Page 105 of Take The Risk

​The three of us looked at each other and then shrugged. I had other issues to deal with anyway.

“Aggressive squirrel,” Rowdy said when Jeremy covered his bloody nose with his hand.

“Mean little bastard,” Wade agreed, deciding it was a better explanation if anyone asked how the bastard ended up hurt.

​“Why are you here, Mom?” My mom and I had had a long conversation while Phoebe was in her coma. She’d started therapy and the doctor had diagnosed her with a form of PTSD. It was what fueled her attack on Phoebe. In the end, it wasn’t Phoebe that she was hurting. At least not in her head. It had been a rough realization because she acknowledged that she did like Phoebe in a lot of ways.

​It didn’t make things better. I wasn’t sure if I could get past all the things she’d said and done to keep Phoebe and me apart.

​My anger at my mother had been vented on Phoebe’s parents when they’d arrived. I’d hated how they’d made her question her writing, her value, and herself. I wanted to make them hurt the way they’d made my scribbler hurt. In the end, they’d welcomed me into their family and given me a new perspective on the situation with my mother.

​It would take a long time for our relationship to heal, just as it would for Phoebe with her parents.

​The one thing I couldn’t do was let my mother near Phoebe. I hadn’t broached the subject in the two weeks since she’d woken up. Phoebe had asked once what happened to Mom and I’d told her the bare bones. She’d sat quietly in her hospital bed for a while after. I’d been content to just sit there holding her hand. Eventually, she said, “That’s good,” and hadn’t spoken about her since.

​“She’s here because I asked her to be. Now, step aside.” Erin shooed us, giving Jesse a stern look when he refused to move.

​“No.” Jesse crossed his arms, digging in his heels. He and Mom were on the road to recovering their relationship. He wasn’t trying to be mean. He was protecting Phoebe; there was a difference.

​Erin looked toward the sky. “Men.” To my mom, she said, “Come this way.”

​Mom didn’t move but smiled at Jesse for standing his ground.

“I’ll go if you want, Ty.” She shifted the basket in her arms.

​“Let her in.”

​I swung around, finding my scribbler standing in the doorway, Abby holding her up. “You aren’t supposed to be walking around.” I hurried up the stairs, my mother forgotten.

​She stuck her tongue out at me. I grinned, kissing her. “You’re making me crazy.”

​She held out her arms, and I scooped her up. It was the one thing I hadn’t had an argument from her about. She let me carry her around without complaint. Yawning, she snuggled against me and then looked past me, blinking like she’d forgotten anyone else was there.

​It was possible. The medication she was on left her fuzzy a lot of the time.

​I stilled. “She doesn’t have to come in,” I said low enough for only her to hear. “I’ll ask her to leave.” I wouldn’t put it on my scribbler.

​She stared at Mom. “No. She can come in.”

Chapter 40

​“Mmm.” I snuggled deeper into the warmth surrounding me. Shifting, I grumbled when my pillow didn’t conform to my sleeping comforts.

​“Comfy?” A low-rumbling chuckle vibrated against my cheek.

​Cracking an eye, I glared up at him. Other parts of me woke up at his smile. Parts I was banned from using for a while. Stupid doctors who saved my life. I didn’t know if it was because it was nearly a month since the shooting or it was because it was Ty, but my need to have him touching other parts of me, preferably using the mouth I loved so much, was intense.

​Burrowing into him, I enjoyed the delicious warmth of having Ty as my human mattress and blanket.

​An amused hoot sounded, and I shifted my head just enough…Oh.

​Ducking my head, I cringed. “I did it again, didn’t I?”

​Ty’s hand massaged my scalp. “No one blames you, scribbler.”

​That didn’t make it better. I was getting tired of being so tired I fell asleep at random moments. It had happened on and off since I’d woken up, a vestige of the coma, and a side effect of the large doses of medication I was still required to take. However, falling asleep with my fork in my hand while eating, I felt, was a bit much.

​Yawning, I gave the people around me, all of whom were trying to be quiet out of consideration for me, a sheepish look. “Sorry, guys.”