a hand through his hair. “Bristol—”
“There’s a trust and rules about when you marry and your whole family has been trying to keep the money from going to my family.”
“No. Well, yes, but no, Bristol. Dammit, Grams.”
“I warned you, young man.” Emilia gulped in air. “I tried helping you. You could’ve married Mallory.”
The woman she’d tried to set him up with? And he’d come to me afterward—and still hadn’t told me.
I’d given him everything that night. If I hadn’t been in love with him by then, I’d have cartwheeled over a cliff as soon as he held me in his arms.
People were watching us. I had to get out of here. The bank was bad enough. It was close to lunchtime and customers were coming and going from the deli, their lingering glances taking me in at my lowest. All those embarrassing moments with Pop in town had nothing on getting my heart ripped out in public. “I’ve heard enough. Go ahead and get married. Keep the money.”
“Bristol—”
“Let her go,” Emilia rasped.
Her interference was the last straw. I whirled on her. “What do you have against me? Why do you hate me so much?”
Her eyes flashed and her nostrils flared as she leaned forward. She raised a shaky finger and stabbed it at me. “Sarah stayed home because of you. I talked to her that night and she said she was staying home in case you needed help. Because you said you were scared of the new guy your dad hired.” She swayed closer. The blazing specks of yellow in her brown eyes flashed under the sun. “I lost my daughter because of you.”
Horror replaced my anger. “What?”
I didn’t remember telling Sarah I was scared. But I’d talked to her about everything. She’d been the closest thing to a mother I’d ever had.
“My . . . daughter . . .” A strangled cry ripped out of her and her knees buckled.
I lunged for her but Dawson was there first. “Grams? Grams!”
A couple in their fifties who had been lingering outside of the deli rushed toward us. The woman got on her phone. “I’ll call an ambulance,” she said.
Emilia’s head lolled. Dawson lowered her to his lap on the sidewalk.
I backed up. The scene was too much.
My fault. It was all my fault.
I snagged my keys from my pocket and ran to my pickup. I’d done enough to Emilia.
Dawson
Grams had just been settled into a hospital room. I’d sat with her in the ER, where they’d run tests on her. The doctor was different than the one who had treated Bristol, but it wouldn’t have mattered for Grams. She’d have gotten better treatment regardless. I’d stayed by her side in the ER and then followed her cot to a room down the hall.
The last time I’d sat at a bedside like this was when Dad had had his heart attack. My brothers had rushed to town and we’d rallied as a family.
Today, I was alone, torn between the pain that had ripped through Bristol’s eyes when she’d learned the truth, and the lingering worry of watching my indomitable grams collapse. Seeing her weak and shaky had set my world off-kilter. She wasn’t the warm, nurturing grandmother who crocheted blankets and sent me birthday cards with five bucks, but she’d always been there. Always. Even when we’d avoided her.
Worry aside, fury simmered inside of me like a ditch fire ready to jump the road and spread uncontrolled through acres of pasture. She’d set up Bristol. Recruited Richard Lang to help corner Bristol and spill the beans.
I peeked at my phone. No notifications. I’d tried calling. I’d sent messages. All had been ignored.
The only place I wanted to be was by her side. To tell her that it wasn’t her fault. To tell her that Grams was hurting and she hadn’t meant it. She shouldn’t mean it.
Dad appeared at the door. His charcoal-gray suit coat hung open and his tie was loose. He’d come straight from the office. Kendall wasn’t with him. He’d left during a big meeting I’d interrupted him in, and she’d probably stayed behind to finish up.
He went to Grams’s side and carefully pushed the IV stand out of his way. “She asleep or did they sedate her?”
“She fell asleep as soon as they moved her to this room. They think it was stress or some shit, but they want her overnight at least.” I glared at the white square tile floor. I should stop, but I kept talking. “I