Page 35

Chapter thirty-five

Keala

P ulling Keala into a bathroom in his grandparents’ house, Landon yelled a quick, “Washing up!” before he closed the door. He gave her a peck, then set his hands on her shoulders. “Doing okay? I know it’s only been a few minutes, but you’ve met so many people.”

From the moment Maya had picked her up from the airport, things had been a whirlwind. Landon had taken a separate car earlier, texting her the whole time. When she’d arrived at the house, Maya and Landon had made introductions to the whole family—their grandparents, a few of their cousins, Colton’s little family, and Maya’s boyfriend, Cooper.

Keala let out a breath. “I can’t promise I’ll remember everyone’s names, but Maya seems very excited, which makes me feel better.”

Landon laughed. “She is. She loves having new people in the family. You should’ve seen her the day she met Lucia.”

“And you?” Keala asked softly. “Are you doing okay?” The exchange during Colton’s introduction had been tense enough that Lucia, Colton’s wife, had shared a worried look with her.

“A lot to work through. Just glad my dad’s not here. Maya won’t invite him to anything like this anymore.” Keala was glad when she didn’t see his guard go up when he mentioned his father. “My therapist says she thinks this will be a good trip for my growth, especially since he won’t be coming, so I’m going to keep an open mind.”

Keala tried not to react, in case his being in therapy was something that had just slipped out rather than something he’d wanted to let her know. Either way, pride built in her throat. She cleared it. “Still planning on talking to Colton sometime this weekend?”

He nodded. “Yes, but that’s a problem for later. For now, I can just enjoy having you with me at a family event when I normally have to be…alone.”

“Have to be, or prefer to be?”

“Okay, preferred. Past tense.” Landon lifted her chin with a finger so he could kiss her again. “But that was before you.”

She smiled at him in appreciation. “Wash your hands. Any longer, and they’re going to think something untoward is going on.”

He grinned. “You want something untoward to go on?”

“Landon.”

“Fine,” he muttered, washing his hands with her before they jumped back into the fray.

Maya waved them over, gesturing to the two seats beside her at the dining table. Landon pulled out Keala’s chair, and she noted the look between Colton, Lucia, and Maya.

Dinner moved just as fast. Some of the conversation focused on their mother, which made sense. When her birthday came up, November seventh, Keala remembered the tattoo she’d traced on Landon’s chest. A blue butterfly with that date scrawled beneath it, right over his heart. When she’d asked about his other tattoos, he’d told her the sparrow and the message “to the moon and back” that covered his hand was for her as well. The remainder of his tattoos were reminders of his journey through life, he’d said.

The rest of the conversation was checking in on each other. Every once in a while, Keala would be brought in, but she preferred listening and observing, learning about each piece of the puzzle of Landon’s life, even if many of them were newer. She’d had no idea until this meal that his grandparents had only recently come back into their lives, but it seemed in the two years since then, a lot had changed and the family had grown closer.

“Keala, Landon mentioned that after this season, you’ll be leaving the Sirens. Do you still plan to choreograph or dance elsewhere?” Lucia asked, her and Colton’s daughter Lyla cooing in her lap.

Keala had been trying to ignore the impending end of her dancing career, knowing the despair that would fill her when it was over. “I’d love to, but I don’t have anything lined up. My cousin thinks I should look at coaching some local college dance teams but…” But she didn’t want to get her hopes up. She needed to prove to her bosses that she was their best NP so she could keep getting raises and pay off her debt. She wasn’t sure how dance would fit into that picture. Cora had made an offhand comment about Brooklyn rarely being around a few practices ago, but there were so many more talented choreographers that even if Brooklyn did leave, Keala wasn’t sure she would be their pick.

Realizing the table was waiting for her to finish her thought, Keala continued, “But dance will always be with me. Even if I’m not teaching a group, I’ll always be dancing and thinking up choreography when I feel inspired.” She smiled, and a few people around the table nodded.

The conversation moved on to Landon’s cousin’s new job, and when it had comfortably lulled, all three of their cousins hugged everyone goodbye and left.

The rest of them were staying the night at their grandparents’ house. Keala and Landon would leave tomorrow evening since they had a home game on Monday, and Landon’s siblings were staying longer since the Sabertooths were in their bye week.

After they finished getting ready for bed, Keala lay on her side with her back against Landon’s chest. She traced patterns against the tattoo on the hand wrapped around her. “What are we doing tomorrow?” she asked.

“I want to show you the house I grew up in. Also my schools and the fields I used to kick ass on. All while in disguise, obviously.”

“Obviously.”

Keala had switched some of her shifts to be here, namely her Friday and Saturday ones for Tuesday and Wednesday. It’d felt weird and a little wrong to ask for the change, but she’d wanted to be here for Landon. Like he’d said, she had been working so hard, they couldn’t be upset with her for taking some time to herself, right?

