Till Death(90)

I stared at the bowls. He was right. They were pretty clean. My hands fell to the rim of the sink.

He turned me in his arms. Two fingers curled around my chin, and he lifted my gaze to his. “This isn’t punishment.”

A knot was at the base of my throat. “It’s not?”

“No.”

“Can you really think that?” My voice was hoarse. “Let’s be real with each other, because I need to be real with myself. This started when I decided to come home, or maybe someone was doing this all along, but they’ve changed their pattern. They are making it known now. They’re making sure I know they are here. Why else would this be happening now? It has to do with me and the only reason I can think of—”

Glass shattered from the dining room, and I spun around. Cole beat me to the door first, shoving it open, and I was right behind him. An anguished cry tore free as I saw my mom on the dining room floor.

Cole was immediately at her side, whipping his phone out of his pocket.

“Mom,” I cried out, dropping to my knees beside her. My heart pounded sickeningly fast as I reached out and felt her skin. It was cool and clammy. “Mom!”

Her face was incredibly pale, a sickly shade, and there was no response. Nothing. There was nothing.





Chapter 27




Twisting my hands together, I squeezed my eyes shut until I saw tiny sparks of light.

A heart attack.

Oh God, she had been having a heart attack and she was in surgery for what felt like forever, but had only been an hour or so.

Cole’s hand slid down my back. He’d been doing that on and off this whole time, and it was the only thing keeping me from having a legit mental breakdown in the middle of the hospital.

I couldn’t lose my mom.

If I did, I wouldn’t—

The doctor stepped out of the doors and called my name. “Miss Keeton?”

I rose, heart thumping in my chest. Cole was right beside me. “Yes?”

He smiled as he approached me. “Your mom is awake and in her room. She is recovering fine.”

“Oh thank God.” My knees felt weak as I clutched Cole’s arm. “Oh my God, I want to hug and kiss you.”

The doctor glanced at Cole. “That’s not necessary,” he replied wryly. “We were able to stop the heart attack with an angioplasty.” He continued to explain the procedure, mentioning words like balloon and stent. Finally, he got to what I wanted to hear. “You can go up and see her now, but I would suggest to make the visit brief. She needs a lot of rest, but the good news is that she should be released in twenty-four to forty-eight hours.”

I mumbled my thanks about a dozen more times before Cole got the room number and carted me off, up to the room.

I stumbled when I saw her in the bed, her body so small and frail looking, and too pale. Not as bad as when I saw her on the floor, but still so incredibly void of color.

Rushing to her bedside, I picked up her hand as Cole moved to the other side of her bed. “Mom,” I whispered.

Her smile was faint. “Don’t squeeze my hand like I almost died.”

“Mom,” I laughed, sniffling. “You scared me half to death.”

She slowly turned her head toward Cole. “She’s been a wreck, hasn’t she?”

“She’s been holding it together,” he replied, grinning. “Though she almost started a fight earlier.”

I frowned at him. “What?”

“She said she was going to kiss your doctor,” he explained, and I rolled my eyes. “Wasn’t having that.”

“Of course not,” Mom replied, her words slow. “Not that . . . she would want to ever kiss another man when she has you—”

“Mom.” I shook my head.

Her gaze slid to me. “Honey, I might’ve had some crap shoved up my veins to stop a heart attack, but that does not mean I am . . . dead or blind.”

Cole chuckled.

“Geez,” I muttered.

It wasn’t long before Mom’s eyelids were lowering and it was taking longer in between each blink. Even though I wanted to camp out, it was time to leave. I glanced over at Cole, and he nodded. “I’ll come back later,” I told her.

She smiled tiredly. “Honey, you go home with Cole. Don’t—”

“Mom—”

“Don’t come back here. I’m going to be sleeping. Just go home with him and be safe,” she insisted, her weary gaze fixing on mine. “Be safe.”

I took a deep breath and then nodded. “Okay.” Rising, I leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too, honey.”

It took me a couple of moments to make myself leave her bedside. Once out in the hall, Cole turned to me. “You want to come back later, after dinner?”

I smiled faintly. “Yes.”

“We can do that after we pick up your clothes and get some food in you.”

Heading toward the elevator, I dug out my phone and hit the screen, quickly scanning texts. “Miranda and Jason are waiting for us at the inn.”

“They’re inside the inn?”

“Seems so.” I slipped my phone back in my purse. The elevator doors opened. “I don’t think I locked up afterward. I was in such a panic.” And honestly, what was the point? Someone already had a key most likely.