Chapter Twenty-six

Chapter Twenty-Six

Logan

Danielle is sitting in the waiting room. Her legs are curled up under her and her head is resting against the wall. She’s wearing black leggings and my sweatshirt, and my heart swells in my chest when I see her through the glass doors. I have to get buzzed into the ICU waiting area, and Danielle gets up as soon as she sees me.

I take her in my arms, hugging her tight and holding her close.

“How is he?”

“Um,” she starts, letting out a shaky breath. “Stable for now. He was in really bad shape, and he’s so lucky the paramedics got him here in time.”

“That sounds promising.”

She nods. “I thought so too, but the doctor isn’t as optimistic.”

“And how are you?”

“I’m…shaken but okay. And I’m still just shocked to hear that he was so sick. I had no idea. I mean…I saw some changes but wrote it off as him aging. You slow down when you get old.”

“He was acting just fine before we left.”

“I know, and that’s what scares me.” Danielle rubs her forehead. “The doctor said he’s at risk for another heart attack or even a stroke. His blood pressure was out of control and still needs to be closely monitored. He’s leaving in just two days.” She shakes her head. “It seems soon, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, but it’ll be good for him to get out of here. He’ll be able to move around, which is important.”

She nods, and her eyes fill with tears.

“I’m sorry,” she squeaks out, voice tight.

“Hey, it’s okay.” I take her in my arms again, cradling her against my chest. We sit on a bench, and Danielle wraps her arms around me as she cries. I rub her back, wishing I could make her better.

“I hope so.” I reach over and grab a tissue for her. She wipes her eyes and blows her nose. “I must look so gross.”

“No. You look like someone who’s been through a lot in the last few hours. Do you need anything? Coffee? Food?”

“I’m thirsty.”

“I’ll get you something.”

“I’ll come with you.”

We get up and go to the vending machine in the hall outside the waiting area. Danielle has to be so exhausted, and I’m sure she’s going to stay here for the rest of the day. She gets a water and we go back into the waiting room. Danielle rests her head against my shoulder, and I put my arm around her.

She puts the water bottle down and hooks one arm around my waist, getting as comfortable as she can on this couch. I run my fingers through her hair. She’s right about to fall asleep when there’s a commotion inside the ICU. Danielle jerks up and then gasps when she sees the nurses rushing into a room.

“That’s my grandpa’s room.”

Holding her hand in mine, we go through another set of doors and to her grandpa’s room. Her mother is standing in the corner, out of the way of the nurses who are working on her grandpa.

“What’s happening?” Danielle’s eyes fill with tears, and her mother comes over.

“We were talking, and he just…he just…stopped breathing.”

“No.” Danielle shakes her head back and forth. “No, no, no!”

She turns to me, tears streaming down her face. The nurses start doing CPR, and we stand there, watching in horror as the heart monitor starts to flatline. I wrap Danielle in my arms, turning her away. She doesn’t need to see this. She doesn’t need this to be the last memory she has of her grandpa.

*

“Danielle?” I say softly, turning the car off. We just pulled into the driveway of the farmhouse. We left the hospital, and Danielle said she wanted to go home. Her mother is in the backseat, and no one said a word on the drive here.

But what do you say after something like this?

Carol and I get out, and she heads up to the house. Danielle hasn’t moved. I open the door and reach in, unbuckling her seatbelt.

“Do you want to go to my house instead?” I ask, knowing it’s going to be hard for her to step foot inside the house.

She blinks, and fat tears roll down her face. “No. I…I…I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry.” I extend my hand. “Take your time.”

Nodding, she wipes her eyes and takes my hand. We walk up the front porch steps together. Her mom already went inside. Danielle hesitates before she crosses the threshold. More tears spill from her eyes, and I hate seeing her hurt like this.

If I could take it all away, I would.

“I want to lie down,” she tells me.

“Want me to come with you?”

She nods, and we go upstairs and get into her bed. Danielle pulls the blankets up over her and turns to me, burying her head against my chest as she cries. I rub her back until she falls asleep. Carefully moving out of bed so I don’t wake her up, I tuck her in and go downstairs.

Carol is in the kitchen, with a bottle of Jack on the counter.

“My father and I didn’t see eye to eye on most things,” she starts, pouring a small amount of whiskey in a glass. “But we both cared about the girls.” She drinks the whiskey. “I’m glad Danielle has you.”

“Yeah. She does have me.”

Carol adds another splash of whiskey to the glass. “I…I need to make funeral arrangements. Will you stay with Danielle?”

“Of course. Do you need anything?” I run my hand through my hair, not sure what I can do to help.

Carol blinks away tears. “No, thank you though.” One of the cats jumps up on the counter, and Carol shoos it away. “Actually, do you know where the cat food is? I think they are hungry?”

