Sighing, she turned left, hoping that perhaps a change of direction would allow her to walk out of the hazy fog. She chewed her lip, taking one step after another. Blinking quickly, she prayed her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her because the mist seemed to be slowly becoming less dense.
Her heart beat faster as she realized that she was slowly drawing closer to what looked like a house.
But not just any house.
Her house. Or, at least it had been at one time. Now, it was Honor’s house.
How the hell had she made it all the way to Honor’s house when the last thing she remembered was Abel carrying her out of the Rosewater creek after she and Honor had gotten in a car accident.
This was nuts!
“Abel? Honor?” she yelled as she got closer and closer to the wide front steps that led up to the front door. She turned her head to look over her shoulder in the direction where Honor would have parked her car but was disappointed that she couldn’t see it for the stupid fog. Barely suppressing a frustrated growl, she stomped up the remaining steps and reached for the doorknob, silently hoping it was unlocked. Otherwise, she’d be screwed.
Relief flooded her as the knob turned easily and a warm, inviting light beckoned her forward as she stepped inside the house. “Honor?” she called out softly as she heard a woman humming. “Harmony? Faith?” she called as she looked around the familiar kitchen to see that everything looked the same. Swallowing hard when no one answered but the humming continued, she called out again. “Who’s here?”
“Honestly, Patience,” an achingly familiar voice chided, “I thought I raised you better than to yell in the house. It’s very rude.”
Gasping as she spun toward the stove, Patience’s hand flew to her throat as she stared. Her mother stood at the stove, stirring something in a steel pot. Now, at one point in time, this wouldn’t have surprised her at all, but given the fact that her mother had been dead for the past eight years, it definitely called for some alarm. “Momma?” Patience cried out, blinking rapidly.
Harriet McKinnon turned from the stove and smiled. “Hello, Patience.”
Flying across the room, Patience ran into her mother’s arms, squeezing her eyes shut as she pressed against her momma’s soft body. “If this is a dream, I don’t wanna wake up,” she whispered, tightening her arms around her parent.
“It’s not a dream, honey, but as much as I’m happy to see you; you shouldn’t be here. It’s way too soon,” Patience’s momma chided, rubbing her hand up and down Patience’s back.
“We live here, momma! Or, you do. I mean, you did. I mean….hell, I don’t know what I mean,” Patience admitted, drawing back but reaching out to grab her mother’s hands. “This is your house,” she said, knowing at least that much was true.
“Not exactly, honey,” Harriet said gently, shaking her grey head as her forehead seemed to crease with worry. “This place is just a copy of our home. A replica of sorts. And you shouldn’t be here, honey. It’s not your time yet. It’s not my grandbabies’ time either,” she added with a pointed look at Patience’s belly. “I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that you and little Abel Turner are going to give me grandbabies. It seems like just yesterday that he was pulling your pigtails in church,” she murmured, her wrinkled face smiling as she shook her head. “But, honestly Patience, you shouldn’t be here. You’ve gotta go back.”
“Momma, what do you mean? Go back where? I’m home, aren’t I?” Patience asked, trying to understand. She was so happy to be with her mother again and she could hardly understand why her parent wouldn’t want to see her. “Did I do something wrong, Momma? Are you angry at me?” She’d spent years wishing she could see and talk to her mother again. Now, she was home. Shouldn’t they be celebrating?
“Of course she’s not mad, Little Girl” a deep voice sighed from behind her. “Your mother is just worried for you and her grandchildren.”
Patience spun toward the dining room table and gaped as she saw her father sitting there in one of the dining room chairs with his dark head tilted to the side as he stared at her with loving blue eyes that matched her own, a steaming cup of coffee poised at his elbow. “Daddy?” she whimpered brokenly, tears stinging her eyes. “You’re dead! You both are! But somehow you’re not. You’re both here. This doesn’t make any sense,” she breathed tremulously, looking between Harriet and Hawthorne McKinnon with wide, disbelieving eyes.
Hawthorne slowly rose from the table and held out his arms. “We’ll explain everything to you, sugar, but first, you come give your daddy a hug.”
