Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
“Carsynn!” I call out her name. She’s sitting down in a chair, biting her nail, rocking back and forth, and looking down at the ground. When she lifts her head, giving me her amber eyes, I’m kicked in the gut. There are tears streaming down her face, her eyes are bloodshot, and she looks like her world ended.
“Gabe, thank God you’re here. He’s okay. Gramps is okay.” She’s out of her seat, running toward me. My arms are open, and I’m hugging her tightly. “I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know what, baby?” I ask, breathing a sigh of relief as I hold her head to my chest, my arm wrapped around her lower back. Carsynn’s tears saturate my shirt, and as much as I want to know how Gramps is doing, something tells me this has everything to do with my grandfather.
“Gramps. He confronted Sheriff Sanders. One minute he’s cussing him out, the next he’s dropping to the floor.”
Fucking hell. I pull back from our hug, needing to see her, and cup her cheeks. There’s no use wiping them away, they’re coming down so rapidly. “Tell me everything.” My mouth is as dry as the Sahara, thinking the worst. How Gramps could have been at the wrath of Sanders and how my woman is worried about me thinking she’d put someone in harm’s way.
“They asked me to leave the room for a minute to run a few tests.” Her lips quiver. She’s probably thinking about him being unconscious again. “He looks so tired. God, Gabe, I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault. I’m the reason Grandpa Bernie is lying in that hospital bed right now.” I shake my head. No way this is coming from her. “It is. He confronted the sheriff about my accident, Sanders said a few choice words, and Gramps gave it right back to him. One minute Denny is telling that arrogant, pompous asshole to leave, then Gramps is collapsing.” It figures Gramps couldn’t wait a moment longer. He was chomping at the bit, ready to go after Sanders. Instead of waiting for the election, it seems he decided to take matters into his owns hands.
“No heart attack or stroke?” I ask. She shakes her head. “This isn’t your fault. Sanders knew he fucked up. Gramps wasn’t going to have the dumb fuck strutting around thinking his shit doesn’t stink. He for damn sure wasn’t going to let him eat at the diner you work at when it was Gramps calling Sanders while I was out looking for you. Sanders knew what he was doing when he walked in, eating where Gramps does every single day. He was taunting you, Gramps, and me. I’d have confronted him sooner, but I’ve had my hands full.”
“I heard all of that. I promise if I knew the weather was going to be that bad, I’d have never left and put anyone in danger. You know that, right?” Carsynn’s past is trying to rear its head, and no fucking way am I going to have her second-guessing anything right now.
“Fairy, we all know that. Sanders does, too. He didn’t give a shit. Weather changes fast around here. You didn’t know that. Still, it doesn’t give him the right to act like a dick bag.” She huffs out a laugh and closes her eyes. It’s time she knows how I feel. “Carsynn, I knew who you were before I met you, loved you the moment I laid my eyes on you, the first time you gave me yourself. I knew you’d be mine forever. I love you, always.”
“Gabe.” My fairy says my name breathlessly. “I love you, too. God, do I love you.” My lips land on hers. There’s no way I can deny the two of us this moment. The hospital probably wasn’t my finest moment to lay it on her, but nothing we’ve done has been by what others would call the standard.
“Fuck.” I pull back, my cock hating me, and believe me, I’m hating myself, too, but taking this further in a hospital would see us both kicked out. “We’re going to resume this later.”
“Okay.” Her lips are swollen and wet from my kiss.
“Now, how about we go see the old man and interrupt whatever the hell they’re doing to him?”
“Yes, please. It’s been hell sitting out here thinking about everything I could be doing to help him. All I know is time crawled by.” I take her hand in mine.
“Which room?” Most hospitals have an emergency room where family members and friends sit out in the common area waiting with others. Plaine Hill being a small population has it set up in a unique way. The patients already in a room in the emergency area have a different waiting area for moments like these.
“One-ten.” I guide her, my hand staying where it’s the most comfortable for both of us. Right now, I need her in the worst way. There were a few moments when the absolute worst was running through my head.