And like the sheep he was, he followed the procession downthe hall to the first room. Swallowing a lungful of air, he braced himself andmustered his best smile.
.~* * * ~.
Natalie was circling CraigHospital’s parking lot, hunting for a parking space, when her phone whistled. The Kill Bill whistle, to be exact. Her heart sank.She couldn’t keep putting her brother off. With a swipe, she pressed the phonebetween her shoulder and ear and continued searching out that elusive spot.
“Drew, I just got to the hospital, and I’m running late.” Again.
“Well, hello to you too, Sis.”
She realized how harsh she’d sounded. “Look, I—”
“Just drop the ‘tude, okay? Idon’t give a fuck if you bark at me, but don’t pull that shit on Mom. That’sjacked up, Nat.”
Heat fired up Natalie’s cheeks, followed quickly by angrytears stinging her eyes. In that moment, she could’ve imploded. Might’ve evenwelcomed it. “I didn’t bark at Mom,” she fired back instead, a little choke inher throat. From anger or guilt, she wasn’t sure.
“I heard you when she called you this morning. I wasstanding right there.”
Natalie pulled into a spot on the edge of the parking lot,slipped into park, and closed her eyes. She had gotten testy in theirvery brief phone call, but it wasn’t Mom—it was the question she’d asked sosweetly, so Mom-like. Do you need financial help, Natbug?No, damn it! Never mind that she’d just made a sizeable withdrawal from herpreviously untouched savings account to cover her mortgage payment. She wasn’tabout to admit any of it to her family.
“Nat?”
“I’m here,” she sighed. “I didn’t mean to come across thatway. I’ll call her and apologize when I’m done here.”
His voice softened. “She’s not looking for an apology. She’sjust really worried about you. Hell, I’m worried about you. Not onlyhave you been MIA from Sunday dinner three weeks in a row, but you aren’tcalling either.”
Yeah, go ahead and heap on some more guilt. “I’mtreading water, trying to keep from drowning here, Drew. The hours I spend withKevin are hours I used to spend dog-sitting, bookkeeping, marketing myself. Ihave to carve time out somewhere because I am not going to abandon him.”
“Who says you’re abandoning him?Maybe you don’t see him every day.”
“Not happening.”
“Fuck, you’ve got more time invested in him since hisinjury than you had beforehand.”
Her cheeks flamed once more, and her protective shieldssurged. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, Drew.”
“Listen to you getting all defensive. That’s not who youare, Nat. Where’s my thoughtful, logical little sister?”
“Are we done here? Because I really haveto go. I’m already late,” she bit out.
The more unreasonable she became, the more reasonable hesounded. “Nat. Deep breaths. Come to the river with me this afternoon. Castsome line. You need your Zen. Or if you’d rather blow something up, let’s goshoot some sporting clays. I’ll even let you beat me.”
This pulled a chuckle from deep in her chest. “Ha. Iwouldn’t be offering to put a gun in my hands right now if I were you, Bro. Imight mistake you for a target. Look, I’m fine. Really.” She gathered up herbelongings, climbed out of her Durango, and locked it.
An exasperated sound came from the other end.
“Okay. Gotta go now.” She hung upas soon as he uttered a resigned, “Bye, Nat.” God, she felt like a douche.Could women be douches? Whatever the female equivalent was, she was it.
As she scurried across the lot, irony struck her. She wasrunning toward a situation that was slowly sucking the life from her. WhenKevin’s well-being had commandeered her energy alifetime ago, she’d imagined a temporary upheaval. But weeks were stretchinginto unexpected months with no end in sight. And if Kevin’scondition was permanent? What had started—and not gone past—a fun flinghad become mired in messy muck she’d not been prepared for. If he’d been herbrother, her mother, a husband, she’d have a well of resiliency she sodesperately needed right now.
But that wasn’t fair. Time together shouldn’t matter. No,no. Kevin needed her. She could not let him down; she had to be therefor him. Like a rock. Yep, she could do this. She and Kristin. Team Kevin. Except she’d become thelifeless team member while Kristin seemed to race a little faster each day. AndNatalie admired her for it. The girl had spirit, spunk. Her determination neverflagged, or at least she never showed it like Natalie, who resembled a worn dish towel.
On the elevator, it occurred to Natalie that Drew was right.Her reserves were dry, and she needed a refill—so she could stay strong forKevin. Who better to fill it than those who nurtured her? Her mom, herbrother—the ones she’d been treating like shit. How had everything become sotwisted?
With a tired sigh, she heaved herself off the elevator andheaded for her version of the Room of Requirement—a magic room that housed thecoffee dispenser. As she prepared her cup, a couple of female voices driftedfrom the other side of a partition. Their gossipy tone captured her attention,and she found herself sucked into a different world.
“Well, it’s not even like they were dating that long.Why insinuate yourself unless you have ulterior motives?”
“You don’t know that,” the second voice scoffed.
“No, I don’t, but look at the evidence. She’s a nobody; he’s a superstar. His ex-wife is here all thetime, but so is she. Like she’s scratching for territory so she can sinkher claws into his fortune.”
“How do you know he has a fortune?”
“He’s a pro athlete. Of course he has money! Look howmuch he gets paid every year!”
Natalie’s blood, along with her hand, froze.
“Well, she doesn’t seem like the type to me. A dog-sitterhas to be kind; therefore she can’t be a gold digger.”
A chortle. “That’s some far-fetched logic. Money does funnythings to people, and gold diggers come in all shapes and sizes. And thenthere’s the fact …” The conversation moved away, and though Natalie heard nomore, she’d heard plenty.
Heart crushed, she rested her forehead against thedispenser, pulling deep breaths into her lungs. You can do this, Nat. Straighteningon another inhale, shoulders
