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Running into the hospital, he saw Linc waiting for him. “Come on back with me.”
“What happened? Why did she collapse?” He’d parked his truck in the first place he found, not caring if he got ticketed.
All he’d cared about was getting to his girl.
Linc sighed. “I don’t know why she fainted. All I know is that Opal woke up to Kye and discovered that Lilac was gone. She woke me and I went searching for Lilac. I found her unconscious several blocks from the house, and I drove her straight here.”
Fuck. Fuck!
“Listen, I’ve got to get back to Ryleigh, Opal, and the baby,” Linc said. “Can you stay here? I’ve told the nurse you were coming and to update you on her condition.”
Tanner raised his eyebrows. “They’ll update me.”
Linc grunted. “I might have lied a bit and told them that she belonged to you.”
Okay. He was glad that Linc had the foresight to do that.
“I know Lilac won’t be pleased, she doesn’t seem to put much into this ‘guardian thing’. Jake was giving her time to come around. But I called him, and we both agreed that the three of them are out of time. I’m going back to talk to Opal and Ryleigh, but I’m going to act as guardian for them both. I’ll be moving all of them into my house. If you don’t want to be Lilac’s guardian, or she’d prefer me or Jake, let me know. She can move in with me too.”
Tanner just stared at him in shock. He wasn’t even mad at the assumption that she might not want him as her guardian. Because he understood it.
That didn’t mean that she was choosing anyone else.
Nope. It was becoming abundantly clear that Lilac was so busy looking after everyone else that she was failing to take care of herself.
That would stop.
Someone needed to put her safety and health first.
That person was going to be him.
And he’d be telling her that.
Just, please, let her be all right.
“That won’t be necessary. Where would she be going so early in the morning?” he asked.
Linc shook his head grimly. “I don’t know. Jake isn’t happy about any of this, so he’ll want you to tell him once you find out. Keep me updated too.”
Tanner nodded and started pacing after Linc left. He couldn’t settle enough to sit.
His phone buzzed.
Alec.
“Hey,” he said into the phone. “Sorry I had to bail today.”
“You know I don’t care about that,” Alec replied gruffly. “Are you all right?”
Their father had never really been in their lives. He’d been around but not involved, happy to leave them with a parade of nannies. But Tanner had never really felt his loss that badly.
Because he’d always had Alec. Even when he was young, Alec had watched out for him, taken care of him. So yeah, he might have had a useless father, but he’d had the best big brother he could ask for.
“Yeah, I’m all right.”
“Tanner.” That was all he said.
