Stay Awhile

by Gia Riley

  She pauses long enough to take a sip of her drink. Then she gulps the rest of it down. From the looks of it, whatever she’s about to tell me, I need to brace myself for it. “I can handle it,” I tell her.

  She sighs, and for a minute I think she’s going to start crying. “What I found out is going to crush her, Garrett.”

  “What did you find?” I ask her, realizing once she tells me, it won’t be a secret anymore. I’ll have information Megan will need, and I’m not going to want to upset her or say a single word about it. As hard as it will be to keep my mouth closed, Vanessa wouldn’t have come to me if she didn’t think it was the right thing to do. As a lawyer, I trust her judgement. As a friend, I trust her intentions.

  Vanessa takes a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “Megan wanted to file for divorce. Of course, I was ecstatic because Connor’s had it coming. So, I took the divorce paperwork she filled out to my office. The more I dug, and the deeper I got, I realized Connor has been a complete and total fraud.”

  “What do you mean?” She has me hanging on her every word, yet I still can’t figure out where she’s going with this. The darker her eyes become, the more I brace myself for impact. Though nothing can prepare me for what she says next.

  “Garrett, they were never legally married. The entire marriage was a sham.”

  I stare at her in shock. Surely there’s been some kind of mistake. You don’t live with someone, wear rings symbolizing your union, and share the same last name for shits and giggles. The only thing Connor could gain from a fake marriage is Megan, which makes him even more selfish than I thought possible. Especially considering I spent a portion of my life envisioning her walking down an aisle to meet me.

  If we weren’t in a restaurant, I’d stand up and throw something across the room. That’s how furious I am that she’s living a life that isn’t even real. What’s worse is that she has no idea.

  “I hear what you’re saying, Vanessa, but I’ve seen pictures from the wedding. Hell, I was even invited—not that I went. I couldn’t watch her marry him.”

  “Yet you were still invited,” Vanessa says, knowingly. “Despite how you felt about my sister.”

  “What are you implying?”

  “I’m not implying anything, but I think Connor may have married her because of you. We’ll never know one way or the other unless he decides to come clean. No matter what his reasons were for marrying my sister, the officiant he hired was a friend of his. The minister was never certified to perform legal marriages.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  “I wish I was, but the paperwork was never filed with the state, and there’s no trace of any other legal documentation about the wedding. As far as I can tell, the marriage license Megan signed was printed off the Internet. The church the minister said he was associated with doesn’t even exist.”

  “That lying piece of shit,” I seethe. “How could he do this to her? If he didn’t want to make it official, he shouldn’t have asked her to marry him.”

  “When Connor told my sister he would handle everything, he did. He kept her busy with the guest list, the flower arrangements, the location—pretty much anything that wasn’t involved with the legality of the ceremony.”

  Our entrées are set in front of us, and as mouthwatering as the meal looks, I lost my appetite about ten seconds ago—when I found out the truth.

  “And you’re telling me Megan has no clue whatsoever?”

  Vanessa nods, her eyes staring at the chicken on her plate while a single tear escapes the corner of her eye. “None, Garrett. She may want to leave him and walk away, and maybe I should be happy she won’t have to go through all the legal bullshit associated with a divorce, but she can’t even get the satisfaction of signing on the dotted line. There’s no line, no piece of paper, nothing. She’s already a free woman. She always has been.”

  “Only she never knew it,” I whisper across the table. My eyes are zoned in on the steak knife in my hand. It deserves to pierce straight through Connor’s heart. “I have no idea how this is going to end, but I’ll do whatever I can for her. She’s not going to be alone when she’s completely blindsided by this. She has enough going on with Laney.”

  “Thank you, Garrett,” Vanessa says as she looks me in the eye. “I’m worried she’s not going to ask for help—even though she’ll need it more than ever.”

  How do you even begin to tell someone the guy they thought they were married to for the last seven years didn’t respect them enough to go through with an actual legit wedding. That it was all a show—a show he could walk away from whenever he felt like it. Never losing a dime.

