A Beautiful Acceptance (the NYC series Book 2)

by Alora Kate

  Sitting on the edge of the bed, listening to the machine beep made me think about his attack. Images flashed in my mind of what he would have looked like. Broken and bloody. Unconscious. I read that it took a few days for him to wake up, and I couldn’t imagine what that would be like.

  I slipped my hand under his and he mumbled something.

  “Tap?”

  His eyes slowly blinked open and he smiled. That smile belonged to Tapper Low, the man I knew last year. The man I spent three months with. The man who gave me a key to his place and in return, I gave him heartbreak.

  “Lex,” he mumbled and squeezed my hand weakly, “where have you been?”

  “Um . . .” I glanced up at Ki and she shrugged a shoulder with an uncertain look on her face. “I’m here now.”

  “Dollface.”

  As good as that sounded, as good as it made my stomach do summersaults, it hurt.

  “Hey, Tap.”

  “Have I told you how beautiful you are?”

  “You sure have,” I replied, trying to keep the tears from forming as I watched his smile come and go.

  “Where have you been?” he repeated.

  I said the first thing that came to my lips, “Lost. I was lost, Tap.”

  “You have an app, dollface.” His eyes closed and he took a deep breath in and let it out. His hand tightened on mine and I couldn’t help the tear that fell. “Use it. Don’t get lost again.”

  I pulled his hand up to my mouth and gave him a soft kiss as I felt my heart break. My feelings for this man were more than I could handle. Our time together flooded my mind as the minutes slowly passed. He made me breakfast in bed every time I stayed the night. He cooked, he cleaned, he did his own laundry even though he had a maid.

  He was a completely different man out of the ring.

  Just like now.

  We were both different, but I knew I wanted to get to know the new Tapper Low.

  “Lex, honey, we gotta go.”

  I looked up at the door and saw the nurse standing there, waiting for us to leave. Leaning over him, I placed a soft kiss to his cheek and realized he was already asleep. A part of me knew he was on pain medication and didn’t mean anything he just said, but the other part, the hopeful one, loved his words and would cherish them because he probably would never say them again.

  Chapter 10 – Tapper

  “Ma?” I pushed the button, moving the bed so I could sit up. “What are you doing here?” She had an electric wheelchair and parked it right next to my bed. She leaned over and grabbed my hand.

  Her eyes looked so sad for a minute while she took me in. My words wounded her, but she masked it before she spoke, “I’m your grandmother, you think I wouldn’t come.”

  “You should be home resting. “

  “Not when you’re in here.”

  “Where’s your driver?”

  “Waiting in the lobby. Don’t change the subject.” She squeezed my hand before moving hers to fuss over me—brushing over my head, trying to be sly about feeling for a fever. She pulled my blanket up a bit higher, tucking it around my torso a bit better, and went to fluff my pillow before my hand stopped hers.

  “Damn kidney stones, Ma. Nothing serious.”

  “You still had surgery, dear.”

  I grunted and closed my eyes. The pain was dulled because of the medicine, but it was still there. Nothing would compare to how I felt waking up after my accident last year though, so I couldn’t complain.

  Ma was here because we only had each other. My parents passed when I was young, and I was an only child. I never knew my grandfather, although the way Ma talked about him, it’s like he was always there, sharing the memories with us.

  I grunted when my mind went to her.

  Lex.

  That woman invaded my dreams while I was under. I couldn’t get her face out of my head, or her sweet voice out of my ear, or the thought of her soft lips touching my cheek.

  “What are you thinking about?” Ma asked, letting go of my hand. I heard her chair turn on, she was moving around the room.

  “I hate hospitals, especially their beds.”

  She laughed. “Don’t we all?”

  Ma was sick. She had cancer and refused treatment, said at her age it was useless and even though she loved me beyond words, she wanted to go out on her own terms. She told me her wishes and that was the end of it. She refused to talk about it. Pretended it didn’t exist.

  “Where’s the TV remote?”

  “I don’t know, been sleeping.”

  “Well, you should lay off those drugs so you can get out of here.”

  I laughed and felt a pain in my side. “I might need another day.”

  “I’ll come back tomorrow, make sure you get home okay.”

  “Ma, you don’t have to be here.”

  “You have no one else,” she reminded me. “Unless that girl liked her flowers? You never did tell me anything more.”

  “I know she liked them, but I never had the chance to hear that from her, since I ended up in surgery.”

  “Oh my. Guess you better get on that then.”

  “Trying to rest, Ma.”

  “She’s very pretty, Tapper. I’m surprised she’s still single.”

  “I told you why she was.”

  “And I told you it’s my dying wish to see you matched up with the girl with the pretty face.”

  “We aren’t talking about this—your rules, remember?”

  “Yes, those were my rules. But then, I guess I’m allowed to break them.”

  We stared at each other in silence, letting the weight of her words and situation fill our space. Cancer could do that, especially when it was aggressive and stealing time away from the one person you loved the most. I blinked away tears that threatened to fall when I thought of living without her, and then the door opened with a food service worker bringing in my lunch. He took a look at Ma, smiled and threw a wink her way before he disappeared, only to come back a few seconds later with a matching tray. Before I could even take a bite, my nurse came in to do her checks.

