Page 21 of Royal Desire

That’s a problem for next week. I’ll put word out at the diner in case anyone has a beater for sale.

I look up to the house that’s lit up in the dark of night. There’s usually a lamp or two left on for us, but it’s never like this. “Looks like Grandma is still up.”

Blake pulls out his keys. “It’s after midnight. She’s never up this late.”

I follow him up the front walk as he finds his key. “Maybe she fell asleep in front of the TV. She doesn’t do it often, but if she’s really worn out, I used to have to wake her to go to bed.”

Grandma’s house is small. The family room is right off the front door. A small dining table sits near the back of the house with the kitchen tucked around the corner. Down the hall are three small bedrooms and one bath.

I’ve lived here since I was five and our shit-show of a mother came back to live with Grandma. I never knew my father. Hell, I’m not sure Mom knew him either. Whenever I asked about him, she avoided that subject like the plague and told me he wanted nothing to do with a kid.

It seems she didn’t learn from that lesson the first time, because she repeated the same scenario with Buck when she ended up pregnant years later. But unlike mine, Blake’s father stuck around. Buck was not father material, let alone husband material. Mom quit her cleaning job when she had Blake, and Grandma worked overtime to put food on the table. Mom might’ve taken me to work for years, but she couldn’t do that with a newborn.

Grandma had enough and put her foot down to both Mom and Buck. Get a job or get out.

Buck decided to get out.

But what shocked everyone was that he talked Mom into going with him and leaving us behind. I was twelve and Blake was six months old when our mom left in the middle of the night and never came back.

I’m envious of my little brother. He has no memory of her.

Was she a good mom? No way. And the only reason I know that is because Grandma is the best mother figure we could have. She’s no nonsense, but she said she had to be. She didn’t want us to turn out like her daughter.

This little house is everything we’ve ever needed—no more and no less. It’s home, and every day I’m back, I realize how much I missed it.

I hang my purse on the hall tree by the front door. “She must have forgotten to turn off the lights. I’ll check on her.”

Blake heads to the kitchen. “I’m starving. Do you want anything before you crash for the night?”

I toss my shoes into my room and look back. “I’m good, thanks.”

But the door to Grandma’s room is open, the light is on, and her bed is made.

“Grandma?” I call for her but there’s nothing. That’s when I notice the bathroom door is closed. I knock. “Grandma, are you in there?”

A weak moan comes from the other side.

“Grandma!” I don’t knock again and turn the handle, but the door only budges a few inches. She’s on the floor, not moving, and blood is seeping from a cut on her head. “Blake! I need help!”

I push the door open as gently as I can and try not to hurt her.

Blake comes running. “What?”

“I don’t know what happened. She’s on the floor.” I get the door open far enough to pry my way into the bathroom, fall to my knees beside her, and frame her face in my hands. “Grandma, can you hear me?”

Blake sticks his head through the small opening as I maneuver around her. “Is she unconscious?”

Grandma’s head lolls to the side. Her eyes are half open. “Ruby...”

I try not to move her. Grandma is a force, but it’s always had to do with her personality. I saw the decline the moment she welcomed me home in her warm embrace. Seeing her on the cold bathroom floor like this sends a dagger through my heart. “It’s okay. We’re here to take care of you. You’re going to be okay.”

I inspect the knot and cut on her head. The blood is already starting to dry where it’s dripped into her hair. There’s no telling how long she’s been like this.

I look up at Blake. “I’m afraid to move her, but she needs to go to the hospital.”

Payne

The call is closer to me than the station, so I grabbed my medic bag and headed straight there.