“I’m fine.”
“You’re going through withdrawal.”
“Stop acting like you know everything because you’re a fucking doctor.”
“I don’t know everything,” I say. “But I do know what withdrawal looks like.” I didn’t learn that in med school though. I’ve seen it enough times firsthand. “Come on. I’ll take you.” I extend a hand to help him up.
“No.” He stands and swats my hand away. “I’m fine,” he repeats.
But he’s not fine. The color drains from his face and he staggers back, falling to the floor.
7
Quinn
“Fine. Be mad at me. But you’re being overdramatic.” I take off my shoes and shake my head. “I wasn’t gone that long.”
My words do nothing, and Lily continues to glare at me. Luna jumps up on the counter, meowing for food, and the others come running. Neville rubs against my legs, and I reach down to scoop him up.
“I think you got fatter since I left.” He starts purring, and I carry him with me to the pantry. After I feed the cats, I change into pajamas and sit on the couch to call Archer. He doesn’t answer, so I leave him a message letting him know I got home safe and sound. He must have gotten called in for surgery, and my heart aches for him. He’s such a hard worker and needs a break, especially with everything that happened this weekend.
I drag my suitcase into my room, pull out my essentials and push the suitcase to the side, saying I’ll empty it later. Really, it’ll sit there for at least a week before I get to it. Bringing my phone into the bathroom with me so I can answer if Archer calls back, I take a shower.
My phone rings as I’m getting out, but it’s not Archer. I wrap my towel around myself and answer.
“Hello?”
“Hey, sis,” Logan says. “I haven’t talked to you in a while. How are things?”
“Good. I just got back from Indy. I spent the weekend with Archer.”
“And he’s still treating you well? We don’t need to go over and threaten to break his knuckles or anything, do we?”
I laugh. “No, you definitely don’t. Archer treats me better than anyone has.”
“That’s good to hear. I really don’t want to have to hurt him. I like the guy.”
“That makes two of us.” I put my phone on speaker and go into my room to start getting dressed for the night. “Have you talked to Dean recently?”
“Yeah, we all went over for dinner Sunday night.”
“And?”
“He’s still being an immature ass. All Mom talked about was planning for the baby shower and Dean didn’t say anything, but you could tell he was pissed.”
“He’s such a baby.”
“He’s always been one. Don’t worry about it. He’ll get over it eventually and then will realize what an ass he’s been.”
“They can move their wedding date if it bothers them that much. I can’t change my due date.”
“I think he’s more mad about Archer liking you more than him now.”
“Well, I can offer things to Archer that he can’t.”
“Gross, Quinn.”
“Hey, I am pregnant.”
“Are you still getting sick every morning?”
“Yeah, and it lasts all day. I caved and started taking medication to help with it. How are you guys? Is Owen around?”
“He’s always around. We’re good. Nothing has changed much on our front.”
“You both need to find nice girls and settle down. Have some babies too so we can have playdates.”
Logan laughs. “If I find a nice girl, I’ll gladly settle down. Owen, on the other hand…we both know how that’ll go.”
“Right,” I say with a snort of laughter. The day Owen settles down is the day hell freezes over. Though as a believer in true love, I think he’ll find someone to come into his life and change all that. “I miss you guys,” I admit with a sigh, struggling to get my pajama pants on one-handed. My wrist is aching again, and I know I won’t be able to splint it as well as Archer did for me this morning.
“Then move back here.”
“But I like my job and the city.”
“Then stop complaining.”
I sink down onto my mattress. “I’ll complain all I want. And I’m not above pulling the pregnancy card.”
“You’re stooping low, sis,” he says with a chuckle. We talk for a few more minutes before hanging up. I go into the kitchen to find something to eat, and the only thing that sounds good right now are Sour Patch Kids. So healthy, I know. I’m down to one box, I take them into my room, sitting in bed while I catch up on emails and the work I’m able to do from home.
An hour later I’m all caught up, and I exit out of my emails and open Pinterest, browsing nursery ideas. My apartment is really nice, with a great view, but isn’t family friendly. I only have one spare bedroom, and I use it as an office. I suppose I could combine the office with the master and turn that room into the nursery, but if Archer moves in, we’ll be tight on space.
Knowing I’m getting ahead of myself, I log onto the building’s website to see if there’s anything else available. They offer bigger arrangements, and I can definitely afford it. I took the smaller space when I moved in since it was just me, and this has worked perfectly.
There’s another apartment available two floors up with double the square footage of what I have now. I’ll have my same view plus another wall of windows on another side of the building. I click through the pictures, thinking it’s perfect. There’s plenty of space for the baby and me, and of course Archer if things keep going as well as they are.
And then I think about my childhood and how much I loved being in the country. I grew up riding horses and being an active member in our local 4H group. The crime rate is drastically lower in Eastwood, and the pace of life is just slower.
I put my hand over my stomach, unable to ignore the anxiety building inside me. I love my job. I really like the city. But I always assumed I’d end up back at Eastwood. It was part of the big picture in my mind, though I didn’t often let myself get that far ahead. I probably imagine raising my kids in a big, old farmhouse just because that’s how I was raised.
Lots of people live in the city. They have kids and they turn out just fine. There’s nothing wrong with staying here. So why am I starting to feel guilty about it?
Getting even further ahead of myself, I check out houses for sale in Eastwood. There’s only five, and none are houses I’d buy, though with Dad being a contractor, it makes sense to build something new anyway.
My phone rings again, and this time it is Archer. Closing my computer, I smile as I answer, missing Archer already.
“Hey, babe,” I say.
“Hey. How was your flight?”
“Fine. We got in faster than I thought. Did you get called in for surgery again?”
“No.” He lets out a sigh. “Bobby showed up again. He went through his usual bullshit apologies and then passed out.”
“Like, passed out drunk?”
“No. His blood pressure dropped wh
en he stood up and he fainted.”
“Oh my God. Is he okay?”
“For now. He’s at the hospital with my parents. I just got home.”
My chest tightens, and I hate that I’m not there with Archer. “I’m so sorry. Do you want me to come back?”
“No,” he says quickly. “You need to take care of yourself and I meant it when I said you shouldn’t waste any time on Bobby.”
I bite my lip, not sure what to say. Worrying about Bobby isn’t a waste of time, and it’s something I’m going to do because I care about Archer. He might not get along with his brother, but losing Bobby would still hurt.
“What’s going to happen?”
“He’ll probably be here for a few days, and then my parents will take him home and try to get him into rehab again. This is another reason why I didn’t bring him up, Quinn,” Archer says, and the emotion in his voice kills me. “This happens over and over, and this won’t be the last time.” The microwave beeps in the background. “Anyway, I looked up robot fights while I was waiting and I have to say it’s pretty fucking cool.”
“It is! Careful you don’t get sucked in. You’ll start watching a fight or two here and there and then it becomes your life and you’re under-the-table funding lasers to go on your team’s robot.”
Archer laughs. “Only you’ll go down that rabbit hole. But if you want to go see a competition, I’d go with you. I mean, if you’re still interested in that stuff.”
“Are you serious?” I exclaim.
“So I take that as a yes,” he chuckles. “Then it’s set. Our next date is to a robot fight. That’s something I never thought I’d say.”
“Embrace it, Archer. You’re going to love it and become one of us.”
“I can’t be a nerd. I’m a doctor, remember?”
“Oh my God! I almost forgot. Thank you for reminding me.”
“I will start reminding you every hour on the hour.”
“Only if you send photos along with it.” I get under the covers.
“For some reason, I think the naked and just wearing the lab coat looks much hotter on you. I’m getting a boner thinking about you in it now.”