Kate nodded, forgetting Matt wasn’t there to see her, but she couldn’t think, couldn’t snuff the panic that was rising inside.
“He’s going to be okay, right?” she asked just needing to hear her older brother reassure her like he had so many times before.
He went silent for a moment, a moment too long before he spoke. “I don’t know.”
Tears brought on by fear pressed against her lids as the realization that her grandfather’s life may be in danger sunk in. “Look, I have to go. I’ll get to the hospital as soon as I can.”
The line went dead. Her hands shook with fear, and she tried to take calming breaths, but nothing was working. She didn’t have time to freak out. She needed to get to the hospital. She needed to be there for her grandfather and her family. Oh god, her grandmother was probably a wreck. She went to run out the door then remembered the class she had in an hour.
She needed to post a sign to let them know that the class was cancelled. She grabbed a black permanent market and scribbled, Family emergency. Class cancelled. Refunds will be made. Please call if you’d like to reschedule. She taped the sign to the door then ran next door to Caleb.
He was talking with a customer when she barged in like a lunatic. His eyes met hers, and he instantly went to her, taking her face in his hands. “What’s the matter?”
“My grandpa is in the hospital. I have to go. Can you let my class know I had an emergency? I left a note on the door, but in case they don’t see it.” She was babbling now, but she was afraid if she stopped talking she’d fall apart. She couldn’t fall apart, not now. She had to get to the hospital and make sure her family was okay first.
“Shh,” Caleb said, in a soothing tone, running his thumbs across her cheeks. “I’ll take care of it. Do you want me to drive you?”
She looked to the customer he was just speaking with and shook her head. “No, I’ll be fine. Just let my class know.”
She tried to move out of his hold, but he urged her to look at him, and when her eyes met his, she felt her resolve weaken. She knew with him she could give in to her weakened state and fall apart. He would hold her until the tears stopped pouring and smooth her hair over and over until she fell asleep in his arms. But she couldn’t allow any of those things. She needed to go. She needed to be strong for her grandfather and her family so she dug deep to find the strength to walk out the door and go to the hospital.
“Call me if you need anything.” He pulled her to his lips and kissed her. She savored the tenderness and took strength from it.
“I will,” she said then took off.
The drive to the hospital was the longest fifteen minutes of her life. It was just outside of town, but time seemed to have come to a standstill as she made her way there. She took deep calming breaths to keep her emotions under control all the while praying that her grandfather would be okay. He was old, and they all knew his time was coming, but she wasn’t prepared for it to happen just yet. There needed to be more time. He still had to meet his great grandbaby and teach him how to hook a worm and cast a line. He needed to be around just a little longer so Kate could tell him how much she loved him. Tell him how grateful she was for all the support he had given her over the years. Hug him again and feel the day-old stubble scratch her cheek.
No, it wasn’t his time. Not yet. Not when there was so much left to do. Kate held onto that notion as she pulled into the hospital parking lot and threw her car into park. She got out of the car and bolted for the door.
She wouldn’t be okay until she saw her grandfather. Saw that rare smile that lit up his face and hear his voice as he told everyone to stop fussing over him.
She was greeted at the front desk by a woman in her mid-to-late forties with dark hair and a streak of gray that went through the front.
“Can I help you?” Kate wasn’t used to people not knowing who she was, but the hospital resided outside of her small town.
“My grandfather was brought in. Harold Hayes.”
Kate waited for the woman to type the name in the computer and bring him up instead she just handed her a sticker pass and pointed to her left. “Make a right at the end of the hall, and your entire family will be in the waiting room on the left.”
A sudden calm came over Kate, knowing that her family was just at the other end. This was an absolute nightmare, but knowing they had each other made things a little easier.
Kate smiled at the woman. “That’s not even all of us,” she said. “Thank you.” Kate took off, following the woman’s directions until she was standing in the doorway of a small waiting room that was filled with her family.
Cooper saw her first and stopped drumming his fingers against his legs to jump up and greet her. He hugged her, and she found comfort in his familiar embrace. “Have you guys heard anything?”
“Not yet. We’re still waiting,” he said as he released her.
“What happened?”
“Grandma said he complained of being dizzy then he had shortness of breath and became disoriented.”
Dread in the form of hot liquid coursed through her chest at Coopers words. “They don’t think it’s a stroke, do they?”
“They’re running tests now. That’s all they’ll tell us.”
Kate nodded, even though she didn’t want to accept that as an answer, but knowing Cooper was telling her everything he knew.
“Where’s Hadley?”
“On her way. She was on a hike with Lady up at Angel’s Den when I called her.”
Kate looked at her grandmother across the room, her parents on either side of her, holding her hands. “How is she?”
“Surprisingly well. She’s holding it together and not panicking.”
“How does she do it? I’ve been panicking from the minute Matt called me.”
“You and me both, but she said she has to be strong for him since he can’t be strong for himself right now.”
Betty Hayes was not only a strong woman she was a living example of what Kate aspired to. She found strength in her grandma’s determination and walked over to where she sat.