Automatically moving toward her father, Patience sobbed as she felt his strong arms wrapping around her and pulling her close. There was no place on Earth where she’d ever felt as safe as she did when she was in her Daddy’s embrace. Well, almost no place. Abel’s arms had made her feel cherished and safe, too.
“I’ve missed you and your sisters so much, Little Girl,” her daddy whispered into her hair, his arms tightening around her for the space of a few heartbeats.
“We’ve missed you, too, daddy. You and momma. I was so mad at you for leaving us,” Patience confided truthfully. “I’ve been bitter for so long.”
“I know,” her daddy replied sadly. “And that has to stop, darlin’. I didn’t leave you by choice, Patience, nor did your momma. The Lord called us home. Our maker said our time on Earth was done. I didn’t walk away from you, baby. My Heavenly Father bid us to come home. I’ll never walk away from you. Your mother and I are always with you. You might not see us, but we’re there, watching over you and your sisters.”
Patience’s tried to hold back her tears. “Momma says I shouldn’t be here, Daddy. Why? Home is where you and Momma are, isn’t it?”
“Darlin’ girl, this isn’t our home. We’re in the In-Between now,” her father explained.
“The In-Between?” Patience asked nervously. “What’s that?”
“It’s the spot where confused souls go to sort out their thoughts before either moving forward to their reward or going back to their lives. Your mother and I were sent to help you make your decision with that. And we’re telling you, it isn’t time for you to come with us, Sugar.”
“But…”
“No, baby. Not yet. You have your own life to live and your own family to raise. You have to go back before it’s too late. No living soul can stay in the In-Between for long,” her Momma informed her softly, walking over to wrap an arm around Patience’s shoulders. “You have a man that loves you, honey. He’s terrified that you won’t come back to him. You also have your gorgeous children, sweetie. You can’t stay here and you can’t go with us.”
“My babies and Abel are waiting for me?” Patience asked. “The babies are here? I mean, they’re with Abel?”
“Yes,” Harriet replied with a wide smile. “And they’re so beautiful. They look just like you as an infant. I’d give anything to have been there to hold them, but that wasn’t meant to be. But you CAN be, Patience. You’ve just got to go back. To the children. To Abel. You’ve been wishing for years to have had five more minutes with me and your daddy. Well, God granted that favor. Now, go back to our family and tell them we love them.”
“I promise you, Patience, when it’s time, your mother and I will come back for you again. And remember this. I’ll always be with you because my spirit lives inside you. So does your momma’s. Right now, though, there’s a man that feels like he’s missing a piece of his soul without you. Go back to Abel. Go back to your babies, honey.”
“I don’t know how to get back,” Patience wailed, looking between her parents before running to the window and seeing nothing but the dense fog. “I barely found my way here.”
Patience’s mother walked to the door. “Don’t fret so, Patience. Worry causes wrinkles, you know” she cautioned lightly as she opened the door for her daughter. “You should know by now that God will always find a way to tell us the things we need to know.”
“Goodbye, Little Girl. Reme
mber, we love you,” Hawthorne McKinnon said as Patience stepped over the back door’s threshold and back into the fog.
“I love y’all, too. I should have known five minutes wouldn’t be enough,” Patience replied as the fog surrounded her once more.
~~*~~
“I got my five minutes,” Patience mumbled, turning her head so that her cheek pressed against the cool pillow. “Momma. Daddy. Five more minutes, okay? Just five,” she continued to mutter, caught in that confusing place between asleep and awake where everything was just a little blurry and everything seemed a little unreal.
“Patience, baby, wake up,” Abel called to her, smoothing her hair back from her forehead before pressing his warm lips against her skin. “Come back to me, honey. I need you now. Don’t leave me.”
Patience could hear Abel’s rich baritone voice pleading with her, begging her to open her eyes. He sounded almost frantic, and she desperately wanted to comfort him. He’d shown her so much love – coddling her through the pregnancy and showering her with affection even when she didn’t deserve it. He was the best kind of man. She needed to put his mind at ease.
She hadn’t left him. And she knew after hearing the anxiety and panic in his voice that she’d never, ever contemplate leaving again. No, she’d come back home for all of them. Abel. Her children. Her sisters. Her family. They were all that mattered now.