  He probably thought there wouldn’t be any consequences or that the truth would never come out. That’s where he’s wrong. If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll make sure he pays for hurting Megan. I don’t know how or when, but he will pay.

  “Fuck. What am I going to do?”

  The waiter stops at our table, no doubt wondering why I’m sitting here cussing instead of eating. “Is everything okay?” he asks.

  Is it okay? No, it’s really not. “Can you box this up for me, please? Something came up, and I need to get going.”

  He looks to Vanessa, but she smiles, confusing him even more. “Mine too, please.”

  He takes the plates away from us, thankfully not asking any questions. I don’t feel like stroking the chef’s ego right now. “I’m sorry to cut the night short, Vanessa.”

  “Don’t be. I didn’t think we’d even make it this far. I know the kind of guy you are, Garrett, and that you care about my sister. That’s all I want for her—to have someone who will be true to her and have her back.”

  I lay a wad of bills on the table, not bothering to wait for the check. It’s more than enough to cover our meals and the tip, and as soon as the waiter returns with our bags, I stand up and help Vanessa with her coat.

  We walk in silence across the parking lot. After she unlocks the car door, she turns to me with a sad smile on her face. “Not many guys would pay for my dinner after dropping a bomb on them. Especially when there’s so much that still needs to be cleaned up.”

  “I’m glad you came to me. There’s no doubt it’s a mess, but I’ll be whatever Megan needs me to be. Knowing her, she’ll try to handle it all herself, but you have my word. I won’t let her drown, Vanessa. And if you need help with anything, I want you to come to me like you did tonight.”

  She throws her arms around my neck and hugs me with everything she has. “Thank you. It means a lot to hear you say that.”

  I nod as she lets go, my throat clogging with more emotion than I’ve felt in years. “When are you going to tell her about the marriage?”

  “Not until after Laney’s surgery. She needs to get through tomorrow first—before I give her another blow.”

  I agree with her choice. It’ll kill me to keep my mouth closed and let Vanessa take the lead, but I’ll let her. “I’ll be ready.”

  Vanessa slides behind the wheel of her car. She looks up at me one last time. “Thank you, Garrett. I mean it.”

  I watch as she drives away, staring into the red and white glow of her tail lights. This wasn’t at all how I imagined tonight would go. Here I was, thinking I was meeting someone new when all along, Grace knew I’d be led directly to where my heart’s always been.

  It’s only when I’m sitting in my own car, that I’m reminded of my sister’s promise. It all makes sense now. She knew without saying a single word—she knew what I’d need, and what I’d be compelled to do. And she was right because if it’s up to me, I won’t let Connor destroy Megan a second time.

  I’ll take care of Laney in surgery tomorrow, and help Megan get away from Connor after that. As much as it’s going to kill me to keep this secret, I have to be patient. I have to let Vanessa call the shots until I’m sure she has all of her paperwork ready to bury him.

  As I wait for the light to change at the intersection, I reach inside my pants pocket,
fingering the key Grace insisted on giving me. It seemed like a ludicrous idea at the time, but before the night is over, the key will be in Megan’s hands—exactly where it belongs.

  Megan

  “MOMMY,” LANEY SCREAMS FROM HER bed. I push my tired body out of the chair so fast, the back of the rocker slams against the wall, no doubt marking it or leaving a dent. The chicken tenders I only took one bite of before I dozed off fall all over the hospital floor, a trail of crumbs following me to her bed. “Mommy!”

  “I’m here, baby. You’re okay.” Laney’s eyelashes flutter open and closed as tears trickle down her rosy cheeks. “I don’t want to sleep anymore, Mommy.”

  I slide into the bed beside her, careful not to bump her legs or jostle the IV in her hand. “You don’t have to, but you’re safe. I promise.”

  “Where’s Daddy?” she asks again. There are only so many times I can answer this question without breaking down. It’s getting harder to explain it to her each time she asks.

