Page 109 of Love Me Boldly

Idiots.

“Graham.”

I immediately turned to Holly. She was at the boards, her face pale, phone in hand. “My doctor called.”

“Now?”

“She rushed them so I didn’t have to wait through another weekend. But…” Her gaze slid to Jonah.

“We can get him out of here, or they can take him to the restaurant or something.” I’d throw him in the car and take him with us, but if it was bad news…

“I can just go…”

“Absolutely not. No way. You’re not doing this alone.”

“Okay.” She shook her head, like she was trying to clear her mind, except even I could tell she wasn’t thinking straight. She was gone, lost to worst-case scenarios and fears I’d seen her try too hard this last week to fight.

“Eli!” I shouted and waved him over. He was there in a blink.

“What’s up?”

“Holly’s doctor called. We gotta go. Can you get Jonah back to town? He can hang at the restaurant.” I looked at Holly, who was staring at Jonah, but it was obvious she wasn’t seeing him. She was seeing him live a life without her. I needed to get her to the doctor, get those results in. “Yeah. Yeah, of course. You need us to leave now?”

“No, in ten minutes or so, you’ll have to get off when a figure skating lesson starts. You good?”

“What am I going to tell him?” she asked, still staring at him.

This was Holly, by now I understood. Her default was negativity and fears. Warranted given the life she had.

“Tell Jonah his mom had a stomachache, and I took her home for medicine,” I told Eli and reached for Holly’s hand. “Then later, you can tell him you feel all better.”

“But…”

“You will be. You’ll be just fine, remember?”

She stared at our hands and slowly lifted her face to meet mine. “I’ll be okay.”

It wasn’t much, but it took all she had. I squeezed her hand. “That’s the spirit.”

“Go,” Eli said. “We’ve got Jonah, and we’ll be at The Grille unless we hear from you. And good luck. Chin up, Holly. Could be nothing, remember?”

“Right.”

I dropped to the bench and tore off my skates and slipped into my sandals. I looked ridiculous, but who cared.

Holly needed me, and I needed her to be healthy, so I needed to get to the doctor as soon as we could.

* * *

“Holly Jones?”

The nurse might as well have shot a handgun for as loud as her voice was. In the silent waiting room, she could have whispered and still been heard. As it was, Holly jumped to her feet and squeezed my hand so hard the bones almost cracked.

She didn’t apologize, and I didn’t notice. It wasn’t even the first or sixth time she’d done that since we checked in and took our seats.

The nurse guided us down a hall, one left and then a right, and then we were being led into an office.

Not an exam room like I’d expected. Holly dropped into one of the faux-leather seats, and I took the other. She still hadn’t let go of my hand, but she hadn’t said much either. The only way I knew she knew I was there was the death grip on my hand.

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