She just had to find a way to wake herself up from this dream-like state.
Patience’s eyelids fluttered as the sound of his deep voice penetrated the veil of slumber before she finally fully opened her eyes. “Abel?” she groaned groggily, groaning as a wave of pain swamped her body.
“That’s right, sweetheart. It’s me,” he whispered, sounding incredibly thankful. “You scared me, darlin’. I can’t tell you how relieved I am to see those gorgeous blue eyes looking up at me,” he said, letting out a long breath. “I was beginning to think you were never gonna wake up for me.”
“I’m sorry,” she apologized, her voice sounding rough to her own ears. Swallowing, she winced. God, why did her throat hurt so badly? “I had to go for a bit. I had to have my five more minutes with Momma,” she replied on a yawn. “I got to see her and daddy both.”
“You what?” Abel asked, paling as his steel grey eyes widened slightly. “What did you just say?” he repeated, staring at her as his hand moved over her cheek, stroking the soft, warm skin.
“I don’t know how, but I saw them, Abel” Patience whispered, shaking her head. “I know I sound crazy, but….
“Honey, your body has been through a hell of a lot today,” Abel reasoned with a tender smile.
“I saw them, Abel. They knew all about you and our babies,” Patience insisted, sliding her hand down to her stomach and gasping in pain as her fingers encountered a thick bandage. “What’s that?” she asked, shoving the sheet covering her aside and jerking up her hospital gown to look down her body at her belly. Noticeably smaller, her stomach was indeed covered with some kind of surgical bandage.
“Oh, my God,” she breathed, her eyes dilating as reality crashed into her. Suddenly, memories came crashing back through her conscious mind. She’d been in a car accident with Honor. She’d gone into labor. There’d been blood and panic and pain. And now, as she stared down at her body, she knew that she was no longer pregnant.
“Where are my babies? Abel, what happened to our children?” Patience screamed, ignoring the ripping agony that tore through her belly as she sat straight up in the bed. One foot was already on the floor as she demanded, “Tell me where they are? Where’s Honor? Is she okay, too?” Moaning as she tried to stand up beside the hospital bed, she felt Abel grab her arm and steady her.
“Hellion, calm down,” he urged calmly, trying to push her back down on the bed as carefully as possible.
“Fuck, calm. Where the hell are my children, Abel, and what happened while I was out of it?” she asked, clutching his hand in hers as she looked around what appeared to be a hospital room.
Easing Patience back into a sitting position on the side of the hospital bed, Abel crouched in front of her, blocking her path in case she decided to bolt again. “Listen to me, Patience,” he ordered her calmly, his voice even and firm. “Our children are okay. They were born several hours ago and they’re doing great, sweetheart,” he said, quelling what he assumed would be her immediate fear.
Patience breathed hard, her eyes clouded with tears as she bit her lip. “Promise me, Abel. Promise me you aren’t lying to me to try and keep me calm or some shit,” she begged, squeezing his hands as she waited for him to answer her.
“I swear to you, darlin’, our kids are doing really well. They’re all in the nursery now, but the nurse said that after you woke up, she’d roll them in here.”
Patience’s breath caught. “They’re so early, though. Five weeks, Abel.”
“And they still have some growing to do because of that, but, overall, they’re doing great, baby. They’ll probably be here a week or so, but they’re gonna be alright, sugar. Trust me, Patience. I wouldn’t lie to you about our babies.”
Patience nodded wordlessly, emotion clogging her throat as she leaned her head against his neck. Feeling his fingers bury in her hair, his nails lightly scratching her scalp, she began to relax slightly. Her angels had arrived, she thought happily. And, better still, they were both going to be okay. Reluctantly lifting her head to meet his loving gaze, she whispered, “Okay, I’m calm. Tell me everything now. Like, how my sister is and why does my body feel like it went 41 rounds with Ali?”
“You remember why you’re here?” he asked cautiously.
“Yeah, Honor’s brakes went out on her car and some asshole in a pick-up truck ran us off the road, over the embankment and into the creek,” she returned with a frown.
