answers.
My friends had also been too busy to stop by. I figured Jamie and Bee had finally headed back to Philly while Ever went back to Cornell. Yesterday, my father, our only visitor in two days, had come bearing a brand-new car seat for River. As nervous as I was about no longer having the NICU staff for support, if I never saw another hospital again, it would be too soon. It was frustrating since I still harbored dreams of being a doctor. I’d gotten an email today from Harvard, reminding me of the course section for the fall semester coming up. Never mind that I’d had them picked out from the moment I received Harvard’s acceptance letter last year. I never once imagined it not coming to fruition, though.
As if reading my thoughts, River made a noise from his crib. I smiled down at him dressed in a blue onesie. The words on the front read My Favorite Uncle’s Wingman.
A gift from Jamie, of course.
Once River was bundled in his car seat, despite the warm weather, and the discharge papers were signed, I left the hospital with my son for the very first time. I promised Coach that we’d be ready by three. Five minutes past the hour, my father was a no-show. Oddly, the last person I expected to arrive in front of the hospital entrance was River’s father.
And he was driving a minivan.
Despite the tension when his gaze met mine, seeing him climb from the van…I burst out laughing. “Tell me you did not buy that because of River.”
Vaughn’s brows dipped as he watched me laugh at his expense. River’s expression matched his father’s, but I couldn’t stop. Oh, God. It was just too much.
“What? Aren’t kids required to ride in these things?”
I swiped the tear that escaped from the corner of my eye. “It’s the law that kids under a certain height, age, and weight ride in the back secured by a car seat and safety belt. They don’t require the back seat to be inside of a tank.” And a hideous one at that.
What was so comical, however, was seeing Vaughn drive it. The minivan was a far cry from his panty-dropping Lamborghini. Not that I’d ever risk putting my child in what was essentially a toy car.
Vaughn’s shoulder sagged with palpable relief. “Oh, thank God.” He then looked at me, his gaze sheepish. “Are you ready?”
My jaw dropped when his cheeks heated. Vaughn Rees was actually embarrassed.
I immediately sobered.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have laughed.” Against my better judgment, I laid my hand on his arm. The muscles bunched when he tensed from my touch, so I dropped my hand. “It was a wonderful gesture. Really.”
He nodded before picking up River’s car seat. He then kissed his son’s cheek, mumbling something that sounded like “I missed you” before carrying him to the van. Silently, I hoped there was some sort of flexible return policy on that thing. I wrinkled my nose at muted gray paint. Even brand new, it was like Vaughn purposely picked the ugliest one he could find.
“I should call my father,” I announced once we were all inside and strapped in. Instead of riding in the front, I’d chosen to ride in the back with the baby. “He was supposed to pick us up.” I left out the reason being that River and I hadn’t seen Vaughn in over a week.
“Don’t bother. He told me what time you were expecting him. I told him I wanted to be the one to bring you guys home.”
“Oh…thanks.”
Vaughn didn’t respond, and the ride was mostly silent after that. Music played, but he kept the volume low even though he usually liked it loud enough to be earsplitting. River began crying, so I spent the next fifteen minutes trying to console him. There wasn’t much I could do without removing him from the seat. My attention had been fixed on River the entire time, so when the van slowed, I realized much too late that Vaughn hadn’t taken us to my father’s house.
We were at the beach house.
“What are we doing here?”
Vaughn pretended he didn’t hear me when he hopped out and pulled open the sliding door on River’s side before removing him. “Come on.”
Of course, he’d give me an order rather than an explanation.
We entered through the kitchen, and I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but I found the house oddly silent. Even the waves from the beach seemed to be whispering. Vaughn led