“Keep still, Trouble. We’re here to listen. You want us to call Casper to come now?”
“Yeah. Is there water?” Her lips were dry, and I was sure her mouth felt like it, too. I leaned forward and fed her a few ice chips. We were supposed to be stingy about them, but she sighed gratefully. The anesthesia had probably made her feel like her mouth was full of cotton.
Wade was already nodding and texting. “I’m on it.”
Chloe sat on a chair with a coffee she wasn’t really drinking, but was instead warming her hands with and bending toward to breathe in the smell. She’d been up all night with me, bothering the hospital staff and watching Hattie’s vitals when they weren’t. Both of us had our fair share of crappy hospital coffee, and I guessed that she’d rather skip drinking the stuff.
“He’s on his way.” Wade pocketed his phone. “He’ll just be about a half-hour.
The door cracked open, and Sage poked her head in, a smile lighting up her face when she saw that Hattie was awake. She had a plant in one hand and a balloon in the other, plant tendrils catching on her hair as she set it on the windowsill.
“Well,” Sage said, voice wobbling beneath the humor she refused to let go of, “this is one hell of a way to get presents. I brought you company. You want to give it a name, or you want me to?”
A breathy laugh slipped from Hattie. “I love presents. Can we name it later?”
She already looked exhausted, even under all the bruises and the swelling.
Sage sniffed hard, dragging her sleeve across her eyes. “You scared the absolute shit out of us. Just thought you should know.”
“That wasn’t on purpose,” Hattie murmured.
“Next time,” Sage said, pointing at her with gentle authority, “we do Sunday dinner. Or cards. Or literally anything that doesn’t involve attempted murder. And you missed bingo night because of that asshole.”
Wade let out a long breath. “She’s got a point. No more of this. Pretty sure Kipp has ten grey hairs since yesterday.”
Sage came over and started combing through my hair. “Stop.” But Hattie was giggling even though she was grimacing.
“I’ll bet she’s going to find some,” she teased with a little laugh, and it was the best sound in the world.
A knock sounded before the door pushed all the way open, and Casper filled the doorway, his expression serious. He’d come by yesterday to check on Hattie, but he’d said he’d come back when she woke up. I’d known that he needed to speak with her, but there was no way I was rushing anything. Hattie wanted to get it over with, and I could respect that. He paused, taking in the crowded room and the way everyone gravitated toward the bed.
Right behind him was Rhodes Collins, whom I’d only seen for about three minutes this morning before he went to find Casper. He’d flown in from Seattle after yesterday’s dramatic call we’d had. His eyes bounced around the room from Hattie to Chloe to Sage and back.
“Looks like we interrupted a family meeting,” Rhodes said.
Guy was huge, built like a brick shithouse. Taller than East, I’d guess, and muscular, like he’d beat someone up in a fight ring or behind an alleyway if they looked at him the wrong way. Intimidating didn’t even begin to cover it. Certainly not a man I would want to meet in the dark.
Wade straightened. “You always do seem to show up at just the right time.” He gave Rhodes a little smirk.Whatever favor it was that Rhodes owed Wade, it must be good. Wade had never been willing to share, and I knew we were all dying to know all about it.
Casper’s mouth twitched, but he looked unfazed. “Good to see you awake, Hattie. This is Rhodes.”
Hattie’s fingers tightened again. A squeeze before answering, “Thanks for coming. I needed to talk to you about what happened.”
Every word seemed to cause her pain, and I knew that she had some broken ribs along with her other injuries. Watching her struggle was pissing me off, but if this was something she needed to do, then I’d support her.
Casper studied us, eyes sharp. “Walk me through it. Official version.”
When we finished, I needed to kick everyone out so she could rest some more, because I noticed her skin had paled a little.
“Sage, Lila, and I were going to meet in Wildwood Meadows to talk about something.” She shot Sage a secretive smile. “So I was on my way into town.”
“Okay. Go on.” Casper leaned against the wall, trying to seem unobtrusive, but it didn’t seem to bother Hattie that she was crammed into a room with six people. I kept waiting for hospital staff to come and kick some of us out, but Chloe might have bribed them to let us stay for a while.
“A truck came up behind me pretty fast. I think he pulled out from one of those logging roads because I hadn’t seen him following me from the cabin.” Her fingers trembled imperceptibly in mine.
Brushing my fingers across hers, I said, “Take your time, sweetheart.”
“I tried to pull away, then thought they might pass me, so I moved a little to the side.” Rhodes almost scoffed, and I frowned at him. What an asshole. “Then they hit me and knocked me off the road. Crashed right into me. I tried not to go over, but we were going too fast. Next thing I knew, the car was going over the side. I guess I need driving lessons, huh?” She shot a wry glance at Sage.
