by Mary Stone
“Hi.” Her voice was breathless, so she inhaled, forcing her nerves to calm. “This is Kylie Hatfield. My mother, Rhonda, just called me from this number and told me she was in the hospital. Is she still with you?”
“Yes, she certainly is.” He sounded a bit like a radio announcer. “One moment, and I’ll put her on.”
Who was that man? Whoever he was, there was no doubt Rhonda was probably pouring her charm on him. No wonder she’d sounded so happy on the phone, as if she’d just gotten a visit from Linc. Kylie knew it. Her mother was smitten.
“Hello!” her mother sang in her grand, boisterous way. Kylie could just see her, insisting on looking her best, even in a hospital bed. She’d probably been applying lipstick when Kylie called.
“Mom!” she said, gripping the receiver. “Are you okay? What was it? Your heart?”
Kylie’d constantly worried about her mother’s ticker, ever since she was diagnosed with high blood pressure a few years before. It was from all the good food she cooked, and the fact that her mother never exercised or watched her fats. Kylie didn’t, either, but she had time on her side. Her mother was her only living family; she needed her to take care of herself.
At least, the only living family she cared about.
“No,” Rhonda said. “Not at all. I was hit by a car while leaving the post office.”
“A what? Oh, my god! Are you okay?”
“Yes, it’s just a bruised knee and hip, sprained wrist. Nothing broken, thank goodness.”
Kylie let out a sigh of relief. “Well, good. How did that happen? Did that man whose phone you borrowed hit you?”
“No, it was a hit and run, believe it or not.”
“Really? Bastard. Then, who is—”
“I’m using Jerry’s phone. He’s been so nice. Stayed with me the whole time, and he’s just been a doll.”
For all of Kylie’s life, Rhonda’d kept herself off the market. Barely dated. Insisted she liked being alone. Why was she suddenly doing backflips over a guy she just met? “Did you hit your head?”
Rhonda tittered. “Not at all. Jerry saw the whole thing.”
“Jerry?”
“Yes, he’s very…” she sighed, “nice.”
Kylie pressed the heel of her hand into her eye. That was all she needed. Her mom going nuts over some dude she just met. She needed to investigate this Jerry dude, and stat. “Well, tell Jerry that he can leave, and sit tight. I’ll be right over.”
Before her mother could protest, she hung up and grabbed her purse. As she was about to leave, she remembered the Chinese food. She scuffed into her flip-flops, closing the door and running downstairs as she called to cancel the order. As she did, her stomach grumbled.
It was only when she got to the hospital that she realized what a mess she was. She was only wearing a camisole and boxer shorts, and she’d piled her hair on top of her head in a messy bun. She didn’t even look fit enough to go to the corner and pick up Chinese food. She didn’t look like she belonged anywhere but in bed.
Reaching behind the seat, she pulled out a UNC sweatshirt that she kept in the back for emergencies. It practically came down to her mid thighs and would cover the boxers well enough. She put it on, took the tie out of her hair and fluffed it, and then hurried into the hospital.
She found her mother in the non-urgent side of the ER, looking exactly as she had expected her to look: Perfect. She had a sling on one arm and a bruise on her temple, but other than that, she looked fine. “Oh, Kylie!” she said. “Come here, darling.”
As Kylie walked in, her eyes trailed over to the man sitting in the corner of the room. He was an older, well-dressed man with silver hair. Quite debonair and handsome, reminding her more than a little of Sean Connery. At a glance, Kylie understood exactly why her mom was acting that way. Her mother probably had forbidden him from leaving.
Kylie still didn’t trust him. She wasn’t sure she’d ever trust any man again.
“Mom,” Kylie said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Are you all right?”
“Of course. Just a little tap.”
That was surprising. She knew her mother and got the feeling that, if Mr. Connery hadn’t been sitting nearby, she’d be giving her a rundown of everything that ailed her. That was her mother. Never complaining and going out of her way to make others comfortable. She wished the man would just go so she and her mother could talk, but he appeared entirely too comfortable.