  Ma stayed for lunch and as soon as she left, I went back to sleep. I wasn’t sure how long I was out but when I woke up, she was here and this time it wasn’t a dream.

  “Hey.” Her soft voice filled the room and made my heart thump a little faster. She had her hair pulled up, with minimal makeup, and a blue tank top on. She sat on the side of my bed, so close I could smell her faint scent that was so uniquely Lex—a mix of flowers and vanilla, sweet and sexy.

  “How did you know I was here?”

  “Ki’s boyfriend overheard someone talking about it in the therapy room.”

  The other day played out in my head, reminding me of Ki’s visit. Reminding me that Lex just lost her mother and wasn’t dealing with it well. I had to set aside my personal frustration with her and be a friend. Kind of.

  “So, you got the flowers?”

  She nodded and stood from the bed, but I told her it was fine and to sit back down. “I’m sorry, Lex.”

  “For what?”

  “Like the card said, I was an asshole.”

  “And I was a bitch.” I gave her a small smile and saw her eyes light up before she glanced away. “I, um, I wanted to make sure you were okay, and to thank you for the flowers. In person.”

  “You still have them painted on your walls?”

  She nodded and I wondered if I’d ever see them in person.

  “Did you keep mine?” I asked, watching her purse her lips, trying to hide a smile. She didn’t answer, but I knew she did. “You’re welcome, Lex.”

  She kept her side to me while looking around my room. It was small but had everything you needed in a hospital room. My bed took up most of the space, and the staff was accommodating with having the special tools I needed given my situation. My wheelchair was by the bathroom for when I was ready to leave, though now, I was stuck in this bed. A television was mounted directly across from my bed, and a large keypad granted me
access to the internet, ondemand television service, as well as the regular channels. I wondered how many times I would accidentally hit the ‘call nurse’ button, which was next to the volume button, and annoy those poor nurses. Hopefully, my stay would be short and there would be no further complications.

  “Do you want to talk, Lex? About anything?” I knew she wasn’t going to open up to me about her mom, but maybe she would stay and keep me company. Having her stay would only torture me, knowing I still couldn’t have her but I didn’t care. I missed her.

  She finally stood. “I should go. I have some things to take care of.”

  “Lex,” I called out when she got to the doorway.

  She twisted, giving me a small smile. “Thank you.” Her smile grew and she slipped out of the room.

  Chapter 11 – Alexa

  I couldn’t turn it off.

  I felt like I was feeling eighteen hundred feelings at once, and I was seriously overwhelmed. I wasn’t used to feeling so much at one time. Hell, if I was honest, I wasn’t used to feeling much in general, at all. I had lived for so long with my emotions turned off, and now, I couldn’t deal.

  I was happy.

  I was sad.

  I was anxious and restless, but also peaceful at times.

  I was angry.

  No, I was full of rage.

  I was curious but I was also feeling cautious.

  I was excited and terrified at the same time.

  And the smallest part of me was absolutely devastated.

  “I don’t like all these feelings I’m having,” I confessed to Ki, watching her smell her flowers. A large, beautiful bouquet of blue peonies sat on her desk. She pulled the card out and opened it.

  “You’ll get used to it,” she said brushing me off to read her card. She read it, closed her eyes, and was probably thinking about what she would look like in a white dress while I pictured her wearing jeans and a tank top to her own wedding.

  This was the second one she’s gotten from Prescot in the last seven days. The first ones were light purple peonies—she can’t decide which color is her favorite so she has two favorite colors. I guess he told the flower shop to send them at random so neither of them knew when they would be delivered. She had no idea how many would come or when. Each bouquet so far had a card. I knew more were coming—something Prescot let slip—so I was also anxious to know when they would come. The look on her face each time reminded me how much she loved him. Her last bouquet was still fresh. I had no idea where she was going to store these flowers.

  “What does it say this time?”

  “The prettiest dresses are meant to be taken off.”

  I crumbled up the post-it note I had been holding and dropped it into the trash. “That’s what it said?”

  “Yes,” she said on a happy sigh.

  “That doesn’t make sense. You don’t wear dresses.”

  “Exactly.” She put the note back in the plastic holder and crossed her legs. “He might have mentioned me wearing a dress and I told him I’m not a dress person.”

  “You hate your legs.”

  “Yes, and when I told him that he laughed at me and told me to wear a long one that covered my legs. I said I’d think about it, so I guess this is a friendly reminder that the conversation isn’t dead.”

  “It’s kind of sweet.”

  “It is.”

  “I love you, but you guys are kind of dorky.”

  She picked up a pen and threw it at me, which I caught and threw right back. She tried to catch it with one hand and missed. “That’s not fair, I’ve got an injury,” she said leaning over to pick it up off the floor.

  “You threw it at me.”

  “You called me a dork!”

  “Hot sexy dorks!”

  We enjoyed a good laugh for a few minutes, throwing the pen back and forth, and then decided to be responsible and get back to work.

