Page 80 of The Business of Love Box Set 1: Books 1 - 4

KIMBERLY

I fidgeted with the tassel on my clutch as we drove toward the hospital.

I’d been staring out the window for the past ten minutes, lost in my own thoughts and waiting for Rick to interrupt me.

But he let me sit in peace until we approached a florist, a dollar store, and a bakery all joined in a single strip mall.

“We could stop up ahead,” he suggested. “There’s a little bakery with great desserts and the dollar store for drinks. I’m sure your friend would appreciate some refreshments after delivery.”

“Good idea,” I said.

Rick told his driver to pull into the lot, and a couple minutes later, we were quickly walking the aisles of the florist while they blew up some balloons they conveniently had behind the counter with helium that proclaimed phrases like:

Welcome, Baby!

Congrats Mom and Dad!

Family of 3!

I had not so subtly picked one of each and asked for them to be blown up. Then I saw to finding four bottles of Mountain Dew at the dollar store next door.

“I don’t want any,” Rick said.

I laughed. “Oh. Sorry. I didn’t get them for us. These are all for Vanny. She has an obsession with this stuff and I know my girl is going to want one when delivery is behind her. Come on. Let’s go check out that bakery.”

We moved down the sidewalk to the bakery and arrived just in time before it closed.

I explained we were going to the hospital for the birth of my niece, and the girl behind the counter let us in and locked the front door behind us.

I picked out a dozen different treats: blueberry bars, cherry-filled croissants, apple fritters, chocolate creampuffs, strawberry shortcakes, raspberry Danishes, cookies, and white-chocolate cranberry scones.

After paying for our order, we picked up the filled balloons at the florist and piled into the back of Rick’s car. The box of baked treats made the whole vehicle smell divine and I tried to pretend my mouth wasn’t watering as we pulled out of the parking lot and made for the hospital.

My knee bounced furiously all the way there.

Rick put a hand on it. “Don’t be nervous. From what you’ve told me about your friend, she’s a real fighter. She’ll handle this like a champ. And the prize at the end is worth all the pain she’s in right now.”

I nodded. “It’s just a little scary. That’s all.”

“Childbirth?”

I shook my head.

Rick frowned and turned to face me more directly. “What’s scary?”

My vision grew blurry as I fought off tears. Don’t cry. “It’s stupid.”

“There is nothing you could say that I would think is stupid. Nothing.”

My bottom lip trembled. “I’m… I’m a little scared about how much things are going to change.”

“Oh.”

“See? It’s dumb.”

He chuckled, wiping a tear from my cheek. “Nothing about that is stupid. Of course, things are going to change. And change in and of itself is scary. It’s unknown. What part of it scares you the most?”

All of it. I shrugged. “I worry about what things will be like between me and Vanny. I know she won’t have the time she used to have that she’d usually spend with me. And I know—ugh, I don’t even want to say it out loud.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. But I promise, I won’t judge you.”

My knee finally stopped bouncing beneath Rick’s hand and I took a deep, steady breath.

“I’m scared that our friendship will never be like what it was.

For the longest time, I was her number-one person.

Then Rhys came into the picture and there was plenty of room for her to love both of us.

But a baby? I can’t compete with a baby, Rick. ”

“It’s not a competition. It’s just different.”

“She has all these people to love and to love her back and I… don’t.”

Rick stared blankly back at me like I’d just said the most ludicrous thing he’d ever heard.

I wiped at my eyes and laughed at myself. “See? I say it out loud and I realize how dumb it sounds. I’m just being selfish. I’m not going to lose a friend. I’m just going to lose a bit of time.”

“Maybe in the beginning,” Rick told me. “Those first few years of becoming a parent are one trial after another. You’re so overwhelmed with love and fatigue and you’re in this weird daze of confusion that half the time you wake up and forget who you are.

” He smiled and I suspected he was remembering what it was like those first few months Chessie was in the world.

“It’s beautiful and bizarre all at once.

Vanessa is going to need you more than ever.

Even if things are different for a little while, stick by her.

She’ll come back around when parenthood gets a little easier. ”

I bit my bottom lip and stared at my lap. “You’re making me want to kiss you, saying things like that.”

We were quiet for a moment and I wished I hadn’t said that.

“I had no ulterior motives,” Rick said. “I meant every word.”

“Exactly.”

He pulled his hand from my knee. I immediately wished he hadn’t. I ached for a long drawn-out kiss in the back seat with him. But how was I to know if I could trust that impulse? My emotions were probably just getting to me.

So I nodded at the balloons that were presently competing for space in the back seat with us. “Do you think the balloons were a little overkill?”

“No. She’ll love them. They’re great for taking photos during recovery.”

I tugged one of the strings and the pink balloon bounced up and down. “That was kind of my idea. Something to spruce up a drab hospital room, you know?”

“Were they able to get a private recovery room?”

“Rhys paid for one but it always comes down to availability the day of,” I said. “I’m sure it will be fine. I think they paid to stay an extranight, too.”

“Very wise.”

By the time we pulled into the hospital parking lot, Rick had managed to distract me from my torn-up emotions.

We talked about the good things about the baby coming.

About fun toys and first books and next Christmas.

We talked about traditions and onesies and the extravagant baby crib the father had apparently built.

We tumbled out of the car all tangled up in the balloon ribbons and tethers.

Rick balanced the box of bakery treats on his forearm while I slung my clutch over my shoulder and tucked the four-pack of Mountain Dew under my arm.

I felt a bit like a fool showing up to the hospital in my favorite little black dress, but there had been no time to go home and change.

This was where I had to be.

“Okay,” I breathed. “Let’s go.”

