Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Great.
“Oh, yeah?” I gritted my teeth. Four months had passed since I had an actual conversation with my parents. I hadn’t seen either of them in two years, and the first call I get was for a favor? Of course it was!
“Yeah. Kinda last minute, but I’m going in for a coronary bypass thing in two days and the doc says I need someone to be there to take me home and look after me for a couple of weeks. You know I hate asking anyone for shit, but Dawn just took off on some girls’ road trip. Shoulda seen it coming since you know she can’t deal with hospitals and sick people. So yeah, I kinda need you to come take care of me, Star Shine.”
I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and I must have had a look of horror on my face, because Rafe bent his head to mine in concern. “Coronary bypass surgery?”
Rafe’s brows knitted together.
“Yeah, yeah.” Arlo was dismissive, as if it were no big deal that he was going in for major heart surgery. If he was having major heart surgery, then they must have known for a while that he had heart issues and neither he nor Dawn had told me. “I’ve got, like, some choked-up arteries in there or something. You know, heart disease.” Again, he said it as if it were nothing.
Shaking my head in bewilderment, I snapped, “You’re just calling me about this now?”
“Oh, look, I can’t deal with stress right now, so don’t give me shit. Just tell me if you can come or not.”
Again, I gritted my teeth against my irritation. “Of course I’ll be there. I’ll fly out tomorrow. You’re still in Boulder, right?”
“ ’Course. We wouldn’t go somewhere else without telling you that.”
I barely contained my snort. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Star Shine. You’re with it.” Arlo hung up.
Pulling my phone away from my ear, I couldn’t quite believe what had just happened.
“Everything okay?” Rafe smoothed a hand down my back.
I looked up at him. Felt his strong, comforting presence. It was as if my body were being pulled in two different directions. Part of me wanted to rest my head on his chest and tell him how much I thought my parents really sucked. The other part of me wanted to run as far away from him as I could get so I could go back to pretending like Dawn and Arlo weren’t so bad. Instead, I told him everything Arlo had relayed.
“Jesus, okay, well, we need to get you a flight.” Rafe pulled out his phone.
“I can do that.” I touched his arm to stop him. “Seriously, I can take care of this.”
He searched my face. “You sure? You look like you just got punched a dozen times in the gut.”
I did feel that way, so . . . “It’s just Dawn.” I threw my hands up in disbelief. “Who goes on a freaking girls’ road trip when their partner of thirty-three years is scheduled for major surgery?” No. No decent person did that!
I was calling her!
I scrolled angrily through my contacts and hit her number.
And got her voice mail.
“Fuck!”
“Hey, hey.” Rafe took me by my shoulders, forcing me to meet his calm gaze. “It’s okay. You got this. You are capable and strong and you can do this. Just tell me what I can do to help.”
I wanted to tell him he could give me some space and time . . . but I was terrified I’d hurt him. He was the last person I wanted to hurt. “A cab. I need a cab so I can go home and get everything organized.”
Rafe frowned. “Can I do anything else?”
Reaching up onto my tiptoes, I pressed a brief kiss to his warm mouth. “I’m good.”
Deciding to let me have that, Rafe, like a magician, waved down a cab in a few seconds. As it pulled up to the sidewalk, he kissed me a little longer, a little harder than I’d kissed him. “Call me if you need me. And can you text me your parents’ address?”
“Why?”
“Just so I have it. In case of an emergency.”
“Okay. Thank you.” I opened the cab door and then turned back to him because he deserved . . . more. “About us . . . I . . .”
“Don’t.” Rafe shook his head. “No pressure. Not while you have this on your mind.”
Did he have to be so freaking perfect? There was a small piece of me that desperately needed him to act like the cold asshole I’d met at his niece’s party, so I could just forget about him.
“Let me know when you get home,” he demanded as I got into the cab.
I nodded, my mind reeling.
What a strange damn night.
Chapter Twenty
Roger was worried about me. He’d called a bunch of times since I’d told him about Arlo and when he couldn’t get out of a studio session to take me to the airport, he insisted that Jude escort me. Because Roger was worried, Jude was too.