Page 12 of Love You, Mean It

“What did you say it was that struck him, Miss…?”

“Greco,” I said, eyes darting to the hospital bed. Monitors beeped softly over Theo, breathing steadily beneath the rough hospital-issue sheets. “It was like…a metal cage?” I mimed a box about a foot wide with my hands. “It had been protecting the wiring. I think Jaime grabbed on to it when the ladder fell. It seemed pretty heavy duty.”

“Sounds like.”

“Will he…be okay?” I gulped. The magnitude of my impulse lie paired with the hospital smell was spiking my anxiety. Dad’s heart attack had been sudden and massive—he was gone before I even made it home from New York, let alone to the hospital—but after that, Mimi had insisted that Grandpa finally get the bypass doctors had been recommending for years. It had gone as smoothly as possible, but those visits were all wrapped up in losing Dad, anxiety sharpening the chemical odors of cleansers and medicines, none of them strong enough to completely eradicate the faint hint of decay they were fighting.

The choking feeling overtaking me wasn’t really for Theo, but it must have seemed like it to the nurse, a middle-aged woman with faded red hair and reading glasses that kept slipping down her broad nose. She gave me a gentle look.

“Don’t worry, sweetie, your fiancé’s gonna be just fine.” Hopefully she thought my pained look was for his sake, not at the f-word. “He’s concussed, but the scans don’t show anything scary. With any luck, he’ll be awake within the hour.”

“Okay. Thank you.” I nodded rapidly, eyes glazing over as I stared at the thicket of tubes and sensors.

I’d officially given up on opening the deli for the day—Mondayswere slow, and I’d texted Lauren, who owned the vintage shop next door, asking her to tape a sign to the entrance letting customers know we’d be back tomorrow.Already driving them into Mangia’s arms.

But that’s why I couldn’t leave. If I had any chance of salvaging this, I needed to talk to Theo, and after the complete disaster of a morning, I doubted he’d give me another chance, if only out of vague superstition. He might knowlogicallythat I had nothing to do with his injury, but he’d probably still associate me with it, like when you get food poisoning and unfairly blame the last thing you ate. Not to mention I’d told the hospital staff and one of the electricians he worked with that we were engaged, which…might not help things if he heard that without context.

With any luck, he’d wake up and find me there, the good Samaritan just soworriedabout him, and I could play up my role in getting him to the hospital, and then if he had a single decent bone in his body, he’d at least agree to reschedule our—

“Sorry…don’t I know you?”

I startled back to the moment to find Theo squinting at me from the bed. He pressed the button to raise the back, frowning.

“I’m in the hospital?”

“You are. How are you feeling?”

“Weird. Actually…not great.” He reached for his head, wincing as he made contact. “Aren’t they supposed to give you painkillers in the hospital? Like…realones?”

I laughed in spite of myself.

“With a head injury? Not so sure that’s the best call.”

“I’ll take my chances.” He flashed a conspiratorial look that was surprisingly catching—clearly he could be charming when he wasn’t trying to decimate your family business—then sat up straight, eyes widening. “Ellie! Ellie Greco, right?”

I exhaled, relief flooding me. For a minute, I was worried I’d have to walk him through the entire morning. But if he remembered me—and wasn’t shoutingGet out, you murderous bitch!—maybe there was a chance we could pick up where we’d left off.

I mean, notimmediately. Even if he’d wanted to scrap the Mangia deal that very second, the pamphlet on concussion protocol recommended zero screen time, and forcing the issue felt like it could backfire. But soon.

“But…sorry, what areyoudoing here?”

“I was there when you got hurt. At the old Taylor’s building. Do you remember?”

“You mean Bray’s?”

“Well sure, until recently.”

“So…were we shopping or something?”

A little tendril of dread started unfurling in my center.

“Do you remember our meeting, Theo?”

“Theo? Man, I kinda like that. Maybe I should start going by Theo, what do you think?”

My mouth dropped open, the dread bursting into full, ghastly bloom. Meanwhile, Theo was frowning hard, clearly trying to sort through something.

“I mean, I remember you obviously, you’re Bella’s cousin. And you said you were there when I got hurt, but…why are youhere? Like in the hospital. Not to be rude, but…we don’t really know each other, right?”

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