“You’ll love the mahi mahi, then.” Luke smiles.
God, he’s even better-looking when he smiles.
I nod. “I’m not really into seafood. The chicken piccata looks good, though.”
“You have my personal guarantee that you’ll love it,” he says, still smiling, and still making my heart beat faster than I want it to. “Mrs. Wolfe?”
“I’m not a big red meat eater, either,” Zee says. “I’ll try the mahi mahi special.”
“Good enough. Anything else I can get you? A glass of wine?”
“Not for me, obviously.” Zee pats her belly again.
“Me neither,” I say almost automatically.
I haven’t had a drink in… Well, not since I was rescued. I drank a lot on the island. Usually because whoever had me for the evening wanted me to.
I was actually one of the luckier ones. I was only hunted about half the time. Sometimes I was just booked for the night. I suppose it was better than running for my life. Garnet—I mean Aspen; I have to remember our real names—was hunted regularly. She’s tall and muscular—a professional volleyball player at one time—and the men loved taking her down.
Gah! I don’t want to think about this.
“No, thank you,” I say.
Luke raises his eyebrows. “No thank you what?”
“I don’t want any wine.”
“Right. You already said that.”
“Did I?”
Zee smiles at me and nods. “It’s okay. Everything will be okay.”
“I’ll get the fish started for you.” Luke whisks away from our table and stops at another.
I can’t stop looking at him.
“He seems like a nice man,” Zee says.
I force my gaze back where it belongs. On my dinner companion. My savior. We all owe the Wolfe siblings so much.
If not for them, the others and I would still be captive on that island.
“I’m sure he is,” I say noncommittally.
“It’s okay,” she says. “It’s okay to feel something.”
“I don’t feel anything. Except I find him attractive.”
“I understand.”
She lets it drop, thank goodness.
I don’t want to think about this anymore.
Because if I do, I’ll have to acknowledge that she’s right.
I do feel something. It’s not anything I’m familiar with, but it’s a positive emotion.
And that scares the hell out of me.
4
Luke
I head to the kitchen to pick up an order—
“Oh!”
The voice comes from Katelyn’s table.
I turn around and stride back quickly.
But it’s not Katelyn.
It’s Mrs. Wolfe.
Katelyn is next to her.
“What happened?” I ask. “Is she all right?”
“I… I think my water broke,” Zee says.
“Oh…” For someone who’s seen nearly everything, I freeze. I have no idea what to do.
Katelyn rises. “I have to call her husband.”
“I can do it.” Zee grabs her phone off the table. “My due date isn’t for two weeks yet.”
“I don’t think little Honor cares about your due date,” Katelyn says. “What can I do?”
“I’m literally sitting in a puddle,” Zee says. “I’m not sure there’s anything anyone can do.”
Finally, my mind comes back to life and I whip my phone out of my pocket. “I’m calling 911.”
“Please, don’t go to all that trouble. Reid will get here and he’ll take me to the hospital. Everything’s all set.”
“Are you sure?”
Zee taps into her phone. “Yes, I’m sure. Oh!”
Katelyn gasps. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, fine. Just a little gas or something.”
“It’s probably a contraction,” Katelyn says.
“No, it can’t be. Just because my water broke doesn’t mean I’m going to have contractions right away. We learned about all of this in Lamaze class.”
I ignore Zee’s advice and call 911 just as my manager, Lois, reaches the table. “Mrs. Wolfe! Are you all right?”
“She’s in labor,” Katelyn says.
“I’ll get an ambulance right away.”
“I’m on it,” I tell Lois with my phone to my ear.
“Thank you for calling 911,” the dispatcher says into my ear, “what is your emergency?”
“We need an ambulance at The Glass House in Manhattan. One of our diners is in labor. Her water just broke. It’s Zee Wolfe. Reid Wolfe’s wife.”
“I’ll get it dispatched. Thank you.”
“They’re sending an ambulance,” I tell Lois.
“Good. Thanks, Luke. Mrs. Wolfe, let me help you up. You can lie down in our staff lounge while you wait for the ambulance.”
“Goodness, I’m sorry about the chair,” Zee says.
“Don’t worry about that. Please. May I help you up?”
“No, no. I’m truly fine.” Zee stands, and of course the back of her navy blue skirt is wet.
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a woman’s water break, although the last time was a long time ago.
A time better left forgotten, especially now.
I take her arm. “Let me help you.”
“That’s kind of you. Thank you, Luke.”
I lead her toward the restrooms to a door designated “staff only.” The Glass House is a top notch restaurant, and it doesn’t skip on the lounge for the staff. A long comfortable couch sits along the back wall.
Katelyn walks toward it, grabs two pillows from a loveseat, and places them on one side of the couch. “These will help you get comfortable.”
“You guys are making way too much of a fuss,” Zee says. “I’m fine, and Reid’s on his way.”
“He’ll hit traffic,” I say. “The ambulance will get here first.”
Zee chuckles. “You don’t know Reid Wolfe.”
She’s right. I don’t. But I know a lot of people like Reid Wolfe. They may think they control everything, but no one controls Manhattan traffic.
“Can I get you anything?” Lois asks. “Water?”
“No, thank you,” Zee says. “Unless you have a change of clothes for me.”
“We may have something.”
“Goodness, I was kidding. I hate that I’m ruining everything I sit on.”
“It’s just amniotic fluid,” Katelyn says.
Which is mostly urine. I don’t enlighten them with this fact, though. Not the time. They’d just wonder how I know.
“I need to get back to my tables,” I say. “Let me know if you need anything, Lois.”
Lois nods with a weak smile. “I will. Thank you, Luke. You’ve been a big help.
I’m not sure I’ve done much, but I walk backward, toward the door, unable to take my eyes off Katelyn. I don’t want to leave her, and I sure as hell don’t want to have this feeling.