But then my gaze swings to the cracked hospital door, toward the waiting room beyond, and tears burn my eyes.
Theyare my family, blood be damned. Eric Sanderson is the only father I’ll ever need, not some lowlife trash that terrified my mother.My fists clench just thinking about the types of men Mom used to date.
He was one of those.
Fierce admiration for the warrior lying in front of me streams in rivulets off my jaw. She gave me as much as she could. Her taste in men sucks as bad as Sally’s mattress, but she’s never stopped fighting to give me the life I deserved.
“I’m proud of you,” she croaks, feebly rubbing my hand even as an IV juts out of hers. “Of the man you’ve become. So many people love you. You’ve found a family, Brandon. And because of that, so have I.”
A brisk knock on the door has me sitting straighter and wiping the back of my hand across my eyes. A thick nurse with creamy skin and a gleaming smile bustles in once she sees that Mom is awake.
“How we doin’, darlin’?” She steps over to a computer monitor, scanning her lanyard badge and scrolling a mouse. “Seems we got ya on some real good pain meds.”
Mom nods as I rub the back of her hand.
“Good thing too,” the nurse laughs. “Your daughter-in-law is all but threatnin’ us if we don’t take care of ya properly.”
Mom’s eyes cut to me with a quizzical stare, suddenly more lucid.
“What?”
“That pretty lil’ thing in the waiting room.” The nurse waves a mindless hand as she begins to wrap a blood pressure cuff around Mom’s arm. She throws me a wink. “Spicy spitfire you got there. Good thing she finally fell asleep on one of them chairs after your other friends left to get to work on time.”
A stunned laugh escapes on my breath. Kate is still here? According to the pink filtering through the hospital window, it’s gotta be almost six in the morning.
Mom’s eyes are huge. “Brandon Jonathan Roberts, you got married and didn’t tell me?!”
I shush Mom with a tired chuckle, not sure how to explain. “No. That’s just Kate being Kate. She’s now my fake wife, apparently.”
“What? Kate’s here?” she asks. “Why?”
“I’m not sure. Not sure about a lot of things.” I circle my fists against my sleepless eyes.
“Okay?” Mom sounds confused, but another wave of reliefsoothes my soul. Mom’s here. She’s alive and discussing girls with me from a hospital bed, of all things.
I sigh. “Not sure if the nest I made for her is gonna last, I guess.”
After the nurse removes the blood pressure cuff and replaces the saline drip bag before leaving, a tinge of mischief tilts Mom’s smile.
“If someone like Kate”—she points to the door—“is willing to stick it out for some fake mother-in-law she’s never met, willing to stay foryou, well…that might just be a nest worth keeping.”
I meet her gaze, and she gives a subtle lift of her chin toward the door.
“Go take that poor girl home. Regardless of what you decide, tell my favorite daughter-in-law thanks.”
I laugh. “She’s your only daughter-in-law, and not even that.”
“Don’t sass me. Can’t you see I’m lying in a hospital bed?”
My chuckle brushes the top of Mom’s head as I kiss her goodbye. Mom nestles further into the pillows and closes her eyes. I try to keep my footsteps quiet as I depart, but Mom’s voice stops me.
“Sneak me in a candy bar when you come back? Hospital food sucks too.”
“Got it,” I snort. “Now go to sleep.”
I’m pretty sure Mom is out by the time I reach for the handle.
The waiting room is empty other than a small Armenian family in the corner and a sleeping Kate. The children scamper about, much to the mother’s dismay. But the noise isn’t enough to wake the beautiful woman sprawled across the loveseat Tuck and Julia must have vacated before they had to leave for work. Her pretty lips stay parted slightly as she lies beneath my leather jacket. The nurse-provided blanket she shared with me is balled up beneath her head.
