Vendetta by Lisa Harris Page B

team gets here. I could be back in Nashville by this afternoon—”
    â€œIt’s okay, Nikki. I know that girl needs you right now. Her family needs you . . .”
    Nikki felt the tug of duty. Toward Tyler . . . Bridget . . . and now Jamie.
    â€œAs soon as I talk to my team, I’ll be able to let you know how soon I can get away.”
    â€œOkay. And I’ll keep you updated.”
    Nikki hung up and stared across the room.
    Why does everything have to happen at once, God? Because this day can’t end this way. Not with Bridget still missing. Not with Matt and Jamie losing another baby. And Tyler—
    â€œWhat’s going on?”
    Nikki looked up at Tyler and shook her head. Until two nights ago, the pregnancy had been uneventful. Jamie had called her, worried about a few cramps, but her obstetrician had assured her there was nothing to worry about. And now she was facing losing another baby?
    Nikki traced her fingers around the patterns on the countertop of the information desk. “It’s Jamie. She’s in the hospital. The placenta has partially separated from the uterus. There’s a chance she could lose the baby, Tyler.”
    He placed his hand on hers. “Then you need to be there.”
    â€œI know.” Nikki rubbed the back of her neck. “But I need to be here too.” She tried to sort through the facts of the situation without letting emotions cloud her thinking, but instead, an overwhelming fatigue washed through her. She’d expected today to be emotional. What she hadn’t expected was feeling as if her emotions had been completely shattered into tiny shards.
    She pressed her lips together. “My mother’s on her way to the hospital right now. Jamie’s mom is driving in from Memphis. If I went, there’s nothing I could do, but here—”
    â€œI think you’re wrong, and you’d regret it later. I know how close your family is.”
    Nikki stared across the open space of the visitor center. Like every family she knew, hers had its own drama, but Tyler was right. They were close, and she needed to be there. Dinner on Sunday nights at her parents’ restaurant, birthday parties,Thanksgiving, Christmas, and yearly extended family reunions had helped to make her family close-knit.
    She nodded, turning her hand over and squeezing Tyler’s. “You’re right. My team will be here any minute. They’re capable of finding Bridget without me. And I’ll have my phone if they need me.”
    â€œI’ll find us a ride back to Obed, then I’ll drive you back to Nashville.”
    She nodded her thanks. “About today . . . again. I know I’ve already said it, but I really am sorry. Nothing went the way we planned.”
    â€œAnd I’ve already said you have nothing to be sorry about. I wanted to spend the day with you—someone who cared about Katie as much as I did. You were her best friend. I told you before, I wouldn’t have made it through this last year without you, and I meant it.”
    The day Katie married Tyler, she’d told Nikki she was the luckiest girl in the world. They’d experienced the normal ups and downs of typical newlyweds, but even through their first years of marriage, Katie had never stopped teasing Nikki about how she needed to find someone like Tyler. Because he made her happy, protected, and complete. For Katie, a girl who’d grown up in a broken home, Tyler had become her knight in shining armor.
    Nikki massaged her neck. The tension headache was back and now settling into the muscles of her back. “I’ll let you drive us home, if you let me treat you and Liam to dinner.”
    At least she’d be closer if her family needed her. And at the same time be there for Tyler.
    â€œI’ll be okay, Nikki.”
    She knew he was right, but when she looked into his eyes, she didn’t miss the flicker of pain. Grief