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I’d messaged Carly through Facebook, as I didn’t have her number. I hated to tell her in such a way. I gave her my number, and she’d called immediately. Poor thing was beside herself. She was beating herself up over missed opportunities and not seeing Tom more over the years. She was even remorseful about letting our relationship slide. She and her family were flying in tomorrow from California. Thankfully, Daddy and I had been Tom’s emergency contacts for a long time, so the doctors were able to communicate with us.
I rested my head on Daddy’s bony shoulder, exhausted but not able to close my eyes. I kept seeing flashes of Tom’s lifeless body. If he survived this, I was going to start cooking for him every day and making him exercise. No more beer and bratwurst. He was going to become the vibrant man I used to know.
Daddy and I sat in silence for several minutes. I knew how much he hated hospitals. Momma had spent way too much time in them and had died in one. I was just about to tell him to go home, even though I knew he would protest, when my fourth-worst nightmare walked in. Ahead of this one was Daddy dying, Tom dying, and Rick Springfield canceling his summer tour, three concerts of which I had tickets for.
My head popped up when Brooks and his momma came walking in through the waiting room doors. Brooks had his arm around his momma, who had obviously been crying. Her eyes were as puffy as pastries. Though she was tall—only four inches shorter than Brooks—for some reason she looked so diminutive next to Brooks’s take-charge attitude. He was dressed to the nines in a designer black suit, looking like he had come from a fancy dinner or something, and his entire demeanor screamed that he wasn’t happy to be there. Except I detected a hint of sadness in his eyes. I only recognized it because I’d seen it my own when Momma had died.
Unfortunately, there was only one way in and one way out of the waiting room. And I’d been so stunned to see him walk in, I didn’t have enough wits about me to run and hide in the bathroom. This was what I got for lying today. Yep, the good Lord was punishing me.
June and Brooks locked eyes on me as my eyes nervously darted back and forth between them. June’s eyes flooded with tears while she called out my name, “Gracie.” At the same time, Brooks’s brow creased exponentially when he growled, “Jane.”
Oops.
“Jane?” June smacked Brooks’s chest. “What’s wrong with you? Don’t you recognize our Gracie?” She flew toward me with open arms.
I had no choice but to stand and face the music. First, though, I received June, who about bowled me over. For a woman in her midsixties, she still packed a punch. She was definitely a woman who had some meat to her, just like Tom preferred. And by the looks of her skin, she was still into spray tans.
“Oh, Gracie, my darling girl,” she bawled.
Since I was about six inches shorter than her, my head landed in her big bosom. I didn’t mind—it kept me from having to face Brooks. And, man, had I missed her. I snuggled in close, shaking from the fear of knowing I would have to pay the piper any minute now because of my lie and crying because June felt like home and a momma. Did I ever need a momma now.
I heard Daddy stand up and greet Brooks. “It’s been a long time. It’s good to see you,” Daddy said.
“Yes, sir, it has.” Brooks still had some manners to him. Which surprised me after our encounter earlier today. I was even more flabbergasted that he was here. I’d thought he’d sworn to never see his daddy again. In fact, I had counted on it. Hence my lie.
June clung to me for dear life, blubbering.
“I didn’t know you were in town,” I said, muffled against her chest.
“I’ve been visiting Brooks,” she stuttered between sobs. “Carly called us. She said you saved Tom’s life.”
“I wouldn’t say that. He’s not out of the woods.” I could hardly say it.
June leaned back. “He can’t die. There’s so much I need to say to him.” Her blue, watery eyes bore a pain so deep it pierced my heart. The Hamiltons’ divorce was one of the biggest shocks of my life. To me, they had been the ideal couple. They were flirty and fun. Sure, they could toss some zingers at each other, but they had always been affectionate. Not only to each other but to their children and their children’s friends. Especially to me.
“There’s so much I want to say to you.” She patted my wet cheeks. “I’ve missed you, dear Gracie.”
