Changing Lanes (The Lone Stars Book 3) (27 page)

“New OBGYN? What’s wrong with Dr. Martinez? Why change now?” Laney just caught that fact. She and January used the same OB.

“Because my ex knows Dr. Martinez pretty well. They office in the same building and see each other all the time. She knows I was dating him.” January sounded a little worried.

It hit Laney. “She offices out of the Seton Professional Buildings. All those offices are for doctors. Do I know him?”

“Yep, and I’m not going to tell you who he is. It would make things weird … really weird.” January took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“It’s not Dr. Dick is it?” Laney glanced down at January’s feet. That would be weird.

“Are you kidding me? That’s just gross.” She shifted her weight. “No, Dr. Dick and I haven’t mingled DNA or anything else.”

“Thank God.” Laney was truly relieved. She’d always be there for her friend, but knowing that January was having a freaky–foot–fathered baby was hard to take.

January waved. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll text you the address. Love ya’ man.”

And January was gone.

Now Laney had a puzzle to figure out. So she knew January’s ex–boyfriend. Did she know him well or was he merely a casual acquaintance? She had something to occupy her mind in addition to Devon and her patients. She picked up her cell phone meaning to call Nina, but she didn’t know if January had told her yet about the baby so she put the phone down.

Instead, she pulled up the Seton Professional Buildings website. They had over a hundred doctors’ offices in three different buildings. And she knew most of the providers. Her father’s offices were in Building One.

Holy crap—had January been dating her father? Laney threw up a little bit in the back of her throat. That was just disgusting. Her father didn’t date. She shook her head. That was ridiculous. Elvis Presley would have a greater chance of being January’s baby–daddy.

Clearly January was hurting, maybe Laney could help by talking with the baby’s father?

That’s what friends did for each other, they smoothed the way. January would do the same for her. Laney started at the top of the list and worked her way down.

Chapter 23

Devon stood in Laney’s office doorframe and just watched her. Would he always get that little zing when he saw her? Would he always have that little stomach flip–flop at the prospect of seeing her? Would he always feel the need to primp just a little bit right before he was supposed to see her?

He hoped so. Having lost her and then finally found her again, he hoped to never take her for granted. Being in love made him feel all of seventeen again—it was nice.

“You’re staring.” Slowly Laney’s eyes rolled up to meet his.

“I didn’t want to disturb you.” And he just liked watching her. Everything she did was efficient and graceful.

She leaned back in her office chair. “So, dinner and a movie? I need to change first.” She pointed to her scrubs. “Sorry, I haven’t had time yet.”

“Feel up for dinner and a movie in the parking lot? I brought over the big smoker, and Keshaun’s rented an outdoor movie screen and projector. He’s out to impress Krystal by giving the kids a movie night. I think he has two screens going—one with
Aladdin
for the younger kids and one with
Twilight
for the older ones. Most of the players are coming and bringing food too.” He sat in the chair across from her desk.

A bright smile worked its way across her face. “That’s the nicest offer I’ve had all day. I love
Aladdin
and
Twilight
. Thank you and your friends for doing so many wonderful things for the patients. Since you’ve come into my life, you’ve brought so much happiness.”

Devon thought he might explode with pride or at the very least walk on water. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing and you know it. You’re blushing, it’s adorable.” Laney grinned.

“I’m not adorable, I’m manly.” He flexed his arm muscles. “See. Manly.”

“Put those away. There’s so much testosterone wafting through the air that I feel hair growing on my upper lip.” Laney laughed.

It was corny and stupid, but God, he loved making her laugh. It was a shame that her smile would be short–lived. They had some pretty tough subjects to cover this afternoon.

He took a deep breath and dove in. “We need to talk about Lara.”

All the cheer drained from her face—it was like a punch to the gut. He hated hurting her, but there wasn’t any way to pretty this subject up.

“We need to talk about her final wishes.” The fact that a five–year–old had final wishes was the saddest part of this whole discussion. He’d promised himself that he’d face this head on and not get choked up in the details. He had to be strong for Lara, his mother, and for Laney. He wanted to shoulder as much of the burden as his strong women would let him.

“Before she went into a coma, Lara made me promise to write down her final wishes. I guess she and my mom have been discussing it.” He pulled out the folded piece of notebook paper where he’d written down everything Lara wanted. Carefully, he unfolded it. He could feel the tears gathering in his eyes, but he soldiered on. “She would like to be an organ donor.”

