For The Love of Easton (For the Love Of #2) - A.M. Hargrove Page 0,66
let her gamble. She won at blackjack and roulette, but lost at craps. We had a good time, but we were both eager to get back to the hotel.
Our room was inviting with chocolates on the pillow and a gift basket to celebrate our wedding. We had strawberries dipped in chocolate, some other sweets, and a charcuterie board. I was about to order dinner from room service when English’s phone rang.
“Hmm, it’s Rey calling.”
“You’d better answer it.”
She got up and moved away, but I heard her say, “Rey, what’s up?” A minute or two later, she was back near me saying, “Rey, hang up and call 911, and then call Geepa. Call me back after.”
Her eyes drilled holes into me after she hung up. “Rey said an old man in a big black car was there threatening Mom and Easton. Easton was hiding, but Mom looked scared.”
“Shit. Stuart?”
“His father.”
“Yeah, that’s what I meant.”
“Only the police can step in now. He’s trying to throw his weight around and it’s not going to work. But I’m sad Mom is there alone.”
“Your grandfather will know what to do.”
English’s phone rang.
“Rey! What’s going on?”
I stared at English as she spoke to her sister. Her face paled and then the phone fell out of her hand.
“English, what happened?”
“Rey said Geepa just got there, but Stuart’s dad knocked him down. He’s not getting up, so she doesn’t know what to do.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
English
We were on the first flight back to Atlanta. Tristian had handled all the details as I was on the phone with Mom hearing about the situation back home.
The police had arrived, thanks to Rey, and Bill—Stuart’s father—was still at the house, slinging threats. Easton had hidden in a closet in Mom and Dad’s room, where Rey had told her to go. Mom and Banana had been hovering over Geepa when the police arrived. Finn had slipped out the back door, run around the front and let them in to find Bill McLure shouting threats at the entire family if they didn’t hand over Easton immediately.
Rey, who had brilliantly recorded everything on her phone, was our superhero that day. She’d thought of everything, particularly recording Bill as he unveiled his true self.
An ambulance had taken Geepa to the hospital and I swore if anything happened to him…
“English, the courts will make Bill pay,” Tristian said. “He can’t get away with this.”
“This is terrible. I never imagined he would go to these lengths.”
The police had arrested Bill and carted him off in the back of the car, handcuffed, while he continued to throw threats at them. Rey and Finn said he’d been yelling the entire time.
We called the attorney who was handling my case because we were going to sue this time.
“Enough is enough. It’s one thing for that son of his to threaten you, but for the father to do this to your grandfather is utterly uncalled for,” Tristian said. I agreed. This wouldn’t go unpunished, one way or the other.
The flight was interminable. I asked Tristian a million times if we were almost home. He was more than kind, offering me drinks, rubbing my neck and back, and doing everything he could to calm me down. It wasn’t easy thirty thousand feet in the air. At least we had wi-fi and were able to text. Rey kept us informed. So far, nothing bad had shown up for Geepa on his scans.
By the time we landed, the doctors determined he’d suffered a severe concussion and would spend the night in the hospital. There were no signs of a brain bleed or any other serious effects. He’d injured his shoulder when he fell and they would do an MRI before he left the hospital.
I called Mom on the way in from the airport and told her we were on our way to the hospital.
“Don’t bother. Go straight home. Geepa is sleeping and so is Banana. She’s spending the night in his room and I’ll take them home tomorrow. I’m walking out of the hospital now. I’ll meet you at home.”
She looked like she hadn’t slept for weeks when we got there. Purple crescents sat beneath her eyes and her stooped posture told me how worried she was. We hugged for an hour, it seemed.
“Thank God everyone is okay,” I said, holding back my tears. I wanted to be strong.
“Yes, we all have a lot to be thankful for.”
“Did you ever reach Dad?” We’d also tried to call but it had gone straight to his voicemail.