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Logan directed me to his car and opened the door for me. As I sank into the passenger seat, he hesitated just for a second. “Do you need to stop by your dorm and grab anything?”
I shook my head. “I just want to get to her.”
“I’ll get you there.”
He dove into the driver’s seat and gunned the engine. We roared off campus through the deepening evening. I pulled my legs onto the seat in front of me and hugged my knees.
The problem with a two-hour drive was that there wasn’t much to do other than stew in my anxious thoughts for mile after mile. How would Mom be when I saw her? Should I have said something more to her the last time we talked? What if it had been theverylast time? Oh, God, I didn’t want to think like that.
I rubbed my forehead and stared out the window at the lights along the freeway, trying to think of nothing at all.
Logan cleared his throat. “I could put on the radio if you want.”
Somehow the thought of hearing music made me tense up. “No, I’d rather not.”
Silence hung between us for a few minutes longer. His hands flexed against the wheel. “If you don’t want to talk about this yet, I totally understand. I just—are you okay with everything that happened back at the library?”
I’d hardly even thought about our crazy interlude from the moment I’d gotten the call. It rushed back into my mind, a not entirely unwelcome distraction but far too overwhelming for me to really wrap my head around right now.
“I—I haven’t really had time to process it completely,” I said. “But I think I am. I was feeling pretty good about it up until your dad called.” I paused. “In a weird way, it feels kind of right that I’m with all of you instead of trying to pick between you.” My gaze slid toward his brawny form, his grim gaze aimed at the road ahead. “Areyougoing to be okay with it?”
Logan’s jaw worked. “I didn’t like watching you with that Beckett guy,” he admitted, his voice rough. “Even with Slade…” He let out a huff of breath. “But I could tell how muchyouliked it. I’ve put you through too much shit to tell you to give up anything that makes you happy now, Maddie. Beckett was right about that part, anyway.”
I swallowed thickly. “If you can’t handle it…” I didn’t know how I’d react if he said he was walking away now that we’d finally reconnected after all this time, but I had to know if he planned to.
Logan glanced at me for just a moment, but his eyes were so intense my skin tingled under his gaze. “I’ve wanted you for years, Maddie. To have youanyway is better than not at all. I meant what I said—I’m never pushing you away again. No matter how many guys you decide to date.”
The corner of my lip quirked upward despite my horrible mood. “I’m pretty sure four is more than enough. You don’t need to worry about me adding anyone else to the mix.”
Logan let out a dry chuckle. “I guess that’s a small relief.”
With the air cleared between us, the silence that followed didn’t weigh on me with the same discomfort. A little of the tension released from my chest. Logan and I were rushing back to take care of our family, as family—and whatever else we were now too.
Night had totally fallen by the time we reached our home town. Logan drove around the outskirts to the big hospital that served both our town and a couple others in the same region—the place where Dad had worked.
My lungs contracted all over again as he parked in the familiar lot off to the side of the building. Had someone in there been involved in Dad’s death—and in what had happened to my mom?
There was no way of knowing yet.
Holand had given me the room number. It blazed up through my memory as I hustled toward the doors. “328. If she’s out of surgery, that’s what room she’ll be in.”
We strode through the doors, and Logan had to catch me to stop me from bursting right into the ward before he’d explained to the nurse on duty who we were and what we were doing there. She motioned for us to go on. Unwilling to wait for an elevator, I dashed up two flights of stairs and shoved out into the third floor.
Logan had started tapping on his phone. I realized he’d been texting his dad, informing him of our arrival, when Holand stepped out of a room up ahead, glancing around for us. He looked exhausted, but his face brightened a little at the sight of me and his son.
He wouldn’t be able to look like that if Mom wasn’t at least mostly okay, right?
I almost sprinted the rest of the way to him. He grabbed me in a hug and then offered Logan a quick one as well, his eyes going abruptly watery.
“Mom,” I said hurriedly. “Is she—”
“She just got out of surgery an hour ago,” Holand said. “It was touch and go for a bit, but she pulled through, and they think she’ll make a full recovery. She’s awake for the moment but pretty groggy with the pain medication, and she’s awfully banged up. I’m sure she’d like to see you if you’re up for it, though.”
Relief and horror collided inside me. Mom was all right—but she almost hadn’t been. It almosthadbeen fatal.
Because of some sicko who was trying to sendmea warning.
I shivered at the thought and shoved it away. I needed to be here for Mom now. I could figure out the rest later.
