Page 48 of Billionaire Hunt

Chapter 10

I opened my eyes and stuck my hand out, trying my best to reach my phone that normally sat on the end table next to the bed. It was pitch black in my room courtesy of the blackout curtains I had recently ordered. I hadn’t been sleeping well for the past couple of weeks and I had assumed the curtains would help. They hadn’t. I wasn’t sleeping well because I had too much on my mind. Way too much. And by too much, I meant Erik. I wondered briefly if he thought of me like I thought of him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t. After all, we had just been friends with benefits until I had made the mistake of agreeing to be his surrogate. I had gotten emotionally involved against my better judgment. I was miserable and heart broken. He was probably having a blast, living it up in Monte Carlo or Thailand, wherever the richest of the rich went to hang out. So far my track record for picking the right man wasn’t looking so good.

I continued to fumble around for my phone when I heard a thud as it fell down to the tiled floor. Great, it was now probably under my bed. I pictured it rolling under my bed into the abyss that I never cleaned. I groaned and leaned further over and that’s when I finally noticed the time on my old-fashioned alarm clock. 4:30 AM. Who could be calling me at 4:30 AM? I was finally able to reach the phone and picked it up. Of course whoever had been calling had already hung up. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the brightness of the screen as I looked for the identity of the caller.

It was a missed call from Lacey. I was instantly awake. If Lacey was calling at this hour, something had to be wrong. I immediately jumped out of bed and began to get dressed as I called her back. She didn’t answer. I tried again, practically stumbling as I tried to work myself into my jeans while balancing the phone between my ear and shoulder. The second phone call went straight to voicemail.

I didn’t know what to think. I told myself not to panic. It was probably nothing. I hoped it was nothing. I laid back down thinking that she had just accidentally hit her phone while sleeping when suddenly my phone rang again. This time it was Jude’s number. Now I did begin to panic.

I sat up and answered at the same time, “Jude, is everything okay?”

“Lacey’s in labor.”

“What?! It’s too soon. Is she sure?”

I heard groaning in the background. If that was Lacey, she sounded like she was in pain.

“Was that---?”

“Yeah, we’re headed to the hospital now. She insisted I call you guys first. We’re leaving like right now. She wants you there.”

“Okay.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“We’re going to St. Anne’s. Call me when you get there and I’ll send my dad down to get you.”

“Okay.”

He hung up before I could say goodbye or anything.

I raced across the room, grabbed my shoes, and made my way to the front door and down the stairs in record time. I was already in my car when Emmaline called.

“Did you hear--”

“Yeah, I’m heading there now. Are you?”

“Colin’s out of town and I don’t want to leave Dora by herself,” Emmaline said.

“You don’t want to bring her to the hospital?”

“Nope. Labor can be...umm...intense. And I don’t want to leave her in the waiting room alone.”

“I’ll be in the waiting room too.”

There was a long pause and then she said, “Actually, Lacey wants us in the room with her. Her doula had a family emergency so it’s just her and Jude. She wants some extra support. Women preferably, or I’m sure Oliver would try to pitch in.”

I bit my lip. I didn’t want to be there. Birth sounded too intense for my sensibilities too. But I wasn’t going to disappoint a friend.

“You can drop Dora off with Grandma. I don’t think she’s working today.”

“That’s a great idea. I’ll call Grandma, I’m sure she’ll watch Dora for me and then I’ll head to the hospital.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I said happily. I wasn’t too sure how much help I would be to Lacey when I was scared as well.

We said our goodbyes and I quickly made my way to the hospital. It took some time to find the visitor’s parking area because the hospital was being remodeled. Due to all the construction, part of the hospital looked like it was in the middle of a war zone. There was exposed rebar and concrete everywhere; luckily that part wasn’t exposed to the general public. Parking took at least another ten minutes and I hoped that Lacey hadn’t had her baby yet. I briefly wondered how long it took to have a baby and I realized then that for someone who had volunteered to be a surrogate, I knew nothing about anything baby-related.

As soon as I walked into the hospital, Oliver was there to greet me. He looked anxious and worried, which made me worried. Oliver never looked worried.

“What’s going on? What’s happening? Is Lacey okay?”