“I can’t. I need to get back to work.”
Tears still traced down her cheeks and her hand trembled in mine.
“Sit and calm down for a minute.”
“I’m fine. I don’t want to make people wait any longer.”
I glanced around the area. Most of the people in the section were glaring at the douche canoe still frozen under Sawyer’s watchful gaze. Everyone else watched the waitress with pity. “I’m sure everyone will understand. Most of them are hoping Sawyer beats the shit out of him.”
She sank down in the seat as her eyes darted to Sawyer. “Oh no, I don’t want him to get in trouble because of me.”
I shook my head. “Don’t worry. He’s got better control than that. Not to mention, his boyfriend will be pissed if he’s got to bail his ass out.” I took the seat in front of her. “What’s your name?”
“My name?”
She seemed so lost. Whatever happened, it was more than spilled drinks. “Yeah, your name.”
“I’m…I’m Jenna.”
“Hi, Jenna. I’m Heath.”
I wanted to brush away the wetness on her cheeks even though I’d just met her. Instead I handed her a napkin. A shy smile appeared on her lips and my heart sped up in my chest. That small smile took her from beautiful to ethereal. The need to step in and fix all her problems consumed me. Looking after people I cared about came second nature to me. I even helped strangers. This was different. Something about the woman before me made me want to slay dragons to keep her from feeling any pain. Never in my life had I had such a strong reaction to someone.
The smile disappeared as quickly as it appeared. She held the napkin to her eyes, gently wiping beneath her lower lashes. Over her shoulder, I saw Reagan walk back with another man, talking animatedly. We’d chosen this particular place because we knew Reagan already had a connection. Apparently, the owner played football with Reagan in college. No doubt he’d gone to call his friend and find the manager. None of us were willing to sit by and watch one person treat another like crap. Jenna followed my gaze and leaped from the seat like her ass was on fire. She immediately began straightening her uniform. Her shoulders slumped and a frown marred her beautiful features.
As Reagan and the man approached, she began wringing her hands in front of her. The eyes that were dry a minute ago, once again shimmered in the low lights of the room.
“I can’t afford to lose this job,” she muttered under her breath. I don’t think she expected me to hear her.
I placed a hand on her shoulder as they walked by, heading directly for the fucker who’d caused all the chaos. It amazed me to think the ass didn’t understand that accidents happened. That or he was too self-absorbed to realize the world didn’t revolve around him.
“Mr. Garbutt, I hear we have a problem up here.”
Dipshit puffed up his chest like some self-important asshole, and he pointed directly at Jenna. It took all my effort to resist wrapping my arms around her waist and holding her tight to me. “That incompetent idiot poured my drink all over my pants.”
Jenna opened her mouth to defend herself, but I squeezed her shoulder. “Let Reagan do his job.”
She looked over at me. “His job?”
“He’s a lawyer. He knows how to deal with egotistical pricks like him.”
Her eyes darted back to the scene in front of us.
Dumbass then began pointing at all the rest of us. “And these drug dealers threatened me.”
His assessment was almost laughable. Sure Sawyer, Jackson, and I didn’t look like wealthy businessmen, even Reagan would never be mistaken for the high-powered lawyer he was in his jeans and T-shirt. I guess he’d never heard the phrase, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover.’
The manager glanced over at Reagan and nodded. “That’s not my understanding of the problem. I’ve been told that Miss Forino accidentally spilled your drink and it wasn’t until you became belligerent and began threatening her that these gentleman stepped in.”
“Gentlemen.” Garbutt sneered. “They look like gang members.”
I couldn’t stop my eyes from rolling to the ceiling. It still amazed me that people judged you based on the way you look. Maybe we didn’t wear designer clothes and fancy suits, but it didn’t mean we hadn’t earned our right to sit in the private section to keep from being hounded by fans. We’d just played a three-hour show and I sure as shit wasn’t in the mood to be treated like dog shit on the bottom of someone’s shoe.
The manager snapped his fingers. “Too bad you didn’t learn to never judge a book by its cover.” Took the words right out of my mouth. He gestured toward us. “These men could buy and sell you many times over. And considering the fact you harassed one of my best servers, I think it’s time for you to leave.”
I glanced over my shoulder. Two men who looked like they bench pressed cars as a warm-up walked through the roped off area, straight toward the uptight asshole. Both of them crossed arms the size of my thigh over their chests. And, that was saying something considering I wasn’t a small guy myself.
“How dare you try and throw me out? Marcus will hear about this.”
The manager folded his own arms over his chest. “Ironically, I already talked to him before I came up here. Seems this isn’t the first time you’ve made a scene in one of his places and he’s sick of it. His words. ‘Tell the little shit to grow up or get the fuck out.’ So I think it’s time for you to leave before I have the cops come and escort you out.”
A flush crept up the guy’s neck as he yanked his jacket off the back of the chair. My hands clenched into fists when he snarled at me on the way past. The upset woman next to me and Reagan’s warning glare were enough for me to force my whole body to relax. The guy was leaving. No need to get worked up over a little prick like him.
Once the guy and the beasts were gone, the manager turned to face Jenna. “Are you all right?”
