saw the grimace Porter tried to hide. “I even thought about asking her out the other night, but wanted to check with you first.”
“Let me examine you while Park gets dinner ready.” Jace didn’t give Porter time to argue. He was already pulling things out of his medical bag before Porter could even sit all the way up. “Why would you need to ask me first?”
“She works for you and is your friend. Plus, I always thought the two of you would end up together. After seeing you and Stella together, I can admit I was wrong. You and Stella are perfect together.”
“Listen to you waxing poetic,” Parker teased. “High on pain killers?”
Porter shot his twin the bird. “Since I’m stuck here, it’s just got me thinking about life, that’s all. Our sisters are married and pregnant. Our cousins are racing to the altar faster than green grass through a goose. Just gets you thinking about your own situation. And don’t tell me you haven’t been doing the same, Park. It’s completely understandable at this point in our lives.”
Jace let them talk as he did his exam. “You’re looking good. As you know, you’ll continue to be sore for a while. Just keep it easy. No riding. No weight lifting. Just let your ribs mend.”
“You got it, Doc.”
“Now, not to sound like a bunch of gossips,” Parker said as he handed Porter a plate of food. “What’s going on with you and Stella?”
Jace smiled and his cousins sent each other a silent smirk that let him know he was grinning like a fool in love.
“Now, what I want to know,” Porter said with all seriousness, “is if your mom has fought her yet. Kale told us about his mom declaring that she’d fight his future girlfriend since it was sexist if only the guys got picked on.”
“Stella’s in shape,” Parker said, handing Jace a plate and then grabbing his own and joining them in the small living room. “But your mom is like a little Tasmanian devil.”
Jace burst out laughing and shook his head. “No fighting, but today Mom did drag Father Ben over to meet Stella. I think she’s gone from subtle to obvious in a blink of an eye. Not that subtlety was ever her strong suit.”
“Well, I agree with Port. I like Stella. Now when do we get to welcome her into the family, like, the specific date and time?” Parker asked, pulling out his phone.
* * *
Stella loved the small house in the cute family neighborhood that Molly lived in. It was in Lexington, but on the side closest to Keeneston. The drive had flown by as she and Molly chatted. Now they were two glasses of wine into their planting party and having a great time.
“This is so much fun. Thank you for inviting me,” Stella told Molly as she patted the soil down in the container. “It’s been so long since I’ve had girl time like this.”
“I know. It seems as if Sarah and Jace are my life,” Molly laughed. “And while I love them, I don’t drink wine and plant flowers with them.”
“Sarah seems lovely, though.” Stella turned the planter so the optimal angle faced the sleepy little street.
“She is. We’re just at two different points in our lives. She’s married with kids and I’m not quite there yet.”
“If it’s too personal, you don’t have to answer, but is there someone special in your life?”
Molly nodded. “There is. I’m just trying to get my nerve up to tell him.”
“Do you think it’s mutual?” Stella asked.
Molly smiled happily as she thought about him. “I do. We’ve had some bumps along the way, but who hasn’t?”
“Very true.” After all, Stella fell in love with Jace in the middle of someone trying to scare the hell out of her and possibly hurt her. “Well, I think we’re all done! It looks lovely, Molly.”
Molly stood up and put her hands on her hips and took in the big planters on each side of her front door. “They’re perfect. Now I ‘d better get you home before Jace shows up to drag you home.”
* * *
Jace looked over the chart the nurse handed him before he went into see Riley. His face was tight as he saw her last blood pressure numbers. They weren’t great, but they were stable. She’d been in the hospital for twelve hours. If Riley could just get thirty-six more hours in, then the baby would have a good shot of being delivered with fewer complications. Jace did notice that the last two readings were on a downward trend. If that continued, then she’d be in good shape to make it a while longer.
Jace handed the chart back to the nurse and headed down the quiet hallway filled with high-risk pregnant women on bed rest. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door that was partially closed.
“Come in,” he heard Matt call out.
Jace pushed open the door and smiled at his cousin propped up in bed and her husband spread out on an uncomfortable-looking couch. “I brought dinner.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Riley said, giving the hospital food sitting before her the evil eye. “I’m starving.”
“How are you feeling?” Jace asked as Matt picked up the tray containing some unknown hospital food so that Jace could place the carryout food in front of Riley.
“Bored. We’ve watched ten hours straight of home improvement shows. Reagan is bringing me some books tomorrow morning. The doctor said the baby is doing well. I’m sure you’ve already seen that my blood pressure numbers aren’t great, but they’re improving.”
Jace started passing out the food as he nodded. “I did. They’re giving you stronger medicine tonight to get those numbers down more and then hopefully you’ll be good to go.”