Kylie looked at him. “You saw it, right, Mr—”
Rhonda gripped her daughter’s forearm. “Kylie, please let me introduce you to Dr. Jerry Phillips. He works in this hospital as an ENT. That’s an Ear, Nose, and Thr—”
“I know what that is,” she snapped, looking over the man. Oh. So now the infatuation was becoming clearer. He was a doctor. “But I’m here now, so he can—”
“Don’t be rude, Kylie. He insisted upon staying because he’s a witness, and the police may want to speak with him.”
“Dr. Phillips,” Kylie said carefully, studying him. He was dressed so well, almost too well. Kylie had always been suspicious of men in general, but men who dressed like they were going to a wedding every day of their lives made her doubly suspicious. “You saw the accident? Was it just a tap?”
He looked at her mother fondly. “Not quite. I was coming from the other side of the street and saw the whole thing. Your mother received quite the jolt.”
“And this person just drove away?” Kylie touched her mother’s leg, and Rhonda yelped. Startled, Kylie lifted Rhonda’s skirt, then gasped at how swollen and bruised her mother’s knee was. “Nobody knows who did it? There has to be some way to find him!”
Rhonda pushed her skirt back down to cover her knee. “Nonsense. I could’ve been more careful. I shouldn’t have—”
Dr. Phillips took Rhonda’s hand, giving it a couple soft pats. “The woman driving the car was speeding and was probably distracted by her phone. Plus, running away from the scene of an accident is never okay,” he said, echoing exactly what Kylie was thinking. She could feel him look at her, but she couldn’t take her eyes from their joined hands. “The police are on their way over to take a statement. I do think whoever this person was needs to be brought to justice.”
Kylie felt her suspicion toward the man soften. No, she wasn’t going to get all googly-eyed like Rhonda, but he’d definitely won points by being here and taking such great care of her mother. “Thank you. I agree.”
“Now,” Rhonda said, looking over her daughter. “What is with that ensemble? Didn’t you come from work? Please tell me I raised my child to know better than to dress like that in public?”
Kylie looked down at herself. “Well, I—”
“Darling, your makeup’s all smeared. Have you been crying?”
Kylie winced. She hadn’t cried…that much. Just a little in the car on the way home from Starr Investigations. And a little more as she was sitting on the couch, contemplating burying herself under the cushions for life.
Had she even put on makeup that morning? Or maybe it was left over from where she hadn’t washed her face last night? She wiped a finger under her eye, and it came away black.
She felt her face flame hot, and her mother shook her head. Forget it, sweetheart. You’re a lost cause, the gesture said.
Kylie smoothed her hair back into a ponytail and then dropped the long strands when she realized she didn’t have any way of holding it back. “It’s not a big deal. No one’s here to see me, and this isn’t a fashion show. I’ll just—”
“Is that Kylie Hatfield I’m hearing?”
Kylie turned toward the hallway and saw a giant, redheaded form filling the doorway. He gave her a lazy smile.
Kylie smiled in return. She would’ve smiled brighter if she knew she didn’t look like crap. “Jacob!”
“Should’ve known,” he said, coming in to wrap her in a hug. “Where there’s trouble, there’s Kylie. Don’t you look like shit?”
Kylie could always count
on Jacob to tell it like it was.
“Gee, thanks. It’s not me this time, I swear,” she said, shoving him in the chest as she released him. “It’s my mom.”
“No, you definitely look like shit,” he said to her with a laugh, then looked past her, raising his voice. “So, what’s this I hear? All the Hatfields are troublemakers? You must be Kylie’s sister. I can see the resemblance.”
Kylie rolled her eyes as her mother blushed at the compliment. Rhonda actually seemed to be enjoying herself, so she simply stepped back and watched the men blanket her with their attention.
“How are you feeling? I’m Jacob Dean, county detective. I was already at the hospital, so I told the boys at the precinct that I’d take your statement.”
She shook his big paw with her good hand. “Thank you for coming, Mr. Dean.”