She dabbed at her eyes. “I’m fine. I’ll get some towels to clean up the mess.”
The manager shook his head. “I already sent Dustin to get them. You have enough on your plate.”
She took a step toward him and even though the man had to be in his early forties, the desire to pull her back overwhelmed me. I knew I was being irrational and kept my hands to myself.
“Please, don’t send me home, Doug,” she begged. “I promise, it won’t happen again.”
He laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I know. But that’s not why I’m sending you home. You need to head to the hospital and take care of your grandmother. She’s all you have.”
Like a sledgehammer to the chest, my mind slammed back to the day my own grandmother had lost her battle with cancer. My dad wasn’t wealthy by any stretch of the imagination and worked his ass off when I was growing up to save money for me to go to college. He had no idea what I would want to do with my life, but he wanted me to have every opportunity possible. My mom had died of complications from childbirth, leaving my dad alone to take care of me. My grandmother had stepped up and moved in with us. The pain in my chest at the memories of her passing threatened to take me down. It had been like losing my mom, my best friend, and my confidante all at once.
With a sheer force of will, I forced the memories back. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t change the past. I may not be able to stop my own pain, but I could do something to help Jenna.
“You know I can’t afford to leave.” She sniffled, likely trying to keep the tears at bay. “How will I ever pay this latest bill?”
“We’ll find you more hours up here. It will all work out.”
I took a step forward. Hopefully, she didn’t throw the offer in my face. I had a feeling offering her money to help would piss her off. She was used to doing things on her own. We’d all been there at one point. It hadn’t been until recently when we no longer had to worry about living paycheck to paycheck.
“How about we cash out our tab now so Jenna can get credit and they start a new tab with the new server wh
ile I take Jenna to see her grandmother?”
Jenna’s head snapped around. “Why would you do that? I don’t even know you.”
I stepped forward. “Because I’ve been where you are, having to watch the grandmother who practically raised me fight a losing battle with time.”
“Jenna,” Doug said and gestured to Reagan. “Reagan is an old college friend of Marcus’s. He told me to trust whatever they said. I’d take you myself, but with them here, downstairs is crazy and I can’t get away. Let him take you.”
Jenna turned to fully face me. “I don’t know.”
“Go. I promise we’ll get you the shifts you need.”
Indecision marred her features. She wanted to stay and work to pay off the bills, yet on the other hand, she wanted to be there for her grandmother. After a few moments of hesitation, she nodded and I breathed a sigh of relief. If her grandmother was really that sick, I’d hate to see her miss an opportunity to see her one last time. Bills could be paid off later.
“Okay, I’ll go.”
I glanced over at Reagan, who already had his cell phone in hand. “I can call the driver to come.”
I looked over at her. “Do you have a car here?”
She shook her head. “No. I took the bus.”
“Yeah, call him. I’ll send him back in case you want to leave before we’re ready.”
Reagan put the phone to his ear and turned away to hear. “He’s pulling up to the entrance now.”
“Let me grab my bag from the back and I’ll meet you at the front door.” She glanced around at everyone, a lone tear falling down her cheek. “I can’t thank you all enough.”
Sawyer smiled. “No thanks needed. I hope your grandmother is okay.”
“Me too.” Those watery green eyes looked at me. “Give me two minutes.”
“I’ll meet you at the door.”
She practically ran past the roped off entrance.
The manager, Doug, held out a hand to me. “Take good care of her. Her grandmother raised her since was seven and her parents were killed in a car accident.”
I took his hand and returned the gesture. Somehow it seemed we had more in common that I realized. “I will.”
He walked over to talk to the guy now cleaning up the drink from the floor.
When I looked back at the group, Sawyer watched me warily. “Can you handle this?”
He’d been there for me when my grandmother had passed. He saw what a mess I was and I couldn’t thank him enough for all he’d done for me in those weeks afterward.
“I’m sure. Just make sure you tip her well. I have a feeling that’s the only way she’ll accept it.”
“Will do. I’ll take care of it,” Reagan said. “The driver’s ours all night, so you can call him when you’re ready to leave.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you guys in the morning.”
CHAPTER 3
Jenna
What the hell am I doing? A voice in the back of my head asked again as I grabbed my bag and practically ran for the front door. It might have been the craziest thing I could have done, but at the moment, if it got me to my nana quicker, I’d do almost anything.
My heart raced as I thought about the call from the nursing home a little bit earlier.
“Miss Forino, this is Carla from Pine Willows Nursing Home.”
I juggled the phone between my shoulder and ear as I finished zipping up the back of my dress for work. “Hi, Carla. I know I missed coming to see Nana today. My shift at the diner ran over and I had to run right to my next job.”
I didn’t bother telling many people where my second job was. Not everyone needed to know that I let my ass hang out for tips on a nightly basis. I slammed my locker closed and walked toward the door.
“That’s not why I’m calling.”
I skidded to a halt. “What happened?” My voice barely above a whisper.
“I’m sorry, but your grandmother was having difficulty breathing and we had to call an ambulance.”
