He approached the curtain. “Knock knock,” he said because there was no door.

“Come in.”

He pushed back the curtain and walked into the small area. Sienna lay in a hospital bed, her dark hair falling around her face. A saline IV dripped into her and a blood pressure cuff was around her forearm. He didn’t like how pale and fragile she looked or the memories it brought back, seeing her like this.

“Hey.” He forced a smile.

She smiled at him. “Hi.”

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Better.”

He nodded, pulling up a chair and taking a seat beside the bed. “So apparently I’m your ride home. One of Ian and Riley’s kids is sick and they had to go.”

Her eyes opened wide. “You really don’t need to stick around. I can–”

“If you say call an Uber, we’re going to have a definite problem.”

A cute blush stained her cheeks, and the fact that she had color back in her skin made him feel better.

“Okay. Thank you,” she agreed, giving in.

“So.” He didn’t know how to broach the subject but he wanted to know more. He wanted to know everything about Sienna Dare. “Childhood leukemia, huh?”

She ducked her head and groaned. “Stupid family. Big mouths, all of them. Who was it?” she asked.

“Unimportant.” He wasn’t about to throw Ian under the bus. “It came up by way of explaining why your entire family showed up in the waiting room, every one of them in a panic, worried about you.”

She sighed. “I hate being the focus of all that attention. It’s like when I was sick. Everyone worried about me when it was because of me that the entire family was thrown into turmoil. I didn’t understand it when I was that young, but as I grew up, I found out. My father went to his first wife and told her he needed to have his kids tested for a bone marrow transplant for me. His illegitimate kid.” She picked at the fabric on the blanket covering her. “I was the reason for the fallout. The divorce. Ian’s hatred of us for years.”

Ethan shook his head. “I hate to tell you this, but your father was the reason, honey. Not you.” The term of endearment slipped out of his lips. Damned if it didn’t feel right.

She swallowed hard. “Yes and no. But we can agree to disagree on that. I just hate being the cause of drama and discord.”

He frowned, not liking how much weight she put on her slender shoulders.

“Avery donated her bone marrow. She ended up with severe anxiety attacks she has until this day because the news about my father came out. Florida hotel magnate with two families. People went nuts. The press followed him around and caught her and her mom coming out of the hospital. Flashing light bulbs, people screaming at her. She was never the same.”

He reached over and took her hand. “Still not your fault.” He hesitated, then asked, “Where was your father today?” By Ethan’s count, every sibling she’d mentioned the other day had been in that waiting room. So had her mother.