Shit. I’m a selfish asshole.I sighed. “I never thought about it like that. I guess… I don’t know. I felt like she had this whole new family, and she didn’t need me anymore.”
Katie chuckled softly. “Do you realize how silly that sounds? Notneedyou? She loves you. She’s the Meredith to your Cristina, the Monica to your Rachel. You’re each other’s person.” She gave me a sympathetic smile. “Jo and I are a lot like you and Liv. She’s been my best friend since the sixth grade. When Jo finally moved to Chicago for her big-girl broadcasting job, it was a hard time for us. It was this weird adjustment period because her priorities in life shifted. It was hard for me for a while because everything in her life was new and exciting. Meanwhile, everything in my life was exactly the same, but I was doing life without her. It felt like there was a wedge in our friendship there for a while.”
“How did you guys get past it?” I asked.
Katie shrugged. “It took time for us to adapt. It meant we both had to adjust our expectations a little. Her job is pretty demanding, and she doesn’t take much in the way of vacation, so I’m the one who usually travels to see her. But she stays up way past her bedtime every Wednesday night just to talk to me. No, we don’t get to see each other nearly as much as we would like, and we don’t get to have marathon phone conversations all the time, but if Jo called me and needed me, I’d be there in a heartbeat. No question. You and Liv will find the balance that works for you too, but it will take time.”
I swiped at my cheeks with the back of my palm. “Do you think she’ll forgive me?”
“Ella, sweetheart.” Katie pulled me into a hug. “Of course she will. You guys are just trying to find your footing. This is going to be nothing but a minor bump in a long road together for you two. I promise. Liv will come around. Especially once she hears what you did to Luca. That was legendary.”
I laughed through my tears. “Thank you for being here for me. Not just now but literally all the time. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“Of course, girl. I’m always here for you.” She touched my shoulder. “Look, I love you. Dry those eyes. You need to get out of here to go see Grace. Has she landed yet?”
I nodded. “She texted me a few minutes ago. Shit. I didn’t even ask you about your date.” My phone rang from my back pocket.
“Eh, nothing exciting to report, I’m afraid,” Katie said. “I’m going to go finish up. You get that.”
“Thank you,” I said again, fumbling for my phone. An unknown number flashed across the screen. I almost shoved the phone back in my pocket, but thought better of it. Grace should be on her way by now—what if she lost her phone? “Hello?”
“Is this Ella Claiborne?” an unfamiliar female voice asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Who’s this?”
“My name is Dr. Haversham. I’m calling from Vanderbilt hospital about your daughter Grace.”
My blood turned to ice, and I felt a buzzing in my ear, almost as though I was holding one end of an electrical current. “Grace… Where’s Grace? Is she okay?”
“Ms. Claiborne, I’m afraid your daughter’s been in an accident.”
“What?” My own voice sounded disembodied, like it didn’t belong to me. I felt like I’d been shoved out of an airplane without a parachute.
I was falling, and the only thing waiting for me when I landed was pain.
Twenty
Cash
“Hey, you,”I answered the phone as I climbed into my car after work. “Did Grace make it in?”
My question was answered with the sound of indecipherable shrieking and crying.
Panic clawed its way up from the pit of my stomach. “Ella, baby, are you hurt? Where are you?”
There was more wailing, and I plugged my other ear with my finger, trying to work out the words between her cries.
“Sweetheart, I can’t understand you.” I tried to keep calm, but fear was beating on the walls of my chest. “Try to take a breath, and tell me where you are.”
I heard her draw in a shallow breath. “It’s Grace,” she choked out. “She’s been in an accident. She’s at Vanderbilt hospital.”
I’d only felt this kind of fear once in my life—the day I’d sat next to my wife in a colorless room and heard the word ‘cancer.’
“Ella, are you driving?” I asked. I couldn’t make out everything she said, but I did hear her say Katie’s name. “Katie is driving you?”
“Yes,” she sobbed.
“Okay,” I said, struggling to keep my composure. “I love you, Ella. Everything’s going to be okay. I promise. I’m on my way.”