Her parents stood up and hugged her and she hugged them back, holding on for a little longer than usual. “Why don’t you guys go get some coffee? I’ll sit here with Grandma.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Jonathon Hayes said to his wife. “It would do us some good to get out of this room.” He held his hand out, and Carol took hold of it.
“All right, but we have our cell phones with us. If you hear anything, call us.”
“We will. Promise.” Kate looked over to Mason who was rocking back and forth in his chair, looking like he was ready to jump out of his skin. He was always good for a laugh and the first one there to provide insight to any of his siblings, but he was also the most sensitive of the Hayes’ children. Growing up, whenever any of them got sick, Mason was the one they could always count on to sit by their bedside and keep them entertained no matter how much Mom tried to keep them quarantined. He disliked seeing anyone hurt or suffering and despised not being able to help, so sitting here waiting helplessly was a slow torture for him.
“Take Mason with you, too. Maybe don’t give him coffee, but just get him outside for a bit,” Kate said to her parents.
She watched as her dad went over and wrapped his arm around Mason’s shoulders and guided him toward the door. Cooper followed behind, leaving Kate alone with her grandma. She took the seat her dad had just occupied and entwined her arm with her grandmother’s. Betty patted her arm but didn’t say anything and for a while they sat in their silence.
Having grown up in a house filled with people and noise, sneaking away to make bracelets under the tree was always her salvation, so the quiet didn’t bother Kate. In fact, this reticence reminded her of that time.
A doctor walked into the waiting room, causing Kate and Betty to practically jump out of their seats.
“Sorry,” the doctor offered when he realized they weren’t the family he was looking for.
Kate settled back into her chair and hoped the next time someone walked in they’d be giving them news of sort because the hope she was holding on to was dangling by a thread.
“I know we can’t live forever, but I’m not ready to lose him,” Betty spoke for the first time since Kate arrived.
“And you won’t,” Kate said, wanting to believe her own words, but finding it hard to do so. Not when they were surrounded by stark white walls and uncomfortable green waiting room chairs. Not when every time she heard shoes walking down the hallway her heart stopped and dread filled her gut.
“But what if I do? Who will I make breakfast for every morning? Whose clothes will I wash? Whose socks will I constantly pick up from the floor? It drives me crazy that he just slips them off and tosses them. For years, I’ve been trying to get him to put the damn things in the hamper, but he’s a stubborn man, your grandfather, and no matter how much I badger, his socks still wind up on the floor. Now all I can think about is going home and not having any socks to pick up.” Her voice cracked, and she stopped herself, taking a deep breath. Kate went to comfort her, but Betty held her hand up stopping her. “I’m okay.”
“It’s okay not to be, you know?”
“Not yet because the minute I let myself fall apart I don’t think I’ll be able to put myself back together, and I can’t do that. Not until I know something.”
“Okay,” Kate said, and took Betty’s hand into hers. “Until we know something.”
The seconds ticked by, turning into minutes that dragged on and on. The rest of the family had arrived, and Kate switched places with Matt. Shay had wanted to come, but Matt didn’t want her in a hospital where she would be more susceptible to illness, and even though she put up a fight, she agreed to stay at the bakery. Kate had to agree with her brother on that one. Besides, all they were doing was sitting around and waiting.
Kate found a spot next to Hadley and rested her head on her shoulder.
“This sucks,” Hadley said, smoothing a hand over Kate’s hair. “You’d think someone would know something by now.”
“I guess they’re more focused on Grandpa.”
“I keep telling myself no news is good news. If something happened they would have told us by now.”
“Maybe.” Kate wasn’t so sure. She didn’t know how hospitals worked, and she wasn’t sure the protocol for such things. If a person didn’t make it did the doctor come right out to the family and tell them? Or did they have to fill out paperwork first? Take a breather and prepare for being the bearer of bad news? “Probably,” she said when Hadley’s hand stilled. Negative thoughts might’ve been running rampant in her mind, but her family needed her to remain positive, so she would.
Dr. Stevens appeared in the doorway, and the entire family leapt from their chairs at the familiar face.
“Drake, can you tell us what’s going on?” Matt asked, approaching him.
“He’s okay.”
A sigh of relief exploded from every corner of the room.
“They’re still running tests to be sure, but they’re pretty positive it was heat stroke.”
“That son of a bitch. I told him to get out of the damn sun,” Betty Hayes cried out, and everyone started to laugh except for Betty. A sob ripped from her throat as her head fell forward into her hands. Her body shook as she cried uncontrollably. Jonathon Hayes ran a soothing hand over his mother’s back, and Carol Hayes wrapped her arm around her shoulder.
Kate didn’t panic. Betty had held her word. She didn’t fall apart until she knew something. Now, knowing her husband would be okay, she could finally let the tears flow freely and let all the emotion that she’d been pushing down come out.
***
Nothing good ever happened in hospitals, and Caleb swore he’d never step foot into a one again, but Kate’s face had been haunting him all afternoon. She had put on a brave face, but he could see beyond the façade to the fear and the heartbreak. He wanted to go with her, but she insisted he stay, and the minute she drove away he wished he would have taken the keys from her hand and closed shop.
