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“Okay.” Isabel stood. “May I ride with him?”
“Of course,” the EMT said.
Isabel turned to Jackson. “Will you grab my purse at your place?”
“Sure. Do you want me to take you to the hospital?”
She shook her head. “No, I’ll ride with Grandpa.”
“Okay. I’ll meet you there then.” Because Jackson wasn’t letting her be alone right now. “I’ll take Blaze out too.”
“Thanks.” She turned her attention back to Eugene who was being loaded onto a gurney now. Following the EMTs, Isabel gave Jackson one glance over her shoulder before she left the cottage. That glance could have meant she was sorry their night had gotten interrupted. It could have meant thanks for helping with this. It could have meant she needed to put caring for her grandfather first.
It could have also meant she regretted spending time with Jackson.
****
Isabel leaned away from Jackson as they sat together in the hospital waiting room. She didn’t want to rely on him for comfort or support right now. Not when her time with him had caused her to neglect the job she’d come here to do. Taking care of Grandpa was supposed to be her Number One concern and instead she’d been having sex with Jackson. And to what end anyway? Did she think they’d actually settle down together in Vermont?
Stupid.
She had her resort to open. Not in Vermont. Jackson had more discoveries to make. Maybe in Vermont, but surely what he’d found in the woods wouldn’t mean the end of his career traveling the globe and finding more artifacts. Their time in Maplehaven was limited. So was whatever they were doing together and maybe it’d be best to stop it now before they let the illusion gain any more power.
“You don’t have to stay,” she said for the fourth time since Jackson had arrived with her purse and taken the seat beside her.
“I want to stay,” he said, also for the fourth time.
Isabel clasped and unclasped her hands in her lap and Jackson reached over. His large hand stilled both of hers, and although his touch soothed her as it always had, she slid her hands free and put her arms on the armrests of her chair.
“What are we doing?” She rubbed her temple where a headache beat out a rhythm she didn’t enjoy.
“We’re waiting for news about your grandfather,” Jackson said, turning his head to look at her.
She didn’t meet his gaze, but she could feel it. “No. I mean... us. What are we doing? We can’t—” She stopped when Jackson clamped his hand on hers, pinning it to the armrest.
“Do not finish that sentence, Isabel.” His words came out like an admonishment, surprising Isabel. She’d only heard him use a tone like this once when they were teens. “This is not the time to discuss us. You’re upset and worried about your grandfather.”
She risked a glance at him, but he was staring at the painting of daisies on the wall across from them. His jaw was tensed and he blinked faster than normal. She’d seen the rapid blinking before. It always meant he was doing some intense thinking in that big brain of his.
Well, she was doing some thinking too and maybe he didn’t want to hear any of it right now, but she’d be having a conversation with him later. After they knew what was going on with Grandpa.
Whenever that might be.
How long did it take to examine one man and make a determination about his health? Isabel swore the clock on the wall was broken because it told her only forty minutes had passed since they’d admitted Grandpa. It felt as if it’d been forty days.
She pushed to standing, not able to sit still anymore. “I’m getting a drink.”
“I can get one for you,” Jackson said, ready to stand, but she waved him off.
“No. I need to go for a walk anyway. I’ll be right back.”
He relaxed back into his seat, but the look on his face was anything but relaxed. His deep brown eyes were full of concern and she thought back to the hunger, the passion, that had been in them earlier tonight.
Her own eyes pricked at the corners and she walked out of the waiting room before she caved and crawled into Jackson’s lap. Before she took all the comfort she knew he was willing to give her. Before she got any deeper with wanting to keep him.
The main hospital hallway was quiet at this time of night, only a few nurses checking into rooms or huddled at the nurses’ station. Isabel had only been in this hospital once and the news she’d received had been horrible.
Her parents’ car had hit a deer. The road had been slicked with rain and the car had swerved off the road into the opposite lane of traffic. The tractor trailer speeding down the other side of the road hadn’t had time to stop.
