Page 44 of Between Steel and Secrets
“That’s not a problem. I can have my jet fly her anywhere she needs for the best care,” Kyler says.
Bristol is glaring at me. “I don’t need a work-up. I’m fine. I just faint when it gets a bit warm. I probably need to drink more electrolytes.”
“What are some of your other symptoms?” I ask.
“I really don’t want to do this,” Bristol huffs.
Kyler, however, ignores his daughter’s request. “She’s always been dehydrated easily. She gets migraines, faints, has had some balance issues, low blood pressure. When Bristol stands up too fast, she blacks out for a few seconds.”
When I first met Ariella, there hadn’t been a diagnosis for her condition. It had just been weird symptoms that plagued her at the most inopportune time, like when we were dancing at the bar together.
What I thought had been one drink too many had been entirely something else.
Bristol quips, “You forgot the nausea, irritability, and the fact that my heart feels like it’s pounding out of my chest. Plus, the stomach problems, do you want to hear about my diarrhea, too, and how I can eat one food one day, and the next, I can barely make it to the bathroom in time?”
The similarities to her and Ariella are uncanny.
“I told you I thought going away to college wasn’t a good plan,” Kyler says, concern in his tone.
“That’s what you’d like, me to go to school in New York and live at home. No, thank you! I’m quite happy at Great Falls.” Bristol is a bit of a spitfire.
I bite my tongue. I don’t think my interjecting is going to help the two of them right now.
“Is that why Mom is working in Breckenridge?” Bristol asks. “Is it because of me?”
There’s a soft sigh on the other end of the phone. “Mom is there in case you need someone, and of course, to work. We just want to be close to you.”
“I’m nineteen, Dad! You have to learn to let go eventually.”
He grumbles and clears his throat. “Jaxson, send me the information for that physician you recommended.”
“I’ll have Ariella call their office and also give Emerson all the details. Does that work for you?”
“Yeah, appreciated.”
We end the call, and Bristol is glaring at me. She’s probably relieved it’s the last week she’s scheduled to work for me and school is resuming, because I have a feeling it’d be tense as hell in the office with her around.
Kind of like when Ariella first began working for me.
Except Ariella and I had a constant hard-on for each other, and well, that is definitely not the case with Bristol.
She’s practically my youngest daughter’s age.
I’m relieved when I arrive at her campus, and she directs me toward the dorms. I pull up out front. “Do you need help getting inside?” I offer.
“I’ve got it, Jaxson. Thanks for the ride.” She hurries out of the car into the blazing heat, and I just hope that she’ll be all right on her own.
“Stay hydrated!” I shout at her as she slams the door shut and gives me a forced fuck you smile.
Ten
Liam
Driving up toward Great Falls, I do the unthinkable and try calling Bristol, again.
“You really need to stop calling,” Bristol bellows at me, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
She’s not dead. That’s a good sign.
