Page 21 of It’s Me, but Different (Merriweather Sisters #3)

Esme

I leave the meeting at seven in the evening, exhausted but satisfied. Everything went better than expected, and the bosses are happy. We have good chances of winning this case or at least reaching an agreement, and that will mean a good bonus at the end of the year.

And when I turn on my phone, thirty-seven missed calls from my daughter pop up.

Suddenly, a wave of panic hits me.

“Ana? What happened? Why did you call me so many times?” I ask fearfully.

“MOM!” her scream pierces my eardrums. “WHERE WERE YOU?”

“In a very important meeting, I couldn't talk. Can you tell me what's so urgent?”

“They just operated on Theo! He's in the hospital! He almost died, and you weren't there!” she shrieks again, and the world collapses around me.

“How… how do you mean they operated on him?” I murmur with the phone about to fall from my hand.

“His stomach hurt terribly, and he had a high fever, and you wouldn't answer the phone, so I called Sloane, and she came and organized everything, and…”

“Sloane?” I sigh.

“She's here with me, at the hospital.”

Each word hurts as if it's piercing my heart.

“What hospital are you at?”

“Watson Memorial Hospital,” my daughter responds, and I immediately try to remember if it's one of the hospitals my medical insurance covers, but I swear it's not.

“I'm on my way.”

“Hurry, Mom, please. I was so scared.”

I enter the hospital like a hurricane of panic and guilt, but soon, I realize something doesn't add up.

I follow the directions they gave me at reception.

I go up in an elevator that's too empty and immediately realize.

Fifth floor. There are barely any doors, this doesn't look anything like hospitals I've been to before.

There's tranquility. Silence. A silence that smells like money.

I stop in front of room 514 and take a quick look through the half-open door, not sure if I'm in the right place. This is a five-star hotel room that happens to have medical equipment.

“Mom!” Ana Sofia's shriek pulls me out of my shock.

Theo is lying in a bed, pale but awake, connected to a monitor measuring his vital signs. Ana Sofia is sitting in a chair next to him with a bunch of empty soda cans, and Sloane…

Sloane is standing by the window, arms crossed, watching me with an expression I can't decipher.

“How are you?” I gasp, running to the bed to take Theo's hand in mine.

“Fine,” my son responds with a very hoarse voice. “They had to operate on me, but I was asleep and didn't notice anything. Now it doesn't hurt anymore and they say I'll have a really cool scar.”

“A scar?”

“Like Sloane's on her knee,” he responds proudly.

“You should have seen him when they brought him back, Mom, he was talking like he was drunk,” his sister jokes.

“It was from the anesthesia, idiot,” Theo protests, seeming to have recovered some of his desire to argue with his twin.

I look at the room again and start feeling palpitations in my chest. The enormous fruit basket resting on the side table doesn't make me any calmer.

“Sloane,” I whisper, approaching her. “Why is he here?”

“Watson Memorial Hospital has an excellent pediatric surgery department,” is the only answer I get.

“Are all the rooms like this?” I ask cautiously.

“It's a VIP room,” she answers without more.

“My insurance doesn't cover VIP rooms, assuming it covers anything at this hospital, which I doubt very much.”

Sloane doesn't say anything, just looks at me with that irritating calm she has lately.

“Who's going to pay for all this? Can you explain that to me?” I insist, raising my voice more than would be appropriate in this situation. “Do you have any idea what a room like this might cost? And the operation? And all those doctors?”

“Esme…”

“NO!” I explode. “If you're going to tell me not to worry, don't. I don't have money for this. I don't have insurance that covers luxury private hospitals or VIP rooms. What have you done? You should have consulted me first. Now I…”

Sloane sighs, running a hand through her hair.

“Harper is on the Board of Directors of this hospital. She called to make sure Theo received the best possible care,” she explains, maintaining her calm.

“Harper called? Of course, the billionaire sister picked up the phone and organized everything without counting on the child's mother. All very normal,” I complain, getting more and more nervous.

“Esme, it was an emergency, and we couldn't reach you. They had to operate on Theo with implied consent given the severity. Don't make this harder than it is.”

The reminder that my son could have died and I wasn't by his side hits me like I just got run over by a freight train.

“Harder than it is? And who pays the bill, Sloane? Because I can't. I can't afford this, and I won't let your family…”

“Mom, stop it!” Ana Sofia shrieks, getting up from her chair and positioning herself between us with eyes full of tears.

“Ana, you don't understand. This is going to cost…”

“I DON'T CARE WHAT IT COSTS!” my daughter screams again.

“Theo could have died! I called you a bunch of times,” she continues, tears running down her cheeks.

“A bunch of times, Mom. And you didn't answer me.

