Page 13 of You First
AS SOON ASLeona came home, Meredith kissed Oscar goodbye and headed to Walgreen’s. Picking up the prescription had taken all of ten minutes, but it had given her a little more information. Gray Blakewood’s date of birth was September 21, 1987, which made him only twenty-eight. His medication — Topiramate — was an anti-seizure drug, which would explain his falls and his inability to drive — if his condition wasn’t under control.
But if he were epileptic, wouldn’t he have been dealing with it for most of his life? Wouldn’t it be something he’d be used to sharing with others?
She was still puzzling over this when she pulled into his driveway that swept around a massive oak tree and ended behind a stone wall. At the front door, she could hear Vulcan and Juno whimpering — the dogs didn’t seem to bark — and even though she had a key, Meredith knocked on the door and waited for her boss to answer.
Ten seconds passed. Then twenty.
She knocked again, and the only sounds she heard from within were the dogs. Meredith found the new key on her key ring and unlocked the door, clutching his medicine and her container of cookies in one arm. Two gray-and-white noses poked out of the doorway as she slowly opened it, feeling weird about entering the house of a man she’d never met.
“Mr. Blakewood?” she called.
Silence.
The dogs snuffled at her through the crack in the door, but they didn’t growl or threaten. She pushed inside and shut the door behind her. Vulcan and Juno both wagged and whined as though she were a long-lost friend they’d never forgotten.
“Hey babies,” she cooed, stepping in through the foyer into the kitchen and finding it empty.
“Where’s your daddy?” She petted each dog in turn, running a hand over their furry heads as they circled, sniffing her up and down.
“Mr. Blakewood?” she called again.
Nothing.
Meredith made her way down the hall toward the living room and saw that the door to the master bedroom again was closed. At the sight of it, her stomach tightened.
How would she know he was okay if he never answered? Could she enter his room? Would she be able to make herself do that?
How do I walk into someone’s bedroom when I’ve never met him before?
“Mr. Blakewood?” This time, her voice was just above a whisper, but she suspected that if he lay in his bed behind the closed door, he could hear her — if he was conscious.
She crept up to the door, and the instant she did, her phone chimed. She dug it out of her purse with her free hand and saw a number she didn’t recognize.
Gray:I have a headache. Please stop shouting.
“Shit,” she hissed. Her thumb raced over the screen.
Meredith:I’m so sorry! It won’t happen again, Mr. Blakewood!
Meredith held her breath. She looked up at the bedroom door, half expecting to see it open, but the door didn’t move.
Gray:It’s Gray.
She blinked at the words. What was gray? And then it hit her. Grayson Blakewood.Gray.Meredith sighed. He was her boss. She’d always addressed her bosses with respect. But he was only twenty-eight. And he was sick. And his head hurt. She gave in.
Meredith:Hi, Gray.
Gray:Hi, Meredith.
Meredith’s stomach relaxed a fraction. She walked back to the kitchen and set the cookies and meds on the granite-topped island. The dogs followed.
Meredith:I’m sorry about your headache. I have your medicine. Will it help?
Vulcan bumped her knee with his nose, and she stroked his ears, waiting for his master’s response.
Gray:No. But thank you.
Juno joined her brother and tried to muscle in on the petting.
