The infant held the tip of Burnett’s pinkie in her fist—his smallest finger larger than his daughter’s whole hand. Her thick dark hair looked like Burnett’s, but her fine feminine features were surely from her mother.
“She’s beautiful.” Kylie looked at Holiday. “Can I offer you a healing touch?”
“I think I’m fine,” Holiday said.
“Just to make sure, let her do it,” Burnett said.
“She shouldn’t waste her energy if I’m fine,” Holiday insisted.
“You weren’t the one who had to see you lying there lifeless less than an hour ago,” Burnett growled at his wife before looking back at Kylie. “Do it. I’ll hold her down if I have to.”
“Do the baby, too,” Della said, looking at the fragile infant, remembering her not breathing.
All of a sudden, Della felt her eyes grow moist. Tears of relief. But damn, it had been a tough day. But a day of miracles.
Billy wasn’t going to jail, and Holiday and the baby had survived.
Take me instead. Della recalled her prayer. It even appeared God didn’t need an extra soul after all.
A few minutes later, Dr. Whitman chased all of them out except for Burnett. And since the doctor wanted to keep Holiday and the baby there for a few days, Della hoped the doctor didn’t mind company, because she would bet her canines that Burnett wouldn’t leave his wife’s side.
As they turned to leave, Burnett asked Della to ride back with Kylie and leave Holiday’s car, since it had the baby carrier in the trunk. She agreed and stepped out of Holiday’s room. Steve was waiting there. Della met his eyes and remembered how good it felt when he’d held her.
“I’ll give Della a ride back,” he said, as if he’d heard Burnett’s plans.
Kylie looked at Della as if waiting for her to argue. No argument left her mouth. She and Steve needed to talk … if only she knew what to say. Or what not to say. Hey, I kissed Chase. Or, Hey, I think I forgive you.
And just like that, she remembered what she learned from Kevin right before the whole baby thing happened. Chase had known Chan. She considered going back and telling Burnett, but that seemed selfish. He deserved to celebrate his daughter’s birth without worrying about anything.
Later, Della thought. She’d tell him later.
“You riding with me?” Kylie asked.
Realizing she’d been lost in thought, she looked back at the shape-shifter who’d held her so tenderly when she needed him. “No, uh, Steve will take me,” she answered Kylie.
Relief filled Steve’s eyes.
Surprise filled Kylie’s baby’s blues. “I’ll see you back at the cabin. With Diet Cokes ready.”
Della smiled and watched her leave.
Steve drove her back to Shadow Falls in a new Honda Civic. “Nice car,” she said ten minutes into the silent drive, wondering if it was Jessie’s. Were they such good friends now that she just loaned him her new car?
“Thanks, my parents bought it for my birthday.”
“Birthday?” she asked.
He nodded.
Della swallowed a lump of regret. “That’s why they were down to take you to dinner?”
“Yeah.”
She exhaled. “I didn’t know it was … your birthday.”
“I know,” he said.
“I wish you would have told me.” She stared out the window, not wanting to see anything like disappointment in his eyes.
“You had already planned to go to Kylie’s and the funeral home. It’s okay.”
It didn’t feel okay. She felt terrible. He’d invited her to go out with him and his parents on his birthday and she’d totally flipped like he’d asked her to get engaged or something. She hadn’t even said happy birthday. Not that she’d known when his birthday was, but she still felt like the world’s largest disappointment.
Damn she was a terrible girlfriend. Or a terrible “almost” girlfriend.
She finally glanced at him. “Do you know when my birthday is?”
“November eighteenth,” he said.
“How did you know?” she asked.
“I peeked at your license one time.”
Great. Now she only felt worse.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“For what?”
“For not knowing when your birthday was. For being a bitch.” For kissing Chase.
“You’re not a bitch. You’re scared,” he said. “Too many people have disappointed you. And then I became one of them. I’m the one who should be apologizing for letting … Jessie kiss me. I was feeling sorry for myself, I guess, and maybe I was a little upset. And she really was the one who kissed me, but I wasn’t blameless. I knew she had a thing for me, and I should have told her earlier that it wouldn’t happen, but…”
Della looked at him. “But it felt good her paying attention to you when I wasn’t. And you were disappointed in me.” Was that why she’d kissed Chase, too? Maybe.
He pulled up and parked in front of Shadow Falls and looked at her. “Yeah, but that doesn’t make it right. And I feel terrible.”
“You shouldn’t.” But didn’t she feel terrible as well?
“I made a mistake, Della. I’m big enough to admit it.”
She owed him the same, didn’t she? She studied her boots on the floorboard. “I kissed Chase,” she said. There. It was out there, now Steve could be mad at her instead of himself.
She wasn’t sure what she expected him to say, but when he said nothing, it scared her. She looked up. “See, you don’t have to feel so bad.”
He didn’t look relieved. He looked angry. Wasn’t that her plan? To take some of the blame off him? But maybe it hadn’t been such a good plan after all.
“You did it to get back at me?” he asked, his tone tight.
“No, I … I don’t think so. Maybe a little. It was complicated, but I’d be lying if I said a part of me didn’t want to get back at you. I was hurt, a lot.” She paused and tried to figure out how to explain; then she decided to just tell him the truth. “Miranda put it in my head that if I kissed someone I would be able to forgive you, because that’s what Perry did after she kissed someone a while back.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“I know. I told her that, too.”
“But you still did it,” he said, his tone filled with hurt.