Free EMBER - Part Three (The EMBER Series, #3) by Deborah Bladon Page B

those passing on the street, I saw empty rooms. Whatever life he'd built in there with Maisy had been cleared out. All that was left was a vacant space, ready for the new owner to arrive to fill it with a different life.
    I slid back into the rear seat of the taxi and asked the driver to take me into Manhattan. I knew where he'd be and wasting time waiting for the subway wasn't worth the cost. 
    I had to get to him and now as I stand in this quiet hospital room and look at his face, I see something I didn't see in the note that he left.
    "You're coming to Paris with me, aren't you?
    "I'm already packed."
    I move towards him and in an instant his arms are around me. He buries his face in my neck and just as his lips slide across my cheek, I sense her presence. I turn and that's when I see the same beautiful face that I did in the museum. She's awake. She's smiling and just as she nods her approval, Dane kisses me softly.
    ***
    "M y sister showed me the portrait."
    I skim my eyes around the room but all that I find are two bouquets of wilting flowers and a few greeting cards that have fallen over from the pressure of the air conditioning blowing on them.  "I wanted you to have it."
    "My husband took it home." She motions towards the door of the room with her finger. "I asked him to hang it in the baby's nursery."
    I'm touched by the admission. I wanted the portrait to mean as much to her as it had to me.
    "The baby is named Davey," Dane interjects.
    "It's David, actually," Cleo corrects him with a smile. "We named him after his father."
    Dane taps his hand against the top of the bed near where her feet are covered with a thin, blue blanket. "Everyone is calling him Davey. It's what I'm going to call him."
    Cleo smiles as she reaches her hand out to grab his. "He'll like that. You'll come to see him when you get back from Paris?"
    The words jar me even though he confirmed right after I'd walked into the room that he was going to move there with me. He's putting his entire life on hold here, to help me follow my dream.
    "I'll send him postcards," he says. "Maybe a few presents too."
    They speak to each other as if they're old friends. Anyone walking into the room right now would never suspect that something tore them so far apart that they didn’t speak for more than a year.
    "Having you here makes everything right again, Dane." Her eyes float from his face to mine before they settle on his again. "I told you Mae wasn't right for you. I knew there was someone perfect waiting for you out there."
    The words catch my heart in my chest. I lean back in the weathered vinyl chair that is next to the bed. Dane looks at me for only a brief second before he slides himself closer to Cleo. "You were right. At the time it hurt Maisy when you said that. I cared about her so it hurt me too, but you were right."
    "It more than hurt her." She rests her head back against the pillows. "You both stopped talking to me because Maisy thought I was jealous of your relationship."
    This is the conflict that tore Dane from her life. It wasn't something catastrophic. It had nothing to do with hatred or spite. It was an older sister trying to save her younger sister from eventual heartbreak.
    "I knew when I met Bridget that she was the one." He taps his fingers against my knee. "I love her more than my heart is capable of."
    "That's exactly how I feel about my David," she stops before she swallows hard. "And now, my little David too."
    "You'll be home with both of them soon." Dane rubs his hand over his brow. "When can you be discharged?"
    "I need extra care." She dips her chin towards her stomach. "I had no idea that a caesarian section would be this rough."
    He leans forward to kiss her softly on her forehead. "You're the strongest woman I've ever met. Give it some time and you'll be home holding that little guy in your arms."

Chapter 23
    "I 'm going to learn French."
    I stare up and into his face. "That's your plan for when we're in Paris?"
    "I'm going