Page 100 of For Your Consideration

“Sweetheart. I—”

“I’m sorry I called. I’ll be fine. Have a good meeting. I’ll see you when you get home.”

I opened my mouth to tell her to stop but she’d already hung up on me.

“Fuck,” I muttered as I ran a hand down my face. I stared at my phone for two seconds before I looked up at Noah. “I have to go be with my girls. Can you do dinner without me?”

“Fuck that, mate. I already texted the pilot—they’re fueling the plane now. I’m coming home with you.” He leaned forward to give the driver new directions. I was grateful that he’d been eavesdropping on my call.

While he got us to where we needed to be, I pulled up Knight’s number and dialed.

“Asher,” he answered quickly.

“We’re flying home.” I didn’t bother with a greeting; my phone etiquette sucked on a good day anyway.

“What happened?”

I gave him a quick rundown of what was going on.

“I know it’s inconvenient to ditch dinner,” I finished.

“You know I don’t give a shit. I’ve abandoned them before, you know it won’t jeopardize the sale and even if it did, it doesn’t matter. She does.” This was one of the main reasons that Knight and I were best friends. He knew she was important to me, and that meant she was important to him too. They all had folded her into our family, just like we’d done for Quinn. “What do you need from me?”

“She’s going to North Hill. She has Soph with her.”

“Quinn and I will get in the car now and stay with her until you get there. Maybe once you’re there we can take Sophie to our place.”

“Thanks, Knight.” The relief from knowing he would be there would make the next four hours while I was in the air slightly less hellish.

We hung up and I tried Sutton again but she didn’t answer. Noah was taking care of business, calling the owners of the hotel to let them know of the change in plans and then the hotel to get our bags packed so they could ship them home to us.

Once we were loaded on the plane and taxiing down the runway, I tried Sutton again but she didn’t answer.

Me

I’m on my way back. Knight and Quinn will be at the hospital soon, answer when Quinn calls so she can find you. You were right to call me.

She isn’t your only family Sutton.

I’ll see you soon.

The only relief I had over the next few hours was when Knight texted to let me know he was with Sutton and Sophie and that they were okay, since she never replied to my texts. Knight said she was pacing and stressed and Sophie was feeling it but he was with her and that was the most I could do for her from the air. Iris was still in with the doctors.

Will was waiting at the airstrip with his car when we landed and he took off toward the hospital the second we were in.

As we pulled up, the strange dichotomy of the hospital hit me. Someone was getting out of their car with balloons and flowers, ready to welcome a new baby to the world, and on the other side a couple was coming out of the emergency room doors. The man held the woman as she broke down like she had just lost someone.

When Sutton had given birth, no one was there. No one brought her flowers or balloons or supported her through those tough days of Sophie being in the hospital. She did it alone. But if she wanted another, and by some miracle she chose me, I would be there for every second, supporting her and making sure she never felt that alone again.

Oli and Jaxson had joined Knight already and they were all waiting for us when we came charging through the doors. I may not have had a family in my early years but I’d built one and we stuck together through anything. We always showed up for our own.

And whether Sutton knew it or not yet, she was ours.

I got a few slaps on the back and then they pushed me to the waiting area where my girls were. Sophie was sitting on Quinn’s lap, whimpering and making grumpy noises, clearly tired and overwhelmed. Seeing her upset put me on edge, but I pushed those feelings down so I could take care of them both.

Sutton was sitting to her right, her leg bouncing, her hair down covering her face. She was looking at the floor, her shoulders slumped. I didn’t need to see her face to know she was tired, stressed, and closing off.

The pain in my chest eased slightly at the sight of them.