Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 113270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
“Yeah,” I say, “They…didn’t.”
He sits up, turning to face me. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, they were all here. Randy, Ben, Norah, Logan, Josie, Clay, Pete, Sheila…hell, half the town was here, so much so the doctors were getting touchy. But then…Eileen showed up.”
“You’re kidding. After everything she—”
“Wait. There’s more.” I grimace. “Tad, Eileen had a heart attack.”
“What?”
I nod. “She showed up here, and everyone assumed, naturally, that she’d heard about the fire and was coming to capitalize on our suffering and anxieties. Josie got into her immediately—I didn’t hear everything since it happened out by the main entrance, but I know it wasn’t good. But Eileen’s niece came running in not long after, and…baby, Eileen got so upset when she heard about you and the house, she started having chest pains. She came here to get checked out. I haven’t heard an update in a little while, but they said she had a heart attack.”
“Shit. That’s horrible.”
“I know. Bennett promised he’d come back as soon as they knew something definitive.”
He studies me, worry creasing his face. “And what about you? What are the doctors saying? When I found you, you were unconscious.”
“I passed out,” I admit softly. “After we fought and you left, I took a bath to calm down, but I hadn’t eaten the burger you brought me.” I cringe at my own stupidity. “Hadn’t really eaten much all day, honestly, and when I hopped out of the bath to get my phone from the guestroom, I never made it there. The doctors said the heat of the bath, mixed with not eating and the diversion of blood flow to the baby, is enough to explain why I passed out on the way there.” I shake my head. “I…I didn’t even know the house was on fire until I got here and they told me,” I admit. “Tad, I’m so sorry. I think…I think I left the woodstove open and that’s probably what started it, and—”
“Breeze, it’s okay,” he comforts, and his voice is all warmth and ache and makes a ball of emotion clog my throat. “It’s okay.”
A few tears fall down my cheeks. “But the clothes. The photos. They’re Abigail’s and Lucy’s, right?”
He nods, quiet but certain.
And I start to cry. “I’m so sorry.”
“It doesn’t matter.” He pulls me back into his arms and hugs me against his chest. “All that matters to me is that you, and the baby, are okay.”
“I am. And our baby is.” I sniffle, trying to steady myself. “The doctor did an ultrasound to check. Heartbeat was strong and everything,” I update, and a new wave of tears threatens to spring to my eyes just thinking about the relief I felt when hearing our little baby’s heartbeat on the monitor.
“Thank God.” His shoulders drop with relief, and he presses a kiss to my forehead before rubbing a gentle hand over my belly. “Thank God. You’re both okay.”
“They have me on a little oxygen to be safe and something called a bronchodilator,” I add. “Randy said the doctor told him they’re doing the same for you, as well as an antibiotic and corticosteroids because your inflammation is so bad. They’re keeping us both overnight, but if our oxygen levels are okay tomorrow, we can go home. Or…well, somewhere.”
“Ha. Yeah. I’m sure Randy will let us crash with him for a little while.”
“You’re sure Randy will do what?” Tad’s brother asks, walking in our room at just the right time with Norah, Bennett, Autumn, and Logan all trailing behind him.
“Let us stay with you until we have a house again,” Tad repeats, doubling down.
“Of course.”
“You can stay with us too!”
“Good, our house is full.”
The first is from Randy, the second from Norah, and the third, of course, from Bennett.
Logan chuckles, pushing through the crowd until he makes it to the bed, leaning down to pull me into his arms. “Don’t worry, Breeze. I’m not welcome either.” It’s a long, slow hug, filled with weeks of regret and a simple conclusion that family, even at the tense times, is what matters the most. I pat him on the back and then the cheek, working my lip with my teeth when a sheen exposes the waiting tears in his normally cocky eyes.
As he pulls back, I touch his cheek, whispering. “We’ll talk, okay?”
Bennett steps forward for a hug too, followed by Norah and Autumn, and then finally Randy. Tad waves them all off, and I can’t help but roll my eyes with a laugh.
“Too manly for hugs, huh?”
“No,” Tad disagrees easily. “Too naked. I’ll hug you all tomorrow, when I’m not in this gown.”
It’s a much-needed moment of levity, but the nagging unknown of Eileen’s condition brings it to a swift end.
“How’s Eileen, Ben?” I ask. Bennett and Norah share a look before he replies.
“She’s doing okay. Shaken up. Wrung out. Doc said it was a minor heart attack. Josie’s actually still with her and says she’s going to stay for a while to keep her niece company. Eileen says…well, she says she’s retiring, but I don’t think any of us will believe that until we see it.”