“That’s what the doctor told me. I’m scared to even get up to go to the bathroom. I don’t want to do anything to make baby come too soon. Doc said every hour will help baby.”
“You’re doing everything you can, Riley. None of this is your fault, you do understand that, right?”
His cousin looked away from him and blinked several times. Riley was a tough-as-nails woman who could ride, rope, shoot, and tangle with politicians without batting an eye. Seeing her this vulnerable twisted at his heart. “That’s what I’ve been told.”
“It’s the truth,” Matt said as he reached over to clasp his wife’s hand.
“Knock, knock!”
Jace turned to see Cy and Gemma entering the room. At least he was pretty sure it was them behind the big bunch of pink and blue balloons.
“Dad, Mom, I thought you weren’t coming until tomorrow.”
The balloons moved across the room, and after being set in the corner, Cy appeared from behind them. “I couldn’t leave my baby at the hospital with only her husband for company.”
“I brought books,” her mother said bending to kiss her cheek.
“Oh, thank you! I was so bored.”
Gemma walked over and kissed Matt’s cheek as well. “I brought some for you, too.”
“How are you two holding up?” Cy asked, taking a seat next to Matt as Gemma perched herself on the end of the bed.
Riley laughed through the tears and shook her head. “No, he’s the only thing holding me together.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then she wiped her tears away. “Sorry. I need to be strong for baby. I need to stay calm and keep him or her inside as long as possible.”
“I’ll let you all hang out. I’ll be back in the morning. Call if anyone needs anything.” Jace hugged his aunt and squeezed Riley’s hand.
“I’ll walk you out,” Matt told him as he stood up and stepped around his father-in-law. As soon as they were at the elevator, he stopped Jace from pressing the button. “Is Riley in danger?”
“Yes and no. It all depends on her blood pressure. If it spikes and won’t come back down, she’s already in the hospital and they can get the baby out fast and that will save her.”
Matt pursed his lips and he looked as if he were battling for control of his emotions. “She told me today that if it comes down to it, the doctors should save the baby over her.”
Matt’s body shuddered and his eyes glossed over with unshed tears. Jace wrapped him up in a hug and felt Matt’s body tremble again as he struggled to regain control of his emotions. “Riley’s in the best of hands. I, and every doctor here, will do everything we can to keep her and the baby healthy.”
Matt took a couple of cleansing breaths as he nodded. “I’m sorry. I have to hold it together. If Riley’s not falling apart, I can’t either. I have to be the eye of this storm. The calm when everything else is out of control, all while I’ve never felt so helpless in my life. My wife and baby are in there fighting for their lives and I’m just sitting there. I can’t make it better, Jace. I can’t fix it.”
Jace grabbed Matt’s shoulders and waited until Matt looked at him. “You are doing something. You are giving your wife the strength and support she needs the most right now.”
“Thanks, Jace. I’m sorry—”
Jace shook his head. “I’m here for you anytime. I mean that. I’m here for Riley and for you anytime you need me.”
“I’d better get back. I saw the nurse go in, and I’m afraid Cy might make her cry. You know how he is when his daughter is upset.” Matt began to walk away when he turned and gave Jace a wobbly smile. “Riley and I were talking earlier about Stella. We’re happy for you. You two seem perfect together.”
Jace smiled as Matt walked back to the hospital room. The elevator doors opened and Jace pulled out his phone. He called Stella, but there was no answer. She was probably hand-deep in dirt. He walked to his car and decided to call Molly. No sense in her driving Stella home when he was here in Lexington.
“Hey, Jace!”
“Hello, Molly. How are things going?”
“I have two beautiful planters. Do you want to come see them?” Molly asked.
“Actually, that’s why I was calling. I thought I could see them and then take Stella home. It would save you the trip since I’m already here in Lexington.”
“Too late. I just walked back in the door from Keeneston. Stella is a planting goddess. It took us no time to get it done. We had a great time talking about you,” she said teasingly.
“That was very nice of you, Molly. I really appreciate it. I know Stella was looking forward to hanging out with you. You’re a good friend.”
“It was my pleasure. I’ll see you Monday.”
“Hang on, Molly. Which house did you take her to?”
“Yours. Stella told me about the break-in at her place and so we figured she’d feel safer at your place. Was that okay?”
“That’s great. Thanks.”
“Too bad the security cameras at her house didn’t catch who broke in. Do you think the sheriff has any leads?”
Jace unlocked the SUV and got in. “We think it’s the ex-boyfriend, but no solid leads yet.”
“Who would want to hurt such a nice person? I’m sorry you’re going through this.”
“Thanks, Molly. Tonight helped bring Stella some normalcy.”
“Anytime. Night, Jace.”
