Twenty-Six
The ringing of my cell phone broke the peaceful silence that had settled where Teagan and I lay in my bed. The sound was so unexpected that I jumped and he grumbled and tightened his arms around me in protest. I reached over and grabbed the offending phone and winced when I saw the number. We should probably be grateful his timing wasn’t as good as it usually was. With a sigh, I answered the call.
“Hey, Connor.” Teagan tensed and I ran a hand along his shoulders to calm him. “How’s Mom? Has there been any change?”
“All right, Ash. I’ve taken a couple of hours to think about this, I’ve calmed down a little…” He paused and took a breath. “Was there anything you felt I maybe should have been told before I walked into the hospital earlier?”
I knew exactly what he was talking about. “Okay, so, while I should have told you about Logan, I couldn’t.”
“And why would that be?”
“Because Mom asked me not to.”
There was a brief silence before Connor replied. “Ash?”
“Yeah?”
“Wasn’t Mom in surgery when you got here?”
“Yes.” I frowned, not sure where he was going with this.
“Huh. I gotta wonder, then, how did she tell you not to tell me?” he mused.
I froze, realizing I’d just been busted. Teagan, sensing something wasn’t right, pushed himself up with a concerned frown. I shook my head and held a finger up to my lips indicating to keep quiet.
“Aislinn?”
I swallowed before I answered. “Yeah?”
“Care to explain this to me?”
I shook my head. “No, not really.”
“Jesus!” he exploded. “You mean to tell me you’ve known about this guy and haven’t told me?”
I pushed a hand through my hair and blew out a breath. “Look, Connor…Mom knew how you felt about Dad and her, all right? She didn’t want to cause problems until she knew how things were gonna go with this guy.” I wasn’t sure I was doing a very good job of explaining, though. Especially since I was still upset about the whole engagement thing myself.
“So she kept this a secret? For how long?” he asked in a hurt voice.
I didn’t want to add to it, but I felt like he should know the truth. “She told me back during the spring,” I said softly.
He was quiet for a moment and my heart ached for him. He cleared his throat before he spoke. “Well, then. I guess that’s that, huh?” He paused. “Not much else I can say to that.”
“Connor…” I started, but stopped. I didn’t know what to say. I looked at Teagan helplessly and he reached out and rubbed his hand along my arm soothingly.
“It’s whatever, sis,” he said in a dismissive manner. But I knew it was anything but. “Anyway, when do you think you’ll be here? I need some sleep and a shower.”
I assured him we’d be there as soon as we’d gotten showered and ready and ended the call. The quiet that followed was heavy and depressing. Teagan reached over and pulled me into his lap and ran a hand over my hair.
“You going to be okay?” he asked, concern in his voice.
I nodded. “Yeah. I’m just worried about him. I knew he wouldn’t handle this well.”
“He’ll get used to it, baby. He has to, you know? She’s you guys’ mom,” he reasoned.
He was right, but I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy for Connor. He’d always held Mom on a pedestal. Dad has always been the one in the wrong, and she was the shining one who had held them together and done no wrong. Moving on, even though Dad had been gone for so long, was the same as cheating in his eyes. The irony didn’t escape me either.
However, it didn’t change that we needed to get ready and head to the hospital. Teagan gave me a quick kiss and helped me stand up from the bed. I grabbed my things and we took a quick shower, which turned into a longer one because I discovered my boyfriend couldn’t keep his hands to himself.
Not that I minded.
***
We arrived at the hospital to find Logan sitting by himself in the ICU waiting room, looking like crap. I walked over and sat beside him. He looked at me in sleepy surprise and all that could be done was to offer him a sympathetic smile.
“Have you slept at all?” I asked, taking in his rumpled clothes and dark circles under his eyes.
He shook his head. “No. It’s not like these chairs are the most comfortable.” He stood and stretched, groaning as joints popped and cracked.
Teagan studied him in concern for a moment. “You need to get some sleep, man. You don’t look good.”
“No,” Logan said as he scrubbed his hands over his face. “But I’m not leaving until I have some sort of news about Meagan.”
My heart clenched and thawed toward the man at those words. It was then I realized just how much he cared about my mom. The back of my nose started to burn and I had to look away before things got to be too much for me. Teagan walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder, steadying me.
“I met your brother,” Logan told me unexpectedly.
I sighed and nodded. “Yeah, I already got a call about it.”
He shook his head and looked around the room. “It could have gone better, I suppose.” He paused and seemed to debate his words before he took a breath. “I had told your mom I didn’t think it was a good idea not to tell you guys what was going on.”
I stared at the ceiling for a moment, gathering my thoughts to try to explain it to him. After a second I realized it wasn’t going to help and turned back to him.
“Logan, honestly, it wouldn’t have mattered.” His surprised expression prompted me to continue. “Connor would have an issue with anyone Mom moved on with. He felt like Dad abandoned us and Mom was this perfect angel up on high. Her moving on? It’d knock her off of that, and that just wouldn’t work for him.” I shrugged. “There was going to be fallout no matter what you guys did.”
“She’s right,” Teagan said. I reached up and grasped his hand, squeezing it to show my appreciation for his support. “I know her brother pretty well. He worships their mother…nothing would have changed how this played out. But he’ll come around.”
Logan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I hope so,” he said quietly. “It’ll kill her if he doesn’t.”
I smiled at him. “Don’t worry. All she has to do is threaten to never make her chocolate pie again and he’ll fall into line.”
At that, we all laughed softly and settled in to wait for an update.
***
“Here you go.”
I blinked in surprise when a cup of coffee appeared in front of me. I looked up and saw it came from none other than my best friend Penny. Shock didn’t begin to describe my state at that moment. It was Penny. The same Penny I hadn’t been able to reach for…well, forever, it seemed like.
“How…?” I was so stunned I couldn’t even form the question. Luckily, she knew me so well she could finish for me.
“Connor.”
My brow scrunched. “What?” Then I really took her in and I saw Penny looked bad. Like, really bad.
Penny had bruises.
“What the hell happened to you?” I practically shouted.
She made a shushing motion with her hand and I shook my head.
“Don’t shush me! You don’t speak to me for months, you tell me Connor brought you here, and you look like that?” I was so upset I was panting. “I want an explanation, Penny. Now.”
She dropped her head and I swore she looked like she was about to cry. I studied her, waiting. When she didn’t say anything, I let out a frustrated breath. “I don’t believe this. I just…really?” I looked away from her. “What the hell is going on?”
“Ash…” she whispered. “Please.”
I whipped my head around to stare at her.
“I can’t. I’ll tell you, eventually. But right now, I just can’t, okay?”
The girl who sat beside me wasn’t the Penny I knew. That Penny was vibrant and strong. This Penny, she was small and defeated and it scared me. It made me angry that something had happened to make my Penny into this one. But I knew I couldn’t push her. I nodded.
“Okay.” I wrapped an arm around her. “Jesus, Penny. I don’t know what happened…but I’m going to kill someone.”
With those words, Penny buried her head into my shoulder and burst into tears. I looked up to see Connor watching us, a deep frown on his face. His gaze caught mine, and what I saw in his eyes took me by surprise. It was fierce and protective, and it was directed at the girl who cried in my arms.
That was unexpected.