His voice cracked. “I don’t know if that’s possible considering her illness, but she was adamant about it.”

The grim reality of what happened next for Lara hung in the air like a damp blanket snuffing out all brightness in the room.

“That is so like her. Wanting to help others—thinking of them when she should be thinking of herself.” Laney grabbed a handful of tissues from the box on the left corner of her desk and dapped at her eyes. “I hate crying. I’ve cried more in the last two weeks than I have since babyhood.”

He wanted to go to her, scoop her up, and tell her everything was going to be okay, but he needed to get through this first. “I don’t know the procedure after organ donation, but if we can, mom and I would like to have her buried in our family plot in Dallas along side my father. She’s our family, and we’d like for her to be with us.” Tears were unmanly, but he couldn’t have stopped them if he tried so he grabbed a bunch of tissues and swiped at them. “We were going to surprise Lara, but it’s too late. A few weeks ago, my mother filed papers to formally adopt her. I know we should have asked you first, but we wanted her to have our last name. Because all parental rights had been signed away a long time ago and she’s dying, I was able to fast–track it. The paperwork should come through next week. I’d like to bury her with our last name, if you don’t mind.”

Laney’s lower lips wobbled as tears streamed down her face. She opened her mouth, closed it, and then nodded.

“There’s just one more thing.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Lara doesn’t want a church funeral or in her words something sad. She wants a circus themed party in her honor right here in the parking lot so all the kids can have fun. We’re to have clowns, zebras, a circus tent, and …” he could barely make out his notes through his own tears, “trapeze artists. She requests that we serve cherry Kool–Aid, vanilla ice cream, chocolate cake, cotton candy, and popcorn—there are to be no vegetables or iced tea. She was very particular on this point. And no one is allowed to wear black or feel sad.”

He just couldn’t go on. There was absolutely nothing worse in the world than a dying child and he wasn’t sure he would survive this. He bowed his head and gave into the grief. If he couldn’t show the woman he loved that he was vulnerable, then he didn’t deserve her.

All of a sudden, Laney was there, pulling him into her arms. She cradled his head against her shoulder and finger combed his hair. “All Lara ever wanted was a family, and you gave that to her. I can’t thank you enough. You’re an amazing person.”

“You’re the amazing one. You gave her to us.” Devon clung to her. She was here for him and he for her.

“Wow, listen to us. We’re each other’s cheering section. We’re so cute, I want to punch us in the face … repeatedly.” Her chest shook with laughter. “I never thought of myself as the lovey–dovey type, but look at us. It’s both cute and disgusting.”

He smiled. She was so good for him. “How’s it feel?”

She shrugged. “It’s not bad … I’m getting used to it. Though, sometimes I feel like I should do a glucose blood test because I’m turning so sweet.” She continued to finger comb his hair. It was so soothing. “But I draw the line at cutesy nicknames.”

“Damn, I was just about to burst out with Sweetie–kins Cuppy Cake.” Devon nuzzled her cheek.

“That just makes me hungry. If you’re going to go with a nickname, you’re going to have to do something that’s not food related.” She bit her top lip thinking. “How about Snuggle Bear?”

He let it settle on him and then shook his head. “No can do. That makes me think of that fabric softener bear. He is not sexy.” Devon kissed her jaw. “How about Sweet Buns?”

“Nope, food related.” Her stomach rumbled. “Makes me think of cinnamon rolls.”

Devon froze. “Speaking of cinnamon rolls, there’s something I should tell you.”

Laney leaned back and eyed him suspiciously. “I was wondering when you were going to bring up the five dozen cinnamon rolls. Summer texted me yesterday that they’d been confiscated by Coach Robbins. FYI–Grace isn’t speaking to him, and he never gets her famous Chicken Parmesan again. I’m told there was weeping and begging, but Grace was unmoved.”

“Thank God, justice has been served.” It was wrong for Devon to be happy because Coach had gotten in trouble, but he didn’t care. Summer’s cinnamon rolls were fantastic, and there should be some punishment for taking them away. “I can’t wait for you to have Grace’s Chicken Parmesan. She makes it for my birthday, and it’s crazy good.” He kissed his way to her ear and whispered, “Want to babysit the Robbins’s with me tonight? We could make out on their couch after all the kids go to bed.”

