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“I panicked and needed to get here as quickly as possible. I thought it might take me a lot longer since my car wasn’t charged, but Hugh lent me his.” She slumped against the side of the lift. “He just handed over his car key as though it was nothing.”
“He must really like you.”
Allie felt a warm glow in her belly as she thought about him. “Things progressed pretty quickly.”
“How do you mean?”
“I’ve been spending all of my spare time with him,” she said with a coy shrug. “I was at his place for the entire weekend. Yesterday he showed up at the clubhouse after my shift and stayed at my place. He was with me when you called. And lent me his car.”
Bella blinked rapidly. “So this is serious between you?”
“I’m not sure what it is.” The lift doors opened and they stepped into the brightly lit corridor. “I really like him.”
“Have you told him who you really are? That you own the club?”
“Not yet, but I’m going to tell him as soon as I get back.” She’d realised the moment he’d handed over his car key without hesitation that she wanted to tell him everything. Things would change, she was sure of that. That was fine, though. Once Emmy was back, they’d lose that carefree element to their relationship anyway. Not that she cared – she didn’t want their relationship to only be about having fun.
“This way,” Bella said, pointing at a door on the left before slowly opening it.
Seeing her dad lying in a hospital gown made Allie’s insides twist. It was a stark contrast to his usual well-put-together appearance. In her head he was so strong, but now he looked anything but. For a moment, she could understand why he didn’t want her to see him going through this. She even felt a pinch of gratitude to him for sparing her the worry.
“You can’t avoid the lecture forever,” she said, quietly enough that she wouldn’t wake him if he truly was sleeping.
He let out a sigh as he opened his eyes. “I don’t know why I thought Bella could keep a secret.”
With a small shake of the head, Allie bent down to hug him. “You scared the life out of me.”
“I’m fine,” he said.
“You should have told me what was going on.”
“Why? So you could worry?” His mouth was set in a hard line. “You worry enough as it is. Besides, having Bella fussing over me was quite enough. The two of you would’ve been unbearable.” His eyes flicked from Allie to Bella, but neither of them responded to his jokey tone.
“I’ll see if I can find coffee,” Bella said before slipping from the room.
Allie let the silence linger for a moment. “You owe Bella an apology,” she finally said. “You put her in a horrible position.”
“I know,” he said, then blew out a breath. “I already apologised. She was really upset earlier, panicking that you were angry with her.”
“I snapped at her on the phone.” Allie perched on the side of the bed and gave her dad’s hand a squeeze. “You could have just told me the truth from the start.”
He nodded slowly, but she knew he was unrepentant on that score.
“Are you all fixed now?” she asked with a nod toward his chest.
“Yes. The stent widens the artery to lower the risk of another heart attack. I’d say I’m fit as a fiddle now.”
“And I’d say you need to take it easy for a while. Presumably there’ll be some lifestyle changes? How many times have I told you to eat more salad and fewer chips?”
He rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you pull up a chair and fill me in on life in Hope Cove?”
“I’ll allow the change of subject,” she told him, pulling up a chair beside the bed. “But we’re coming back to it later.”
“I knew you’d like Hope Cove if you’d just spend some time there.”
“I do like it,” she said, sinking back into the chair as best she could given how uncomfortable it was.
“What are your thoughts on the club?”