The back of my throat burned as I tried to hold back the tears. It seemed shallow in the moment, but I didn’t need mascara running down my face. And to pay this new hospital bill, I couldn’t afford to miss work or look like I’d been crying.
“How is she?”
“All I know is they had to intubate her before they left, but they didn’t tell us anything else.”
My chest ached. Nana couldn’t breathe on her own, and there was nothing I could do for her at the moment.
“Where did they take her?”
“St. Luke’s. I’m sorry, Miss Forino. If you need anything, please let us know.”
I forced my voice to stay calm as I answered. “Thank you, Carla. I will.”
I hung up the phone and forced myself to go back to work.
I found Heath waiting on the sidewalk next to a black car the minute I stepped out the front door. He held the back door open and helped me into the vehicle. Without having to worry about who might see me, I let the tears fall.
Heath rested his hand on my thigh. “We’ll get you there as soon as we can. What hospital do we need to go to?”
I brushed a tear from my cheek. “They took her to St. Luke’s.”
Heath glanced up at the driver. “Know where that is?”
The driver nodded. “Yeah. It’s about a thirty-minute drive.”
My heart raced wanting to get there sooner rather than later. It was the hospital closest to the nursing home, but it was a pretty good distance from the house and my jobs. I glanced down at the outfit I was wearing and back at the man sitting next to me. No way could I go to see Nana this way. I’d taken the job a few years ago when she’d moved into the nursing home. Knowing she wouldn’t approve of me doing it to pay her bills, I kept it hidden from her. I didn’t want to sell the house to make up the difference.
“I need to change before we get there.” My voice barely came out above a whisper.
Heath glanced over at me. “We can stop somewhere if you want, or if you don’t mind changing in the car, I promise not to look.”
Something about him seemed so familiar, but I didn’t have it in me to try and figure it out at the moment. He had to have money of some kind to be seated in the private section of the club, not to mention the chauffeured car. Not that I would complain. Anything to get me to see my nana. I nodded. He turned his head to stare out the window and I reached for my bag to pull out the jeans I’d brought to go see her between jobs. My throat constricted thinking that might have been my last chance.
After I tugged on the jeans and pulled a shirt over my head, I tapped Heath on the shoulder, letting him know it was safe to face forward again. He smiled, but even in the dim lights of the car, I could still see the sadness in his eyes. I wondered what caused it, but I felt rude asking. This was a man who’d offered to take me to see my grandmother in the hospital. Whatever he had or didn’t have was irrelevant. The better question was not what but why.
“Why are you helping me?”
The man in the club hadn’t been lying, if you were the type of person who looked for the stereotype in everyone. Heath had shoulder-length dark brown hair, pulled into a low ponytail. Something that a small part of me was immensely jealous of. His hair was fuller and in better shape than my own. The tattoos that ran down both arms to his wrists, hoops in both ears, plus the bar that ran through the top of his right ear and another through his eyebrow, he was the stereotypical bad boy.
Yet, there he was, driving me to the hospital to see my grandmother. Maybe, not so bad boy. Which just made me curious about his motivation for helping me.
Heath sighed. “I’ve been where you are before. I was the one who took care of my grandmother before she passed. I know what it’s like to get that terrible call and be completely unsure how to fix any of it. So I want to help any way I can.”
“Thank you. I’m not sure I would’ve been able to go see her until tomorrow without your help.”
“You’re welcome.”
“How did you end up caring for your grandmother?” Heath asked a few minutes later into the silence of the car.
“She raised me. My parents were killed in a car accident when I was seven. She took me in and raised me without question from that moment on. She’s all…she’s all I have.”
A sob tore from me and a strong arm wrapped around my shoulders and I was pulled into the solid wall of muscle of Heath’s chest. A voice in the back of my head screamed at me to back away, you don’t know him, but for once I wanted to enjoy the comfort someone offered me besides every set of doctors we saw each month.
I didn’t hold back a single tear, my body relaxing with the relief of the release. I’d held in for so long, I needed some kind of break from my own feelings. The warmth of his embrace seeped into me, settling some of the panic and fear inside me. It had been a long time since I let someone else take care of me. Not since I was younger and my nana took care of me. When the tables turned, I stopped letting people close. Even though I didn’t know Heath, something about him made me okay with him taking care of me.
The closer we got to the hospital, the desperation to get to her increased. The moment we arrived, I practically dived for the door of the car. I knew I needed to thank Heath for all he’d done, but the manners portion of my brain seemed to have short-circuited as I ran for the door. The driver had made the trip in less than thirty minutes, but each minute seemed like an hour since I’d gotten the phone call.
I went directly to the reception desk, where a woman with short, dark hair sat looking at her computer screen. When she noticed me standing at the counter, she glanced up. “How can I help you?”
“My grandmother was brought in a few hours ago.”
“I’m sorry but visiting hours are over.”
I wouldn’t let visiting hours stop me from getting in to see her. “She was brought in by ambulance from her nursing home. She was having trouble breathing. Can you please see where she is?”
There was a kindness to the woman’s eyes, I hoped would help my cause. “Let me see where she is. What’s her name?”
“Edna Forino.”
Cover Me (Jaded Ivory Book 3) Page 2