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Laughter from Fiona’s group of friends broke out, and Gracie smiled. “I am. I know standing here watching things all by myself might look lonely, but it’s how I like it.”
“I know,” Kate said. “I’m well aware of how introverts work. I was raised by two of them.”
Gracie chuckled as she imagined the outgoing woman growing up with two quiet parents. “Let me guess, you joined every club and team you could?”
“I did have a lot of extracurricular activities, and I hung out a lot at my best friend’s house. Carrie had six brothers and sisters, and her home was always full of people. I loved it there.”
“Sounds fun.” Gracie noticed Henry and Leo approaching them.
“We ran out of beer,” Henry said. “But Eric says we can borrow a keg from the mountain. Leo and I are going to get it.”
Leo looked at Gracie and raised his eyebrows as if he was making sure it was okay with her. She chuckled. “Go. I wouldn’t dream of getting between a man and his beer.”
Leo flashed her a grin before he left. Gracie’s bladder became something she could no longer ignore, and she said to Kate, “I’m going to use the bathroom.”
As Gracie made her way to the powder room, her phone rang. When she noticed it was her mother, she was tempted to ignore the call, but it was almost midnight and past when Margo usually went to bed. Worried something bad had happened, she decided to take the call.
“Gracie, it’s Darla.”
Gracie’s breath caught in her throat, and she moved toward Kate and Henry’s bedroom to have a quiet place to talk. “Darla, what’s wrong?” she asked before she shut the door to her friends’ bedroom.
“Honey, your mother has had an accident.”
Gracie’s heart stopped for moment, and when it started beating again, she yanked the door to the bedroom open and rushed to the ladder that led to her loft.
Darla said, “She’s in a lot of pain and asking for you. You really should come.”
“Where are you?”
“Fairfield hospital.”
“I’ll be right there.” Gracie ended the call and scrambled up to her loft to get her car keys. She found Kate to tell her that her mother was in the hospital before she went to her car.
The small hospital was a ten-minute drive away, and Gracie spent the trip imagining all the horrible things that could have happened to her mother. Her heart ached when she thought about losing the woman who’d raised her. By the time Gracie got to the hospital, she was almost too afraid to go inside and find out how bad her mother’s condition was.
She was short of breath when she reached the reception desk and said, “I need to see Margo Templeton. I’m her daughter.”
“Goodness honey, breathe,” the woman behind the counter said as she stepped out into the hallway. “She’s going to be fine. Right this way.”
“Oh.” Gracie blew out a breath in relief. “I was so worried.”
The woman frowned at her as she paused by a door. “She’s right in here. You must have—”
“Gracie!” Margo cried out. “Thank god you’re here.”
Gracie walked over to her mother, who was sitting on a bed with her ankle wrapped in an ace bandage and propped up on a pillow.
“Darla had to leave me. Something about her kids being home alone and that being more important than me.” Margo sighed. “Can you believe that? Anyway, I’ve got you, don’t I?”
“You do, Mom,” Gracie said as she reached for her mother’s hand, happy that her mom appeared okay.
Margo squeezed her fingers and then released her grip to pull away. She swept her hand toward her ankle. “As you can see, I’m not going to be able to work now. The swelling is so great they can’t even cast it. I’m going to need surgery. I really can’t be alone right now.”
“Uh-huh,” Gracie said as she removed her jacket and set it on the chair beside Margo’s bed. The need to urinate had become urgent since she hadn’t had the chance to go before the phone call, and she said, “If you’ll excuse me, I really need to go to the bathroom.”
“Gracie!”
She ignored Margo and rushed to the restroom that she’d seen down the hall on her way to her mother’s room. Once she’d relieved herself and water was rushing from the sink as she washed her hands, Gracie began to get angry about the phone call from Darla. She suspected her neighbor had been instructed to not tell Gracie the whole truth about Margo’s condition. Because while she didn’t have the details, it appeared her mother’s injury wasn’t severe. Gracie suspected her mother was trying to manipulate her into moving back home.
