Page 91 of Mountain Pine
“Mmkay. Bye then.” Grace waves all cheery and looks half-psychotic.
When Ryan walks away, Conner busts out laughing. “Damn, Grace, I wasnotexpecting that.”
“I can read a room, you know.” She hops up and starts rearranging the succulents again. “That dude looked like he needed to have his Mario coins knocked out of him.”
“Didn’t he move far away like six years ago?” Conner grumbles. “What the hell is he doing at the Blossom Festival?”
“I overheard Mom and Aunt Rachel talking about him a few months back. He’s getting divorced because he cheated on his wife and had to move backin with his parents.”
My cell goes off again and we all hear it ringing in my back under the table.
“You gonna answer that?” Conner asks.
“It’s probably Carly. I’ve been trying to get ahold of her and haven’t had any luck. She’ll have to wait now.”
Conner walks behind my table and pulls my cell out of my bag to check it. “It’s your mom.”
“Oh!” I bet she’s just calling to wish me good luck today. “Answer it.”
“Hey Corrine,” Conner says in a friendly tone. “Taylor’s…” His expression falls. Face pales. His gaze swings to me. “We’re on our way.”
My stomach drops. “What’s wrong?”
Conner’s movements are calm, sure, and direct. “Grace. Can you handle the booth?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“We gotta go, Taylor.Now.” Conner grabs my hand. “Your dad is in the ER with chest pain.”
Chapter 26
Conner
A lot of the main streets blocked because of the Blossom Festival so I’m weaving through a back way that takes us much longer because they go out of the way before they curve back towards civilization.
Taylor’s silently wringing her hands in her lap, staring straight ahead.
“He’ll be okay.” Grabbing her hand, I squeeze it. “He’ll be okay.”
If I say it three times, will it be true?
In times of crisis, I’m always calm. Flipping out can come later when the chaos is over. Right now, I’m a rock for Taylor and her mom to lean on and will help however I can.
“It could be a false alarm,” Taylor murmurs. “But… I’ve had a horrible bad feeling for days. What if this is it?”
Maybe. Or what if that horrible feeling is just because she drank too much caffeine on an empty stomach?
“We don’t know what’s going on yet,” I remind her.
But Corrine sounded terrified over the phone. Not that I’m going to tell Taylor that.
We fall into silence again and I break all thespeed limits to get us to the hospital faster. Dropping Taylor off at the door, she jumps out before I can say anything and is running through the glass doors.
I park. Make my way inside. And freeze.
I’m not family. Do I even have a right to go past the waiting area to be with them? Maybe I should sit out here and be patient.
Dropping into a chair, I rest my elbows on my knees and fall into all kinds of damage control situations. What if it’s a heart attack, can they stop it in time? What if he needs surgery, will it make him all better? What if he dies? Holy shit, I can’t even go down that road.
