Undone by Her Tender Touch (Pregnancy & Passion #4)(47)

She reeked of smoke. She looked like hell. But she didn’t care. All that mattered was that her baby was okay.

Her door opened and to her surprise Devon poked his head in. To her further surprise, Ashley came in behind him and all but ran to Pippa’s bedside.

“Pippa! Oh, my God,” Ashley choked out.

Ashley threw her arms around Pippa, who lay there, stunned and unable to find her voice.

“What on earth?” she finally managed to sputter. “Ashley, what are you doing here? You just had a baby! You should be in bed.”

Devon came around to the other side of Pippa’s bed and leaned down to kiss her forehead. “We were worried, Pippa. When we heard, Ashley had to come right down. I couldn’t very well tell her no.”

Pippa frowned. “You should have. Where’s Katelynn? Ash, are you okay?”

Ashley hugged Pippa fiercely and then pulled away, her eyes flashing. “I’m fine! The question is how are you? I had a baby, Pip. Normal delivery. I’ve been up walking around all day. And Katelynn is in the nursery for now. Tell me what on earth happened!”

Ashley slid onto the edge of the bed beside Pippa and grasped her hand, squeezing tightly. It was the last straw. Tears streaked down Pippa’s cheeks and she hiccuped back a sob.

Devon gently stroked Pippa’s hair. Ashley gathered Pippa’s hands in hers and leaned forward, concern etched on her brow.

“Oh, Ashley,” Pippa whispered. “It’s been such an awful night.”

“Wait, did you go see Cam?” Her eyes widened as she seemed to realize something. “Oh, no. What happened?”

“It’s over,” Pippa said, her voice cracking under the emotional strain and the rawness from the smoke. “I went to his house, told him I loved him and now it’s over.”

Ashley held on to her tightly, rubbing her hand up and down Pippa’s back.

“I’m going to step outside,” Devon murmured. “Give you girls some time alone. If you need anything, I’ll be right outside the door.”

He gave her one last affectionate touch on the arm and then left.

Ashley pulled away and gently pushed Pippa’s bedraggled hair from her face. “Tell me everything, starting with what the doctor said. You scared me to death. I want to know you’re okay first and then I want to know everything that happened at Cam’s.”

“The doctor says I’m fine. The baby is fine. I went to sleep on the couch and when I woke up, the whole apartment was on fire. But I got out before I inhaled too much smoke. I was lucky. I’m a bit scraped up from crawling, but I’ll be fine. The doctor even says that I can go home by tomorrow afternoon.…”

She trailed off, realizing that she no longer had a home.

Fresh tears surged, spilling down her cheeks.

“It’ll be okay, Pip,” Ashley soothed. “I promise you. I don’t want you to worry. Mama will be here later in the morning. You know she loves you just like a daughter. She’s already making plans to bring you home with her and take care of you.”

Pippa smiled shakily. “You have no idea how much I need her right now.” She broke off and sighed. “I should be happy. I made a decision. I told Cam off. Rightfully so. But I’m so miserable. I love that jerk and I’m mad that I can’t make it stop.”

“Tell me,” Ashley said quietly.

Pippa looked down at her hands, humiliation and devastation pummeling her all over again. “He told me he didn’t want to love me or our baby. Not that he couldn’t or that he didn’t believe he’d ever find another soul mate. Just that he didn’t want to love us. He was so…cold.”

Ashley scowled. “I hate him. I don’t care if he’s Dev’s best friend. I swear the man fell out of the stupid tree and hit every damn branch on the way down.”

Pippa tried to laugh but she dissolved into a coughing fit instead.

“Easy,” Ashley murmured. “Catch your breath. You’ve been through a lot tonight.”

“Oh, God. It all feels so unreal.”

Ashley squeezed her hands again. “I don’t want you to stress about this. I know that sounds absurd. You’ve had the rug pulled out from underneath you and right now you likely think your entire world is falling apart. But it’s going to be okay. You have me. You have Mama. You have Sylvia, Carly and Tabitha to help. Devon will do whatever he can, you know that. Please don’t make yourself sick worrying. Right now you just need to focus on you and the baby and making sure you’re both healthy.”

Pippa gave her a watery smile. “Thank you. I love you, Ash. I don’t know what I’d ever do without you.”

“I want you to get some rest now, okay? It’s almost time for Katelynn’s next feeding so I’m going to go back up, but I’ll have Dev check in on you. Mama will bring you something to wear home. I want to know the minute you’re released. I’m supposed to go home today, too, so maybe we can blow this joint together.”

Pippa squeezed Ashley’s hand. “Thanks, Ash. You’re the best. Kiss that baby for me.”

Ashley fussed with the pillow and tucked the sheet more firmly around Pippa before she finally backed away from the bed and started for the door.

As soon as Ashley disappeared from view, Pippa closed her eyes and melted into the bed. Exhaustion beat at her. She’d reached her absolute limit. She was physically and emotionally spent. There was nothing left except vast emptiness and an unnerving ache in her heart.