“Wait,” she gasped.“Connor?… You?”
“Connor runs an adventure company in the Everglades.I own a tattoo shop.Look, I can’t do this yet, Evelyn.”Her eyes widened, and though it made him feel like crap inside, he couldn’t bring himself to call her Mom.
Trent’s mother was the only mom who had been there for him, whose shoulder he cried on when he found out just how sick he was.
“I thought I could do this today.Sorry.”
“Please… don’t.Why are you angry?What did I do?”He ignored the outstretched arm and grimace of pain that followed.It had been the doctor’s decision to not reveal their sordid family history to her until she was stronger, physically and emotionally.
There was a pen on top of a notebook.He scribbled his phone number on a blank page.
“I’m sorry.I just—” He hurried from the room, anxiety racking his body as he hurried to the exit.
Sunlight.He perched on a narrow planter outside the hospital and inhaled a few quick breaths.He needed to be out on the water.Or drunk.He’d take either over facing Drea.
She saw too much without him saying a word.
A permafrost had settled between them.He’d felt like an ass, the way he’d treated her at the studio, but she wouldn’t talk to him, not that he’d tried too hard.Their conversations had been strictly limited to texts.
He checked his watch.Nine thirty already.The hospital smell clung to his shirt.He hated it.No matter how late he would arrive at Mo’s house, he needed to shower.
Instead of cutting back through the hospital to the parking lot, he jogged around the building.
He climbed into his truck.While he was home, he’d throw his board in the back.If they worked quickly, he might be able to score some time in the water from the shoreline beyond Mo’s impressive garden.
There he’d be able to find clarity on what to do next.
CHAPTER NINE
“Fucking typical.”Drea wasn’t often driven to yell when she was alone, but hey, Cujo was the exception to every rule.
Balanced on the top of a three-step stool, she carefully stretched and wove tiny lights along the evergreen shrubbery to create a beautiful, natural wall along one side of the patio.Lord knew how much energy it was going to take to power up the thousand lights she’d threaded so far.
Dozens of vibrant pink and orange dahlias she’d collected from the flower market on her way to Mo’s needed water.If Cujo didn’t get here soon with the cylinder vases, she’d have to ask Mo for some buckets.Packets of sparklers with the little tags she made reading“You set my world on fire”needed to be placed in slim glass jars on each table.Matches!She’d forgotten to get matches.
Long cheerful garlands of bright paper lanterns hung from the roof of a white canopy.Bright orange silk draped a two-tiered table stacked with boxes of candy.They were still missing the glass jars that would be filled with sweets.Another thing waiting on Cujo.
“Everything okay, Drea?”The shock of being addressed on a first-name basis by a Miami legend never got old.Before King James had landed in Miami, there’d been Monster Mo.
“Should be done in a couple more hours.What do you think?”
“It looks crazy good,” he said, looking around.“Can I get you a soda?”
“That would be great.”Mo disappeared inside.
Drea pulled out her phone.Eleven thirty.No sign of Cujo.No call.No text.Fucking A.
Sharp barbs of exhaustion scratched her eyes.Being logical, she knew she shouldn’t rub them.She stepped off the stool, thankful to be on solid ground.She rummaged around in her bag.Eye drops were her new favorite friend.Her shift at the hotel had ended at four and she had finally crawled into bed by five.At eight, she got up to see to her mom.By nine she was on her way to Mo’s, too hopped up to be asleep, too darn tired to be awake.
She’d hoped to be done by lunch, but with Cujo a no-show, she’d be lucky to squeeze in an hour-long power nap and quick shower before getting back for six to make sure everything was taken care of.God bless José for letting her take today off.
She grabbed the closest chair, her body groaning with thanks and closed her eyes, just for a moment.
“Here’s your soda, and Cujo is—”
Drea shivered and shook herself awake.
“Sorry, D.You’re exhausted.Go take a nap on one of the loungers.It’ll all still be here when you wake up.”
