I was at Antonio’s when Coop called. I’ll pick up Joey first and meet you at the hospital.” She hurried to the opposite side of the street where Jack’s truck was parked. Stopping at her Ford, she yelled across, “Hey, Em!”
“Yeah?” Em called back as Jack yanked open the passenger side door for her.
“Who was the tall drink of sexy back there?”
Emery grinned. “Sebastian Mercier!”
“The chef?”
“Ladies,” Jack growled impatiently.
“Yeah!” Em ignored him. “You like?”
“I’d have to be dead not to!” Cat called before she hopped into her car.
Jack rolled his eyes, even though he enjoyed hearing Em’s laughter. Once he’d helped her up into the truck, he rounded it and slammed into the vehicle.
“You’re jealous,” Em observed as he pulled out onto the street.
“How do you know him?” Did they have a past Jack didn’t know about?
“Iris invited him over for dinner a few months ago. She was trying to set him up with either Ivy or me. Clearly that didn’t go well.”
His hands tightened around the wheel. “Didn’t it? He was flirting with you.”
“No. He smiled at me.”
“You blushed.”
“I always blush when a good-looking man smiles at me. You know that.”
“Guess I thought that was just for me,” he muttered, feeling weirdly hurt.
She didn’t reply.
That was beginning to sting like a motherfucker when she whispered, “Your smile does more than make me blush, Jack.”
He liked that. A lot. He would’ve liked it a lot more if Emery hadn’t sounded heartbroken when she said it.
Cooper called him on the way to the hospital and seemed relieved to hear Jack was already on route. It soothed his agitation, knowing he and Coop were in such a good place again that he wanted Jack by his side for this big moment.
When they arrived, they discovered Bailey, Vaughn, and Dahlia already there.
“Cat’s picking up Joey first,” Emery explained to Bailey. “Where are Michael and Ivy?”
“Michael’s working,” Dahlia replied.
“And Ivy is having dinner with her parents and Jeff tonight.” Bailey ran a nervous hand through her hair. “It’s a big deal and I didn’t want to interrupt that, but more than that, if I tell Ivy, she’ll tell Iris and Iris will turn up and …” Bailey shrugged, looking uncertain. “Jess doesn’t seem like she wants a lot of people crowding in.”
“Good call,” Jack assured her.
“Jack.”
He glanced over his shoulder as Coop strode down the corridor, looking more than a little concerned. Jack hurried to meet him, and to his shock, Cooper embraced him, thumping his hand on his back.
“You okay?” Jack’s voice was gruff.
Cooper’s face strained with anxiety, his eyes alarmingly bright.
Fuck.
“They took her away.”
“Away? What the hell for?” Jack could feel their friends surrounding them.
Cooper took a step to the side to address them all. He looked ready to throw up. “Baby went into distress. Something about late decelerations in his heart rate. Late returns to the baseline heart rate after a contraction. Long story short, Baby isn’t getting enough oxygen. They took Jess into surgery.”
“Emergency C-section?” Em stepped forward to grasp Coop’s hand.
He squeezed it tight and nodded.
“She’ll be okay, Jack,” Emery assured him, sounding pretty certain. “It’s the best thing for Jess and your boy.”
Something about her reassurance seemed to break Coop, and he turned away from them, one hand covering his face while his other held on to Em’s.
Emotion choked Jack, seeing his friend so worried and vulnerable. He placed a hand on Coop’s shoulder and squeezed.
“Can I get you anything, bud?”
Coop shook his head. His voice hoarse, he replied, “Just don’t go anywhere.”
Jack’s was equally so. “Never, Coop.”
“Mr. Lawson.”
Every single one of them jerked around to stare at the doctor smiling at Cooper.
Cooper shot out of the uncomfortable waiting room chair. “Are they okay?”
The doctor grinned. “Both mother and baby are in very good health. Would you like to meet your son?”
Relief and joy flooded Jack as he watched Cooper hang his head with probably the same feelings times five million. A sob burst out of Cat, who’d been sitting next to Coop for the last hour. It seemed to surprise the heck out of Dahlia and Em, but Jack had known Cat her entire life and knew she was a big softie under that cool-as-cucumber facade.
Joey moved from Em (his second-favorite person in the world) to go to his mom.
“I’ll be back,” Coop threw over his shoulder as he followed the doctor.
A hand slipped into Jack’s and he turned to look at Em, who’d moved to the seat beside him. She smiled, her eyes bright with happiness.
And