Page 9 of Shattered Secrets

Rising from the plastic chair, Scarlet leaned down and kissed the top of Daisy’s head. “All right, baby. I can’t wait to see what color you picked out.” She caught Doc’s eye and pushed back a wave of emotion. “Thanks, Doc.”

“Of course, dear.” He inclined his head toward the door again. “Now get out of here. We’ll call you in about twenty for the big reveal.”

Heading down the hallway, Scarlet let out an unsteady breath before she turned the corner to the waiting room.

“Hey, Scar. How are you holding up?”

Her head jerked up at the familiar voice. As her gaze locked on her friend, the emotion she’d been holding back surged forward, and a tear spilled free.

“Oh, sweetie,” Poppy said, rising to envelop her in a hug.

Scarlet took a moment and leaned on her friend. From the day she had arrived on Hudson Island just over a year and a half ago with a toddler on her hip, Poppy had been like a big sister. The woman was, hands down, the closest friend she’d ever had.

Scarlet didn’t trust many people—hell, she could count on one hand the number of people she trusted—but Poppy was one of them. She knew she never had to worry about Poppy stabbing her in the back or having some sort of ulterior motive, unlike her “friends” from before. Poppy was nothing but kindness, and while Scarlet was pretty sure she didn’t deserve the other woman’s friendship, she was hanging on to it with a death grip.

“Come sit,” Poppy said, steering her to the waiting room sofa. “Cade filled me in on what happened. How’s Daisy doing?”

Wiping away a couple of stray tears, Scarlet relayed the information Doc had given her. “When I left the room, she was in good spirits, so I don’t know why I’m still so shaky.” She held up her trembling hands and frowned.

“Give yourself a break, Scar. This is the first time Daisy’s ever been hurt. You’re allowed to be scared, Mama.”

Scarlet never wanted to go through this ever again. Her heart couldn’t take it. Yes, she knew it wasn’t realistic to keep her daughter wrapped in a protective bubble for the rest of her life, but holy moly did she want to.

Glancing around the empty waiting room, she let out another breath. Her forehead scrunched as she sank deeper into the couch. “Where are Cade and Matt?”

“Oh!” Poppy gave her a one-armed hug. “That’s from Cade. He says he’s sorry, but he had to take off. And...” She dug in her purse and pulled out a familiar set of keys. “These are for you. Matt also apologized, but he said he needed to get going, too. However, he did ask that I text him updates on how you and Daisy are doing.”

Scarlet’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Your face right now?” Poppy laughed. “You know, I can give you Matt’s number so you can text the guy directly. I mean, after all this time, he’s finally started speaking to you in full sentences. Who knew it would take Daisy breaking her arm for that to happen?”

Scarlet chuckled, and her face heated. Unfortunately, Poppy was aware of the teeny-tiny-sadly-one-sided crush she had on the man. “Yeah, that was an unexpected twist.”

“Come on, girlfriend.” Poppy leaned back so they were shoulder to shoulder. “What’s going on there?”

“Nothing.” And wasn’t that the sad truth?

Poppy elbowed her in the side. “Riiight.”

“I’m serious. He and Cade were at the diner this morning, and Matt was his usual mumble-one-word-answers-only self. But then Martha told me about Daisy, and I bolted out of there. One second I’m running to my car, and the next second Matt’s in the driver’s seat, Cade’s in the back, and they’re taking me to Daisy.”

In hindsight, she was thankful Matt had driven her. She had zero recollection of the time between getting into her car and seeing Daisy in Rebecca’s kitchen. It was all one giant, panic-induced blur.

“I don’t know, Pop. I don’t know why, but Matt was just there. Cade, too,” she rushed on. “Cade was there for me, too.”

Poppy shook her head. “Scar, my man will be the first one to admit that he was just along for the ride. That whole thing? That was all Matt.”

It was Scarlet’s turn to shake her head. “You’re reading too much into it. Matt was just being nice.” And she appreciated it. Truly. But she knew his assistance didn’t mean anything. Just like her little crush on him.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Poppy asked after a few moments of silence.

“I knew Matt was nice. I mean, he’s friends with Cade, so he couldn’t be a giant asshat, right?”

Poppy smiled. “True. But . . .”

She shrugged. “But nothing. It’s just that he didn’t have to go out of his way for me today. But he did, and it was really kind of him.” It had been a long time since a man had been kind to her. At least, one who didn’t want something in return. But that was most likely a reflection of her. Of the type of men she’d surrounded herself with.

She fought a cringe. Holy crap, all this stress was making her reflective. Andnotin a good way.