Right Where We Belong (Silver Springs #4)(67)

“What is it?” A trickle of concern put her on edge. “Is everything okay?”

“Heather’s in the hospital.”

Pushing away from the table, Savanna came to her feet. “What happened?”

“She says Scott beat her up.”

“The boyfriend she just broke up with.”

“Yes. She told me he was acting threatening, but I never believed he’d go this far. I feel bad for ignoring her tonight. She’s been trying to reach me since I got home from work.” He typed a quick response before getting to his feet and shoving the phone back into his pocket. “I’ve got to go.”

“To the hospital?”

“Yeah.”

“But...how will you get there?”

He put a palm to his forehead, signifying he’d forgotten that Dorothy had hit his truck. “Right.”

“You can take my car.”

“Thanks. That’ll be quicker and easier than trying to make mine drivable.”

She got her keys out of her purse and handed them to him.

“If Dorothy comes back, make sure you call me—or the police, if you think they can get here sooner. I don’t want anything else to happen tonight.”

“Don’t worry about us.” She forced a reassuring smile, but her heart sank as she watched him go. She’d known him only a week; she shouldn’t feel quite as terrible as she did. But he was different, special. Whoever got him would be lucky. And, given the baby, there was no way she could ever hope to compete with Heather.





19

Heather wasn’t nearly as bad off as she’d made it sound in the voice mails she’d left him. Gavin had had time to listen to those while driving to the hospital and felt worse with each one. He should’ve picked up earlier. “Wouldn’t you know, the one time she wasn’t just being obsessive, I decided to ignore her.” That he’d been making love to Savanna while Heather was coping with such pain made everything even worse.

He was afraid Heather would have to stay in the hospital overnight, but they were just getting ready to release her when he arrived. Gavin passed the doctor as the doctor stepped out of the curtained cubical, so he heard the tail end of the conversation.

Heather had a fat lip. She’d told Gavin that in her text. But there didn’t seem to be much other damage. Overall, she’d gotten lucky. The neighbor who lived in the other half of Scott’s duplex had been home. He’d heard the fight break out, called the cops, and, since an officer had been right around the corner, help had arrived quickly.

“I’m sorry for what you’ve been through,” Gavin said.

Her eyes filled with tears, so he walked over to pull her into his arms. “Are you going to be okay?” he asked, resting his chin on her head as she clung to him.

“Doesn’t feel like it right now,” she replied, her voice muffled by his shirt.

“Haven’t they given you any painkillers?”

“They’ve given me some. The whole thing has just been such an upsetting ordeal.”

“I bet.” He stepped back as soon as he felt it would seem too obvious that he hadn’t wanted to hold her in the first place. “But they’re releasing you now? Is that what I heard? You can go home?”

She picked up an ice pack and held it to her face. “Yeah.”

Thank God he’d finally looked at his phone. Her last text had said that she needed a ride. Her parents lived in the area, but he knew she’d be reluctant to call them with this problem. They were already upset about the unplanned pregnancy. “What happened with Scott? Why would you ever give him the opportunity to do something like this by going to his house?”

“I had to get my things!” she said, instantly defensive. “And you said you had to work late tonight, so it wasn’t as if I could ask you to go with me.”

He heard the blame in those words. She could’ve waited until he was available or asked a friend to go over with her, but he didn’t point that out. Why get into an argument? She’d been through enough. “And? He wouldn’t let you?”

“He kept trying to talk to me, kept telling me that you don’t love me, so I’d get back with him. When I refused, he...he got super angry.”

“Angry is one thing. But violent? How did it go that far? He’s never hit you before, has he?”

“No, but...” Although she sighed to indicate she really didn’t care to go into the details, he lifted his eyebrows to communicate the fact that he expected an answer. This was serious. He was going to meet up with Scott and make sure nothing like this ever happened again.

“When he started yelling, I decided to leave, even without my stuff. But he wouldn’t let me go, and...and everything sort of escalated from there.”

The thought of any man striking a woman made Gavin clench his jaw. But a pregnant woman? That was even worse. “Did he hit you with his fist?”

“I don’t even remember.”

“Bastard!”

Obviously mollified by his interest and concern, she sniffed. “He is a bastard. I can’t believe I was ever with him.”

Gavin couldn’t wait to hold Scott responsible. “How many times did he hit you?”

“I don’t remember that, either. I just remember the police coming and helping me get up off the floor.”