James dropped off the table. Taking his mother’s hand, he followed Van back to the waiting room. “Dr. Irvington,” Van said quietly in greeting to Mavis.
“Van,” she replied softly as they walked. “How serious is it?”
“I couldn’t tell from the look of Radley,” Van replied. “And I haven’t seen Adrian.” He glanced at James who had seen her.
James gulped. He couldn’t find his voice so he dropped his eyes to the floor.
A hard hand came up to his shoulder, squeezed. It remained there the rest of the way back to the ER.
There, they found Edith and Kyle, Briar and Cole, Olivia, Stephen and—another surprise—Byron. They were standing around a small, gray-haired man in blue scrubs. Though the doctor looked unflappable, James could see that the others were all but harassing him for information about Adrian’s condition. When he turned to find James, Van and Mavis approaching, he looked more than a little relieved.
Mavis dipped her head to him. “Dr. Jones.”
“Dr. Irvington,” he replied. His eyes shifted to Van. “You’re the young lady’s father?”
“Yes,” Van said. “What’s the news?”
The doctor eyed the large group. “It would probably be better if we spoke in private.”
James began to protest but Cole muttered “Like hell” before he could. Mavis raised her voice so Dr. Jones could hear her clearly. “In this case, I think it would be best to break it to the whole family.”
“Damn right,” Olivia agreed.
Dr. Jones cleared his throat. “We did some scans and it appears that Ms. Carlton is suffering from a concussion. I’m happy to say that she has regained consciousness and there appears to be no other trauma to her head.”
James breathed a sigh of relief. Kyle edged closer to him. He wound his arm around the boy’s shoulders, pulling him close.
“However,” Dr. Jones continued, “X-rays show that she sustained other injuries. She has a broken rib on the left side. Thankfully, it doesn’t appear to be in danger of puncturing her lung. She also has a broken clavicle.”
“God Almighty,” Edith murmured.
James winced. He’d tightened his hold on Kyle. Relaxing it, he inhaled slowly to calm the storm building steadily inside him.
It was Briar who spoke first. “What can we do?”
Jones raised an eyebrow as he looked around at the expectant faces surrounding him. “We’ll keep her under observation for the night, just to make sure there’s no further damage. She needs plenty of rest. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot that can cure the injuries except time and rest. Her arm will be put in a sling so that the collarbone can heal properly, but she’ll feel the injuries for anywhere between eight to twelve weeks. Over-the-counter pain medication can be used to ease the discomfort.”
Mavis nodded when James looked at her to confirm this. “He’s right,” she said. “Thank you, Dr. Jones. If she is conscious and stable, I think it would be a good idea for her to at least see her son.”
Dr. Jones looked at Kyle’s pleading expression and nodded after a moment’s hesitation. “I’ll allow that. He can be accompanied by one adult. Does he have a guardian?”
Van glanced at James. Before he could speak, Edith did. “I’ll go with him. I’m his grandmother.”
James opened his mouth to argue but Mavis shook her head and he subsided. He watched Edith take Kyle by the hand and follow the doctor out of the waiting room.
“What about Kennard?” Byron asked. His gaze locked on James before dropping to his bandaged knuckles. “Please tell me you stoved the bastard’s skull in.”
“He’s alive,” Cole said grimly. “But he won’t be up on his feet for a while. And when he is, there’ll be a nice prison cell waiting for him. There’s no way he can talk his way out of this one. He’s done with civilian life.”
As Byron made an agreeing noise, James remained silent. Briar walked over and hugged him. “How are you doing?”
James cleared his throat so that his voice rang clear. “It’s her you need to be thinking about, not me.”
“I am,” Briar told him. “But you were there. And you love her.”
James didn’t argue with that.
Briar pulled away. “I was wondering if you’d like to come to the inn tonight with the others to wait for more news.”
“No,” he said. “I think I’ll stay here.”
“James, it’s late,” Briar told him. “Edith’s bringing Kyle. There’s a room for you at Hanna’s. And in the morning we’ll all be able to visit.”
The terror James had seen on Adrian’s face at the cottage filled his head once more. He wouldn’t be visiting. He wouldn’t see her unless she asked for him. “I’ll stay here with Van,” he said again, quietly.
Briar scanned his face. When he looked down at the tiles at his feet, she rubbed a hand over his arm, soothing. “Let us know if you change your mind,” she said.
Mavis waited until Briar and Cole had walked off to speak with Olivia before turning to him. “I should go.”
James looked at her. Her skin was pale. Damn it, he hadn’t thought to ask how she was feeling. “Are you okay?” he asked, gripping her hand.
“I’m fine,” she said with a smile that was somewhat convincing. “If there’s anything we can do for the Carltons or you, you call us, James.”
“Thanks, but you need to go home and rest,” he told her.
Her brow arched. “Don’t patronize me. And that wasn’t a request. It was an order. Understand?”
He released a breath before nodding. “You didn’t have to come.”
