Page 54 of It's a Widow Thing

“Oh. Okay.” Michael shifted in bed, seeming to understand in a new way just how serious all of this was.

“And you really shouldn’t be alone. At least for the first week. Do you have someone who can stay with you?”

He turned to Sabrina, and she was instantly torn. She really wanted to take care of him. She felt like she should absolutely be the one to do it, but she also had an impossible work schedule ahead of her next week. Lucy was still in her boot and not able to get as much done as before, plus there were so many hoops to jump through for Echo Beauty, and her call with Lela Bennett was tomorrow morning. “I’ll try to rearrange my schedule.”

“I don’t want you to have to do that,” Michael said.

“Come home with me,” Brian said. “We have plenty of room. Alyshia is home most of the day while Zoe is at school, and it’s not a problem for me to work remotely.”

“I think that makes the most sense,” Lydia said. “Then I won’t have to worry so much.”

Sabrina felt like that baton from earlier had just been snatched right out of her hand. And she didn’t like it. One bit. It made her heart feel heavy. But maybe his family really did know best. “That sounds great. I know how much you love to spend time with Zoe.”

“Right,” Michael said, seeming resigned to the idea. “Do you mind taking my car back to the city, Sabrina? You have to get home somehow.”

“Sure. Of course.” Despite the rationalizations she was trying to make, she still felt unsettled. She’d lost all say over where Michael would go and how he would be cared for.

“That’s settled then.” Lydia turned to the nurse. “When can he be discharged?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“Alyshia and I will stay at the beach house one more night, drive down in the morning to pick up Michael, and take him to our place. Zoe can miss a day of school. It’s not the end of the world,” Brian said.

“Does that work for you?” Michael asked Sabrina.

She didn’t want to rock the boat. Plus, maybe a little time to herself would let her finally get her thoughts and feelings fully sorted. “Whatever everyone thinks is best. I only care about you getting better.”

CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE

“Uh, ma’am. My credit card?”The woman pointed to the gold plastic card in Sabrina’s hand.

Sabrina shook her head. “I’m so sorry.” She managed a smile, handing a black paper shopping bag of Chelsea Mayhem cosmetics to the woman. “I slipped a few samples into your bag. I hope you enjoy everything.”

The woman’s eyes lit up, telling Sabrina she’d at least done part of the job like a person who was functioning at normal capacity. “Thank you for the freebies. You were really helpful.”

“Any time.” She watched as the customer disappeared through the door and out onto the street.

“I know you like helping out in the shop, but don’t forget that you’re the boss.” Lucy’s voice rang out from behind her.

Sabrina turned with a start. “You scared me.”

“Normally, I’d say it’s because I have a light footfall.” Lucy looked down at the massive boot on her foot. “But that’s not the case right now.”

Sabrina shook her head again, making her way back behind the counter. “I might be the boss, but I’m not feeling like much of one today.” She blew an exasperated breath out through her nose. “That’s part of why I sent everyone else home early. I wanted to spend some time with a few customers. Helps me remember why we do what we do.”

“Do you really need a reminder?”

“I guess our call with Lela this morning got the wheels turning when they were already going too fast.”

“I thought our call with Lela went well. She’s excited. We’re excited. It’s all good.”

“You’re right. It went great. I mean, aside from the massive pile of work we have waiting for us over the next year.”

“These are good problems to have. We’ll get through it. We always do.”

Sabrina knew that Lucy was right. It was still nice to hear someone else be confident about it. “Is it just me or did it sound like Echo Echo is going to make a move to buy us? As in sooner rather than later?”

“She was definitely asking more questions about the nuts and bolts of what we do. How do you feel about it?”