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Harlow
Telling Ryker that she’d marry him was easy after everything that they had been through together over the past twenty-four hours. Her mother was right, if she wanted to marry him, why not? When he basically asked her again to be his wife while they were at the police station, she couldn’t help but tell him yes on the spot. Sure, it wasn’t the most romantic setting in the world, but she was with the man that she was falling in love with and that made everything around her feel as though it had disappeared.
They drove the twenty minutes to the hospital as Iris complained that she was hungry. “We’ll need to get her something to eat once we get over to the ER,” she said.
“I’ll take Iris for some food, and you go talk your mom into staying the night,” Ryker offered. “That will give me a chance to call Taz and have him take inventory for me. I’m assuming he’s figured out that we aren’t coming into the bar tonight.”
“He’s been texting me, asking where we are, but I haven’t had a chance to tell him what happened,” Harlow said.
“I’ll fill him in,” Ryker promised. “You just worry about your mom and making sure that she’s all right.”
“Thank you,” Harlow whispered. With every passing day, having Ryker in her life felt more and more like he was always supposed to be there. She wasn’t one to ask for help or lean on anyone besides her mother. She had trusted Craig and leaned on him for years and look where that had gotten her. But Ryker had shown her that it was okay to trust again and to let him help her out. It was nice to have a partner again.
“I don’t want a big wedding,” she said.
He smiled over at her, “Okay,” he agreed. “It’s just me,” he said. “I don’t have any family to even invite, honey. I’m good with whatever you want.”
“How about we get married at the Smokey Bandits?” she asked. “You know, where we met and everything. I think that would be romantic.”
He chuckled, “No one has ever called my bar romantic, honey,” he teased. “But I’ll marry you any time, anywhere.”
“Good to know,” she said. “Let’s get through this thing with Corinne and then we can get married. I just want to make sure that we don’t have a custody hearing hanging over our heads when we say our vows. I want a clean slate.”
“Me too, honey,” he agreed. “We’ll have that too—you’ll see,” he promised. Harlow just hoped like hell that he was right because she was sick of bad shit ruling her life. First, Craig and the court case with him and now his mother. She was ready for some good things to finally happen to her.
He dropped her off at the ER entrance, promising to swing back by just as soon as he found Iris something to eat. Harlow walked into the hospital and found her mother just as soon as they let her back into the ER. She was raising quite a fuss about going home.
“Mama,” Harlow said, pulling the curtain back to stare down her mother. “You’re making too much noise and disturbing the other patients.”
“I don’t care,” her mother insisted. “I want to go home.” She pointed her finger at Harlow as if in warning. “And don’t you forget who the parent is here and who’s the child. You can’t come in here telling me what I should and shouldn’t do.”
“Well, you’re acting like a child, Mama,” Harlow said. “How about you and I let the doctor fill me in on what’s going on and then, we can decide if you’re coming home tonight or not?” she asked her mother. The very young-looking ER doctor nodded to her from the corner of the cubicle.
“Thank you,” he said. “I told your mom that she has a pretty nasty concussion and should be monitored overnight. She will have to be woken every hour and if she has any trouble being roused from sleep, she will need immediate medical attention.”
“I’m sure that my daughter can do all of that for me, and drive me back here if it’s necessary,” her mother insisted.
“With Iris in tow, Mama?” Harlow asked. She hated playing the “I’ve got a two-year-old card” with her mother, but she wasn’t going to risk her mom going home prematurely. “The staff here will be able to take care of you so much better than I can. Plus, if you do need to be driven back to the ER, I’ll have to wake Iris and you know how grumpy she is when she doesn’t get enough sleep.”
Her mother looked mad enough to spit nails. “I know how she is when she’s tired. You were the same way when you were a kid. I just hate staying in hospitals,” her mother said.
“I know you do, Mama, but it would be so much easier on all of us. And I’ll be right here waiting to take you home in the morning,” Harlow promised.
Her mother settled back in her bed and seemed to calm a bit. “I’ll stay on one condition,” her mother agreed. Judging by the smile on her mother’s face, she wasn’t going to like this condition.
“Name it,” Harlow said.
“Marry Ryker,” she said.
Harlow pretended to mull it over and then smiled and nodded. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll agree to marry him if you agree to stay overnight and let the doctors take care of you properly.” Harlow held out her hand and her mother shook on their deal. She wasn’t about to tell her mom that she had been duped and that she had already agreed to marry Ryker. A deal was a deal.
“That was almost too easy,” her mother said, looking her over as if she didn’t believe her.
“You have my word, Mama,” Harlow said. “I’ll marry Ryker. If you want me to write it down and sign the paper, I will,” she offered.
“I do,” her mother said. She looked over at the doctor who seemed to be more amused by the whole scene than Harlow was. “Do you have a paper and pen?” she asked.
“I do,” he offered. He pulled his prescription pad out of his white lab coat, along with a pen, and handed it to her.
