The Summer Deal (Wildstone #5)(6)

“You should’ve called him,” Eli said finally, clearly trying to keep his tone even, but also just as clearly thinking she was an idiot. “He’d want to be here.”

Yeah, but . . . Deck was supposed to be just her fun-time guy. A year ago, he’d agreed on that term with a rough laugh and a dirty gleam in his eye.

She loved when he had dirty thoughts. It always worked to her benefit. But she’d never imagined him sticking around for a whole year with no sign of wanting to kick her to the curb. Which meant she’d have to be the one to kick him to the curb. “Don’t start.”

Eli shook his head, but after all these years, he knew how to pick his battles. “Fine. So what’s the news?”

“The nurse said the doctor will be in anytime.”

“They’ve been saying that for eight hours.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, as her stomach growled again. “Has it been hard on you eating your favorite food group all day while I sit here in a stupid hospital gown with nothing to eat but ice chips?”

He scooted his chair closer and took her hand, and she had no idea how the hell he did it, but he eased her blood pressure with every single economic movement he made.

“You’re going to get through this,” he said, his voice quiet steel. Everything about him was quiet steel. If Deck was a bull, Eli was a cat. A feral mountain lion, deceptively playful, strong inside and out, intelligent and capable of getting shit done with quiet and deadly finesse. Sometimes she thought maybe he’d kept her alive with nothing more than the sheer force of his personality.

But she’d leaned on him enough. His face was drawn. His hair was even more wild than usual around his face, framing those stormy gray eyes that could be cold as slate when he was pissed, or warm as a summer storm. “Go home,” she said softly. “I’ll call you when I know what’s up.”

“I’m not leaving you,” he said.

“Eli—”

“You going to call Deck? Cuz unless you do—and you know you damn well should—I’m not leaving.”

“Okay, then, how about a favor?”

“Anything,” he said, so easily she knew it was true. He’d proven it over and over again. But . . . she needed him gone to ask the doctor the kind of questions she wanted to ask. “Go home and get me my favorite comfy wrap, the soft black one? And a couple magazines to read?”

His eyes narrowed. “You’re trying to get rid of me.”

“No, I’m cold and tired of my ass hanging out.”

He sighed and nodded. Bending over her, he brushed a kiss to her forehead and vanished.

Not five minutes later, her doctor finally strode into her room, his expression inscrutable. But in that moment, Kinsey knew the answers to all her questions and she closed her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

“It wasn’t viable.”

This was what, the fourth time? The fifth time? God, she was tired of this. So tired . . .

Her doctor was still talking, giving her the usual spiel, not to give up, blah blah blah . . . when Eli walked back in.

He had his head down, reading a Cosmo magazine. “Hey, did you know there’s a hundred and one ways to jack a guy off?”

At the awkward silence, he lifted his head and shut the magazine when he saw the doc.

“Interesting,” the doctor said with a small smile. “The benefits of staying well read, I suppose.”

“Thought you were going home to get my stuff,” Kinsey said tightly.

“Saw the nurse on my way out, she said your doctor was heading in, so I came back.” He studied Kinsey’s expression and then the doctor’s, as always sharply intuitive. “Someone needs to tell me right now that today wasn’t another false alarm.”

Kinsey looked into his eyes, and even though she knew that she was losing hope, he never had. But he had to eventually realize the thing she was slowly coming to terms with—that she wasn’t going to get a kidney in time.





Chapter 3


From nine-year-old Brynn’s summer camp journal: Dear Moms,

I’m supposed to be writing in this journal for myself, but that seems dumb, so I’m writing to you. I miss you.

Wish you could come get me.

It’s very dark here. Everyone goes for a long walk before bed, but I had to stay because I can’t see good at night. Which I get is hereditary, but it’s annoying. Why couldn’t I get something good passed down, like pretty hair?

Also, they make us eat our veggies. Peas, gag. I almost threw up on the mean girl sitting next to me. She yelled at me. She’s also in my cabin. She didn’t feel good and had to stay in from the hike too. She told everyone that I lied about having two moms.

I don’t like her.

COME GET ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Brynn

ELI FOUND HIMSELF in the waiting room, his gut in knots, while Kinsey dressed and was discharged to go home. Realizing he was still holding the stupid magazine, he tossed it down onto a pile of others on a side table. In what world did people think a magazine could offer hope to anyone in this place? Hope was elusive, and a total bitch.

His phone buzzed with an incoming text from work, asking if he was going to make it in today. He was a marine scientist for a nonprofit out of Morro Bay, and on most days it was the best job in the world. He got paid to study and report on sea life, which involved a lot of boating, scuba diving, endless studies, and meetings. But today his job was the last thing on his mind. He returned the text, saying he’d be in as soon as he could. His stomach growled loud enough to rival Kinsey’s, making him regret handing over everything he’d had in his pockets to a woman who hadn’t even remembered him.