A Wild Ride (Jessica Brodie Diaries #3)(73)

He got up laughing and gave me a big hug.

“I did it!” he shouted with glee. “Jess, did you see me? I did it! I rode the wave!”

Before I could say a word, he was yelling to Adam that he did it and was heading out beyond the waves again. Laughing, I turned back toward my seat and a beer.

At the end of the day we were all dead tired. The sun, the beer, riding waves and volleyball made for a very long day. We were supposed to go out but none of us wanted to bother. Instead, we decided to all meet at Jane’s and watch a movie.

Adam, Lump, William and I went back to the hotel to change. Lump and I opted for sun dresses, William shorts and a shirt, and Adam wore jeans, his cowboy boots and a T-shirt. He was hard pressed to be without his cowboy boots for too long. Lump had given up trying to acclimate him.

We were all walking out to the rental car when some guy passing on the street yelled out, “Hey Tex, where’d you park your horse?”

Without skipping a beat, Adam returned with, “Same place you left your boyfriend!”

On our way to Jane’s house my phone started ringing. We were all in a heated debate about Lump’s company and the best ways for it to expand so I answered without looking at who was calling.

“Hello?”

“Jessica?” It was Lady on the other end.

“Lady! Hi! I have been trying to get a hold of you guys. I have some news!”

“Jessica, it’s Gladis.”

A bucket of cold water upended over my face.

“What about Gladis?” I asked guardedly.

“She doesn’t have much longer. You should probably come home, now.”

The world came to a standstill. I could feel sweat sliding down my back.

“What do you mean? I talked to her before we left. She would have called before now if something was wrong. Lady, you are mistaken, she is fine. She has to be!”

I knew I screeched the last part by how quiet the car got.

“I’m sorry, Jessica. She forbade me calling you and ruining your perfect holiday. It’s just, she took a turn for the worst and…” Lady’s voice cracked.

Lady never had moments of emotion. Not ever. She was always calm. Angry, maybe, but always calm under it.

“I’ll get a flight as soon as I can,” I said into the quiet car.

We were stopped outside of Jane’s house. No one moved to get out.

I met Lump’s worried gaze. “That was Lady. Apparently something happened… she said Gladis doesn’t have much longer. I have to go home.”

Lump closed her eyes and hung her head. She nodded in silence.

“Let’s get into Jane’s house and we’ll call the airline and see what’s available,” William said rationally. My hysteria always brought the calm out of him.

“You guys don’t have to go,” I uttered, wiping tears from my eyes. “You should stay and enjoy your vacation.”

“I love Gladis, too, Jess,” Lump said heatedly. “I look after her, too. She is just as much my family as yours!”

“We are all going. Adam and I have known Gladis most of our lives. You two have a special connection with her. We can always come back to L.A. Let’s just get in the house and we’ll go from there,” William urged.

My body was numb. Lump held my hand as the boys explained to everybody what was going on. William got us booked on an early morning flight and we spent the rest of the night in a vigil.

Chapter Fourteen

It was a humid day in Texas when we got off the plane. William had arranged for his assistant to take our luggage back to our homes so we could go straight to the hospital. As we walked into the building, I had my usual panic attack with the smells and memories, now even more frightened with why I was there. William and Lump smashed me between them as we made our way to Gladis’s room.

When we got there I was in a fog, my brain refusing to accept what was happening and trying to shut down.

Gladis had a large room with a large crowd. We met Denise and Tom outside along with some people I remembered seeing at Gladis’s party. I vaguely heard questions being asked of me as I kept trying to get a look through the door. Finally Lady saw me and pushed through to reach me.

“Hurry!” she said, eying Lump and me. “She wants to see both of you and your boys. Hurry. She is lucid, but the nurse said she hasn’t long.”

Lady grabbed my hand and dragged me through the room. I grabbed Lump and dragged her behind me. She grabbed Adam, and William followed behind, avoiding Adam’s reach.

There were four people in the room, one I recognized as Gladis’s step-kid, Lady, the butler, and a nurse who was standing beside Gladis’s bed looking at monitors.

I was trying not to cry and not even remotely succeeding.

Gladis was propped up on her pillows. She looked so small and fragile in the big bed. Her skin had that sickly pallor that meant she was at the end. Her eyes were somewhat dulled, but still bright enough to hint at her love of life.

She met my eyes and smiled, then looked over Lump, then Adam, then rested on William.

“Willie, join your bride,” she said.

William, his eyes slightly glassy, came to stand beside and a little behind me, putting his arm around my waist. I leaned back against him, needing the support from his warmth and love.

“Let’s see the ring, Jess. I went with him to buy it, you know.”