“Yes, I’d like that. Thank you.”
“Right. Well, a nurse will be through soon to take you to see Casey.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Dad says.
The doctor disappears back through the door he came in through.
Dad turns to me.
I can see it, the fear, in his eyes.
My heart starts to break. I force myself to keep strong for Dad’s sake. He needs me now more than ever.
“Mr. Taylor?” I turn to see a dark-haired lady walking toward us. “Sorry to bother you right now, but we need you to fill out some paperwork for us.”
Dad lets out a tired-sounding breath, running his hand through his hair.
“Is it anything I can do?” I volunteer.
“No, it’s fine, Evie,” Dad says. “I can do it. Why don’t you and Adam grab us some drinks to have while we wait to see Casey?”
“Okay,” I say. “Coffee?”
“Perfect. You need some money?”
“No, I got this.” I pat my purse.
Adam and I walk down the hall to where we saw the coffee machine.
“I’m so sorry, babe,” Adam says as we walk. He catches my hand, holding it.
“Yeah, me, too. It’s not going to be much of a Christmas for you, I’m afraid. We’ll be spending it in the hospital with Casey. Maybe you should go see Max—”
He stops me in the middle of the empty hall and turns me to him. “No way am I leaving you. I can’t believe you’d suggest it.”
“I just want you to have a nice Christmas,” I say, thinking back to what he told me in the supermarket.
“I will have a nice Christmas because I’ll be with you. I don’t care where I am, Evie, so long as I’m with you.”
Tears prick my eyes again. I’m so lucky to love him and have him love me back.
I slide my arms around his back, hugging him, and I press my cheek to his chest. His strong arms come around me. I can hear his heart beating strong and solid through his shirt.
“I love you,” I murmur.
“I love you, too.” His fingers brush through my hair.
We stand there for a moment, just holding each other, until I reluctantly let go, and we start walking to the coffee machine again.
I reach for my purse, but Adam stops me. “I’ll get these. What do you want?”
“Coffee, please.”
Adam gets three coffees, and I carry mine and Dad’s while Adam carries his own as we head back to the waiting room. We’re just passing by a room when I hear my dad’s voice inside, bringing me to a stop.
“I really am sorry that I don’t have my credit card with me. It’s in my wallet at home, and I left in a rush with Casey.”
“Like I told you before, Mr. Taylor, it’s not a problem.” It sounds like the lady from before. “Just make the payment whenever you can. You can come in and make it, or just call, and we can do it over the phone. And here’s the leaflet that I was telling you about. It describes the available payment plans. It might be worth looking into them with the level of care that Casey might need.”
“Thank you.” My dad’s voice comes closer toward us, so I duck behind a partition wall with Adam following me.
Payment plan. I didn’t even think about the cost for Casey’s treatment.
We’re barely managing to get by as it is. This is going to break us.
I close my eyes, releasing a sigh.
“Your dad doesn’t have insurance, does he?”
I shake my head. Then, I open my eyes. “No. He had it when he was working, but after that, he didn’t get any. Casey’s first round of treatments wiped us out, and we couldn’t afford to get insurance after that, as the premium was higher because she was already diagnosed with the illness. I don’t know how we’re going to manage the payments for her treatment now.”
“Let me help.”
My eyes flash to his. “No.”
He puts his coffee down on the floor. Then, he takes both the cups from me, putting them next to his.
He takes my face in his hands. One hand is warmer than the other from the coffee he was holding.
“You don’t need to struggle or worry about this. I have the money to pay for whatever treatment Casey needs. Then, you can just focus on being there for her.”
“It’s not your money. It’s your parents’ money.” That came out sounding way harsher than I’d intended.
He drops his hands from my face and takes a step back.
“I’m sorry.” I blow out a breath. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”
“You’re right. It is their money. And they do nothing good with it. I never have. Let me do something good. Let me help Casey and you and your dad.”
“We’re not a charity case, Adam.”
“I didn’t mean it that way, and you know it.”
“I know. God, I’m sorry.” I press a hand to my head. Everything I’m saying to him right now keeps coming out wrong and bitchy.
I reach for his hand, and he lets me take it.
“I appreciate your offer to help. I love you for it, but I can’t accept it—not just me, but my dad, too,” I say quickly when he parts his lips to speak. “He’s a proud man. It’s hard enough for him that I work to help us make ends meet.”
“Accepting help isn’t a weakness, Evie.”
“I know, but…just let me handle this.”
Letting go of my hand, he stares down at the floor, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. Then, he looks back up, a determination on his face, and steps into my space, pressing his body to mine, holding my face with his hands. My hands go to his waist.
“Okay, Evie. We’ll do this your way…for now. But if things get too hard, then I’m helping, no matter what you or your dad say, you hear me?”
I curl my fingers into his shirt. “Okay,” I say.
But as his lips touch softly to mine, I know I just lied to him for the first time because there is no way I’ll take his money.
This is my family, and it’s my problem to solve.
“Adam?” Mark’s voice comes through on the intercom. “A woman in reception is claiming to be…well, she says she’s your wife, and she’s demanding to see you. As far as I know, you aren’t married, but I wanted to call you first before I have security escort her from the building.”
“Is she blonde, tiny, and goes by the name Evie?”
“One minute. I’ll check with Serena.”
He’s back a few seconds later. “Yes to all three.”
I can’t help the smile that crawls onto my lips. Evie telling people that she’s my wife, demanding to see me, can only mean one thing. She’s pissed. She always was feisty when she got going. Guess that hasn’t changed.
“Let her up. And, Mark, I don’t want this being public knowledge. Tell Serena that if I hear one word about this from anyone else or see anything in the press, she’s fired, without references, and I will personally make sure she never works in this town again.”
“I’ll relay the message.”
I release the button on the intercom and lean back in my chair.
I’m not ashamed that Evie is my wife. God, the day we got married, I wanted to shout it from the rooftop.
But Serena is a fucking gossip. She could rival Perez Hilton. And she’s made it more than clear that she wants me to fuck her. I never have for two reasons. One, she’s blonde. And two¸ I don’t fuck my staff. Too messy.
The reason I want it kept quiet is because I don’t want Ava finding out. Not for me though. I couldn’t give a shit. I’m protecting Evie. If Ava finds out that Evie and I are still married and on our way to divorcing, she’ll go after Evie.
On principle, Ava won’t like that I’m giving Evie my money, but she’ll let that go. What she won’t let go of is the studio. And I know the way her mind works. She’ll see Evie as a threat to that. According to the State of California, Evie is legally entitled to fifty percent of my assets because we got married without a prenup, which would put the studio in some jeopardy if Evie decided to go after half of everything I owned.