He should have gone after her sooner.
He kicked himself for being such a coward, because if he was honest with himself he was relieved when she told him to stay. Relieved that he wouldn’t have to sit in a tiny room, where every time someone walked in everyone jumped up in the hopes it was a doctor bringing good news.
In his experience, the news was never good. Waiting rooms became a small place of torture he never wanted to go back to. But as he thought about Kate, sitting in a small room of torture, tears in her eyes, fear in her mind, he forgot about his own fear. All he could think about was easing her own, assuring her that everything would be okay, even if it wasn’t, he would still tell her it would be, because in those moments, the truth isn’t what you need. You need hope. Even if that hope was small, someone needed to remind you to hang onto it with every ounce of your being.
With a deep breath, he rushed through the doors, but once on the inside he was bombarded with the horrific memories he had tried so hard to put behind him. He closed his eyes, attempting to suppress the images of his dying brother and the moment he took his last breath while he listened to steady hum of the monitor as he flat-lined.
Sweat pooled in his palms, his face heated against the fluorescent lights, and his heart slammed against his chest in rough, harsh beats. He drew in a deep breath, but it didn’t stop the recollections, couldn’t stop the sudden dizzy spell that overcame him. He reached out, searching for a wall to rest against.
He needed to pull it together. He needed to be there for Kate. He found the wall and propped himself against it, taking deep, steadying breaths. He closed his eyes again and thought about Kate. He envisioned her face in his mind, and he focused on the bluish green shade of her eyes. Concentrated on the tiny freckle on the edge of her jaw and the way her lips parted right before she laughed. He heard her laugh echo in his head, and he let the warmth spread through him, calming him.
“Caleb?” He heard her voice and focused on how it was the only sound he wanted to hear first thing in the morning and the last sound he wanted to hear when he went to sleep at night. “Caleb.” He felt her fingers slide up his arm and squeeze, and his eyes shot open.
“Kate?” Overcome with emotion, just so happy she was in front of him, he pulled her against his chest and kissed her head, savoring her sweet scent and her warmth pressed against him. He took her chin in his hand and tilted her head up. “Are you okay?” he asked, completely disregarding his own fears, needing to know that she was all right.
“Better now,” she said as tears filled her eyes. This time she didn’t hold them back, she let them flow freely. He pulled her to him, wrapping her in his embrace, wishing he could do more.
He didn’t know how long he held her, and honestly, he didn’t care. He’d be there for her as long as she needed him. Finally, she pulled back, swiping at her eyes. “Sorry. I’ve been holding it together all night and seeing you. I don’t know. I just…”
“It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize. What happened? Is there any word on your grandfather yet?”
“They’re still running a bunch of tests. They’re pretty sure it was heat stroke. They say he’s lucky my grandma brought him in when she did.”
“Oh thank god.” He took her in his arms again, resting his chin on her head taking in the scent of her hair and breathing a sigh of relief.
“You didn’t have to come,” she said against his chest.
“I know, but I was worried about you and needed to make sure you were okay.”
She glanced up at him, her lips parted, but then she directed her gaze to her hands. “Were you… were you thinking about your brother?”
He stepped out of their embrace and nudged her chin up looking down into her eyes. “I was actually thinking about you so I could forget about my brother.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“No. I just want to hold you.”
<
br /> Her arms encircled his waist and he rested his forehead against hers. “I’d like that.”
“You don’t need to go back to your family?”
“Grandma insisted some of us leave now that we know he’ll be okay. My parents and Matt are still here. Hadley, Cooper, and Mason left a little while ago. I was on my way out when I saw you.”
“Then come back to my place, and I’ll take care of you.”
“I’m not really in the mood.”
Once he realized how that came out he shook his head. “That’s not what I meant, though I’d never say no to that.” He gave her an insinuating glance which earned him a nice smack to the chest. “We can watch a movie and eat ice cream out of the container. I’ll give you one of my t-shirts to wear and afterwards if you can’t resist my boyish charm I’ll let you take advantage of me.”
She laughed, and man if it wasn’t the sweetest sound he had ever heard.
“Or we can just go to bed. Whatever you want.”
“You’re on, pretty boy.”
Chapter 16
Caleb took care of Kate all night, and he was right, she couldn’t resist his boyish charms. She awoke wrapped in his arms, his warmth surrounding her in a comforting blanket. She breathed in, inhaling his masculine scent that drove her wild.
“Morning,” he said against her ear, pulling her in tighter.
“Mmm,” she said when she felt his erection press against her back. “Too bad I have to go to work.”
“Take the day off.”
She turned in his arms until she was looking into his eyes, droopy with sleep and sexy as hell. His hair still held the perfect coif but stuck out a little on the sides. She ran a hand down the spikes and smiled. “I wish I could, but you know I can’t. Besides, you have a store to run, too.”
“I hired someone to help run the store and no custom orders I need to work on, so if I want to take the day off I can. Brianne is working today just tell her you won’t be in.”
He kissed her lips and pulled her body flush against him. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you’re trying to seduce me.”
Crushing on Kate Page 13
