The Magnolia Sisters (Magnolia Sisters #1) - Michelle Major Page 0,66
Gray out of the wheelchair and he tried to hide his wince as he coughed.
Avery adjusted the vents when she climbed back in so they blew in his direction.
“I’m fine,” he mumbled.
“You look like death warmed over.” His skin was pasty and wan, lines of pain bracketed the corners of his mouth. “Did they give you a prescription for pain meds in addition to the inhaler?”
“Yes, but I won’t take them.” He gave a sharp shake of his head as she pulled out. “I need to be lucid for Violet.”
“Gray, come on. You were in a serious accident. There are people who can help while you’re recovering. You don’t need to do this alone.”
“What people? I’m not calling Stacy. She’ll find a way to use this against me, and we’re already fighting enough.”
“Your mom,” Avery suggested, hating the desperation in his tone. She didn’t want to see him like this. “Your friends.”
“Yeah,” he whispered. “But I don’t need anyone.”
“You don’t want to need anyone,” she corrected. “There’s a difference.”
He grunted a response, then closed his eyes. They drove the rest of the way to his house in silence. The hospital was on the other side of town, but it was still less than twenty minutes until she pulled into his driveway.
Before she’d even gotten around to open the passenger door, Violet came flying from the house. She was dressed in a blue polka-dot nightgown, her long hair loose.
“Daddy!” she yelled as she ran toward the car.
Avery tried not to gape as she glanced at Gray. The sure and steady father she’d come to know had replaced the exhausted man from the car ride. He grinned at his daughter, holding out his arms but remaining in the front seat. Avery understood the pain hadn’t subsided but admired him all the more for the brave face he put on for Violet.
“Are you okay?” the girl asked as she nestled into him. She placed a small hand on the bandage that covered his forehead, much as Avery had done in the hospital. “Gram said you breathed in all the smoke.”
“Just a little.” He wrapped an arm around her, and Avery could imagine what it took for him to handle this moment with such composure. “You can make me a get-well card.”
“With a purple marker,” she told him.
“My favorite color.”
Avery smiled at that, then startled when a throat cleared behind her.
“I’m fine, Mom.” Gray lifted his gaze as Lila Atwell stepped forward.
“You always are,” Lila said. She placed a firm hand on Avery’s arm. “Thank you for staying with him. I can manage it from here.”
Slap down, Avery thought. She’d been coming home from a walk with Spot when Gray’s mother had arrived with Violet. The girl had immediately tumbled out of the car to greet Spot. She’d announced to Avery that her daddy had gotten hurt and Avery hadn’t given a second thought to offering her help.
It had been obvious then that Lila didn’t want to accept. She’d looked Avery up and down as if she were three-day-old fish. But if the past few weeks had taught Avery one thing, it was that she could continue functioning in the face of any level of judgment.
Which was why she smiled and nodded as if in agreement even as she moved around Lila.
“Your daddy is going to be moving slowly for a bit,” she told Violet. “I bet it would help if you held his hand on the way to the house.”
Lila sniffed. “I can handle things. This doesn’t concern you.”
Avery froze. She’d become more immune to censure, but not entirely oblivious to rejection.
“Mom.” Irritation laced Gray’s tone.
“So you managed to rescue my sister,” a voice called into the awkward silence. “But not yourself?”
Avery drew in a shaky breath as Meredith and Carrie emerged from the carriage house. She never would have imagined taking comfort at the sight of two virtual strangers, but somehow her half sisters no longer felt that way to her.