He shrugs.
I can’t even believe this guy.
“Kevin was nothing but kind to me in the helicopter,” my mother says.“A gentleman.”
“All the MacLaines are gentlemen,” I say.
Jake snarls.
I can’t handle this.
“You know what?I think I better finish drying my hair.I don’t want to catch a cold.Be right back!”
I escape into the bathroom, lock the door, and clutch the edge of the sink.I feel the giggles building up inside me until I’m on the verge of busting out laughing.I grab a towel to muffle my guffaws and turn on the hairdryer to drown out the sound.
Catch a cold?
I got stuck in a whiteout blizzard in subzero temperatures.I fell through the ice and was seconds from drowning.I suffered hypothermia, went ATV riding half-naked through the snow, and spent a night in an ice cave.
And I’m worried I’ll catch a cold from damp hair?
I look at myself in the mirror and take a deep breath.
You can do this, Phoebe.
But Rick…I don’t want to look at his smug face.
I could kick myself for how much time I spent with him.Was he always this person and I simply didn’t allow myself to see it?Physicians are at the top of the food chain in a hospital setting, and I know I allowed myself to enjoy the swagger I saw in Rick.But here, in Sweetbriar, he’s just an obnoxious dude who’s trying to play my family.
He seems pretty chummy with Jake.I’m getting a really bad feeling about what he’s let them think.
I don’t care if Rick tells them we dated for over two years.Or that we took trips together and that I stayed at his place on a regular basis.I don’t care about any of that.
But Idocare if he told them something ridiculous, like that we’re still together, or that we’ve talked about marriage.
I run my fingers through my hair, feeling the hot air of the dryer on my face.I need a few minutes to think about how to handle Rick.About what to tell my family about Evander.
The truth.Nothing but the truth.That’s what we decided.So that’s what I’ll tell them.
I find a hair tie in the stuff from my locker, gather my hair up on top of my head, and pull on a hoodie sweatshirt from Bo’s baseball team.I zip it up over my scrubs top.
When I open the door, I see that everyone else has arrived—Bo, Kyle, Mason, and Ryder run over to me and take turns hugging me.Everyone’s very careful in how they touch me, worried that I’m injured.Everyone except for Bo, who lifts me and swings me around.
“Put her down,” Mama says.
“I’m fine.”
“Why don’t you rest,” Rick says.“Get under the blankets and give yourself time to decompress.You’ve been through a lot.”
Everyone gathers around me, pushing me toward the bed.I think I actually roll my eyes, but I give up and crawl under the covers.Mason raises the head of the bed so that I’m sitting.Kyle grabs an extra blanket from the closet.Ryder plumps up the pillows behind my head.
Then Rick has the nerve to take a seat next to me, on the edge of my bed.He touches my arm.
I glare at him.
Bo taps Rick on the shoulder.“Hop up, my dude,” he says.“Let’s give her some space, all right?”
“You want some water?Are you hungry?”Ryder leans down and peers at me.I know they all mean well, but I’m not used to being crowded like this.Not by so many people.
