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“Don’t, Nolan. I know you appreciate it, and you don’t need to say anything else right now. Just say thank you.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now I know you won’t get much rest but try to get some. The kids were exhausted and crashed within seconds of lying down. They will be fine.”
“Where are you sleeping?”
“Hunt brought me a cot from the firehouse. There was no way I was sleeping on that thin mat you have been lying on. My god, I wouldn’t be able to get off the floor in the morning.”
I laughed, and it felt so good. “I missed you.” The words fell from my lips without prompting.
“I have missed you too, Nolan. Now get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Night, Brad.”
“Night, Nolan.”
I looked at the pictures again, and as I walked back down the hallway, I received another one. This one was of a lone cot sitting in Lauren’s room down the hallway.
I typed back.It looks harder than the mat!
It might be. I’ll let you know in the morning.
As I curled in the chair beside Lauren’s bed, I closed my eyes and thought back on my time with Brad instead of the events of the day.
I think I had been very wrong about Brad, and maybe I needed to find a way to make it up to him. Perhaps we could make it work after all.
As I sat there, I tried to find the best way to show him that I was sorry and that I had been wrong. Finally, an idea came to mind, and I found myself collecting my cellphone from my lap to reach out to someone for some help.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Bradley
Back at the house, Kayley asked how things had gone. We explained to everyone all the details, stating that Lauren would be alright, and Nolan was with her for the night.
There were still quite a few people at the party, and I grabbed a beer and dropped into a seat. Well, that hadn’t been the kind of excitement that we wanted.
Tonya was on the side of the house playing soccer with some of the other kids. It was the first time that I had seen her actively playing. Usually, if kids started playing soccer, she’d stand on the sidelines and watch. Now, she was running back and forth and trying to steal the ball from the other kids.
Tyler had been playing, but he was taking a break, and now he was on the porch with Emmy. She sat on her knees, crawling around as she talked about and to the soft critters. They were now all lined up along the porch railing spindles from the back porch along the side and into the front. Whatever made her happy and kept her relaxed was fine with me.
Emmy looked up at Tyler, and they talked for a minute. Then he ran down the porch and started to pick something up but stopped and instead pointed at it. Emmy went to him and picked up the brown Beanie and handed it to him. He grinned at her and then raced away. Emmy disappeared for a moment around the front and then came back and set another critter in its place.
I drank from the beer as a few friends came to sit with me, and Riley squeezed my shoulder, winking at me as I looked back at her as she passed.
The next few hours were uneventful, and I wondered on and off how Nolan and Lauren were but didn’t feel that I should reach out. Wes told me as he got ready to leave that he had just spoken to the hospital and Lauren was doing better than expected.
Kayley was on the back porch, talking to Emmy about something, and Emmy looked angry. “What’s going on, Emmy?”
“I don’t want to go to Aunt Kayley’s. I want to go home.”
“Well, your mom isn’t there.”
She lifted her gaze as Tonya and Tyler came to my side and replied, “But I want to go home.”
Tonya turned to me. “Dad, how about we have a sleepover at Nolan’s house tonight? Emmy could sleep in her home, and we could have a fun overnight.”
“You have school tomorrow.”
