The Magnolia Sisters (Magnolia Sisters #1) - Michelle Major Page 0,68
spur her on.
Violet had clearly loved having the three older women in the house. While he’d sat on the sofa trying to ignore the burning each time he drew in a breath, they’d painted his daughter’s nails, given her a facial and then baked a batch of chocolate-chip cookies with ingredients he hadn’t even known were in his cupboards.
After a dinner of delivery pizza, Carrie and Meredith had left. At some point, Avery’s chubby dog had joined the party, and Gray had snuck the animal a bite of crust, earning an amused scolding from Avery.
He should have given Avery permission to leave, as well. She’d already done way too much to help him. More than he imagined she wanted to in any case. But he liked having her close.
Tomorrow he’d blame the injury for his weakness. Right now, he simply sighed with relief at not being alone.
“Where’s Violet?” he asked, surprised to see the sky beyond the windows had turned dark.
“She went to bed about forty-five minutes ago. I took care of it because it seemed more important that you sleep.”
He shook his head. “Nothing is more important than her.”
“Yes,” she agreed, her tone soft. “But you’ll do her more good recovered than if you push things. Most people with your injuries would still be in the hospital.”
“I’m—”
“Fine,” she interrupted. “I know.” She stood and moved around the coffee table, plucking up the pill bottle as she did. “Can I get you a glass of water to take one?”
“I told you I’m not taking drugs. The pain is temporary.”
“Stubborn,” she muttered as she lowered herself next to him on the sofa but returned the pain meds to the coffee table. “It hurts like hell, right?”
“Only when I breathe.”
“Can I do anything?” She reached out and traced her fingers over his furrowed brow. The touch was cool and soft and immediately he relaxed.
“That works,” he told her.
“Were you scared?” She continued to run her fingers across his skin, and it was like he’d been given a dose of the best pain meds known to man. The pressure inside his chest unfurled. He concentrated on the pleasure of her fingers on him, trying not to embarrass himself by moaning out loud.
“The floor collapse happened too fast,” he said honestly. “But in the moments after, before I lost consciousness, I was terrified. Not for myself but for Violet. I’d never purposely do anything to cause her pain.”
“She’s okay,” Avery promised. “You’re here and that’s what counts. Kids are more resilient than we think.”
“I’m not sure if that’s true or if I’m just giving her fodder for the therapist’s couch when she gets older.”
“Trust me.” Avery laughed. “She’ll be okay. She’s tough. Probably gets that from you.”
“Thank you for being here today.”
Her fingers stilled and he wished he hadn’t spoken. More than anything, he didn’t want her to stop touching him right now.
“Why did you send your mother away?”
Slight adjustment to his previous thought. More than anything, he didn’t want to think about his mom.
“If I tell you, will you keep up with...” He lifted his arm and twirled a finger around his head. “All this.”
She smoothed his hair from his forehead, and he sighed. “Things are complicated with my mom. My dad was a policeman. He died on the job.”
“I’m sorry, Gray.”
“I barely remember him. Chase is four years older so it was harder on him. Hell for my mom. We were living in Philadelphia at the time because she wanted out of the South. But she moved back to be near family and raised my brother and me on her own. It wasn’t easy. We weren’t easy. But she loved us and did her best. What she wanted most was for us to be safe. We were two energetic boys, and we pushed the limits all the time. Chase ended up becoming a corporate attorney. That made her happy. Nothing bad happens to lawyers on the job. Firefighters are another story.”