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As I prepared to hear what Rodney Cates would say, my phone buzzed.
Chapter Thirty–Eight
Jonah
The hospital no longer had a pay phone, but since I didn’t have my wallet, I wouldn’t have been able to pay for a call anyway. The doctor let me go into his office and use his phone.
I needed to call someone to pick me up, probably Talon or Ryan. But first, I had to call Melanie and let her know I was all right.
I dialed the number. No response.
“Damn,” I said aloud.
I tried again. This time I got a “Hello?”
“Melanie?”
“Jonah! Where are you? Are you all right?”
“I’m okay, sweetheart. It’s a long story. I’m at Valleycrest.”
“The hospital? What’s wrong? Oh my God.”
“Baby, calm down. I’ll tell you everything.”
“I’m here in the city, Jonah. I’ll come to you. I can be there quickly.”
“What are you doing in the city?”
“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you when I get there.”
* * *
I was sitting in the waiting area when Melanie shot through the door to the emergency room about fifteen minutes later. She ran straight to me and launched herself into my waiting arms.
“I’ve been so worried. Where have you been? What happened to you?”
“I’ll tell you everything, baby, but first let’s get out of here. I want to go home.”
After we’d gotten confirmation that Talon and Ryan were fine and were heading back to the ranch, we got on our way as well. Melanie insisted on driving, even though I felt fine. As we drove, I told her what had happened with Wendy Madigan.
“You were right,” she said. “You were right to be suspicious of her.”
“You don’t know how right.”
“What else happened?”
“She claimed that she…” How could I even say this? Telling Melanie would somehow make it real.
“She claimed what?”
I sighed. “Melanie, she claimed that she is Ryan’s mother.”
Melanie dropped her mouth open. “What?”
“I know. It’s hard to believe. She’s probably lying. But damn, what she said made some sense. I don’t want to believe it, but I’ll find the truth somehow. I can’t tell Ryan until I know for sure.”
“I can’t imagine that your mother would’ve allowed your father to raise a bastard son in her home.”