Her expression softened greatly as she scanned his face. “Yes, I did.” Lifting herself up on her toes, she pecked a kiss on his cheek. “Try and get some sleep.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he muttered, knowing full well he wouldn’t. He nodded to Stephen as the man wound an arm around Mavis’s waist and steered her toward the exit. James slid his hands into his pockets as he watched them depart. Then, finally, he lowered into the nearest chair to wait.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
ADRIAN WISHED FOR a lot of things over the next few days. She wished it didn’t hurt every time she moved her torso. She wished it didn’t pain her when she breathed. She wished she could cure the worry on her son’s face.
But, perhaps most especially, she wished her mother would leave her alone.
“That pain medication is making you awfully cranky,” Edith commented as she escorted both Kyle and Adrian home for the first time since the accident.
“They’re over-the-counter drugs,” Adrian muttered. “They’re not known to be mood killers.” But I know something that is. Biting her tongue as she had for the last day and a half, Adrian looked around her home.
The house had been cleaned. The bay window had been boarded up until the panes could be replaced. There were casseroles in the refrigerator from Briar and a high-priced bottle of Jameson’s sitting on the kitchen counter with a ribbon around the neck from Olivia. It didn’t take her long to locate the gift basket filled with lotions, bath salts and essential oils from Roxie.
“Wasn’t it nice of Byron to drive us home?” Edith asked. “He didn’t have to go out of his way like that. Did you thank him?”
“Yes, Mom,” Adrian said. Because the pain was starting to edge back in, she lowered herself into an armchair in the living room and did her best not to move. Reaching up, she readjusted the sling, which was chafing against her neck.
Kyle appeared with a mug. “I thought you’d want some hot chocolate.”
A smile touched Adrian’s mouth. “You didn’t have to do that.”
He lifted a shoulder. “You always make me hot chocolate. You know? When I don’t feel well?” He nudged the mug toward her.
“Yes,” she said, taking
it in her hand. When he hovered, she patted the arm of the chair.
Kyle sat and leaned over so that his cheek rested on top of her head, careful to keep his shoulder from nudging her arm and jarring her collarbone or ribs. For a moment, they sat together in the quiet of their home. Adrian closed her eyes. The scent of hot chocolate steaming up from the surface of the mug soothed her enough that she could almost convince herself everything was as it should be. Just a normal evening at home...
“Van, open up those blinds and let in some of that light,” Edith ordered. “Vampires could camp in here as it is.”
Adrian shoveled a sigh out of her nose and lifted the mug to her lips. “Happy homecoming,” she murmured before taking a sip.
“Why do you use bamboo blinds, Adrian?” Edith chastised as she watched her husband open the blinds in the living room. “Don’t the regular, plastic ones let in more light?”
“It’s an aesthetic choice,” Adrian told her.
“A what?”
“An aesthetic...” When Edith only narrowed her eyes, Adrian shook her head, lifting the hot chocolate for another long sip. “Never mind.”
“Have you thought about work?” Edith asked. “Who’s going to take care of the shop? You’re not closing up for a week, are you? Because that’s at least how long it’ll take for you to get back at it. You do realize that.”
“Yes, I realize that,” Adrian replied. “And no, I’m not closing. Penny’s perfectly capable of handling customers. And I talked to Barb who worked for me for a few years before she had her second baby. She agreed to come in until I’m back on my feet. I’m not worried about the shop.”
“What about Kyle? How is he going to get to school?”
Van spoke up finally. “I’m taking him.”
“You?” Edith asked, eyeing him doubtfully.
“Yes,” Van said. “I drive. I can get the boy to school just fine.”
Edith frowned. “Maybe Byron could—”
“Byron works,” Adrian pointed out before her mother could go there. “It’s tax season. He’s an accountant. He’s going to be tied to his desk until mid-April.” There was no way she was burdening Byron again. He’d done enough. And it would make Edith way too happy to know Adrian had called on him.
“Well, you’re going to have to let go of your pride enough to let someone make you dinner for the next few nights,” Edith continued.
“Look in the fridge, Mom,” Adrian said. “Briar’s clearly done it all for me. All I need to do is preheat the oven and start the timer.”
Edith thought it over. Finally, she heaved a defeated breath. “I could stay, I suppose.”
“No,” Adrian said firmly. “We’re fine. Some peace and quiet will do us good, trust me.”
Edith’s gaze sharpened. “Is that your way of telling me my presence isn’t welcome?”
“That’s my way of telling you that I’d like to be alone at home with my son for one night,” Adrian said, her bad mood rising. “There’s nothing to worry about. Not for the next twenty-four hours at least. We can take care of ourselves and we could both do with a little normalcy.”
“It won’t be normal,” Edith warned. “You’ll heal. You might be able to forget the whole ordeal down the road. But the neighbors, they won’t stop talking. The town won’t stop talking. People I go to church with every Sunday certainly won’t stop asking about it.”
“I’m sorry for your inconvenience,” Adrian groaned, pressing two fingers to her temple. She had a headache brewing, in addition to the sharp pang in her ribs as she took a deep breath that should have helped calm her.
It wasn’t working.
“What am I supposed to tell everyone?” Edith said, pressing a hand to her head as if the thought of facing her fellow churchgoers overwhelmed her. “That this is just the latest episode in the great Greek tragedy that is your life?”
