Chapter Fifteen
The entire trip back home was a blur to Evie. She wasn't even sure how it all happened. First, it was that call all adult children dread getting in the middle of the night, then, all of a sudden, she was sitting in the private jet next to Connor on their way to Kansas City.
She was getting ready to leave the hotel and make her way to the airport, but Connor said he'd take care of it. She thought he meant he'd drive her there, not hire a private plane to take her all the way home. The jet must have cost a fortune, but she was too weak to protest. Connor later assured her that he only borrowed the plane from Sebastian, who was happy to lend it to them.
They landed on the private strip just outside Kansas City, and there was already a black SUV waiting for them. Connor opened the door for her, helped her into the passenger seat, and then slipped into the driver's side. She mentioned the name of the hospital to him, and he drove her directly there.
“Charlie King,” she said to the nurse at the reception area, who directed her to the cardiothoracic ICU on the fifth floor. They ran to the elevators in the lobby and made their way to the ICU, where another nurse pointed them to her father’s room.
"Arthur!" she called to her younger half-brother. Arthur King was sitting on the bench outside the room, his face in his hands. He looked up and, when he saw his sister, got to his feet.
"Evie!"
Evie threw herself at Arthur. Long, gangly arms wrapped around her and, when she finally let go, she looked up at him. "You've grown again,” she said, her smile tight.
He gave a short laugh. "Yeah, puberty's coming at me with a vengeance," he said, his voice low. "Mom's livid. She had to buy new clothes twice this year."
“Where is Stephanie?” she asked, looking around for her stepmom.
"Talking with the doctor. Dad's almost out of the treatment room and …" Arthur's brown eyes, so much like her own, narrowed and looked behind her. "Who's he?" he asked, his shoulders straightening and chest puffing out.
Evie had nearly forgotten about Connor. She turned back and looked at him. He was watching them with a curious look on his face. “This is—”
“Connor,” he said, stepping forward and offering his hand to Arthur. The younger man took it and returned the handshake. “Good grip.”
"I'm Arthur. Who are you exactly?"
“Arthur,” Evie admonished. “He’s my … friend.”
“Friend, huh?” Arthur said, eyeing Connor suspiciously. “I’ve never seen you around here before.”
“I’m a friend from New York,” he answered.
“And you came all the way here? What for?”
Connor looked at Evie. “Your sister needs a friend right now.”
Before she could say anything else, a man in a white coat came out of the room, along with her stepmother.
"Evie, you're here!" Stephanie King cried as she wrapped her arms around her stepdaughter. "Thank God! I wasn't expecting you here so soon." Her blond hair was disheveled, and there were bags under her eyes. Though Stephanie was usually dressed professionally because she worked as an insurance agent in Kansas City, today she was looking more casual in sweatpants and a T-shirt. Evie imagined she probably threw on the first thing she could when ...
"Can we see him?" she asked the doctor, not wanting to picture her father in pain.
The man in the white coat shook his head. “Not yet, I’m afraid.”
“Is he going to be okay?”
"I can't be one hundred percent certain, but the prognosis is good. We were able to open up the blocked artery without surgery and, with the proper care, your father should be able to make a full recovery."
Evie felt her knees go weak as relief swept through her. “That’s great news.”
“He’s not quite out of the woods yet, but we’ll see. In the meantime, I suggest you all get some rest.” The doctor looked at Stephanie and Arthur. “I know you two have been here for a couple of hours. You can’t do much more for him, but you can come back this afternoon if you want. We’ll call you if anything changes.”
After thanking the doctor, Evie turned to Stephanie. "You guys should get some rest. I can stay here and wait if you want."
“Nonsense,” Stephanie said. “We’ll all go home and get freshened up and rest.”
“Even Connor?” Arthur asked.
“Who?”
Evie realized she had forgotten all about Connor. “Oh yeah. Um, Stephanie, this is my friend, Connor. Connor, my stepmom, Stephanie King.”
Stephanie peered up at Connor. Wearing his tight white t-shirt, jeans, and boots, and with tattoos up and down his arms, he must have looked intimidating to her stepmom. "Oh, my … I mean, nice to meet you, Connor. What brings you to Kansas?"
Evie groaned. “I’ll … explain later. Let’s go home.”
***
Connor offered to drive them all back to their home, but Arthur had taken the car over. So, they decided that Arthur would drive himself and Stephanie, and Evie and Connor could follow them back.
The hospital was only a couple of miles from the King family home. As they walked up to the ranch-style home in the suburb just outside Kansas City, Connor couldn't help but feel out of place. This was the American dream. The perfect suburban home, complete with the picket fence and perfectly manicured lawn.
"Should I put your friend in the guest room?" Stephanie asked. "You both are staying the weekend, right?"
Evie went red. “Uh …”
"I can stay at a hotel," Connor offered. "I didn't pack a bag or anything."
"Nonsense. You must stay here. Er," she looked around, "I don't think we have anything we can lend you. Even with Arthur's growth spurt, I'm afraid his sweatpants won't fit you."
“That’s fine, I can pick up some clothes later,” Connor said.
“Then maybe you’d like to freshen up a bit?”
"Thank you, Mrs. King," Connor said.
“Down the hall, to your right,” Stephanie replied. “And, please, call me Stephanie.”
"Thank you, Stephanie." He nodded at Evie and headed to the bedroom. He didn't need to freshen up, but he realized that was probably the signal that Stephanie wanted to be alone with her stepdaughter.
As he walked to the bedroom, he couldn't help but look at the photos lining the hallway. There were lots of them, and he recognized a much younger looking Evie, along with Arthur, Stephanie, and a dark-haired man with a bright smile who must be Evie's father. In one picture, he had his arm around her and their heads were leaning together. He could easily see the resemblance between father and daughter.