“Is that all you remember?” Abel questioned, giving her a minute to think.
Patience closed her eyes and replayed the events in her head. “I called 9-1-1. I remember asking them to find you.”
“They did. The call came across Zeke’s radio. We all heard it,” Abel informed her, shuddering. “Worst five minutes of my life was that ride to find you. We weren’t sure what we’d find when we got there. Christ, Patience, it’s a miracle you and Honor are alive.”
“What about Honor? Please, Abel, tell me she’s gonna be okay,” Patience pleaded as her eyes filled with tears, worry for her sister twisting her stomach in knots. The last time she’d seen her, Honor had a tree limb buried in her body.
“Like you, she had a hell of a time. Zeke’s refuses to leave her side. Most of the rest of our families are camped out in the waiting room. Faith had to take the baby and Heaven home, but everybody else is crammed in that room driving the hospital staff crazy. Nobody wanted to leave y’all, but none of them can actually visit you or Honor until morning. They’ve finally moved Honor into a private room on the general surgery floor. She lost a lot of blood, an ovary, and a fallopian tube, but all the doctors agree that she’ll make a full recovery with time. Both of you ladies have concussions,” Abel informed her, lifting a hand to gently tap the bandage on Patience’s temple.
Releasing a shaky sob, Patience’s shoulders sagged. They’d all lived. They’d recover. They’d made it. It was all so hard to believe.
“The reason you feel like you do is that in addition to delivering our babies through an emergency C-section under general anesthesia, you coded on the table due to blood loss. They had to shock your heart to get you back. That’s why your chest probably feels bruised,” Abel explained, lightly running his fingers over her sternum. “You tried to leave me, Hellion. When you’re all better, I’m gonna tan your ass for that.”
Patience offered him a watery laugh. “You mean you’ll try to tan my ass.”
Leaning forward, he captured her mouth for a soft, gentle kiss. “Don’t you every try and pull that shit on me again, Hellion. You brought me to my fuckin’ knees today, darling,” he muttered into her mouth, their noses touchi
ng.
“I’m sorry,” she replied, burying her face against his chest. “So, so, so sorry. I love you, Abel. I know I haven’t said it before, but I do. I have for so long. Way before we found out about our babies. I was just so scared that if I admitted how much and how deeply I felt for you that somehow it would all blow up in my face. I was terrified that you’d leave me. I know it was dumb and my logic didn’t make any sense, but I think you know that I’m not exactly a rational woman at the best of times.”
“You’re lucky that I think that’s part of your charm, Hellion,” Abel returned, lifting a hand to tuck a hank of her hair behind her ear. “Patience, I am never gonna walk away from you or our family. It’s not gonna happen. But, just like I won’t leave you, you can’t leave me again,” Abel insisted, his arms tightening around her body protectively. “Not ever. No matter what. I need you so much,” he confessed huskily. “We need you so much. I don’t think I can raise three kids on my own, darlin’,” he confided, lifting his head to stare at her with wet eyes.
Patience stared at him dumbly, shaking her head from side to side as she processed what Abel had just said. “Wh-what? Did you say three babies?”
Abel’s small grin widened. “Surprise, Momma! You gave birth to triplets while you were sleeping,” he shared with a blinding smile as the door opened behind him and a nurse began rolling in a large, clear bassinet. “Are you ready to meet our children?”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Patience’s mind was spinning, unable to quite wrap her head around what Abel was telling her. How was it possible that a woman who’d never wanted to be a mother - who’d truly never believed she had a single maternal bone in her body – was suddenly the mother of not one infant, but three?
Just a little over eight months ago, she’d been unsure if she could even have a baby with the way she lived her life. She was young. She liked to drink. She loved a good party. The last thing she’d wanted to do was commit the next 18 years of her life to a kid she wasn’t even sure she wanted. She’d been selfish, clinging to her independence and childless status like they were lifelines and pregnancy was a death sentence. She’d stupidly believed that her life would be over once she gave birth.
Ready, Willing and Abel (Passion in Paradise: The Men of the McKinnon Sisters Book 3) Page 44
