Page 13 of Love Wells Kept

“It’ll be a while before they wake him up.” Austin’s boot scrapes against the floor. “Probably a couple days. You need food and rest.”

I ignore him, instead focusing my attention on straightening Jackson’s blanket. If I walk away, it might be for the last time. I need to be here touching him, talking to him, confirming the steady beat of his heart on one of the many monitors he’s hooked up to.

“We’ll come back first thing in the morning,” Denny adds.

“Great. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” I shoot both of them a placating smile.

“You can’t stay here….” Austin’s attempt at arguing is half-assed, at best.

“If this was Cecily,” I narrow my eyes at Austin, before redirecting to Denny, “or Blair, would either of you leave? No. Didn’t think so. I can’t leave him here alone. I…”

I swallow down the sob bargaining its way up from my chest.

Austin nods, a rare touch of softness in his eyes. “Okay.”

I maintain eye contact with him while I finish with the scratchy, thin blankets. “If something happened, and I wasn’t here, I’d never forgive myself. I can’t go. I don’t care if I need to sleep right here in this awful chair for weeks on end.”

“All right. Then I guess we’re staying here.” Austin plants his palms against the wall, then propels himself toward the door. “In that case, I’m going to see if I can steal another chair.”

“You guys don’t have to,” I say.

He shakes his head. “But we will…just in case.”

I settle in for the long haul, scooching my chair right up against the bed rail so I can comfortably rest my hand on Jackson’s arm and prop my feet up next to his. It’s the closest I can get to climbing in with him. I’ll take it.

“You’ve always been a bed hog.” I wiggle my socked feet on top of the bed, letting them collide gently with his through the blankets.

Denny chuckles. “Mom used to make us share a bed when we were out of town for rodeos, and I’d always wake up right on the edge with no blankets while this guy was spread-eagle.”

“So nothing’s changed, then.” I smile over at Jackson’s peacefully sleeping expression. “When I…well, I’m sure it won’t surprise you to know I used to sneak into his room.”

Denny smirks. “Naughty.”

“Oh, shut up. When I used to sneak into his room, he still only had a double bed. And I told him I wouldn’t stay at the ranch and officially be his girlfriend unless we bought a king-size mattress. I got no sleep in that double with him.”

“Oh, I know, Kate. The walls were thin.”

“That goes both ways, Denny.”

As if we weren’t all sharing the upstairs bedrooms of the main house back when I first showed up at the ranch. There’s no privacy in a house that was built over a hundred years ago. Thank God they had enough sense to build the primary bedroom far away from the children’s rooms.

“Touché.” He shoots finger guns in my direction. “Now look at us all grown up with kids.”

“Shit, that reminds me—I should call the kids before it gets too late. This is the first time I’ve been away from Rhett overnight.”

I fumble my phone out of my pocket and wince when I realize it’s somehow already past eight o’clock. I don’t know how so much time managed to slip away when I’ve been painfully aware of every passing minute all day.

“I’m gonna go out in the hall and order us some food. We’re in the city, which means I can download one of those food apps and order anything.” Denny stands up with a groan and pats his stomach. “You craving something specific?”

The last thing I care about is eating. Pretty sure any food would instantly come back up, given how unsettled my stomach has been all day. At this point I’m not sure whether it’s morning sickness or anxiety.

So I wave him off, tapping Beryl’s name, and holding the ringing phone to my ear. My nails lightly scratch Jackson’s forearm, connecting freckles and twirling through thin hair, as I wait for Beryl to answer.

“Hi, honey. How’s it going?” In the background, there’s a familiar squeak of the front door opening then closing. She’s likely stepping outside to get out of earshot of the kids.

“It’s…” My gaze meanders over the man next to me. “It’s going. We’re in the ICU and he’s in an induced coma, but we’ll be okay.”

“Oh, Kate. I can’t even imagine how scared you must be right now.”