“Oh my God,” Evie said from behind him. “Those were my awkward years. Please stop looking.”
He smiled. “You were cute,” he said, pointing to one of her school photos.
She giggled. "Right. Pimply, chubby teen. Anyway." She moved closer to him. "Um, sorry about … the whole guest bedroom thing. Um, my parents are pretty conservative. Catholics, you know? And with Arthur here, they probably wouldn't let us stay in the same room anyway unless we were married." Her cheeks turned pink.
“It’s all right.” He had to admit, it stung a bit when Evie introduced him as a friend, but he didn’t hold it against her. She had more important things to worry about than his hurt feelings. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m … not really sure.” She shook her head. “I’m still processing.”
"He'll be okay," he assured her. He wanted so badly to hold her, to comfort her, but he wanted to be careful around her in her parents' home.
"You should—" The sound of the doorbell interrupted her. "Stephanie and Arthur are trying to get some rest, so I should go get that."
He watched her retreating back and headed to the guest bedroom. He found it easily and used the facilities to wash up. As he was drying his hands, his keen ears picked up raised voices outside. His senses went into overdrive, and he bolted for the front door.
More loud voices, one of them Evie’s. He would have ripped the door open if Arthur wasn’t already there, peering out the front window.
“What’s wrong?” Connor asked.
The younger man turned around, his face drawn into a deep scowl. "Richard. Evie’s stupid ex-boyfriend."
The hairs on the back of his neck bristled. Hands curled into fists at his sides. “Is she okay?”
“She’s not happy to see him, that’s for sure.” Arthur turned around. “Are you going to hurt her like that asshole did?”
Smart kid. “I’ll try not to.” That was the best he could promise for now.
Arthur stepped aside. “Go get rid of that bastard then.”
He cracked his knuckles, getting ready for a fight if needed. Pushing the surge of jealousy down deep, he opened the door.
“Evie, please, listen—”
"You said you only wanted to know about my dad's condition," Evie said, cutting him off. "I don't want to talk about us!"
“I do, but, please, you need to—” He reached for Evie’s arm, gripping her tight.
“Get your hands off her,” Connor growled.
The blond man in a dark suit stopped and looked at him. “Who the fuck are you?”
"I said get your hands off her, or I'll make you."
Richard's face twisted into fury. He straightened up, pulling his jacket to smooth it out. "Look, bro, this isn't any of your business."
“If you touch her, it is,” Connor said, his voice chilly.
“Is this your new boyfriend, Evie?” Richard said with a huff. “My, you’ve really outdone yourself.”
Connor stepped forward, but Evie quickly stepped up, grabbing his arm. “Connor, please, it’s okay.” She turned to Richard. “He was just leaving.”
"Fine," Richard sneered. "Don't come crawling back to me when he dumps your fat ass and you--"
Richard never finished his sentence because Evie's fist collided with his face. He staggered backwards, fell on the porch, then let out an indignant scream.
Evie's face quickly morphed from angry to surprise as she looked down and saw the blood flowing from her ex-boyfriend's nose.
“You bitch!” he cried, clutching his face as he struggled to get up. “I’m going to sue you!”
Connor chuckled. “Really, asshole? You’re gonna tell the cops and the court some girl knocked you flat on your ass?”
Richard let out another indignant screech and then turned around to lumber back to his car.
“I can’t believe I did that,” Evie said, her face pale. “Did I …”
“He deserved it,” Connor spat. “For what he said. For everything he did to you.”
“Maybe it was too much, but I couldn’t help it. I’m just so done…” Her voice shook.
Before Connor could reach out to comfort her, the front door flew open.
"Jesus, Evie! You got that bastard good!" Arthur let out a hooting laugh, then looked at Evie with pride in his eyes. "The look on his stupid face …"
Connor was disappointed he didn't get the satisfaction of decking Richard himself, but he was glad Evie stood up for herself in front of her younger brother. The young man should learn that women aren’t helpless nor do they always need a man to defend them.
“Watch your mouth, young man,” Evie warned. “Stephanie will wash it out with soap if she hears you cussing like that.”
“I’m sixteen,” Arthur moaned. “I’ve said waaaay worse than that.” He turned to Connor. “Did you teach her that?”
Connor shook his head. “Your sister did that all on her own, I’m afraid. So, don’t cross her.”
“Arthur,” Evie began. “Can you give us a moment?”
“But—”
“Please? We’ll come right in. I just need to speak to Connor alone.”
“Fine.” He sulked, then walked into the house.
Evie let out a breath as she rubbed her knuckles. Connor grabbed her hand and then looked at it closely. “Not too bad, but we should get some ice on it.” He stared at her face, then tipped up her chin. “What’s the matter?”
“Um … yeah, so that was Richard.”
“Dick?” He teased, using Selena’s favorite nickname.
She giggled. “Yeah. So, as you can see, I’m not the best judge of character when it comes to boyfriends.”
“What’s the matter?” He knew there was something else bothering her.
“I just …” She turned away from him. “I hate that you saw him.”
Connor tamped down the jealousy building inside of him. It was unnerving to see the man. From what Connor could piece together, Richard and Evie had been in a long-term relationship. There were some things they shared that made him want to tear the other man to pieces. But that was the past, and Connor knew Evie had to go through all that to make it here. Evie accepted him and his past, so he could accept hers. "It doesn't matter," he said, drawing her to him. She relaxed against his back, and he wound his arms around her waist. "He was part of your past, but what matters is today. Now."