Theo was screaming in pain, and you weren't there. Sloane came. She took care of everything and stayed with me when I was scared.”

Knowing that everything she says is true, far from calming me, makes me even more furious. Especially with myself.

“And now that Theo is okay, all you care about is money. You're not worried if he's still in pain, or the fear we went through. Just how much it costs,” she insists.

“Ana, that's not… When you're older, you'll understand,” I whisper, trying to put a hand on her shoulder, but my daughter pulls away.

“Sloane has been here from the beginning, Mom,” she interrupts me. “She's talked to the doctors, signed papers, stayed with me during the operation. She's been doing everything you should have been doing.”

“That's not fair, I…” but I stop. I can't find the right words to continue while wiping tears with my palm.

“Kiddo, Mom was working because she wants the best for you,” Sloane explains, crouching down to be at the girl's height.

“Well, what I want is a mother who's by our side, not working all day.”

“I'm sorry,” I gasp. “I'm so sorry, honey. You're right, I…”

“Esme…” Sloane sighs, standing up and approaching me to gently stroke my back.

“I'm a horrible mother,” I sob, hiding my face in her neck and completely breaking down. “I let my work be more important than my children.”

“That's not true. You're an excellent mother. A mother who sacrifices every day to give them a better future. And you can't imagine how much I admire you for that,” she assures me.

“But you… you've taken care of Ana Sofia. You've found a hospital for Theo. You've done everything I should have done.”

“Esme, it's okay. Theo is okay. That's the only thing that really matters right now,” she assures me, kissing my forehead.

We separate, and I see Ana Sofia is watching us with a strange expression. Not sadness. But weird.

“Mom, do you know what I'd like?” she says suddenly.

“What, honey?”

“I'd like to be able to have both of you as mothers. You and Sloane,” she admits, shrugging and smiling.

Her words leave me stunned. I shift my gaze to Sloane, who's watching her with wide eyes.

“Ana Sofia, that can't…”

“Seriously,” my daughter continues. “You work a lot to take care of us, but sometimes you can't be there. And Sloane… Sloane when she came to our house the day we came back from Silver Peaks told you she wanted to help you. Like today. It's as if you were a team.”

I look at Sloane, who smiles. Then at my son Theo, who's watching us from the bed. Then back at the girl.

“A team,” I repeat slowly.

“Yes,” Ana Sofia nods, squeezing my hand. “A family.”

While the girl falls asleep in a chair, with her head resting on her brother's bed, I take the opportunity to talk to Sloane.

“It's been a tough day,” she sighs, nodding toward the children.

“For everyone,” I confess. “Can I ask you something?”

She simply nods slowly and smiles at me.

“Why are you still in Denver?” I ask. “After everything that happened between us… After everything I said to you. Why are you still here? It's been three months now.”

“Because I still have hope that you'll let me explain what happened with.

.. with that conversation you heard. And because these kids are becoming my family.

I shouldn't tell you this, but sometimes, I take them for ice cream when they get out of school. That way, that babysitter you hire can spend some time with her boyfriend.”

“Fuck,” I sigh, rolling my eyes.

“Esme, maybe you don't want to know anything about me, maybe you don't even want to give me a chance to explain what happened, but those kids... I'm starting to love those kids as much as if they were mine.”

“Sloane…”

“Just let me explain. Then, if you want, I'll leave, but let me explain,” she interrupts me, raising a hand. “The conversation you heard that day was about a hotel in Switzerland. A business acquisition. Nothing to do with you.”

“Is that true?” I ask, confused.

“I came all the way to Denver to explain it to you, even so, you didn't even give me a chance to do it.”

We stay silent for a moment. Theo moves in the bed, whispers something about adventures before going back to sleep.

“Have you been here for three months, just waiting to see if one day you could talk to me?”

“Yes. Well, I work at a sports store and give ski lessons on weekends,” she explains.

“You left Silver Peaks, and now you work like a normal person?”

“Yes, if you want to stay here, if you're happy in your job, I'm willing to stay with you. I don't need the Silver Peaks life, there are ski slopes here too. Even if there weren't, there's you and the kids, and that's what's important,” she assures me with a wink.

“Fuck, I think I've been an asshole,” I whisper.

“No more than I was eleven years ago. I let a unique woman slip away and I'm not going to do it again. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to prove I truly love you,” she sighs, leaning toward me to hug me.

“Do you think we could… try again?” I propose with some fear. “Start slowly. See little by little if it could work.”

“I'd love that,” she admits, moving closer to kiss my lips.

Just at that moment, Ana Sofia opens her eyes and looks at us with a smile.

“Is Sloane going to stay with us?” she asks with a yawn.

“Yes, honey,” I respond. “Sloane is staying.”