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This was incredible. Better than I’d ever thought we could have. I was so fucking grateful I didn’t fuck things up with them so badly that I lost them. These two people were the best thing that had ever happened to me.
29
Maddox
Saturday morning, I was up before Onyx and Alys—no surprise—and that meant I was making a coffee run. When I got back to Onyx’s, there was a woman waiting on his front steps. She was probably about my age, maybe a little younger, with her hair pulled away from her face in a braid, and the most practical sneakers I’d ever seen.
“Maddox Haddar?” She stood as I approached.
What the…? “That’s me.”
“I’m Quinn. I’m the daytime nurse staying with your father at his place while he recovers. You look just like the pictures he has of you.”
I bet he loved having a nurse watching over him. Not. “He has pictures of me?”
She nodded. “And your brother. Your mother. Though, he doesn’t say much about her.”
“No, he wouldn’t.” I was surprised he mentioned us at all. “How can I help you?” There was no reason to be rude to her for doing a job, but I wasn’t interested in talking about my old man.
“He keeps talking about seeing you at the hospital. Saying something wrong. I think he’d really like to see you.”
Yeah, no. “That’s not a good idea.”
“Please?” she said.
That conversation, the hospital one, hadn’t completely left my mind since the encounter. The last thing I wanted was Round Two. “You’re his nurse, so you’ve spent some time with him?” Presumably, since she knew who we all were.
“Yes. Grumpy on the surface, but not so prickly underneath.”
That wasn’t right. “You’re talking about someone else.”
“Having a heart attack can change a person’s perspective,” she said. “IF you change your mind, you know where to find him. He’s not going much of anywhere for a few weeks.”
“Thanks but no thanks. I’m sorry you wasted a trip.” I headed inside.
Brushing her off was easier than erasing the exchange from my mind. I could hear Alys and Onyx moving around in the other room, so I set the table, put our drinks and sandwiches out.
“Who were you talking to outside?” Alys asked as they emerged.
I shook my head. “No one.”
But the thought wouldn’t leave. The conversation with Quinn wouldn’t go away.
“No, really. Who were you talking to?” Onyx nudged.
Alys set her coffee down. “Don’t say no one again. You haven’t touched your sandwich.”
I picked up the sausage and egg croissant and took a huge bite, half to prove her wrong and half to put food in my mouth so I couldn’t answer. It tasted like sawdust in my mouth, and I couldn’t hide my scowl.
“Tell us,” Alys prompted.
I swallowed the food, washed it down with coffee, and repeated the conversation I’d had outside. As I talked, I was met with a concerned look from Onyx and a sympathetic one from Alys, and neither of them looked judgmental about my decision.
They didn’t need to be—I had that covered enough for all three of us.
Alys pushed aside her food enough to lean in. “What do you want to do?”
I’d literally just said what I wanted to do. I’d already done it. “I don’t know. Seeing him is closure. I can either tell him I’m done or I can hear him out, but I could say both to his face.”
