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“I, uh, saw Dee Dee today,” she said, as much to break the silence as to keep her mind off her father.
“Today?”
“At Tiffany’s.”
He checked his watch. “Terri said she’d drop her off for a couple of hours, but it was supposed to be later this evening. Are you sure?” Concentration furrowed his brow as they reached the outskirts of town.
“Yes, I spoke with her.”
“For the love of Mike, that woman!” His mouth flattened over his teeth. “Look, I’ll drop you at the clinic, then check on Dee Dee, but I’ll be back.”
“Fine,” she said, knowing that he had to look in on his child but feeling disappointed nonetheless. All too quickly she was becoming dependent upon his strength.
At the clinic, Mason gunned the truck into a parking space near the ER entrance. Bliss was out of his pickup before it had completely stopped moving. “I’ll be back,” Mason promised, then drove off. Bliss nodded and straightened her shoulders. She’d get through this. Somehow. No matter what happened.
She strode through the automatic doors and found Brynnie, ashen faced, wringing a shredded tissue in her hands. She was seated on the edge of one of the well-used plastic couches in the waiting area.
“How’s Dad?” Bliss asked.
“I don’t know anything,” Brynnie responded as she dabbed at the corners of her eyes. Mascara ran down her cheeks despite her best efforts. “The paramedics seem to think it was just heatstroke, but the doctors are running tests anyway. Oh, Lordy, Bliss, I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose that man. I’ve loved him so long, and now…now that we finally have the chance to be together, he might…” She dissolved into tears, and Bliss, unable to resist, wrapped her arms around the older woman as Brynnie sobbed in earnest.
For all her faults, Brynnie did seem to love John Cawthorne, and Bliss had trouble disliking a woman who cared so deeply.
“I should never have sold part of the ranch to Mason. I thought it would help, but it backfired on me. John will never forgive me.”
“Sure, he will. Mason says he’ll sell it back to you.”
“I know, I know, but I’m afraid it’s too late. John will never trust me again.”
“Shh. You don’t know that.”
“Where is Mason?”
“He had to check on Dee Dee, but he said he’ll be back soon.”
“He’s a good man, Bliss. No matter what your father says.”
“I know.”
People came and went as the minutes ticked by. After nearly half an hour, Mason returned with his daughter in tow. She looked small and frail beside him; her eyes were wide and wary and stared at Bliss as if she were some kind of oddity.
Mason guided his daughter to a chair by the windows where potted plants were growing in profusion and a rack of well-used magazines was propped against a post. After one last suspicious glance cast in Bliss’s direction she dug into her oversize bag and dragged out a thin paperback novel. Mason nodded at Bliss but stayed near his young charge.
“What’s taking so long?” Brynnie asked, gnawing on her lower lip.
“Don’t worry. It always takes a while. Dad will be fine,” Bliss assured the older woman, all the while wishing she could believe her own words and aware of Mason’s gaze boring into her. “He wouldn’t miss your wedding for the world.”
Brynnie laughed despite her tears and blew her nose so loudly she woke a baby who was sleeping in his mother’s arms in a nearby chair. The mother smoothed the baby’s curls and softly hummed a lullaby to quiet the child, who nestled even closer and sighed as his eyelids drooped again.
Bliss looked away from the tender scene. Ever since she’d returned to Bittersweet, it seemed that everywhere she went she was faced with shining examples of motherhood and was constantly being reminded of her own childless state.
“I…I need a cigarette,” Brynnie admitted and eyed the no-smoking sign with distaste. “You know, nowadays, they make you feel like a criminal just because you need a little hit of nicotine. Big deal.”
“Well, this is a health-care facility.”
“Yeah, I know. And I’ve tried to quit, but old habits die hard. Even the ones that will kill you.” She laughed again, coughed a bit and patted the edge of a tissue against the corners of her eyes.
“Go ahead. I’ll wait in here,” Bliss said, relieved that Brynnie seemed to be calming a bit. “If there’s any news, I’ll come find you.”
