sudden rush of emotion came over me, and I leaned my head down and let it all out. I wasn’t sure if it was relief, fear, happiness, or simply being downright scared to fucking death. My body shook as I cried like I had never cried before. Not even after my father died did I cry like this.
If I had lost Merit, I wouldn’t even know what to do. The thought of not having her in my life was something I wasn’t willing to even consider. And then the baby. My God, was it even possible for me to be in love with a child I only found out about a few days ago?
Yes. It was. It was like the moment I opened my heart and admitted my feelings for Merit, everything became so freaking crystal clear.
My mind raced as I remembered what it felt like to watch Merit fall. To see her head hit the ground, and then that rock, and how scared I’d been. Then the thought of anything happening to the baby had filled me with dread.
I squeezed my eyes shut and willed myself to stop replaying it in my mind. They would be bringing Merit back soon, and she was awake. She didn’t need to see me falling apart like this.
I pulled in a deep breath and stood. I walked over to the window and stared out over the town I had grown up in and loved. Everything made so much more sense to me now. Why I hated coming back home. The fear of admitting why I had run off to bull ride in the first place. Running from a past that I had fucked up so royally.
The phone in my pocket buzzed, and I pulled it out to see Brock’s name.
I opened up the text and read it.
Brock: Timberlynn just showed up and told me and Tanner that her father called. Merit was in an accident? Is everything okay with her and the baby?
Instead of bothering with texting, I hit Call instead.
“Hey, is everything okay?” Brock asked without even saying hello, his voice filled with worry. “Timberlynn is fit to be tied, and Tanner had to keep her from rushing to the hospital.”
“Merit is fine. Her good-for-nothing father pushed her, and she fell down some steps and hit her head on a rock. She got a pretty good cut, and it knocked her out for a bit. She’s awake, and they did a CT scan. All’s okay with both her and the baby. I’m waiting for her to come back to her room.”
“Thank God. Let me tell Timberlynn.”
Brock covered the phone and proceeded to inform Timberlynn—and I was guessing Tanner, as well—that Merit and the baby were okay.
“You okay, Dirk? You sound…tired,” Brock asked.
“I don’t know, Brock.”
“Dirk,” he said in a warning voice. If I knew him, he was thinking I was on the verge of running. Something I used to be damn good at.
“I’m not leaving or running or anything like that. I have all these emotions rushing through me. I can’t make heads or tails out of anything. I have never been so scared as I was watching her fall down those steps. I wanted to kill her father. Hell, I still do. My head is spinning, and I want to make some decisions right this second, but I know I need to settle down. Especially before they bring her back to the room.”
“Decisions? What sort of decisions?”
I rubbed at the tension in my neck and glanced back at the door, making sure it was shut. “I think I’m done with bull riding. For good.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
MERIT
My head hurt so badly, I could hardly open my eyes as I felt the nurse push me into an elevator.
“Miss Eden, how are you feeling?” she asked, looking down at me.
“Like I drank about six bottles of tequila.”
She smiled. “That bad, huh?”
I nodded, but quickly stopped when a shooting pain hit my temple. “Ouch,” I mumbled as I lifted my hand and felt the bandage again. I was going to kill my father for doing this to me.
The moment they told me they had to do a CT scan, I nearly shouted that I was pregnant. They already knew, thankfully, since Dirk rode with me in the ambulance and had informed them.
“If it helps any, there’s a rather handsome cowboy waiting in your hospital room for you.”
“That helps a lot,” I said with a smile.
“He’s been worried. It took three nurses and two doctors to convince