The moment seemed way too light, considering everything that was going on. But it also seemed intimate. And it was. After all, they might be sharing a bedroom again, and the intimacy between them was building, too.
It’d been years since they’d been lovers. A lifetime ago. Yet, all those memories came flooding back to her now. Of the hot kisseson the seat of his pickup truck. The touching. The need. So much need.
The making out had escalated until they’d finally done the deed. And repeated it throughout the summer right before he’d left for the military and she had left for college.
Sometimes, like now, she wondered what would have happened if they’d both stayed in Renegade Canyon. Would they have ditched the pact they’d made and hooked up for good?
Maybe.
And that’s what Addie decided to focus on. That and her future with the babies. She let herself sink right into the images and stayed there until Judson drove into San Antonio and to the Serenity Springs Care Facility.
“It doesn’t look like a prison,” Addie remarked when she eyed the two-story redbrick building with the white columns. “Or a hospital.”
It looked more like someone’s home. An expensive one. And it seemed way too luxurious to house a killer.
Judson pulled to a stop in one the visitors’ spots, and Livvy parked right next to him. He didn’t get out. He turned in the seat to look Addie straight in the eyes.
“I’m not changing my mind,” she let him know.
“I figured as much. I was going to say, don’t let her get to you. Keep the conversation on Yvette and the present. Don’t let Rowena drag you into the past.”
It was good advice. Easier said than done, but still good, and that’s why she leaned in and brushed her mouth over his. For the advice and because she knew, like his touch, the kiss would soothe her.
And it did.
It aroused her, too, but Addie figured she could embrace the heat while they made their way out of the cruiser and inside.
With Livvy right behind him, they stepped into the facility, and while the foyer didn’t look much like a hospital, either, it smelled like one. That antiseptic smell seemed to coat everything from the high plastered ceilings to the marble floors.
Judson immediately went to the reception desk to deal with the woman in pale blue scrubs who certainly wasn’t welcoming them. In fact, she seemed ready to send them on their way. Judson showed her his badge, followed by a murmured conversation.
The woman gave Addie a long look before she called someone, and she continued to scrutinize both Livvy and Judson while she spoke to whoever she’d called. Probably the director. Heck, maybe even Rowena.
After she ended the conversation, she typed in something on her laptop and used her phone to take a photo of Judson’s badge. She also had him sign something before she finally stood.
“This way,” she said. “The patient has agreed to see you.”
Yes, Addie would bet Rowena had, and she was probably fist pumping in triumph at getting her way. The thought of that disgusted Addie even more.
The receptionist led them down a long hall and stopped outside a room across from a nurses’ station. The nurse manning it was on the phone, and he barely spared them a glance before they went inside.
Definitely a hospital room.
Not just the scent but the bed and the equipment that surrounded it. And in that bed sat Rowena, looking considerably older than the last time Addie had seen her. Looking considerably older than her age, too. It was obvious the cancer had taken a toll on her, as her face was very thin. Her head was wrapped in a bandanna that had been fashioned into a cap.
“Addie,” Rowena said, her voice a hoarse rattle. She lifted her hand and motioned for Addie to come closer.
She didn’t.
Addie stayed put, and she didn’t even attempt to soften her glare of disgust. That disgust went up a notch when she spotted the photo of herself on the nightstand. Definitely not one that Addie had given her, but rather one that had been printed out from an online newspaper article that had been done about the Horseshoe Ranch when Addie had taken over running it.
“Deputy Judson Docherty,” he said, breaking the cold silence that had settled in the room. He hitched his thumb to Livvy. “Deputy Walsh. Now, start talking, Rowena,” he added. Judson certainly wasn’t toning down his venom, either. “Babies are at risk, and I don’t want to waste a second with these sick mind games you’re playing.”
Rowena finally tore her stare from Addie and shifted to Judson while she shook her head. “No mind games. I needed to see my… Addie.”
Even though the woman hadn’t said the d-word,daughter, Addie knew she was thinking it. And that upped Addie’s anger even more.
“I needed to say I’m sorry,” Rowena went on, shifting her attention back to Addie. “I’m so very sorry for taking you, and while I don’t expect your forgiveness—”
