“The hospital? What happened?” Astrid seemed just as horrified as Tara was feeling.
“There’s no time to explain,” Tara blurted.
“I’ll drive you.” Clay rattled the keys to the van.
“I’ll get there faster if I run.”
“In heels?” Astrid asked.
“Yes. In heels.”
“Should we come with you?” Clay asked.
“Just drive over and meet me there.” Tara took off before either of them could argue with her any more. It didn’t take long before she realized her shoes were only slowing her down. She took them off and ran in bare feet down the city sidewalks, bobbing between people and trying to see as her eyes clouded with threatening tears.
“If you die, Grant Singleton, I will never, ever forgive you,” she said to herself while anxiously waiting for the signal to change at a crosswalk. She darted across as soon as the cars had passed, all the while imagining a life without Grant. It was unthinkable. If she thought she felt empty from doing a presentation without him, what would the rest of her life be like? Her hopes for Sterling would mean nothing without him there. She’d never be able to return without thinking of him, but his absence would haunt her in a way that Johnathon’s never had. She and Grant had shared so much in that office. They’d put each other through the wringer. And yet, he was the only person’s approval she wanted. He was the one she wanted to share her triumphs with, as well as her failures.
Oh God. He told me he was falling in love with me and I left. Tara couldn’t believe she’d done that to him. She hoped against hope that he would be okay when she got to the hospital. He had to be okay, and if he wasn’t, she had to hope that he’d be there long enough for her to tell him everything. All of this emotion swelling up inside her had to go somewhere. She couldn’t let him go without telling him everything.
As she ran up to the emergency room entrance, the flashbacks started. Johnathon. Her dad. Even her mom. So many people she loved, all gone. She couldn’t handle it if it happened again. She simply couldn’t go on. Especially if she lost Grant.
She rushed over to the nurses’ station. “Grant Singleton?” She could barely get the words out before tears started to stream down her face. This wasn’t like her at all. She usually kept it together, especially in a crisis.
The nurse hit a few keys on the computer. “And you are?”
“The woman who loves him and ran in bare feet five blocks to be here for him.”
The nurse’s mouth pulled into a wide smile. “You need to put those shoes back on before you walk around in the hospital.”
“Yeah. Okay.” Tara worked her feet back into her shoes. They hurt like hell, but she didn’t care.
“He’s in room 18. Down the hall, first right, then a left.”
Tara was already on her way, but she couldn’t sprint here like she had out on the street. Her heart was still pounding and dammit if those tears would not stop. They were running down her cheeks and mascara was staining her blouse. When she got to eighteen, it was one of those big rooms with sliding glass doors. A doctor and several nurses were huddled around him. Tara burst through the door.
“Grant. I’m here. I’m here.” She caught sight of his face—the one she loved so much, and something squeezed her heart so tight she could barely stand up. He had bruises and scrapes. One of his amazing eyes was taped shut.
“Tara,” he managed, his voice raspy. He even had a tiny smile on his face. Was he delirious?
She pushed one of the nurses out of the way. “I’m sorry. But I have to talk to him.” She grabbed his hand and kissed his knuckles, holding them to her lips and drinking in his smell. “You can’t die on me. I won’t let you.”
One of the nurses laughed, which seemed horribly rude.
But then an even bigger smile spread across Grant’s lips. “I’m not going to die.”
The doctor leaned in. “He’s not going to die. He has a concussion and a few broken ribs. That taxi hit him good.”
He’s not going to die. He’s not going to leave me. Tara gasped for air and the tears flowed like a faucet.
“You’re crying,” Grant said.
“Of course I’m crying.” She leaned down and kissed his temple what felt like one hundred times.
“You don’t like to cry. You hate it. You never do it.”
That was the old Tara he was talking about. Hopefully, she wouldn’t return. “I love you. I love you so much and I was an idiot for not seeing it all along.”
He managed one more smile, his poor battered face lighting up. “I love you, too, darling.”
Oh, thank God. Finally, some relief. She wiped away the tears from her eyes. “You’re the best thing in my entire world. I’m resigning from Sterling. I will give you my shares. You can just have them.”
“Tara. What about the other wives?”
That seemed to catch the attention of the nurses. They all stopped what they were doing and looked at Tara and Grant.
“It’s a long story,” Tara said. “I’ll tell you when I’m done here.” She returned her attention to Grant. “I care about them both, and I hate the idea of breaking promises, but I’ll do it. All I want is you.”
“Please don’t resign. We need you. I need you. You can’t leave.” Grant pushed back to sit up straighter in bed, but it was clear he was in a lot of pain. Still, he did it. Tara perched on the edge of the bed so she could be closer to him. “Johnathon cut you out of the company in part because he couldn’t work with his wife. But I’m not Johnathon.”
Tara looked at him as her mind
