“I never dreamed she was still alive, much less had my baby,” Hamish said. “Hell, I can’t believe it’s been over seventy years since I saw her.”
“I want ye to follow my lead,” Badger cautioned. “When we get to her room, I need ye to stay quiet for a moment. She’s fragile, and I don’t want to shock her.”
“I understand.”
Badger led him inside and quickly repeated the same story he’d used during his first visit. Ten minutes later, they were standing in the doorway of Corrine’s room. She was sitting in the recliner and staring at the TV, which was playing a syndicated game show.
“Why is she up here in Atlanta and not closer to our daughter?” Hamish whispered to Badger.
“Two of her children still live in the area. And she has friends who come visit on the regular. Imani visits at least twice a month. Drives up for a weekend. She’s not being ignored, if that’s yer worry.” Badger motioned for Hamish to step inside and then closed the door behind them for privacy.
Corrine finally looked at them, faintly smiling.
Badger walked over to her and gently took her hand. “Corrine, I’m Rodney Williams. Ye might not remember me, but we spoke a brief while ago. I’m a friend of yers from church.” He gently sent Prime energy to her, reopening those memories, and her eyes widened.
“Yes! Rodney, I remember you. We talked about Hamish.” Now she seemed to really see Hamish standing there. “Oh, my goodness! You brought him to visit me?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Badger said. He pointed for Hamish to drag a chair over and sit next to her. Badger took up a stance on her other side, so he could keep a hand on her shoulder while Hamish sat and took her hand in his.
“Hi there, Alexis,” Hamish teased, dropping his American accent. His Welsh burr drew a girlish giggle from her. “You were a naughty thing, weren’t you? Leaving without saying good-bye. Not even giving me your real name. Enough to make a boy worry he didn’t show a girl a good time.”
A faint blush rose in her cheeks. “I’m sorry about that. I was gettin’ married.”
He smiled. “I heard, Corrine. Congratulations. You know, I really did hope you’d come join me in St. Louis.”
“That’s awfully sweet of you but it wouldn’t have worked out between us. And that’s all right. I’ve had a good life. How about you?”
Badger spotted the shifter’s wistful smile. “No complaints. I ended up opening my own dealerships, you know. Done pretty good.”
“That’s nice.” She reached over and stroked his cheek. “I told Rodney about Imani. About finding a puppy in her bed.”
Hamish’s eyes grew too bright, tears limning them. “He told me. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for both of you. I should have tried harder to find you. He told me about our great-granddaughter.”
“Yes. Isn’t thatsomethin’? Three grands with seven greats between ’em. They all good kids, too. Good daddies to their babies.”
“I wish I’d been here for it all.” He sniffled back tears.
“You must have a bunch of kids and grands of your own now.”
Hamish shook his head, his tears finally spilling. “No, I never did. Never met the truly right woman to have kids with. No one ever compared to you. Not really. My biggest regret is letting you walk away that night.”
Badger hated not being able to leave them alone but he didn’t want Corrine’s fragile state to deteriorate. After another few minutes, Badger also knew they needed to wrap things up and let Corrine rest ahead of dinner time.
“We’re gonna go now, Corrine,” Badger told her. “If ye want to remember what we talked about today, ye can. But ye won’t tell anyone else about it. All right?”
“All right.” She smiled at them. “Thank you for visiting me today.”
Hamish blinked back more tears and leaned in, kissing her. “Thank you for letting us visit.”
She reached up and cupped his cheek again. “You gonna see go her, aren’t you?”
“I want to, yes. She’s my daughter. My only child. I want her in my life, if she’ll have me.”
“Do you think she’s gonna hate me?”
Badger gently squeezed her shoulder again. “Now don’t ye worry about that, Corrine. It’s all fine, and no one’s hatin’ anyone. Mebbe think about takin’ a short nap, because yer tired.”
“Okay.” She settled back in her recliner and promptly fell asleep.
