Page 78 of Spurred On

She sniffed and mopped her cheeks. Damn. He longed to kiss her tears away. But friends didn’t do that, did they?

“He-he-he looks so weak.”

“He’s been through a lot. You need to be patient. Give him time. He’s a pretty strong guy. And healthy.”

“I had no idea he had a heart problem,” she wailed.

Henry wasn’t the kind of guy to complain. “What did they say?”

“They said a lot. I don’t remember all of it. But he needs surgery. They’re waiting until he’s more stable.”

Shit.Not stable enough for surgery? That wasn’t good.

“Have you reached Hanna?”

She sighed. “Not yet.”

“Where on earth could she be?”

“She and Logan went on a cruise. I know signal can be spotty at sea.”

“But we could call the ship . . .”

“Yes, we could,” she said. “If we knew what boat they were on.”

He hated to say it, hated to even mention Ben, but he had to. “Maybe Logan’s brothers know.”

Yeah, he hated to mention it. Hated that her eyes lit up. “I’ll call,” she said and leaped to her feet and scurried to the balcony where cell phone use was permitted. He had to follow.

As she spoke with Ben, his stomach tightened, because she seemed suddenly at ease, much more comforted by this other man, his friend, than she had been with him. He hated that. Not simply the jealousy of it, but the fact that another man could soothe her. That she felt more at home with him.

He had to turn away, staring out at the town he’d grown up in. Where had it all gone wrong? Where had he lost her? His gaze landed on the high school, and he winced. There. It had all gone wrong there. One night in a red-hot Mustang in the parking lot.

Shit.

She ended the call and came over to him, her eyes wide and a smile on her face. “Thank you. That was a great idea. Ben is checking with the others. One of them has to know which ship they took.”

“It’s a shame to ruin their vacation.”

“But Hanna would want to know. She’d want to be here.”

“Of course.” He gazed down at her, flummoxed and beguiled by her beauty, aching to hold her, yearning to make this all better. But he couldn’t. So he said, “Can I get you some coffee?” A stupid offer, but her smile widened.

“Hospital coffee? My favorite.”

“Yeah. Right. Anything else?”

“Surprise me.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.” And before he could stop himself, he kissed her. Just a light, tender kiss.

And she let him.

It was wonderful indeed.