Jacob shook Dr. Phillips’s hand, and he introduced himself as a witness. “Always good to have a witness. What’s this about a hit and run?”
“I saw the whole thing,” Dr. Phillips said. “It was a young woman in a yellow sports car.”
Rhonda opened her mouth to speak, but then her eyes went to the door and her face lit up. “Linc!”
Kylie whirled to see him standing in the door.
And she didn’t think she could feel much worse about her appearance. She looked like something that girl from last night would probably have on the bottom of her shoe.
“Sorry,” he said, his voice tentative. “Jacob texted me that a Hatfield was in the hospital, and I wanted to make sure you were all okay.”
Now she really wished she didn’t look like an old bag lady. All she could think of was the woman he’d been embracing. That woman probably didn’t go around with crud under her eyes, ever.
Kylie cringed as Rhonda said, “How kind of you, Linc! It’s just me. Your girlfriend is fine.”
Kylie hugged herself as his eyes fixed on her. She couldn’t meet his gaze.
He went over to the foot of the bed. “You’re all right, Ms. Hatfield? Nothing I can get you?”
“I’m very well, thank you. They’re taking good care of me,” she said. “But my daughter might need help. Look at her. Doesn’t she look awful?”
Kylie shot her eye daggers. Then her gaze flickered to Linc, who was watching her intently. He came close to her, close enough to touch, but he didn’t. He whispered, “Can I talk to you?”
She hitched a shoulder, like she didn’t care. “Fine.”
He let out a breath. “In private?”
She rolled her eyes at him like leaving the room was the hardest thing she’d ever have to do, then started toward the door as Jacob sat by Rhonda and started to take her statement.
This better be good, she told herself, trying to put on her tough front.
But really, he’d had her already, with those big brown puppy-dog eyes of his. Maybe it didn’t matter what he did; she’d always want him.
She wondered if that was the same quality that had made her mother hang around, pining for William Hatfield all these years. The same quality that had practically ruined her mother’s life: When she fell, she fell so hard that she lost more than anyone.
Kylie’s stomach turned. As if she needed another reason to feel bad about herself.
16
Kylie walked out into the hallway, not stopping until she entered the empty waiting room, still trying to put on a tough front, though that strong exterior was cracking with every step she took. When she turned around, Linc was right behind her, hands in his pockets, looking like that sweet puppy-dog that made her insides flutter.
He was such a good guy, the very best man she’d ever known, and if he said nothing happened, then nothing happened. She would believe him and knew she should have given him time to explain last night. Shouldn’t have been her typical self and jumped to conclusions, expecting rejection and pain.
It was time she started to expect love.
As she turned and looked up into his handsome face, she knew one thing for certain. She wanted to be with him. She didn’t even want an apology, she realized. Or an explanation. She just wanted what came after. Him.
Did that make her weak? Did it make her like her mother? She didn’t care. He’d come back to her. And she needed him.
He opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand. “Don’t. It’s okay. I don’t care.”
He gave her a confused look. “Let me explain what—”
“No.” She put her finger on his lips. “I don’t care. Because you have me. I don’t care what you do or what you did, it won’t matter to me. I need you so much that nothing you can do would make me change my mind. I’d still take you back. So, congratulations, you win. I’m yours.”
He stared at her. “I…win? Since when was this a competition?”
She’d expected him to be happy. When he wasn’t, she shook her head sadly as a thought occurred to her. “You are here to ask me to take you back, right? Or are you here to tell me to get my stuff from your house?”
“No, not that,” he said, leaning forward so that their foreheads were almost touching. “But I do think I owe you an—”
“Don’t. I’m too tired.” She wrapped her hands around his neck, her thumbs rubbing the scruff of his hair. “Just kiss me.”
He did as he was told. She was just settling into the feeling of his mouth on hers when it occurred to her that she still looked simply terrible.
She pulled away and pressed her face into his chest. “I look awful. See, this is what not being with you did to me. Why did you wait so long?”
