“You know, Dad, you could be a little nicer to him.” Jade sighs, wrapping her arms around his middle when he places his arm around her shoulders.
“I didn’t kick his ass. I consider that pretty nice,” Bernard grumbles, and I bite back a smile while Jade hisses.
“Dad.”
“Don’t ‘Dad’ me. He hurt Cybil. God only knows how long he knew he wanted to be with someone else.” He shakes his head, then looks past Cybil and me.
I turn to look over my shoulder and find an older woman in scrubs walking toward us. When she’s close, she looks us over before she locks eyes with Bernard. “Maisie is settled in her room. You can stay with her overnight if you like, of course, but there can only be two people in the room at a time. Visitors can only stay for fifteen minutes until she’s moved out of the ICU, which won’t be until tomorrow, and visiting hours are up at eight.”
“Thanks, Annie,” Bernard says, and she pats his arm before she turns to Cybil.
“It’s good to see you back, kid.”
“You too, Annie,” Cybil replies, and Annie glances up at me quickly, then gives Cybil a soft smile, walking away.
“All right.” Bernard drops his arm from Jade’s shoulders. “You and Cybil go on up and see your mom.”
“No, you and Jade go first,” Cybil says quickly, shaking her head.
“I’m gonna be here all night, and Maisie will want to see her girls,” he says gruffly, and Jade’s eyes fill with tears while Cybil tucks her face against my side and sniffles.
“Go on with Jade.” I rub her back, then kiss the top of her head, and she nods before tipping her head back, her gaze searching mine. “I’ll be here when you get back.”
With a nod, she looks at Jade, then reaches for her hand, and the two of them walk away.
“I need coffee.” Bernard rubs his hands down his face.
“We passed the cafeteria on the way up here. The coffee shop there was open. I can run and get you something.”
“Do you think they have whiskey?”
“That’s doubtful.” I smile, and he sighs.
“I probably shouldn’t drink anyway.” He pats my back. “I need a break from this room, so I’ll wander with you down to the cafeteria.”
Without another word, we head down the hall to the coffee shop, and while he gets a coffee, I pull out my cell phone when it vibrates. Seeing it’s Blake, I slide my finger across the screen and put it to my ear. “What’s up?”
“Mom just told me that you’re in Oregon with Cybil. What the fuck, Tanner? We have clients coming in a few days. When are you coming back?” he growls, and my temper flares while my hand balls into a fist.
“No ‘Is everything okay’? No ‘I heard what happened. How’s Cybil doing?’ Just ‘When the fuck are you coming back?’” I walk down the hall when an elderly woman shoots me a look of reprimand for either cursing or speaking loudly. “Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?”
“I’m talking to you, the guy who owns a third of Live Life Adventures, or did you forget about that shit once Cybil showed up?”
“Buy me out.”
“W . . . what?” he asks, sounding caught off guard and suddenly calm, but I’m done, so fucking done with his bullshit. I could understand him being upset about Cybil and me meeting during a retreat, but after spending time with us last night, I figured he’d see how happy she makes me and want that for me.
“Get together with Maverick and come up with an offer. If it’s acceptable, I’ll sign over my portion of the business to you two.”
“You’d give everything up for some chick you just met?”
“No, but I’d give it up for the woman I’m falling in love with.” I hang up and turn off my cell before I tuck it into my back pocket. When I turn around, Bernard is standing close and wearing a look that shows he just heard my side of that conversation.
Fuck.
“Everything all right?”
“All good,” I lie and dip my head toward his coffee. “Did they have whiskey?”
“Nope.”
“Sucks,” I mutter, hearing him chuckle as we walk back to the waiting room, where we take up two seats near the doors to wait for the girls to get back.
“Normally, I wouldn’t do this.” He breaks the silence that’s settled between us, and I turn my head his way. “Jade’s explained to me more than once that things are different nowadays, and that just because a woman is with a man, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re in a relationship or that it’s serious.” He runs a hand down his beard while I try to figure out where he’s going with this. “That said, I heard what you said on the phone, so I guess I wanna know if I’m gonna have to prepare my girls for Cybil moving away.”
“With all due respect, Cybil and I haven’t had a chance to talk about our relationship or our plans. Are things serious on my end? Yes. But I don’t know where her head’s at, and I don’t think right now is the time to discuss our situation.”
“Right.” He takes a sip of coffee, then rests the paper cup on the top of his thigh. “I gotta warn you: if you hurt her, I’ll hurt you.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
“Be prepared, son.” He shakes his head. “Cybil is just like her mama was, sweet to her core and stubborn as hell.”
“I can see that,” I say, and he looks like he wants to say more but stops, because both Cybil and Jade come around the corner, the two of them with their eyes red and faces blotchy from crying.
When Cybil is close, I push up to stand, and she falls into me, pressing her face into my chest as I wrap my arms around her.
“Mom is asking for you,” Jade tells her dad before locking her gaze on Cybil. “You should go home.”
“I’m staying,” Cybil argues, shaking her head.
“I know being here isn’t easy for you.”
“It’s not, but I’m not leaving,” she says stubbornly.
“Cybil—”
“You both should go,” Bernard says, cutting the two of them off before they can start quarreling.
“Dad.”
“It doesn’t make much sense for the two of you to spend the next few hours mostly sitting in the waiting room. You can come back tomorrow when your mom’s in her room.” He looks at me. “Can you make sure they both get home?”
“Absolutely,” I say, and he hugs Jade before Cybil goes to him and wraps her arms around his waist.
“I’ll see you all tomorrow.”
“Do you want us to bring you dinner or clothes or anything?” Cybil asks.
“No, sweetheart, I’ll go home for a little while this evening to shower and pack a bag.”
“Are you sure, Dad?” Jade asks, and he lifts an arm out toward her. She steps into him so that she and Cybil are in his embrace.
“I love you, girls, and I’ll see you both tomorrow,” he says before he lets the two of them go and heads for the hall.
“Do you want to come back to my house for a while?” Cybil asks, looking at Jade, and she shakes her head.
“I think I’m going to open the store, keep my mind off things.”
“Then we’ll go with you,” Cybil says, and Jade looks at me.
“I’m good with whatever you ladies want to do,” I say, and she gives me a strange look before transferring it to Cybil.