I had no idea what the hell he’d just said, but all that mattered was that Millie was fine.
After he left, I sighed in relief and Gran slipped her hand into mine. “You know your daddy asked for you. Maybe you could see him before you head over to Millie.”
Shit. See Wayne in all his drugged-up glory … with half of my girlfriend’s liver inside of him?
No thanks.
Gran laid a hand on my chest. “You know, neither of you can heal until you forgive him.”
Leave it to Gran to hit me with the heavy shit right after my girlfriend almost died or got diabetes or whatever happened.
“Right now? It has to be now?” I growled.
Why were all the women in my life impossible?
Gran frowned. “We’re not promised tomorrow. Now is all we have.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Is that one of your needlepoints?”
She shook her head. “Can’t be. Needs a cussword.”
We both grinned at that but her meaning sank into me. Wayne would be in some fancy hippy-dippy recovery center for the next year and I probably wouldn’t see him much. Maybe now was the time to bury the hatchet. Maybe if I could see him like Millie did, I could try to forgive him for his faults.
When I walked into the room, Wayne was asleep. Perfect. Just how I liked him. Instead of leaving, I walked over to the bed and looked down at him. He looked like a really old beat-ass version of me. The years were not kind to him. Even though I had so many bad memories of him taking space in my mind, I had some good ones too.
“Remember when Jenna and I used to braid your armpit hair when you were napping?” I said, not expecting a response.
His eyelids flew open and he grinned. “Ash. My boy.” His hand reached for me and I took it.
“Hey.” Definitely going to turn my man card in. I’d almost cried three times in the last few hours.
“Ash,” my dad mumbled. “I saw Jenna.”
I froze, my hand going tight in his. “What?”
His eyelids fluttered, voice weak. “She was there, like an angel, watching over me. Over Millie. Over you.”
Damn, this morphine must be good. “Oh yeah?”
Wayne nodded. “She said to tell you: give it a rest, bud.”
The air around me thickened as chills rolled up my arms and my breath hitched.
Give it a rest, bud, was what Jenna said when I got worked up or held a grudge. The way he emphasized, bud, just like Jenna did, it freaked me out. Wayne wasn’t really around enough to know how Jenna spoke to me. I guess he could have heard it but…
The tears I’d held in all day finally broke free then, leaking out of my eyes like a broken faucet.
“Okay, Jen. Okay,” I whispered to my twin sister, wherever she was.
She was always more soft when it came to Wayne. I hardened my heart to him a long time ago in order to survive. But today I let it thaw, just a tiny bit, enough to see him as a sick man in need of help, as someone who needed my compassion, not my condemnation.
“I forgive you.” The tears rolled down my cheeks and onto our clasps hands. “I forgive you.”
He slept through my entire confession, which was just the way I liked it.
Chapter 22
Millie
I barely remembered the first day in the hospital. I was in and out of it; every time I felt pain, I pushed a button and then whoop, off to sleep. The only thing I remembered was Ashton. Every time I cracked open my eyes, he was there. The week in hospital recovery flew by, and then it turned into a month at home with Ashton waiting on me hand and foot. The temporary chef he’d gotten last minute wasn’t amazing, but he didn’t suck. His avocado toast game was strong, so the bar was doing well.
My parents also drove up in their giant RV to visit me and met Ashton. They loved him. He cursed three times and followed it up with another curse word and then an apology. My mom thought it was adorable. Julie and John were coming up this weekend and then I was back to work on Monday.
Yesterday Ashton got his heart rejection test done and he said he’d have the results by the time he got off work tonight.
It was three a.m. and he texted me he’d be up soon after closing down the bar. I was three seasons into Heart of Dixie when Gran called.
I answered right away. “Can’t sleep?”
She blew air through the phone. “Why is he making us wait for the results until after work? I don’t like it.”
I didn’t think of that. Surely the doctor called earlier with the results; it’s not like they were open at 3 a.m. When you owned a bar or restaurant, your concept of time was all messed up. Until three seconds ago, 3 a.m. seemed like a perfectly normal time for Ashton to tell me the results.
My throat tightened. “Think he wants to tell me in person? Tell me something bad?”
“I don’t know, hun. He won’t tell me either!” Gran sounded exasperated.
Damn him. What was he playing at?
“How’s Wayne?” I asked, trying to change the subject. I’d walk right down to the bar after my phone call and demand Ashton tell me right now.
I heard the grin in her voice. “You got the group text today, how do you think?”
A smile tugged at the corners of my lips.
Bring BACON, Wayne had texted three times with the phone I’d given him. He’d even added multiple pig emojis. Ashton was on the text thread but stayed silent most of the time. Still, I could sense a shift in him in the way
