Kevin coughed twice. “Boys with toys, huh?”
“Will you please get rid of that ridiculous gun now?”
“You bet. I meant to before . . .”
“But you forgot.”
“We got busy!”
She sighed. “We sure did.”
He closed his eyes again. Then he tightened his grip on her hand. “Annie? I need to ask you something.”
By the knots that sprouted inside her stomach, she was pretty sure she knew what he was going to say. “Anything,” she said.
“When I . . . when I woke up . . .” He paused.
She wasn’t sure how she could make this easier for him. She wasn’t sure that even would be possible. “When you woke up, what?”
He opened his eyes slowly and turned his head to the doorway. “Right over there. I thought I saw Meghan. So these drugs are wicked powerful, right?”
She could have laughed and said something benign like, “No kidding.” Then she could have told him to get some sleep, that she’d come back later if he wanted. But he was her brother and she loved him immensely and she couldn’t do that to him. Or to Meghan, who also must be feeling pretty crummy.
“Kevin,” she started slowly. She lifted his hand to her lips and kissed it. “There’s something you need to know.” She didn’t give him a chance to respond. “You weren’t hallucinating. Meghan was here. She’s out of rehab. She wanted to surprise you.”
His eyelids drooped. He stayed quiet for what seemed like the longest time. Then he said, “You’re making this up, right? Like, you’re really here in the room with me now, but you’re making up stories, aren’t you? Is it some kind of psych evaluation the doctor asked you to do?”
She sighed. “No, Kevin. I’m not making this up. It’s not one of my stories.”
He scrutinized her face, then zeroed in on her eyes.
“She’s doing well.” Annie kept going, praying her strength—or her guts—wouldn’t fail her. “It took a long time . . . well, you know how long it’s been.”
“Four years this Christmas,” he replied, his voice having dropped and become quieter. Much quieter.
“Right. Well, she’s here. And she wants to see you. When you’re ready.”
That’s when Kevin cried.
Annie scooted as close to the bed as she could get. “Are those tears of joy? She’s come back to you, Kevin. She’s doing well. There’s so much to tell you . . . I’ve gotten to know her a little—we hit it off right away. She registered at the Inn under a fake name, and then she told me the truth, which is why I called and pretended I was angry, and I begged you to come home and . . . Oh, never mind, there’ll be time for all that. You’re happy, aren’t you?” She was blah-blah-blahing again, but she couldn’t help it.
He rolled his head from one side to the other. He groaned.
Annie let go of his hand and stood up. “Are you in pain? Should I call for the nurse?”
“No,” he squeaked out. “It’s Taylor.”
Oh, Annie thought.Her.She sat back down, took his hand again. “I’m sure she’ll understand, Kevin. You and Meghan were together a long time.”
His tears leaked freely now. “It isn’t that.” He groaned again. “It’s because . . . Taylor and I got married.”
* * *
Blindsidedwas a good word. A most appropriate word. For starters, Annie never dreamed Kevin would marry Taylor. Not to mention that he’d only been in Hawaii a week, so how could it have happened so fast?
After a couple of minutes of protracted silence, Kevin spoke again. He told Annie there was no waiting period to get married there. She listened as he asked her what he should do, for which she could not reply because she had no idea. And because she’d been blindsided.
That’s when he said that his marriage to Meghan had fallen apart long before the accident. She was ambitious; she worked hard. She liked money, but more than that, she craved success. “Every year, her goal grew higher and higher. She wanted to buy more property, build more buildings, feel like she could own the world. Sometimes it made me a nervous wreck. I even got afraid to fly; I knew that every time we went somewhere it was to bid on a big project I didn’t really want. All I wanted was to do good work for nice people and have a little family. Including kids.”