She knew she would get that uncomfortable feeling tomorrow, like she needed to be doing something, but she would do her best to be present with him. Keala was excited to see where Landon had come from.

“Why do you stay here instead of at the house you grew up in if your dad still owns it?”

“Long story, and not mine to tell, but Maya doesn’t feel comfortable there anymore. And I think my grandparents like having us all here, especially since they spent so many years absent from our lives. We’re so busy that this time when we all come together is sacred for them.”

Keala’s body warmed at knowing she’d been allowed into something so significant. “Thank you for bringing me. I love seeing where you came from. And meeting your family.”

“Thank you for coming. I never knew what I was missing when they brought Cooper and Lucia, but now I get it.” He squeezed her, setting his chin on her shoulder.

Keala smiled, holding both his hands as she fell into a blissful sleep, dreaming of a man who’d once been so opposed to emotions but who could now tell her how much he wanted her in his future.

Keala woke before their alarm. When she checked her phone, she found it was after nine. Shockingly, her internal clock hadn’t woken her, which was becoming increasingly common when she was with Landon. She knew he wanted to sleep in today, so she wiggled out of his heavy arm as carefully as she could, grabbing her toothbrush and going to the bathroom across the hall.

Right as she finished her morning routine, her phone rang. She frowned. It was odd that Annie would call, especially knowing Keala wasn’t working her usual week.

“Hello?” Keala asked quietly, assuming everyone else was sleeping in on their day off.

“Keala, I’m freaking out. Oh my god. I’m—” Keala heard retching on the other end and her heart sank into her stomach.

“Annie, what happened?”

More retching.

“Do you need me to call someone?”

“A woman came in yesterday around five. Third trimester with spiked blood pressure and decreased fetal movement. It looked like preeclampsia, so I stepped in and called for an OB to do an emergency C-section.” Annie’s voice was frantic, cut off with choked sobs. “Deirdre agreed calling for an OB was the right move, and we followed protocol but—” It sounded like Annie was trying not to vomit again. Keala collapsed against the door, her vision blackening around the edges. She slid down, her whole body tingling, static between her ears.

“It wasn’t preeclampsia, Kay. They realized it was a placental abruption they didn’t catch because the baby was over the cervix, and I-I—”

The prick of a million needles dug into Keala’s skin, and she had the good sense to mumble a quick, “Annie, I’m so sorry, I have to go. I’ll call you back,” before she hung up and allowed the panic to take over.

Keala didn’t need Annie to confirm the woman had died; it was clear. Malia had died the same way. Rushed to the hospital, emergency C-section, only to find out that she’d had a placental abruption.

Anguish pressed hard against her chest. She brought in oxygen in short bursts, panting. A few seconds—or maybe minutes—later, Keala couldn’t feel her body. All she could think about was that if she had been there, she could’ve saved that woman. If she’d been there, she would’ve seen the signs. She would’ve asked the right questions—was there any bleeding? Any extreme abdominal cramping? She would have recognized that it wasn’t preeclampsia because Keala had become hyper focused on preventing any mistakes like the one that had taken Malia.

And now she was the reason that mistake had occurred. All because she’d wanted to believe she was worthy of a fairy-tale kind of love. So na?ve. The one time she switched her shifts for a relationship and this happened? That had to be a sign.

It had been foolish of her to think she had time to devote to someone else.

Keala struggled to swallow as her thoughts circled the thing she’d been desperately trying to avoid.

Ikaika had been destroyed after his sister’s death. When he’d come to Virginia after Malia had died, the light in his eyes had been completely gone. All joy seemed to have left the world. Another family just lost their light, their joy, and Keala should have been there to prevent it.

How would she face Ikaika? She had taken personal time and someone had died because of it. Keala didn’t know when she’d be able to look him in the eye again. He’d see right through her, and then she’d have to tell him what had happened. It would tear him apart all over again.

Keala’s stomach turned as she thought about the baby. She’d too hastily hung up, and now she didn’t know if the woman’s family had some hope in the form of that baby the way Ikaika’s family had. It had undoubtedly been hard work, but Malia’s daughter was six now. Was this woman’s child so lucky? And if the baby had been born, would they have a family?

If she had been there, she would have called Genevieve on her cell to make sure she got down to the emergency department immediately. Annie and Deirdre had done all they could, she was sure, putting a STAT order into the system, but Keala had been building relationships with other physicians for this exact purpose. She had been monitoring signs on all pregnant patients that came in for this exact purpose .

She would have known it wasn’t preeclampsia.

If she hadn’t been so consumed by her desire to be loved, a woman wouldn’t have just bled out.

It was Keala’s turn to be sick.

By the time she’d emptied the limited contents of her stomach, she had made a decision.