I go into the pantry but don’t find any food. “Looks like you’re all out. I can run out and get some.”

“That would be helpful. Thank you.” Carol looks at the cat that’s twisting around her ankles. “I don’t know their names.”

“They’re easy. There’s Black Cat, Orange Cat, and Tabby Cat.”

She smiles and blinks back tears. “That sounds like my dad.”

“And the horses are Sundance, Bailey, and Alibi.”

“Oh my God. I forgot about them. I don’t know anything about horses.”

“We had horses when we were kids. My sister was into showing for a while. I’ll take care of them too.” And the chickens and goats, but I don’t bring them up. Carol seems overwhelmed enough as it is.

“Thank you,” she says again, and this time has a harder time controlling her emotions. I go outside to check on the horses first. Luckily, they were out in the pasture and not in their stalls, and have access to grass, water, and shade. I top off their water trough and give each horse a scoop of grain before heading out to the store.

Quinn calls as I turn onto the road.

“How’s Danielle?” she asks.

“Really sad. She just fell asleep, and I’m leaving to get cat food for her grandpa’s cats.”

“That’s all you need?”

“Yeah. They’re out.”

“Come here. I’m only a few miles away and have more than enough. I can give you enough to last a few days.”

“Thanks. That saves me a trip into town.”

“I’ll see you in a bit then. The front door is unlocked. I just put Emma down for a nap so come on in.”

I end the call and drive to Quinn’s, going in through the front door and silently closing it behind me. I find Quinn in the kitchen.

“Are you making a bomb?” I ask, looking at the computer parts and wires on the table.

Quinn arches an eyebrow. “Yes, Logan. I’m making a bomb.” She shakes her head. She flips something over. “I’m making a robot.”

“For fun?”

“Yeah. Why else do you build robots?”

“You are such a nerd.”

She narrows her eyes. “You won’t be calling me a nerd when this bad boy wins the robot fight.”

“Just hearing you say robot fight makes you an even bigger nerd.”

She puts down a pair of pliers and gets up, going into her pantry to get the cat food. “I feel so bad for Danielle.”

“Me too. It was the last thing we expected. One minute we’re dancing and drinking at the reception, and the next, Weston is calling.”

“How was the wedding and pretending you two were engaged?” Quinn puts several cans of cat food into a cloth grocery bag and hands it to me.

“It was fun, actually. And everyone bought our fake engagement.”

“Really?”

“You sound surprised.”

Quinn wrinkles her nose and picks up one of her million cats, bringing it out of the pantry so she can close the door. “I am. I didn’t think you’d be able to pull it off. I mean…didn’t people wonder when you weren’t being all affectionate?” She puts her hand on her stomach and makes a face.

“You okay, sis?”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“You look like you’re going to puke.”

She holds up her hand. “There’s a good chance I might.”

“Are you pregnant again?”

She pulls her lips over her teeth and nods. “I just found out yesterday. Only Archer knows. We were going to tell everyone tonight, but we’ll wait a few days until after the funeral and everything.”

“You’re serious?”

“Yeah. Emma is going to be a big sister.”

I smile and give Quinn a one-armed hug. “Congrats!”

“Thanks. I feel like this is the worst timing to tell you, but you did ask. Anyway…tell me about Hawaii.” She goes to the fridge and gets out a sparkling water. “How did you convince everyone you were really engaged?”

“It wasn’t hard.”

Quinn raises an eyebrow. “Really? You’re not the best actor.”

“I didn’t have to act.”

Quinn narrows her eyes, studying me. Out of all my siblings, Quinn and I are the most alike. Other than the year when I referred to her only as “Nadine the Butt Doctor” when we were kids, we’ve—for the most part—gotten along.

“Did Danielle?”

“At first, but then…”

“Oh my God! You guys finally hooked up?”

“Finally?”

Quinn gives me a look. “Everyone knows you’ve been crushing on Danielle since the day you met her. Does Scarlet know? We were so hoping this would happen!”

I shake my head. “You both need a hobby.”

“It’ll be Owen next since you and Danielle are finally together.”

“That’s charity, not a hobby. And Danielle and I…I don’t know.”

“Wait. You hooked up but aren’t together?” Quinn sits at the large island counter.

“We never had a chance to talk about it. We didn’t leave much time for talking.”

“Gross.”

“I don’t want her to think what happened was just a hookup,” I say, feeling really fucking grateful for my sister right now. It used to be me giving her relationship advice and not the other way around. But Quinn is smart, and now she’s married with a kid and another on the way. If I were to take anyone’s advice, it would be hers.

“You love her, don’t you?” she says gently.

“Yeah. I do.”

“Then tell her.”