  “I’ll send emails to these three,” she said wiggling the post-it notes in the air, “and let them know we didn’t get anywhere and their time is up. Maybe they’ll order another three hours and we can try again.” She dropped them and picked up another pile. “Two messages about lost pets. Does it say anything on our website about lost pets?”

  “No, but still, it’s money, honey, and we can’t complain.”

  “I know, but I didn’t see us running our own business looking for lost pets.”

  “We should make a flat rate for it.”

  “We could, I’ll think about it.”

  “So, what does that leave us?”

  She was quiet for a minute and then scooted her chair over to me. “We should help Emma.”

  I turned from her and let out a frustrated sigh. She wouldn’t let this drop. “Not this again.”

  “I know you have a lot going on with Tapper, and your feelings have found a way out of the hole you put them in, but we should at least hear her out. See why she thinks your mother was murdered and then go from there. Worst case, it’s nothing and you were right about your mom.”

  I put my foot on her chair and pushed her away. “As much as I want to investigate a murder, my mom wasn’t murdered.”

  “Again, Lex, let’s go with that . . . but what about Emma? Don’t you want to know if she’s your sister? Your family?”

  “You’re my family.”

  “Of course I am, that will never change, but Emma? You both deserve to have each other.”

  “I’m still thinking about it.”

  “You should hurry up.”

  The front door opened and Ki’s biological father walked in putting more pressure on my own situation with Emma and family.

  Ki met her biological father like two months ago, which led to her being shot, and even though it wasn’t her father’s fault, it kind of was. He always wore a clean, expensive black suit and had two bodyguards with him.

  “Ki,” he said, sitting down in one of her chairs and she replied, “Donovan.”

  She’s giving the man her bone marrow but wouldn’t call him dad; I didn’t blame her, though.

  He pulled out a thick looking envelope from his inside pocket and set it on her desk. “This is for you,” he said pushing it forward. He sat back in the chair and crossed his legs, watching her open it with anxious eyes.

  She glanced over it a few times, looked at me with wide eyes, and then back to Donovan. “What’s this?”

  “Exactly what it says.”

  She looked it over again and set it back down on the desk. “It looks like Two Girls Investigate owns the building?”

  I gasped and jumped from my chair, snatching the papers from her so I could see for myself.

  “I bought it for you. Consider it a gift, for all the birthdays and holidays I missed.”

  "No." I glanced down and saw Ki shaking her head at Donovan. "No. This is too much." She stared at him and then whispered, "You don't have to buy my love." He matched her whisper. "I'm not buying your love; I'm saying thank you."

  “No.”

  “It’s already done. You two own your own business and now your own building.”

  “Thank you,” I said smiling at him. “This was a very nice thing to do for Ki and me.”

  He smiled at me and then looked back at Ki, who was staring at me with angry eyes. “Lex,” she warned, but it fell flat because I was thankful. I knew this was hard for her but I wasn’t going to complain.

  “Donovan—”

  “Ki, please don’t fight it, it’s already done.”

  “Gah!”

  “You’re saving my life, Ki, the least I could do was buy the building for you.”

  She sat back in her chair, trying not to wince at her shoulder pain. She was trying to back off the pain pills because she was starting therapy. She wasn’t sure how much or how long she’d have to go but she had her first appointment scheduled. She was going to a local therapist though, not the fancy ones that Prescot and Tapper used because our insurance wasn’t that great.

  “I go to the do
ctor on Friday, you want to come?” she finally asked and it looked like Donovan won the lottery.

  “I’d love to. I’ll pick you up.”

  “I’ll be ready by nine.”

  “Breakfast?”

  She thought about it for a minute and finally said, “I’ll be ready by eight.”

  He smiled, stood, and buttoned his suit, then left us to celebrate.

  “We’re celebrating! I’m so glad you stopped taking the pain pills so you can drink.”

  “I didn’t stop taking them so I could drink.”

  “Don’t get pissy with me.” I started cleaning up my desk and grabbed my phone and saw I had a text message.

  “I can’t believe he did this.”

  “I can.” Swiping my finger on the screen, I put my four-digit code in, and pulled up my text messages. It was from Tapper. I’m getting released tomorrow. Come to my loft so we can talk.

  Shit. He must have checked his voicemail last night after I left.

  “Tapper got the voicemail.”

  “Good.”

  “He wants to talk.”

  “Good.”

  “Actually, he said, come to my loft so we can talk, assuming I’m going to go there.”

  “You will,” she muttered and I turned toward her.

  “I’m sorry, but I refuse to be upset with the fact that we own our building. No more rent, Ki, which means we can finally afford to hire an assistant!”

  “You and your assistant crap,” she mumbled, shoving the envelope into her desk and locking it up. “The money can be used in other places.”

  “So, you’ve accepted the fact that we own our building?”

  She stood. “No. But I will, only because I don’t have any other choice.”

  I jumped up and down, holding my phone in my hands and started to shout how much I loved her and her rich dad.

  “For the love of God, shut up!” she said smiling. We finished with our messages and then shut the computers and lights off.

  I checked my phone as soon as we got upstairs. I accidentally sent a bunch of random letters and numbers to him when I was holding it in my hands and his response was, Good, see you at four.