Chapter 22
Millie
I barely remembered the first day in the hospital. I was in and out of it; every time I felt pain, I pushed a button and then whoop, off to sleep. The only thing I remembered was Ashton. Every time I cracked open my eyes, he was there. The week in hospital recovery flew by, and then it turned into a month at home with Ashton waiting on me hand and foot. The temporary chef he’d gotten last minute wasn’t amazing, but he didn’t suck. His avocado toast game was strong, so the bar was doing well.
My parents also drove up in their giant RV to visit me and met Ashton. They loved him. He cursed three times and followed it up with another curse word and then an apology. My mom thought it was adorable. Julie and John were coming up this weekend and then I was back to work on Monday.
Yesterday Ashton got his heart rejection test done and he said he’d have the results by the time he got off work tonight.
It was three a.m. and he texted me he’d be up soon after closing down the bar. I was three seasons intoHeart of Dixiewhen Gran called.
I answered right away. “Can’t sleep?”
She blew air through the phone. “Why is he making us wait for the results until after work? I don’t like it.”
I didn’t think of that. Surely the doctor called earlier with the results; it’s not like they were open at 3 a.m. When you owned a bar or restaurant, your concept of time was all messed up. Until three seconds ago, 3 a.m. seemed like a perfectly normal time for Ashton to tell me the results.
My throat tightened. “Think he wants to tell me in person? Tell me something bad?”
“I don’t know, hun. He won’t tell me either!” Gran sounded exasperated.
Damn him. What was he playing at?
“How’s Wayne?” I asked, trying to change the subject. I’d walk right down to the bar after my phone call and demand Ashton tell me right now.
I heard the grin in her voice. “You got the group text today, how do you think?”
A smile tugged at the corners of my lips.
Bring BACON,Wayne had texted three times with the phone I’d given him. He’d even added multiple pig emojis. Ashton was on the text thread but stayed silent most of the time. Still, I could sense a shift in him in the way he spoke about his dad. He still called him Wayne but asked about him often, and I heard him tell Wayne over the phone that yoga would be fun because all the women wore tight clothes.
I chuckled. “But he’s sober.”
“But he’s sober,” Gran agreed.
Thirty days. Wayne was thirty days sober. That in itself was a miracle.
The door handle jiggled and I sat erect. “Gran, he’s walkin’ in. I’ll call you right after.”
“Okay, hun,” she said and I hung up, pinning Ashton with a glare.
He had one hand behind his back, hiding something. Probably flowers. When he saw my glare, he looked panicked.
“Everything okay?”
I crossed my arms. “No. I’m wondering why you waited until so late to tell me your results. Gran and I don’t like our emotions being messed with. I’ve watched fifty-six twenty-minute episodes of small-town drama and I’mnotin the mood.”
A slow grin spread across Ashton’s face as he crossed the room and sat on the couch next to me.
“Because I wanted to do this in person.” He pulled his hand out from behind his back and in it was a stethoscope.
Tears filled my eyes, and my bottom lip quivered as he handed it to me.
“Turns out Colin’s heart is just fine. Looks like I got another second chance … and I’m not gonna fuck it up this time.”
A sob burst from my throat as he pulled up his shirt and placed the circular end of the stethoscope over his heart.
“It was clear?” I managed through my sob.
