Kade had to concentrate hard for her words to make sense. “Not unhappy. Surprised, getting used to the idea. Wondering how we’re going to make it work.”
“You will,” Poppy told him, sounding convinced. “And Brodie being pregnant is the reason I am here.
“I am scheduled to go on a cruise in a week or so. Ordinarily I would cancel the cruise and stay home with Brodie. I’m worried about her. But I am one of the tour leaders and they need me.”
Kade held up a hand and silently cursed when he saw his vision was starting to double. Dammit, he had about fifteen minutes, a half hour at most, before he fell to the floor. “Do you want her to move in with me?”
“Not necessarily, but I am worried about her, Kade. She’s sick and stressed and she’s not sleeping, not eating. If no one keeps an eye on her, I worry I’ll come back to a skeleton that swallowed a pea.”
“How long are you away for?” God, it was getting difficult to concentrate.
“Two months. Are you okay? You look awfully pale.”
That would be a negative. “I’ll look after her... I’ll keep an eye on her,” Kade muttered, slurring his words.
“Oh, my God, you really don’t look well. Can I call someone for you?”
He wanted to shrug off the pain, to act like nothing was wrong, but it felt like there were pickaxes penetrating his skull. “Call Mac, Quinn. Tell them...migraine.”
“I’m on it.” Poppy jumped up so fast the foot of her chair scraped along the floor and the sound sliced through Kade’s head as he dropped his head to the desk.
* * *
When Brodie arrived at Kade’s loft, Quinn opened the door to let her in. Brodie was surprised when he bent down and dropped a friendly kiss on her cheek. “Hey, pretty girl.”
She couldn’t feel offended. Quinn was so damn good-looking he could charm a fence post out of concrete. “Hey, Quinn.” Brodie dropped her bag on the hall table and saw Mac standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows looking out at the incredible views of the city. “Hi, Mac.”
“Hi, Brodie.” He walked over to her and, equally surprisingly, dropped a kiss on her cheek.
“How is he?” she asked, biting her bottom lip.
“He’s over the worst of it and this one was bad.” Mac ran a hand through his hair.
“Does he get them often?” Brodie asked.
Quinn shook his head. “No, not anymore. He used to when he first joined the Mavericks but he hasn’t had one for years.”
“We think it’s stress-induced,” Mac quietly added. He looked at her stomach and back up to her eyes again and Brodie flushed. “He’s got quite a bit to be stressed about at the moment.”
“I told him he doesn’t have to be! This is my problem. I can deal with it.” Brodie felt sick and sad. It wasn’t her fault Kade had endured two days of pain, that he’d been restricted to a darkened room, all because she’d told him she didn’t need him.
She didn’t need him.
“You don’t know Kade at all if you think he’d just walk away from you and his child,” Mac replied, ignoring her flash of temper. “And it’s not only your situation causing his stress. He’s dealing with a hell of a lot, work-wise, at the moment.”
Brodie folded her arms across her chest and sucked in a calming breath. Mac was right; she didn’t really know anything about Kade and she knew even less about what he dealt with on a daily basis.
Brodie looked down at the container of soup in her arms. She’d had a friend in college who suffered from migraines and she knew she battled to eat anything solid for days afterward. Chicken soup had been all her friend could stand. So, Brodie had whipped up a batch and decided to bring it over.
A little get-better-soon gesture from her baby’s mommy to her baby’s daddy. That was all that this visit was. All it could be. “Is he awake? Would he like something to eat?”
Quinn took the container from her and walked toward the kitchen. “He’s still sleeping and likely to be asleep for another hour or two.” Quinn exchanged a look with Mac and spoke again. “Hey, can you do us a favor?”
“Maybe,” Brodie cautiously answered.
Quinn put down the container and placed his hands on the center island separating the dining area from the kitchen. “Can you hang out here for an hour or two and then wake Kade up and try to get him to eat?”
Mac nodded his agreement. “Our new player arrived in the city earlier this afternoon and the three of us were supposed to take him out to dinner. Quinn and I can still do that if you hang around here and feed Kade.”