“Willow, I’m not gonna hear it.” She held up a hand to stop all conversation and looked to Mac as if challenging her to say something just so she could pull out her full name, too.
“This is silly, Momma,” Mac said. “You’re exhausted. You said yourself he was out of it, so why not go home and get cleaned up and sleep in your own bed for a night? I’ll stay so he’s not alone.”
“Mackenna”—annnnnd, there it was—“if any one of y’all thinks you’re gettin’ me anywhere away from this hospital for the next few days, you don’t know me very well. I haven’t spent a single night away from Richard since we got married, and I don’t plan to start tonight. Icertainlydon’t plan to go home and sleep in our bed without him.” Her voice cracked, and Mac’s chest cracked right along with it.
“Now, if you don’t mind, I think I’m capable of makin’ my own decisions. And my decision is to stay right here with your father.” She jabbed a finger toward the ground and narrowed her eyes on each of her daughters, daring them to challenge her.
Considering neither Mac nor her sisters were stupid, they all realized a losing battle when they were up against one. Their momma was right—she could make her own decisions. They just had to hope she was doing what was best for her.
“All right,” Rory finally said. “But Gran’s comin’ home.” She turned to their grandmother, an accusatory finger pointed in her direction. “And don’t argue with me, old woman. I’ll get Nash to carry you out of here if I have to.”
Gran raised an eyebrow. “You’re gettin’ awfully feisty over there.” She hooked her arm through Nat’s and dipped her chin. “I like it.”
“You—” Rory’s shoulders relaxed, and she dropped her finger. “Oh. I thought that’d be a lot harder than it was.”
“That’s what she said,” Nat mumbled, which caused Gran to hoot with laughter, which, in turn, sent a ripple effect around the group until they were all in stitches.
Delirious laughter was a real thing, apparently.
With amusement in her voice, Nat tipped her head toward the main door. “C’mon, Gran. Asher’s stayin’ at the house, so you can ride with us.” Nat squeezed their momma, then guided Gran away, tossing a, “Later, bitches,” over her shoulder to Mac, Rory, and Will.
“You gonna ride home with Hudson, Mac?” Will asked, resting a hand on Mac’s forearm.
“Yeah.” She nodded, deciding it was best just not to tell her sisters she planned to send Hud on his way while she stuck around with Momma. They’d make it into a whole big deal, and none of them needed that right now.
So instead, she just stood next to her momma, waving everyone off, trying valiantly to ignore Hudson’s laser-focused stare that had been pinning her in place for the past five minutes.
Once everyone else was gone, her momma turned to her. “Y’all gonna head out now?”
“No.”
Momma blinked at her for a few seconds, as if stunned by her firm answer. “No?”
“No,” Mac confirmed, shaking her head. “I’m stayin’ with you. Hud can go home. I wanna make sure you’re okay.”
“Honey.” Momma’s eyes softened, and she lifted a hand to cup Mac’s cheek. “That’s real sweet, but I’m fine. Your daddy’s fine. We’re all fine. And you need to go home and rest.”
“But I don’t!” Mac said, surprised by her vehemence. “BecauseIgot to sleep last night and the night before. BecauseIwasn’t here when I needed to be. BecauseIwas roamin’ around, makin’ everyone worry, when they had other things to concentrate on. So, no.” She stood tall, voice firm as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not leavin’. I’m stayin’ right here with you.” She swallowed hard, attempting to shove down the knot that had formed in her throat. “I need to be—I need todosomething.”
So much for swallowing down all that emotion, because from the way her momma cocked her head to the side, her lips curving down in the corners, she’d caught the slight tremble in Mac’s voice.
“Oh, sweetheart. Don’t beat yourself up about bein’ gone. You hardly ever leave, and it was good you got away for a while.”
“But I—”
“None of that now. It was impossible for any of us to predict this. You got here when you could, and that’s all that matters.”
Mac nodded, but inside, all she could think about was the fact that she’d fucked up, and she’d done so when her family needed her the most.
She hadn’t texted Will when she and Hudson had gotten to the highest point to let her know what was going on. She hadn’t checked in with anyone, too wrapped up in Hudson to see beyond their insane chemistry. And, yeah, she’d finally gotten to the hospital, but her sister—who’d been a literal half a world away—had managed to arrive before her.
Heat enveloped the length of her back, and she didn’t need to turn around to know Hudson had come up behind her, standing so close, their bodies had to be nearly touching.
“Get her home for me, will you?” Momma asked, her gaze directed over Mac’s shoulder.
He settled a hand on Mac’s hip, his thumb brushing up and down along her side. “Yes, ma’am.”
“I’m not— I can’t—”
