“Thanks, Megan.”
Luke had never felt a greater sense of panic as he headed for Gram’s cottage. He had huge fences to mend with Moira, but right this second all he could think about was what the O’Briens would do if they lost Gram. It just couldn’t happen. Not yet. Not like this.
Moira had walked and walked despite the surprising level of heat and humidity on the June day. She wasn’t used to weather like this. It certainly didn’t help to clear her head the way a chilly breeze might have.
She was almost back at Nell’s when she spotted Luke coming toward her, his expression grim.
“We need to talk, Moira,” he said when he was close enough for her to hear him.
She shook her head. “Not now. My head is already spinning from our last talk.”
“This isn’t about you and me or whether you go or stay. It’s about Gram.”
Alarm shot through her. “What’s happened to Nell?”
“I’ll tell you what I know on the way. We need to get to the hospital. Your grandfather’s asking for you, and I need to be there for Gram.”
They practically ran back to the house, where she paused only to grab her purse and put on a pair of shoes. Then they were driving to Baltimore.
She listened as Luke told her the little he knew. She could see the fear in his eyes, hear the distress in his voice. She reached across and rested a hand on his leg just long enough to give it a reassuring squeeze. “She’s strong, Luke. She’ll be fine. And didn’t my grandfather say it was only a fainting spell?”
“People don’t faint for no good reason,” he argued.
“But sometimes it’s nothing more than needing to eat or being overly tired. The trip to New York may have been too much for her.”
“I told you, didn’t I, that she almost passed out right in front of me once before? I put my mum on the case, but Gram managed to convince her, too, that there was nothing to worry about.”
Moira fell silent then. After all, what could she say that could possibly boost his spirits when neither of them knew the truth about the situation?
At the hospital waiting room, they found most of the family already assembled. Abby had apparently gotten there first, coming straight from her Baltimore office. Thomas had been hard on her heels, coming from Annapolis. Mick and Jeff had arrived soon after, thanks to using back roads and speeds that likely defied the limits.
Moira went straight to her grandfather, who was sitting by himself, looking distraught and pale. She sat beside him and took his hands in hers. His were ice-cold.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“I will be when they tell me Nell is fine,” he said. “I’m glad Luke found you, though. It’s good to see a friendly face.”
She frowned at his words. “Don’t tell me the family is blaming you for what happened?”
“Oh, they’re not saying as much, but I’m sure they think Nell’s been overdoing it during my visit and that this trip to New York was too much for her. How can I argue about that under the circumstances?”
“But she wanted to go,” Moira protested. “It was her idea, wasn’t it?”
He nodded. “But I should probably have thought better of it. I knew she’d had a couple of spells. She dismissed them as nothing, blamed it all on adjusting to a new medicine, and I let her get away with it. What was I thinking?” he asked miserably.
“You were thinking that Nell is a woman who knows her own mind and body and is perfectly capable of making decisions for herself,” Moira told him firmly.
He smiled at her fierce words. “I’m not entirely sure if that defense was meant to be of me or of Nell, but I appreciate it either way.”
“Well, I meant every word. This isn’t your fault, and I’ll take on anyone who says it was.”
Just then Mick joined them. He’d apparently overheard at least some of their conversation, because he gave Dillon an apologetic look. “I had a feeling you might be thinking that we’re all over there ganging up to cast blame on you. That’s not the case, Dillon. I know Ma’s stubbornness as well as anyone. This trip was something she wanted, and none of us would have been able to discourage her.”
“But I should have tried,” Dillon said.
“And wasted your breath?” Mick said. “Why? And none of this matters, anyway, because she’s going to be up and running things back in Chesapeake Shores in no time.”
Moira saw her grandfather draw in a relieved breath and in that moment she felt a surprising surge of gratitude toward Mick. “Thank you for saying that,” she told him.
Mick nodded, his expression filled with understanding. “Let me go and rattle a few cages and see if I can get some information. We could all use a bit of good news, I think.”
When he’d walked away, Moira turned to her grandfather. “You see, if Mick can be so understanding, then for sure no one else is blaming you.”
He smiled tiredly. “Perhaps not, but if this doesn’t end well, sweetheart, I’ll blame myself.”
23
Moira’s grandfather had refused to leave the hospital, even after everyone had been reassured that Nell’s dizzy spell had likely been caused by a combination of low blood pressure and low blood sugar. Her blood pressure medicine had apparently been working too well, according to the doctor. He’d recommended they all go home.
“You should all get a good night’s rest,” the doctor told them. “If she does well on the