Jace hung up and tried Stella again. Voicemail. She was probably in the shower. He was probably over reacting, right? Jace pulled up his security cameras and ice froze his blood in his veins. He’d let the battery run down. The front door was about to die and the back door was already dark. Why didn’t he get a notification about this? He went into the settings of his phone and saw they were off. He wasn’t getting any of the notifications he was supposed to get. Jace dialed the sheriff’s station as he threw his car into reverse and sped out of the parking garage.
“Sheriff’s Department,” Jace heard Andy say.
“Andy, it’s Jace. My back camera at the clinic is down and Stella isn’t answering her phone. Molly said she’d dropped her off about twenty minutes ago. She’s probably in the shower, but can you check for me?”
“On it.”
The line went dead and Jace forced himself to slam on the brakes at a stoplight. He cursed until the light turned green and he floored it only to be stopped by another light.
His phone rang as he called the light every name in the book for holding him up. “Andy, do you have her?”
“Jace, she’s not here.”
22
Jace’s whole world stopped. The light turned and he didn’t register it until someone honked. Then it seemed as if everything sped up. Medical triage training kicked in as his mind raced through every possibility.
Instead of flooring the gas and racing home, he pulled into the nearest parking lot. “Okay, let me think. Molly said she dropped her off at the clinic. Let me pull up the security cameras. The back door one is dead, but I should be able to see a car driving by with the front door camera.”
Jace put Andy on speaker and tried to remind himself to breathe as he pulled up the app with the cloud-based camera footage. “Okay, I see Molly driving past the front of the clinic and turning into the back.” Jace paused the video and sent the short video clip to Andy.
“I can see Stella in the car,” Andy said as Jace looked for when Molly left.
“Here’s Molly leaving,” Jace said while sending the next video to Andy.
A second later Andy said exactly what Jace saw. “No Stella. Anyone else turn down the alley?”
Jace watched as cars drove by on Main Street, but no one was turning down the side and no one was going in or out of the front door.
“No one,” Jace confirmed. “They had to go in the back. Are you sure she’s not there?”
“I rang the apartment over and over again. No one answered, no one looked out. I don’t think she’s here.”
She could still be inside and just not realize she should open the door. “Pick the lock. Break down the door. Do whatever it takes to get inside, Andy.”
“I know what to do. Hold on.”
While Andy put him on hold, Jace sent a text to Katelyn to see if Stella had gone to visit Jimmy.
She’s not here. Is she supposed to be?
Jace’s heart fell as he read Katelyn’s text.
Jace, what’s going on? Katelyn texted when Jace didn’t respond fast enough.
“I’m inside,” Andy told him as he came back online. “The back door was locked.”
“How did you get in?”
“Nash is with me. He was at the café. Hold on,” Andy told him. Jace listened as someone rattled a door.
“The door to his apartment is locked,” he heard Nash say.
“Well, pick the lock or kick it down!” Jace yelled.
“Here we go, sweetie. See how daddy does this?”
“Andy, what’s going on?” Jace asked slowly as he heard Nash cooing.
“Nash is showing Emersyn how to pick a lock.”
Jace took a deep breath. He wanted to scream and curse, but it actually helped hearing Nash talking his way through it. “Now, sweetie, you just feel for the spring, and here we go!”<
br />
“I’ll go in first. You have a baby strapped to your chest.” Jace heard Andy say as there were some shuffling noises. “Stella? Stella, it’s Andy. Are you here?”
Jace, you tell me this instant what’s going on or so help me I’ll call your mother!
Jace glanced at the text but ignored it as he listened to Andy and Nash clearing his apartment.
“Jace, she’s not here,” Andy said as he requested a video call. Jace accepted it and he saw his apartment behind Andy’s face. Nash was walking around with a pink baby wrap somehow made to hold Emersyn front-facing against his chest. Her little hands and arms waved around as she gurgled.
“That’s what I think, too, sweetie,” Nash told her affectionately before looking up to the phone Andy was holding. “Stella was here. Her purse and phone are here, but only the living room light was on. She either walked in, set down her stuff, and left, or she was taken right after she was dropped off.”
“The doors were locked, though,” Jace said. Nothing was making sense.
Nash upended Stella’s purse and rummaged around the contents. “No keys.”
“She’s not at the clinic with Jimmy. I just asked Katelyn.” This was a puzzle Jace had to put together. He had to find her.
“She’s not at the café,” Nash added. “I’ll call Kale. We need answers now.”
“Rick. Son of a bitch, he grabbed her. What’s his address, Andy? I’m in Lexington. I’ll get her.”
“Jace, that’s not a good idea, man.”
“Andy,” Jace growled.
Andy let out a long breath, but then rattled off an address not too far from where Jace was in Lexington.
Forever Saved Page 17