She realized at that moment how pathetic she sounded. It wasn’t long at all, not really. Only a day. But to her, it’d been an eternity. Before she’d left for New York, she had some semblance of her life together. Now, a day later, she was a total wreck, and a lot of it had to do with him.
He gave her his crooked smile. “Believe me. I didn’t want to. I tried to call you the second you left, but Vader stole my phone and hid it, and when I found it, it was broken.” He held up a brand-new phone. “So, I got this thing, and when I tried to call you, your phone went right to voicemail. I also tried to visit you at work this morning, but you were gone. So…yeah, I tried.”
She smiled and kissed him harder. “I love you,” she said into his neck as he gathered her close. “I really, really love you.”
“I love you too,” he said, rubbing the pad of his thumb under her eye.
Her face grew warm as she remembered the makeup that was all over her face. “You must, if you haven’t hit the road yet. Look at me. I’m a disaster. That girl…she was so beautiful, and I’m…me.”
“You’re beautiful. Perfect. Even now. That girl was Faith. She’s my ex. She came to visit, very unexpectedly. But I swear, there’s—”
She silenced him with another kiss. “I really don’t care,” she said against his lips. “Just kiss me more.”
They kissed until footsteps had them breaking apart. They were in a public hospital, after all.
“Vader stole your phone, huh? And you left him alone in your house since this morning?”
He nodded.
“Bad idea. You know he hates being without one of us,” she said, fixing his collar. “He’s probably going bat shit. First, it was your phone. Next, it’ll be your whole living room.”
“Yeah? But he’s gotten better—”
She planted a hard kiss on his lips. “You should go back and make sure he’s okay. I’ll be back as soon as I make sure my mother’s all right. Okay?”
He tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. “Yeah. No problem.”
“And…would you do me a favor?” When he nodded, she went on, “Would you mind stopping by my apartment on the way? I left so quickly, I don’t know if I locked up.”
“Sure thing.” He kissed her forehead, and she leaned into his touch, feeling warm and settled. “So…who’s the dude with your mom?”
Kylie shrugged and wiggled her eyebrows. “Mysterious and attractive dar
k stranger who rescued the damsel in distress, I guess. He hasn’t left her side since witnessing the accident.”
Linc’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. “Whoa. Well—”
“Sorry. You’re second in her heart now.” She picked an imaginary piece of lint from his shirt. “Don’t be too disappointed.”
He pulled her even closer. “As long as I’m first in yours, I don’t care.”
She was practically floating as she watched him leave, thinking he wasn’t just first. He was the only. Her heart was so full of him that she felt it might burst.
They were going to be okay.
Back in the tiny ER room, she watched her mother answering Jacob’s questions in a dreamy voice, distractedly unable to take her starry eyes away from the handsome doctor. She looked so lovesick, Kylie was almost embarrassed for her.
And then Kylie realized that she probably looked the same way. And she was probably worse off, because she looked like a bag lady. It was a wonder security hadn’t come to escort her out yet. She really needed to chill. And go and get herself a shower and a change.
Jacob stood and closed the cover on his spiral pad. “Well, thanks, you two,” he said to them. “I’ll put out a bulletin with this information and we’ll see what comes in.”
“You think someone might recognize it?” Kylie asked.
He nodded. “It’s possible, and I’ll review any cameras in the area of the accident.”
Kylie went to tuck her hands into her pockets but then remembered she was wearing boxers. “Okay. Well. Thank you for coming out. We really appreciate it.”
She started to walk Jacob to the door and realized that her mother was talking in a very hushed tone to Dr. Phillips, and he was typing something into his phone. The middle-aged lady was blushing like a teenager. Were they trading digits?
Kylie’s mouth opened. Jacob noticed as they went out. “Looks like your mom found herself a hot date, huh?”
Kylie cringed. She’d never thought she’d hear the words “mother” and “hot date” in the same sentence. Her mother didn’t do that. Aside from her fawning over Linc—who was safe considering he was so much younger—her mother was practically a saint. “Uh. I guess. It’s a little freaky, to be honest.”