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“Okay Gio,” Nero said. “Why don’t we let your dad and Aunt Char have a chat and we’ll go sit over here?”
“She told you?” Chardonnay said when Gio was out of earshot.
“She didn’t have to.”
“I might have had a conversation with her.”
“She refused medical attention because she was more afraid of the money than her own wellbeing. I wonder why that is.” I glared at Char, letting her piece the puzzle together. She knew exactly why. “Do me a favor. The next time you want to have a conversation with her about stuff that doesn’t concern you, go eat shit.”
Chardonnay’s eyes widened, but not in shock. No. It looked more like… pride. “Not exactly something I ever want to experience, so I’ll keep my mouth shut instead.”
“Thank you.”
“We’ll stay here with Gio. Go find Quinn and be there for her. She’s alone, and that’s scary.”
I nodded and turned to where I’d left Quinn. Knowing Gio was in good hands, I hurried across the room, guilt consuming me for leaving Quinn alone when she needed me.
Rose caught up to me, falling in step and coming to a stop right before the doors. “This might not be a good time, but I wanted you to know I found out who Quinn is. Her nameisQuinn, but her last name is—”
“Fraser,” I said before she could finish.”
“Yes, but how’d you know?”
“It doesn’t matter. I have to get to her.”
She grappled for my arm, her grip tighter than I’ve ever felt from my otherwise gentle sister. “You might want to hear this first.”
“Can we get ice cream?” Gio asked, secured in the backseat.
“Ice cream?” Franc asked, glancing over at me. I couldn’t believe he was still talking to me after I’d put his son in danger.
“That’s where we were heading when… well, you know,” I said, trying to ignore the pain that radiated from my collarbone down my arm and into my neck. I did not have broken collarbone on my summer to-do list.
I couldn’t even think about it. It seemed like it was another notch on my long list of if it can go wrong, it will go wrong.
“I was going to get cotton candy. No. I mean cookies and cream. No wait. I mean birthday cake! I was going to get birthday cake, and Quinn was going to get butter pecan because it’s her favorite.”
“Ice cream it is, then,” Franc said.
“Nice!” Gio said, and I was happy he wasn’t hurt, and mentally, he seemed okay. If anything, the accident, the ride in the ambulance, and the trip to the hospital were great topics of conversation for him to share.
Still, he could have been seriously injured. I knew it wasn’t my fault. There was nothing I could have done differently. We had a green light, and by the time I saw the car blowing the red, it was too late.
He T-boned us but luckily it was the side Gio and I weren’t on. It could have been worse. It could have been so much worse, just like when I drove into a freaking river.
Maybe it was a good thing I didn’t have a car right now. Every time I got in one, disaster seemed to strike.
Not that I could drive with a broken collarbone, anyway. I almost knew it before the x-ray. I had tried to ignore the pain. Tried to ignore the dread filling my stomach and telling me something was wrong.
Franc had been waiting outside of the x-ray room when I came out, and he hadn’t left my side since.
Having him there eased all the anxieties that tried to weasel their way into my mind. I could freakout later when I was home behind closed doors. Maybe I’d call my mom. I didn’t want her to worry, and she would, but it had been a shit day, and some mom talk would be nice.
“Dad, did you know Romans made ice cream out of snow?”
“I didn’t know that. Where’d you learn that from?”
“Quinn.”