“Mom!” Adrian shrieked, so loud that it echoed into the next room. “Stop talking! Just stop!”
Edith froze, startled. Kyle stiffened beside Adrian as the tension in the room came to a knifepoint. She gripped the small hand that sought hers and fought to lower her voice. “For once,” she said to Edith, “could you not be yourself?” When Edith’s jaw dropped, Adrian set aside the mug and lifted her hand to stop her from replying. “I realize that I’ve disappointed you. I realize that my whole life has been a disappointment to you. But right now, I’m tired. I’m so freaking tired. Is it too much for me to ask my mother for one day without a guilt trip, without having to hear about my peccadillos? One day where my son doesn’t have to hear two of the people that he loves most in the world bickering at each other like children?”
Edith stared at her, aghast. Her lips firmed together. “You’re the one who raised your voice.”
“Uh,” Adrian groaned, exasperated. “Yes, yes. It’s my fault. It’s all my fault. Can we fast forward to the part where you leave me alone?”
“Edith,” Van said. His voice was surprisingly gentle. When his wife’s attention turned to him, he tilted his head toward the door. “Why don’t you take Kyle for a little walk? The fresh air will do you both some good.”
Edith hesitated. After a moment, Kyle rose and went to her, taking her by the arm. “Come on, Grandmama. You should meet my friend Blaze down the street. He’s a piece of work and his folks say grace at dinner sometimes. You’ll like him.”
As Kyle led Edith out, Van opened the door, placing a hand on the small of his wife’s back to usher her through. Edith sent him a long, cool look. The hand dropped and balled at Van’s side before he closed the door behind them. Then he turned back to Adrian, his bushy silver-tinged brows raised.
She shook her head. “I’m not apologizing.”
Van’s mouth twisted into something of a smile. “Waiting for either of you to apologize is like waiting for a deluge in a drought.” Lowering himself to the couch, he placed his hands on his knees and leaned toward her. “Ain’t much point in that.”
“How do you do it?” Adrian asked, at a complete loss. “You put up with it every day. How in God’s name do you do it, Daddy?”
Van’s face fell. “I’m no saint.”
“Yes, you are,” she said quietly. “You’re the best man I know.”
Van winced. “No, girl. I’m not.”
Adrian frowned. “Living with that for thirty years pretty much qualifies you for martyrdom.”
“There’s a reason your mother is the way she is,” Van told her. “And it’s all to do with me.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked.
Van lowered his gaze to the work boots he always seemed to wear. “We used to be happy. Your mother used to be different. There was a time nothing could bring her down. She was rosy cheeked and had a glow about her. She laughed easily, and she looked at me with all the love and admiration anybody could ever wish for.”
He took a deep breath and continued. “Then I did something wrong. It was only a few months after you were born. I was out of town alone for an exhibition. While I was away, I slept with someone else, someone from my past.”
Adrian’s jaw dropped. “You...” She swallowed, not quite able to take it in. “You cheated on Mom?”
“Yes.” He nodded, eyes still turned downward. He reached underneath the brim of his battered ball cap and scratched his forehead. “When I got home, I came clean with Edith. I told her everything. She was devastated, as you’d expect. I told her I’d do anything to earn her forgiveness. I’d wait as long as it took, if that’s what she wanted. If she wanted to turn me out, I’d go. The ball was in her court. She chose to let me stay.
“But things weren’t the same. I understood. I deserved to be treated the way she did, the way she still does. But as you started to grow, it became clear that you took after me more than her. You were reckless, impulsive.
You made more questionable decisions than good ones, at least to her way of thinking. She saw a great deal of me in you, and it scared her.” Van’s gaze finally rose to Adrian’s. “Are you starting to understand?”
Adrian shook her head. “She treats me the way she does because of what you did twentysomething years ago? That’s not right, Daddy.”
Van shrugged. “I’m not the judge of what’s right and wrong, especially when I’m the one who’s done wrong. You need to know, though, that your mother’s bitterness has nothing to do with you. It’s me she can’t forgive. Your man, James, wasn’t far from the truth the other night. My betrayal worked much like a poison in her veins and it’s only spread through the years—so much so that it affects her behavior toward you.”
“She could’ve left,” Adrian thought aloud. “She could have found somebody else. She would have been happier. We all might have been happier.”
“She stayed married to me because she wanted to punish me every day for the rest of my life. She knew I’d never leave her, just as she knew she’d never forgive me. The point of all this is that I’m not a saint and you’ve done nothing to deserve the way she treats you. It’s me who disappointed her, not you.”
Adrian’s head was spinning. She massaged her temples, not knowing what to think of all this. Worse, she didn’t know what to think of her father anymore—this man, her hero. “You probably should have told me this sooner,” Adrian said.
“I’ll give you that,” Van acknowledged. “I was selfish. You looked at me the way she used to. I won’t lie and say that didn’t get me through some of the worst times.” He straightened and got slowly to his feet. “But now you know. You’ve always had a right to know.”
She licked her lips as her brows came together. She didn’t know what to say anymore. Yes, her father had done wrong. But Adrian couldn’t help but think that twentysomething years was a long time to hold a grudge against the person you love—or had loved, once.
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