Rick followed me in through the emergency doors. We hooked an immediate right, made our way for the maternity ward, and found the delivery rooms. A nurse greeted us from behind a plexiglass separator and knew immediately what we were there for, based on the balloons and pastries.

She smiled. “Who are you here to see?”

“Vanessa Hampton,” I said. “And Rhys Daniels.”

“I’ll buzz you through. They’re in room four-oh-two. If you knock, a nurse will come get you. But don’t walk in on your own.”

I nodded and my stomach did a nervous little roll.

We were buzzed through and found a waiting place to sit down with mint-green-pleather chairs and out-of-date magazines spread out on every second table. I picked one up and smirked as I held the cover up to Rick. “At least there’s nothing current with our faces on it, huh?”

He grinned. “Silver lining.”

“I’m going to see if I can get into her room.

” I put the pack of Mountain Dew on one of the chairs.

I’d bring that in to Vanessa once the baby was born.

She couldn’t drink anything but water until then, and I didn’t want to tempt her with her favorite drink.

She’d be screaming for the nurses to shoot it directly into her veins in no time.

I would hold off on the balloons and treats too, I decided. The nurses wouldn’t want giant balloons floating around while they busted their butts trying to deliver a baby.

“Do you mind standing guard over this stuff while I duck in there?” I asked. I felt bad asking Rick to stay after the haphazard random evening we’d had so far. “I’ll be quick. Then you can get home to Chessie and—”

“Take your time,” he said. “I want to stay.”

“You do?”

Rick sat down, crossed one leg over the other, and picked up a magazine which he promptly flipped open on his lap. “Yes, I do. And I have all the entertainment I could need right here.”

I leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you.”

Then I hightailed it around the corner and down the hall to Vanessa’s room, where I knocked softly on the door. Nobody answered, so I knocked a little harder, and seconds later, a nurse in blue scrubs yanked the door open and blinked expectantly at me.

“Erm,” I stammered. “I’m here to see Vanessa.”

“Immediate family only. Unless otherwise requested by the mother.”

I arched an eyebrow. My instinct was to tell the nurse off, but she was under pressure and was only doing her job. So I rearranged my features into a smile. “I understand. Could you let her know Kim is here to see her?”

The nurse closed the door.

I waited.

Less than ten seconds later, the door opened again and I was invited into the sterile delivery room.

The first thing I saw was Vanessa lying on her back in the bed.

Her hair was matted to her cheeks and forehead with sweat.

Her face was bright red and she had a vise grip on poor Rhys’s hand, who was standing by her side.

“Kim,” Vanessa breathed. My name sounded like relief on her lips. “You made it.”

I moved to her side and took her other hand. “Of course, I made it. There is no place I’d rather be than right here with you guys. How are you doing?”

Vanessa’s mouth pursed into a fine line. “This is hell. Absolute hell. Don’t have a baby, Kim. Don’t do it. My insides feel like they’re being ripped apart.”

“Okay.” I laughed nervously and patted the back of her hand. “Don’t waste your energy telling me how bad it is.”

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Vanessa whimpered.

I stroked her hair off her face for her. “I’ll be out in the waiting room the whole time. If you need me, just send for me, okay? But I can’t stay in here the whole time. This is for you and Rhys.”

Vanessa nodded.

I smiled up at the father-to-be, whose face was drawn with concern for his woman.

I reached out and put my other hand on his shoulder.

“You guys have totally got this. You hear me? Baby has no idea how lucky he or she is.” I felt my throat tightening around my emotions and I let out a half-sob half-laugh. “I’m so happy for you guys.”

Vanessa sniffled until another contraction rolled over her.

Then I was ushered out of the room by the same nurse who’d let me in.

I blew kisses over my shoulder until the door closed behind me, and then I stood in the hall marveling at the fact that this was the last time I would see my best friend before she was a mother.

“Wow,” I whispered to myself. “Life is a fucking trip.”

“It is, isn’t it?”

I turned to find Rick leaning up against the wall with his ankles crossed.

I wiped tears away that continued to fall.

“Don’t worry about the balloons and what not. The nurses offered to take them and put the drinks in their fridge.”

“That was sweet of them.”

“Are you okay?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yes, I am actually. I’m just overwhelmed. And so happy for them. And worried about my friend.”

“She’ll be okay. She’s in good hands here.”

“Yeah, she is.”

He reached out to me. I took his hand and let him pull me toward him. He took my other hand too and we stood about half a foot apart, gazing into each other’s eyes while he ran his thumbs over my knuckles.

“I know there is likely better timing than this,” Rick said, “but I have to tell you something important.”

“When has timing ever been on our side?”

He smiled. God, he was so handsome. “Fair point. Perhaps this is perfect timing then.”

I waited. Rick searched for the words he wanted to say and my gut tightened with nerves. What was this about?

Finally, he gave voice to his thoughts. “I love you, Kim.”

My breath hitched in my throat. “You do?”

“I do. Without a shred of doubt. I didn’t know what love felt like until you. I’ve been drowning in a sea of trying to feel this for years. A decade even. And now? It all makes sense. What I’ve been chasing is right here in front of me and I don’t want to let it go.”

His words rolled over me like a soothing wave. Clarity crashed against me as the wave passed and the truth of what I really wanted was right in front of me, clear as day.

I wanted him.

I always had. Denying that fact had been tearing me apart since we’d ended things.

“Then don’t let go,” I whispered. “I love you too.”

Rick pulled me sharply into him. I fell against his chest and he put a finger under my chin to lift my face to his. Our kiss started slow and soft, and then it deepened. Soon, I was curling my fingers in the front of his shirt and I felt like I was floating.

Perhaps after all this time, Jackson had finally managed to make up for the series of unfortunate dates he’d sent me on.