Page 83 of One Kind Hand

“Yeah.” The police officer zipped up his jacket against the cold night air and falling snowflakes. “Then the ramp broke more and Donna’s chair flipped forward, sending her to the ground.”

Charlie sucked in a breath. “Fuck. Where is she?”

“In the ambulance,” the officer said. “They’re taking her in. She’s got some abrasions, but I think it’s more to get her away from Gerald. He’s ten levels of pissed and possibly drunk.”

Charlie cringed then looked around. “And where is my father now?”

The officer pointed to the house. “Inside with two other officers.”

“Thanks.” She bolted for the back of the house, not able to use the front door because that piece of shit ramp had finally done what she’d said it would do. “Dammit, Dad.” And what the hell with the drinking? Her father hadn’t gotten drunk since before her mother fell ill. Charlie had been a fool to think ATVing with her father a few weeks ago had been enough to level him off after he’d told her he couldn’t do it anymore with her mother. She should have taken that opportunity to insist upon a care facility, but he’d seemed so fragile. It hadn’t felt right to have that discussion then. Now look where they were.

She used her key to unlock the back door and went inside to find a police officer cuffing her father. “What’s going on here?” She brushed snow from the shoulders of her jacket.

Her father hissed out another curse then raised his steel gaze to meet hers. “You were right!” he shouted. “That fucking ramp collapsed! That fucking ramp collapsed and your mother got hurt! It happened like you said it would. Happy?”

“Of course I’m not happy, Dad,” Charlie bit back.

“Listen, we’re taking him down to the station,” one of the officers said.

“On what grounds?” she asked.

“Disorderly conduct,” the officer who had cuffed her father said. “He’s clearly drunk and a danger to your mother.”

“And he took several swings at us while resisting arrest,” the other officer added.

Charlie’s shoulders fell. “Dad, what happened?”

“Life happened, Charlie. Fucking life.” He was unsteady on his feet as one of the officers coaxed him into a walk. It took the other officer helping to get her father to the back door. “See to your mother,” he spat before shuffling out of the house into the snow with the police.

Charlie stood in the now empty house for a moment, wondering if perhaps this entire day had been a nightmare and she’d awaken any second now. “C’mon, girl. Open your eyes.” Only her eyes were open and they were currently seeing red lights flashing through snowfall from the ambulance out front.

She made sure the front door was locked then left through the back, locking that as well. When she got to the front yard, the police car holding her father pulled away with the ambulance behind it. Charlie jumped into her SUV to follow the ambulance to the hospital—the last thing she felt like doing today. She was actually madder at herself than her father. Sure, he’d been stupid tonight, but she’d let it get to this point. She’d been wrapped up in her own life—in Austin—and hadn’t checked in with her parents as often as she should have. Enough time had passed since her father had been waiting for her on her front steps that day. She should have moved on making other arrangements for her mother.

Instead she’d run around Maplehaven and Montpelier—and hell, sometimes New York City—with a damn movie star. Her father had basically given her his version of a cry for help and she’d let her own fears over dealing with her mother’s condition keep her from what needed to be done. Seeing what ALS had done to her mother scared the crap out of Charlie, so she’d avoided being around it as much as she could. She suggested things for her father to do, but when he didn’t do them, she hadn’t had the courage to pick up the slack and put her mother’s care first.

Every time Charlie’s mother lost another bit of mobility, when her speech went, when she could no longer do basic things on her own, Charlie shuddered with the dread of these same things happening to her. What if she ended up in the same condition? What if her active life suddenly became inactive? What if she couldn’t fly a helicopter anymore?

So she’d let her father handle it, but he hadn’t been handling it.

Austin had called her a badass. Charlie did her best to convey that vibe most of the time.

But it was a lie.

A wimp was what she really was.

Chapter Fifteen

Austin rode the elevator up to his suite with his sisters and Cody in tow. The drinks they’d all had in that cozy little bar his sisters had found had done wonders to loosen up his shoulders. His heart, however, was still a twisted-up mess in his chest. On the one hand, he was pretty sure he loved Charlie. The time they’d spent together before today had been downright magical. Everything from making love to talking to her made him feel as if they were uniquely connected. As if she were the only person who would ever be his true match.

On the other hand, he needed to open up old wounds and pour out his past to Charlie if he wanted to fully be with her. She’d exposed his fears this morning and he couldn’t hide anymore. Once she heard his story, she might want to run in the other direction, but if he didn’t take that risk, he’d definitely lose her. That seemed like a bigger risk.

The elevator doors shushed open and Cody and his sisters got off. He followed behind them, saddened by the knowledge that Charlie wasn’t waiting for him on the other side of his suite door.

“You going to be all right for tomorrow?” Cody asked him, pausing in front of his own door.

“Yeah, sure. I’ve been looking forward to the car chase scenes.” Austin mimed steering. “You know how I love hugging a few corners in a high-speed chase.”

“I do. We’re at the point that if a script comes my way and it doesn’t have a car chase scene in it, I automatically pass on it for you.”