  The nurse warned me she may get confused from time to time, forgetting things that happened before or after the crash. I’ve been praying she forgets the accident entirely, but so far, that hasn’t happened. She seems to relive a piece of it each time she closes her eyes. The memory of her father isn’t quite as clear.

  I take a deep breath before I tell her, “Daddy had to go to the hospital, too. He’s in a room like this one.”

  “Is he going to come see me?”

  “No, Laney. He’s not in this building because he’s a grown up. This hospital is only for kids like you.”

  She listens to what I’m saying, her tired brain processing the fact that they’re in two separate places. “Do you think he’s scared without us?”

  I hold her close, kissing the top of her head, softly. She has the biggest heart. “He’s brave like you are. He’s not scared,” I tell her, even though I hope he’s scared shitless about what he’s done.

  Last I heard, Connor was released from the hospital, but I can’t tell her he’s sitting in a jail cell waiting for a hearing. Even though I loathe him right now, telling her would only make her upset, and she still thinks her daddy is the greatest guy she knows—even if he did put her in the hospital.

  The heart of a five year old is forgiving—too forgiving. And right now, Connor should be suffering for what he’s done instead of being worshipped by his little girl. She doesn’t know he’s been with other women, or about his drunk driving. I plan to keep it that way for as long as I can, because no little girl should ever have to find out their father doesn’t walk on water.

  Once she’s finally discharged, I’ll have to figure out where we’re going to live and how I’ll get her to school each day with her legs in casts. No matter how hard it is, I’ll make it work because there’s no way in hell I’ll ever live under the same roof as Connor again—whether he’s in jail or not. We might end up in a hotel for a while until I can find us an apartment, but at least we’ll be safe and have a roof over our heads.

  “Close your eyes, sweet girl,” I tell Laney as she sniffles a couple more times. Finally, she rests her head on my shoulder, her tears slowly drying up as mine begin to fall.

  This isn’t the life I imagined for us—hospitals, jail cells, court cases, and broken hearts. Connor’s the one who keeps screwing up, yet I’m the one who’s going to end up looking like the bad guy for splitting up our family.

  “Can we get a Christmas tree when we get home? Santa won’t know where to find me if we don’t have the stockings up, too.”

  “Yes, we can get a pretty tree to decorate. I’ll reach the high spots, and you can do the low ones all by yourself, okay?”

  “Okay, Mommy.”

  Before she’s completely out, she lets me slide her tiny body onto the mattress. Like she’s a baby again, I take a second to stare, wondering how I got so lucky to be her mom.

  With surgery in a couple hours, I say a few extra prayers. “Please let my baby be okay,” I whisper, as another hot tear slides down my cheek.

  She’s still stuck in her bed and still in a lot of pain, but she looks so much better than when I first saw her. I’ll never forget all those tubes and all those wires keeping her alive as I laid my hand on her chest and watched her breathe.

  “How long as she been here? I don’t even know.” A mother should know these things. I should know where my child is at all times.

  “The accident happened about three hours ago.”

  “Three hours,” I choke out. “She’s been all by herself for three hours?”

  The nurse rubs my back, soothingly. “I’ve been with her. So has our social worker. I promise you she hasn’t been alone since she arrived.”

  “Thank you, that helps. Other than these cuts and scrapes, what’s going on?”

  “The doctor had to set her legs. She’ll need surgery in a couple days, when she’s a little stronger.”

  “They’re broken?”

  “She wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. She was tossed around inside the car. All the cuts from the glass have been sutured, and there’s no sign of bleeding internally. She was lucky it wasn’t more than some broken bones.”

  Lucky. That’s one word I wouldn’t use. “Why isn’t she awake?”

  “The medication will wear off soon. You’ll be able to talk to her in just a little while.”

  I take her tiny hand in mine, brushing her warm skin against my lips. My worst nightmare is happening, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it or to make it go away. She’s been through absolute hell.

