“She is with her mother.”
Ryan frowned. “I can see that.”
I heard the irritation under his tone. The disbelief that a nurse would position herself as a boundary. Ryan Mercer was not used to boundaries. He was used to assistants, flight upgrades, dinner reservations, and people who laughed before deciding whether he had been funny.
He extended his hands toward me.
“Claire. Let me hold her.”
I looked down at my daughter.
Dark hair. Wrinkled forehead. Furious little mouth.
She had fought her way into the world while her father’s phone went straight to voicemail.
“No,” I said.
Ryan froze.
The word seemed to confuse him.
“Excuse me?”
“No.”
“Claire, don’t be dramatic.”
Eli’s head lifted slightly.
Dana’s mouth tightened.
I felt a strange calm settle over me. Maybe it was exhaustion. Maybe shock. Maybe the moment a woman finally runs out of room to absorb another person’s cruelty.
