Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
“Thanks, doc,” Drew says. “Come on, beautiful. I want to go home.”
“Take it easy out there,” the doctor says. “It’s treacherous, as you know. We have too many people in tonight because of it.”
“We’ll be careful,” I promise him and help Drew to his feet. “Your mom was beside herself.”
“But you weren’t?”
“Oh, I’m still a mess. I had to park my car halfway here, and your dad picked me up.”
“Good. I don’t want you driving in this.”
With his hand gripped firmly in mine, I walk beside him as he’s wheeled in a wheelchair to the lobby, and when Drew’s parents and Caleb see us, their faces light up.
“Thank God,” Brynna says on a choked sob and pulls her son in for a gentle hug when he stands. “Scared me.”
“Same,” Drew says with a smile. “Come on, guys. Let’s go home.”
“You know what sucks?” my kiddo asks as he takes Drew’s free hand. “We still don’t have any pizza.”
He’s been sleeping for about twenty-four hours straight.
Caleb keeps wanting to check in on him, and keeping that kid out of my bedroom so Drew can rest is like keeping him out of the cookie jar.
Almost impossible.
“I’ll be quiet,” Caleb insists. “I just want to see that he’s still breathing.”
“He’s breathing,” I assure him. I know that because I just looked in on him myself. “We have to let him rest. His body is really banged up, and sleep is what helps it heal.”
“Yeah. Even I slept pretty late today.”
“You went through a scary ordeal.” I tug him to my side and kiss the top of his head, breathing him in. “I love you so much, my baby.”
“I love you, too, Mom. I liked it that Drew’s parents stayed here last night.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to let them drive home in that mess,” I reply. “And I think they wanted to stay anyway, to make sure you and Drew were okay.”
“Brynna makes really good pancakes.”
“What are we going to do about your sweet tooth?” I ask.
“You’re the one who keeps making him cookies.”
My head whips to the doorway of the kitchen, and I rush over to Drew, cup his face in my hand, and kiss him.
“You’re awake,” Caleb says happily. “You slept for a really long time.”
“Too long,” Drew says and pads into the kitchen, sitting on a stool. “Can I have some coffee?”
“You can have anything you want,” I reply. “But it’s almost eight in the evening. Do you still want coffee?”
“Yeah,” he says. “It’ll clear some of the cobwebs.”
“How’s your shoulder?” I ask.
“Aches like a mother,” he says and winces. “That’s what woke me up.”
“You need some medicine.” I set the coffee at his elbow and then retrieve some pills, along with water, and set those next to the coffee. “Your parents stayed here last night. They left about an hour ago. The roads have finally cleared up. Just wet now.”
“Good,” he says and drags his good hand down his face. “What a mess.”
“You missed New Year’s,” Caleb informs him. “I guess I did, too, because I was in bed. It’s a whole new year today.”
“Happy New Year,” Drew says and offers his good fist to Caleb for a fist-bump. “We’re going to start this one better than we ended the last one.”
“Heck yeah,” Caleb replies. “I’m going to go play.”
He hurries off, and Drew meets my eyes over his coffee cup.
“Thank you for keeping him safe yesterday.” Drew frowns, and I keep talking. “He told us about how you insisted that they check on him first. He loved that you called him your son.”
He blinks and looks down into his coffee. “Was I hallucinating, or did he also call me daddy?”
“He did,” I confirm. “I love that you two are so close. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love that. And the only thing that helped me keep it together yesterday was knowing that Caleb was with you. That no matter what, you’d do everything in your power to keep him safe.”
“Of course, I would.”
I nod and pour myself a glass of wine.
“I’m so glad you both are all right. But, Drew Montgomery, if you ever scare me like that again, I’ll simply murder you myself.” I have to set the glass down because my eyes are suddenly full of tears. Before I can turn around, Drew’s there, right behind me, his arm around my stomach, and he kisses my temple from behind. “I couldn’t get there fast enough because the ice was so bad, and I was afraid of hurting myself while I tried to get to you. Your parents were so good.”
“They’re great in a crisis,” he agrees.
“They were the only thing keeping me calm because the two people that I love the most in the world were on their way to the hospital, and I didn’t know what happened or if you were going to be okay. My God, what if you weren’t okay? And why am I just falling apart now?”