Page 337 of On A Manhunt: Complete Series

MAC

Holy shit. What a night.

Once Theo, with help from Liz and Contreras and the others from B shift, finished with Lindy, Dex carried her down to the gurney waiting at the base of the stairs. Theo followed, carrying his new niece, who was wrapped in a fresh green towel, then gave her back to her glowing mother.

Lindy was all smiles and Dex was over the moon. And a little in shock.

They didn’t even see Georgia in the living room, wiping tears from her face, as they went out to the ambulance for a ride to the hospital.

“You two good?” Theo asked, standing in the entry, eyeing me, then Georgia.

I nodded, but I couldn’t speak for Georgia. “Congrats,” I told him, shaking his hand. He grinned. “Go. We’ll close up here.”

He nodded. “Mom and baby seem fine, but they’ll stay overnight for observation.” Theo slapped me on the shoulder. Grinned some more. “Thanks for being there, although I don’t think they’re gonna name the baby after you.”

“Probably a good thing.” I laughed. “Lindy did all the work. She’s a rock star.”

He left, closing the front door on his way. I had no doubt he’d be spreading the news to the others in the James family.

I crossed the room to Georgia and pulled her into my arms. She went easily and cried into my chest. I held her, stroked her hair.

“You did so good, gorgeous. I’m proud of you,” I murmured, then kissed the top of her head.

Pulling back, she looked up at me. Her eye makeup was smeared and her cheeks were splotchy. Adrenaline was a potent thing. It allowed someone to perform amazingly well under tough situations, but the crash after was tough.

“How are you so calm?” she asked.

I shrugged. “It’s my job.”

I was used to it. Most of the time. Every once in a while, a call got to me, but this was a good one. It was probably time to add a pregnancy and labor training to the Saturday rotation.

“Why are you crying?” I wondered. “Lindy and the baby are going to be fine. Looking back, she’ll be thrilled she didn’t labor for two days.”

She looked away. Sniffled.

“I… I…” she began but didn’t finish.

“GG?” I prodded.

“My husband and I were married for seven years. I wanted a baby. At first, he said we were too young. Then he was settling into his job. We bought a house so there wasn’t enough money. There was always some excuse he came up with that delayed the family I wanted to make with him.”

Every single time her ex came up, I liked him less and less.

I had a pretty good idea of where this was going and I wanted to go to Georgia and beat the shit out of the guy.

I’d think Dex, after delivering his kid in his own bathtub, would be up for taking the entire Silvermines front line and helping me.

“It’s my fault.” She turned away and crossed the living room. I let her go because she wasn’t looking at me and she’d know I was pissed.

Her fault?

“I should’ve caught on well before seven years that he didn’t want a baby with me. Seven years!”

She flung her arms up.

“He was your husband,” I reminded. “The guy you committed your life to, who should’ve been right there with you. It’s not your fault he–”

I bit off the rest of my words. I was going to say It’s not your fault he cheated on you. Except I didn’t know the full story. Georgia wasn’t a cheater. I knew that. But I didn’t want to point out things that happened in their marriage I knew nothing about.

She turned to me, her eyes glittering with tears. “That he fell for his secretary? Dumped and divorced me, then married her and got her pregnant within a month?”

Oh shit. Okay, I was right after all. I hated him even more. But getting this new woman pregnant? Fuck, he was cruel, too.

“They’re having a baby?”

Her throat worked as she swallowed hard. “Yes. It seems it was me that was the problem all along.”

I crossed the room and pulled her back in my arms. “No. That’s not fucking it at all.” I wasn’t keeping quiet now that I knew the rest. “He’s a dick. A manipulator. A cheater. What’s going to happen to the secretary when he cheats on her next?”

I had no clue if he would, but once a cheater, probably always a cheater.

“Yet, here I am,” she continued. “Watching someone else have the one thing I can never have.”

I pushed her back, set my hands on her shoulders and searched her face.

“You know that? A doctor said you can’t have one?”

She shook her head. Even after helping with a baby being born, her hair was still perfect. “I’m thirty-five.”

“So?”

“So my ovaries are getting tired. Besides, I need–” She paused, wiped under her eyes with her fingers to swipe up the dark smudges, then looked to me.

“Need what?” I wanted to take away her hurt, to carry her burdens for her.

But I couldn’t fix her past. I couldn’t help her with her future either.

She only had a few days more work on the fundraiser calendar before it went to the printer and then she’d be gone.

No strings didn’t mean a baby. It meant the opposite.

No commitment. Nothing but fun and orgasms.

A baby? That made lesser men run away screaming. I never thought I’d have another child because Andy was plenty. Hell, I never imagined having him. But life was complicated and while I never expected to have a newborn nephew become my own, he had.

The older I got, the chances of me finding a woman who’d want more was slimmer and slimmer. There still wasn’t a woman on the horizon here in Hunter Valley.

“Nothing. Lindy and Dex, the new baby, it made me a little emotional.” With a chin lift, she smiled.

“You’re going to find a man.” I didn’t like saying those words and I was fucking jealous of someone who didn’t even exist. But I had to say it.

To make her feel better because she hadn’t said she would stay in Hunter Valley, to give something, a relationship even, a try that was more than no strings.

She hadn’t said one word about wanting more from our thing.

Or staying here. Or… anything but getting the job done.

We looked at each other and I waited. I gave her the opportunity to speak up, to tell me she wanted more. But no.

So I swallowed down my jealousy and continued, “I know there’s a guy out there for you, because you’re one hell of a catch, Georgia from Georgia. And if he treats you bad and doesn’t give you all the babies you want, you let me know. I’ll kick his ass.”

The smile grew and I was suddenly dazzled.

There was my gorgeous unicorn. The one that was going to slip through my fingers and be gone for good soon enough.

I had to remind myself she wasn’t for me.

She wasn’t for Andy. Hell, she’d arrived without boots or a proper coat.

She sure as hell wasn’t right for Montana. Or me.

“I’m sure you would.” She took a deep breath, let it out. It seemed her tears were done and thank fuck for that. I liked her smiling so much better.

“I think this night wasn’t what you expected when asked to someone’s house for dinner,” she continued, wiping her cheeks and heading for the kitchen.

“I bet Lindy and Dex are going to be hungry when they get settled at the hospital. Why don’t we dig up some plastic containers, pack up a lasagna dinner and deliver it to them at the hospital? ”