A Love Worth Saving (Forever Yours Book 2) Read Free Page B

twenty-four hours, or what might have happened if they hadn’t been able to stop the bleeding. When he did . . .
    No. Ashley would be fine. And there wasn’t any permanent damage. That’s what matters . “She’s still in the hospital.”
    “What about you? How are you doing?”
    “I’m good.”
    “Good? Jeez, Reed. You just suffered a significant loss, and I understand it was touch and go with Ashley. How can you be good?”
    He was, or he would be if everyone would stop asking. He didn’t want to talk or think about any of this anymore. Had only come in to the office to get away from it for a while. “Was there something you needed?”
    Daniela opened her mouth to speak and then closed it as if reconsidering. She shook her head. “It can wait.”
    “What can wait?”
    “Don’t worry about it.”
    “No, if there’s a problem with the Archer project, I want to know.”
    “Working isn’t going to make anything of what you’ve just been through disappear. Go to your wife. You need each other at a time like this.”
    His lips tightened. “I said I’m okay. Now, what’s the problem?”
    Daniela glared at him. “We never received the third payment owed.”
    Shit. “How late is he?”
    “Over a month.”
    Reed frowned. “Has anyone from our side contacted him about this yet?”
    “Yes. The first time was two weeks ago. Their Accounts Payable person told us there had been a glitch at the bank and the payment would be wired immediately. We still haven’t seen it, and no one from Archer Industries is returning our calls.”
    “Damn.”
    Daniela walked further into the office and took a seat in one of the two chairs in front of his desk. Reed gave her an assessing look.
    “I did a little digging after I got the call from our accounting people last evening.”
    “And?”
    “Rumor has it Archer Industries is looking to file Chapter 7.”
    His heart pounded and fingers shook. “Bankruptcy?”
    Daniela nodded.
    “Shit.” The last thing Paradis and McNamara needed was to lose the one client who’d been single handedly keeping the business afloat for the last six months.
    “Yeah, my sentiments, exactly.”
    “So is it rumor or fact?” Reed asked.
    “At this point I honestly don’t know. I checked in at the jobsite and some of the supply orders have been delayed, but not all. So, Archer must be paying some of his bills.”
    “Are we behind schedule?”
    Daniela shook her head. “Not at this point.”
    “Okay, I’ll give Archer a call and see if I can find out what’s going on.”
    “I’m already on it. I left a message on his personal cell phone this morning on my way into the office and asked him to contact me as soon as possible.”
    Reed nodded. “Good. Let me know when he gets back to you.”
    “Will do. In the meantime, why don’t you get out of here? You look exhausted.”
    He was. He hadn’t slept much last night. Couldn’t get the image of Ashley’s still, pale form out of his head when they’d wheeled her out of surgery and into recovery. Or the pain and anguish in her eyes when he’d told her about the baby.
    The baby . . . No, his son . Damn it. How the hell did this happen? The doctor tried to reassure them it hadn’t been anything they had or hadn’t done, but his words offered little comfort. Who cared that fifteen-to-twenty percent of pregnancies ended in miscarriage during the first trimester? This was his child and . . .
    He wanted to scream, or better yet throw something, anything to get rid of the heavy weight that had settled in his chest. His vision blurred.
    No. He wasn’t going to think about any of it anymore.
    “Go home, Reed,” Daniela said, her voice full of compassion. “You shouldn’t be here. I’ll let you know if anything more comes up.”
    He blinked to clear his eyes. “I said I’m okay.” He had work to do and he was damned well going to do it.
    “Then I’ll leave you.” Daniela stood, and strode to the door.
    “One more thing.”
    She