“It’s fine. I was just getting worried. How’s Marlene?”
“Not good. They’re doing a repeat CAT scan now, so I’m heading to my place for a quick shower and change of clothes. She had a stroke.”
“Oh God. I’m sorry.”
“Thanks. They’re keeping her alive with machines right now. But they’re not giving us much hope that the second scan is going to come back better than the first scan. She has bleeding in the brain, and she’s not strong enough to survive surgery.”
“I don’t know what to say. What can I do?”
“There’s nothing anyone can do. The doctors are doing everything they can, and they’re still not sure it will be enough.”
“I’m at the airport in Miami. My flight should land about seven. Will you be there all night?”
“Yeah. I’m probably gonna stay again tonight. I have practice early tomorrow, and I already missed practice today. Not sure how things are gonna go, but I want to stay as long as I can. Coach will fine me, but he’ll understand when I explain things in person.”
“I’m available to bring up dinner or come sit with her so you can take a little break.”
“Thank you. But I’m good for now, babe.”
“I wish I would have had the chance to meet her before now. The way you talk about her, I know how much she means to you.”
“Yeah. She’s pretty great. More like family to me than most of my real family. They say blood is thicker than water, but that doesn’t mean shit. Everyone needs water to live.”
“That’s a beautiful thought. You should tell her that, Brody. Even if her eyes aren’t open. Maybe she can hear you.”
“You know what? You’re right. There’s a lot of shit I probably should have said to her before now.”
“I’m sure she knows how you feel, but getting the words out might help both of you.”
“Thanks, babe.”
“I hope it turns out okay.”
“Me too.”
Normally, I would take half a pill before getting on a short flight. Instead, I took a full one. Aside from my regular preflight jitters, I was anxious to get back home, wanting to be there to support Brody if he needed me. Unfortunately, I’d soon find out, that I wasn’t the only one ready to console him.
Chapter 30
Willow Lust. There’s a reason that it’s just a scramble of the letters that spell slut.
I was literally sitting on my beloved grandmother’s deathbed, and yet my heartbeat accelerated the minute Brody walked back into the room. Dressed in a pair of jeans and a fitted thermal, he turned the identity-shielding bill of his cap backward, and I had to force my gaping mouth closed. With his backward baseball cap and hair sticking out all over, he looked just like the jock I fell for.
“Anything?”
I shook my head. “They only brought her back a few minutes ago. There was a backup in CAT scan. The nurse said results would be backed up, too.”
He dug something from his pocket and extended his hand palm up, holding a swipe card of some kind. “Your turn.”
My forehead creased.
“My place is only four blocks away. You said you live all the way uptown. I picked up a T-shirt and those yoga pants you women wear in the hotel gift shop and left them in the bathroom for you, in case you want to change.”
“The hotel gift shop?”
“I live at the Regency Hotel.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. During the season. I stay in the cabin the rest of the year.”
“The cabin? You still have the cabin? Is it finished?”
He smiled. “I’m still working on it. But it’s getting there.”
The cabin upstate was the first major purchase Brody had made when he turned pro. The land was beautiful, but the place was a disaster. He’d wanted to rebuild it all himself. I’d only visited it once, but the memories had stayed with me. It was one of the last good weeks I’d had before I spiraled out of control this last time. We’d christened every room the week we were up there. One memory, in particular, replayed in my mind often. We had just made love in front of the fireplace that looked out at the lake, and we talked about spending the offseason there together, fixing the place up. He had told me he was going to build another fireplace in the bedroom because he loved the way my eyes looked in the fire’s glow. Brody and I had a lot of memories, but that one, that time in front of the fireplace, I remember feeling utterly and completely loved.
“Go.” He snapped me back to the present. “We’re probably going to be here again tonight. Penthouse two.”
“You sure you don’t mind?”
“I wouldn’t offer if I did. Go. I got it here for a while. Besides. Can’t have you smelling up the place, can we? That’s my job.”
***