Love in the Light - Laura Kaye Page 0,69

She won’t be gone long,” the orderly said.

“Okay,” Caden said, his brow furrowed. “Just give me a minute.” And then he folded down the rail on her bed, leaned over her, and pulled her gently into his arms. For a long moment, he just held her. Held her so damn close. The embrace was love and life and belonging, and it eased so much of the hurt she’d been carrying around inside her. “Love you so much,” he whispered. Finally, he let her go. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

“Never be sorry for that,” Makenna said with a smile as the orderly unlocked the brakes on the bed and wheeled her out of the room.

The orderly was right—the hand X-ray and head CT didn’t take long. Even better, several hours later she received the news that her head scans were clean and only the first two fingers on her right hand were broken—the doctors had feared breaks throughout her hand, but it appeared to be mostly sprained. Those airbags had clearly done their job, because everyone who knew what’d happened to her repeated how lucky she was.

And every time she looked at Caden, Makenna agreed.

She drifted in and out of sleep, each time finding Caden right by her side, sometimes awake, other times asleep, his head against her hip, his hand curled around hers. Makenna didn’t think she was imagining the new peacefulness he wore on his gorgeous face. Sleep had never been peaceful for him, and seeing him rest so quietly was further proof of everything he’d said.

The next time she woke up, she found her father sitting in a chair at her other side.

“Daddy,” she whispered.

“Oh, Makenna. I’ve been trying so hard to let you sleep.” He came to her side. “But I’ve been dying to see your eyes so I could know you were really okay,” he said, so much emotion on his face. God, it was good to see him.

“I am. Or at least I will be,” she said, filling him in on what the doctors had told her.

Her father blew out a deep breath and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I hate to see you hurting.”

“Don’t worry,” she said, his concern lodging a lump in her throat.

“Ha,” he said with a wink. “Tell me how that works out for you when this little one comes.”

Makenna smiled. “I suppose that’s fair.”

Her father’s gaze dropped to where Caden slept. “So, things are…”

“Things are good, Dad. Really good. We have a lot more to talk about, but I understand what was going on and I know that we love each other. And that’s all I need to know for right now. The rest we’ll work out together,” she said, needing her father’s support.

Dad brushed a strand of hair back off her face. “Sometimes, you remind me so much of your mother. She’d be so proud of the woman you’ve become,” he said, making her eyes well up. “You’re all big heart and kind soul. And don’t ever change.”

“Aw, Dad,” she said, her eyes leaking again.

Just then, Caden pushed into a sitting position. “Sorry I fell—” he said. His eyes went wide, and he was on his feet in an instant. “Mike. Uh, Mr. James.”

“Mike is fine, son,” Dad said, nailing him with a stare. “You here for my baby girl now?”

Caden nodded. Part of Makenna felt bad for him, but a bigger part of her was proud of how confident he was standing before her father. “Yes, sir. A hundred percent. When Makenna’s better, I’d like to tell you what happened if you’re open to it. I know how important you are to her and, well…” He nodded. “I’d just like to try to make things right.”

Her father walked around the bottom of the hospital bed and came to stand in front of a much taller Caden. “It looks like you already have, but of course I’ll hear what you have to say. We all will. Because you’re part of the family now.” Her father held out a hand, and when Caden took it, Makenna couldn’t stop smiling. “Congratulations on the little one.”

“Thank you, Mike. That means a lot,” Caden said. Was Makenna imagining it, or were Caden’s cheeks turning pink, just a little? How freaking cute was that?

“Listen, Patrick’s probably climbing the walls,” Dad said. “Let me head out so he can come back. They’ll only allow two at a time.”

“I can go so you can stay and visit,” Caden said, gesturing to the door.

Her father shook his