  I rest my head against the bedrail, my shoulders shaking as silent sobs wrack my body. My husband’s lying in a bed somewhere, too, but right now, I couldn’t care less. How could he let this happen to our family? How could he do this to us?

  As I step away from Laney’s bed, I ask myself the same question. How could Connor do this? How could he let this happen to our little girl?

  I haven’t cried this much in years, but it’s all I want to do lately. Every time I think about the next day or the one after that, I realize how scared I am.

  If there’s such a thing as a Christmas miracle, I need one now more than ever because I have no idea where I’m supposed to go from here. I’ve always had Connor’s shoulders to lean on when times were tough, and he would get us through the rough patches. Now that he’s the cause of all our problems, I can’t figure out what to do.

  I’ve never been tested like this before.

  Garrett

  I WALK INTO HOSPITAL ROOMS every single day of my life, but I’m not on the clock tonight. The little girl who’s fast asleep in her bed is a piece of the woman I’ve always wanted. She’s not my flesh and blood, but she’s so much more than a name or a medical records number on a chart.

  I’ve made so many mistakes over the years, the biggest being back in high school when I kept my mouth shut instead of telling Megan how much she meant to me. All I wanted was for her to see she could have something even better than what she had with Connor.

  Now more than ever, I have to speak up. I can’t make the same mistake twice. Vanessa came to me because she trusts me and she believes I have the power to protect her sister. Considering that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do, I’m okay with making her relationship with Connor my business. I’ll show her how a real man takes care of a woman.

  My promise starts sooner than expected because when I peek around the doorframe to see if she’s inside, I find Megan sneaking out of bed with a sleeping little girl at her side.

  She doesn’t notice me at first. Her eyes are solely focused on Laney, exactly as they should be. When she rests her head against the side of the bed and her shoulders begin to shake, my body moves without thinking. I’m careful not to scare her when I whisper, “Megan?”

  She raises her head, a mixture of shock and embarrassment evident on her tear-stained face. Inch by inch, her eyes roam over my face, down my chest, and all the way below the belt until she lands on my dress shoes.

  Like s
he’s seeing me for the first time, she sucks in a deep breath before letting it go. The warm air floats over my skin as I stand here with a paper bag in my hand, still dressed in a suit, wishing I could kiss her soft lips.

  When it takes her a minute to find words, I can only hope she’s thinking the same thing about me. After a quick glance at the clock on the wall, she bites her lip before asking, “What are you doing here, Garrett? It’s late.”

  I try to keep my voice as calm as I can despite wanting to pull her into my arms and hold her against my chest. “We need to talk, Megs.”

  She hesitates for a second too long, assuming the worst before I even say a word. I can’t blame her. Why else would her daughter’s doctor make a visit this late at night unless he had to break some bad news?

  “You haven’t called me Megs in years. Is Laney okay?”

  I set the bag of food on the table next to the bed, the urge to hold her stronger than ever. I haven’t checked Laney’s chart since I’ve been gone, so I take a look at the monitors above her bed, scanning her vitals so I can give Megan an honest answer. “She’s fine. The numbers look good. Her IV does, too.”

  “Okay, then why are you here so late?”

  I squat down in front of her, and when I have her full attention, I get completely lost in those stormy gray eyes of hers. “Tonight I’m Garrett. Not Dr. Kristoff. I’ll always take care of Laney, whether I’m on the clock or not, but tonight, I need to be here as your friend—for you.”

  She looks away from me, but she doesn’t let go of the bedrail she’s been clutching since I walked in the room. I expect to see some relief on her face now that I’m here, but she’s still so tense her shoulders are up around her ears. I know if I touched her, her muscles would be in knots.

  “Thank you for coming to check on me. I’m okay though. You really should get some sleep.”

  I ignore her attempt to push me away. It’s not going to happen no matter how hard she tries to put on a brave face. “You didn’t look okay a minute ago. I saw you crying, Megan.”