“It’s so cute that you babysit.” She kissed his cheek.

“Not cute, it’s manly … remember?” He flexed his left again.

“Sorry, I forgot. Manly … right.” Laney licked the underside of his jaw. “I love you.”

Devon’s world shifted and those words tattooed themselves on his soul. “It’s about time you admitted it. Say it again.”

“What do you mean it’s about time?” She punched him in the arm. “I love you.”

He closed his eyes and let the words wash over him. “It’s taken you long enough. I’ve been in love with you since I was seventeen. You have some serious catching up to do.”

“Excuse me? I fell in love with you back then, I just … lost my way so technically, I fell in love with you first.” Laney nodded. “You know it’s true.”

“Hello, love at first sight.” He pointed to himself. “I saw you first. You were getting out of your father’s car. I had to knock like five other guys out of the way so I could help you with your bag. Don’t you remember the kid with the bloody nose screaming like a girl?”

Devon had done a lot of things he wasn’t particularly proud of, but popping a boy who’d stood between him and Laney and who had refused to move, wasn’t one of them.

“What boy?” Her eyes squinted like she was deep in thought. “You mean that girl?”

“No, it was a dude. I remember punching him because he wouldn’t move out of the way. He had a full–on mustache and five–o’clock shadow at noon.” Maybe they were talking about two different people. He didn’t remember giving two people bloody–noses though.

“Her name was Natalie, and she had a deeper voice than you do. She was in my cabin and had a serious crush on me. She kept bringing me wild flowers and extra cookies from the canteen.” Laney nodded.

“That explains the pink tennis shoes. I just thought he was color blind.” He shook his head. “Are you sure he was a girl?”

“Yep. She sends me a Christmas card every year. She’s Natalie the Bone Crusher—”

“From the WWE? She’s awesome.” Devon couldn’t believe that he’d punched a girl. That was bad, he felt horrible. His mother was going to kill him. “I should apologize.”

“I wouldn’t. She holds a grudge. I’m pretty sure she can wrap you into a pretzel if she wanted to.” Laney was completely serious. “Back then, I had to keep talking her out of killing you. I’d let sleeping dogs lie.”

“I feel bad.” He’d never hit a girl and only fought to protect himself these days.

“Don’t. I’m pretty sure she can take you.” Laney wasn’t saying it to be mean, just stating a fact.

Devon shook his head. “Manly … why is that so hard for you to remember?”

“Don’t get your panties in a wad, you’re the manliest man I know.” She patted his cheek, “except for Natalie.”

Laney giggled … actually giggled. Like it was a surprise to her also, she clamped a hand over her mouth.

The sound went straight to his heart. She loved him. Laney–Elaine Janece Nixon … EJ—loved him. He’d known it forever, but it was good to hear it again.

Chapter 24

Two days later, at exactly ten fifteen in the morning Laney’s lovely little world collapsed. As she walked out of exam room one, her phone beeped with a text from Sweet Louise. “She’s gone. I held her hand as she slipped away. It was peaceful. So sorry.”

Laney took off in a dead run, she hit the stairs, and was out of the building and crossing the street before she’d realized that she was still holding her phone. By the time she made it to Lara’s room, they had wheeled her body out. Sweet Louise sat by the window looking down at nothing. The grief on her face was deeper than tears. It was the look of total loss and utter heartbreak that she’d seen on too many parent’s faces after the death of a child.

Laney put her hand on Sweet Louise’s shoulder.

“I knew this day was coming, but …” Sweet Louise shook her head. “It still snuck up on me. I thought I was ready, but I’m not.”

Laney knew she was supposed to say all the comforting things like ‘she’s in a better place’ and ‘she didn’t suffer’ but she couldn’t get the words out. Trite, generic words of consolation felt like a betrayal of a little girl who’s personality and soul that was so beautiful and expansive and generous. Without her, the world had lost some of its brightness.

“Even when she fell into a coma, I kept thinking that she would wake up. I kept hoping for a miracle … praying. My mind knew she would die, but my heart kept up hope. I still can’t believe it.” Sweet Louise continued to stare at nothing, her voice distant and hollow. “My mother always said there was hope. But sometimes there isn’t.”