Page 23 of Long Hard Fall

Abbi was watching him. He reluctantly withdrew his hand to navigate the roads.

“Mom forgave Dad, at least that time, and raised me like her own.”

“At least that time? Do you have more half siblings?”

Discussing his family’s worst-kept secret left a sour taste in his mouth. It was freeing to openly talk about it—to a point. It was still about his dad, a man he looked up to, promiscuous ways aside. “Just my sister, Hannah, but she’s not from another woman. As far as I know, my dad often seeks company in someone else’s bed, but he hasn’t repeated the same mistake he made with me.”

He fisted his hands around the wheel.

“I’m sorry.”

“He’s a good guy, but his strengths aren’t in being faithful to his wife.”

“Where’s your birth mom?”

“Dead, and before you say sorry, I never met her. Not that it isn’t terrible,” he added quickly. “I just never knew her and she never wanted me. But her death almost killed Frankie.”

That was the real tragedy about his birth mom’s death. He couldn’t summon anything beyond ambivalence, but he had a huge family and a lot of support. Frankie was alone.

“What happened?” Abbi’s presence washed over him. His anxiety over Frankie would’ve chewed him up on the way to the hospital, and even though the subject was an ever-healing wound, having Abbi here made it bearable. He was terribly glad she’d come with him.

“Suicide. The guy she left with was an over-controlling bastard. Frankie ran herself dry trying to help my—Holly—get away, but she must’ve felt trapped. I guess I was only five when she killed herself.”

Abbi probably noticed his quick switch, but he tried not to refer to Holly as his mom. She’d birthed him, but Mom was his mom.

“I’m still really sorry. Have you and Frankie been close your whole life?”

He wished, and he had serious regrets that they hadn’t been. “Actually, no. She found me when I was eighteen and told me about Holly. Thought I should know because Mom and Dad told her they refused to talk to me about her, which meant they didn’t want Frankie around, either. She waited until I was old enough to decide for myself. After that, I started stopping in at the cafe now and again. My parents, of course, avoid the place.”

“That’s so sad. You didn’t know you had another grandma in town?”

He maneuvered into the hospital parking lot. “No. I never gave Holly much thought. By the time they told me Mom had adopted me, it mattered, but it didn’t.”

Maybe he’d buy that line himself one day. It’d fucked him up. And then he’d gotten over it. Mostly. Until he was eighteen and Frankie had caught him gassing up his pickup one night before finding a bonfire and some girls to party with.

Forget the girls. That night, he’d drunk whatever he could get his hands on and gotten shit-faced. Not long after that, Dillon had spouted off about enlisting and there was Cash’s ass next to him, raising his right hand and swearing an oath of enlistment for the army.

He and Abbi rushed into the hospital and inquired about the room number at the front desk. Abbi had claimed his hand somewhere en route.

“Frankie?” the matronly receptionist asked.

“Frances Samuelson,” Cash answered, grateful he knew that much about his own grandmother.

“Room 205.” She leaned over the desk and pointed down the hall. “Catch the elevator at the end of the hall, and once you get off, the room will be on your left.”

He thanked her and took off, towing Abbi behind him.

Abbi clutched Cash’s hand. Distress pinched the corners of his eyes as they rode the elevator up.

The story of his life was tragic. Her parents were a pain in her ass, but her dad had showered her mom with romantic gestures. Did he still? Abbi would have to remind him, make sure he was keeping the love alive after Perry’s death.

When they stepped onto the second floor, warmth surrounded her. It felt good after being outside in the chill with just a sweatshirt, but if she had to work here all day, she’d suffer heat exhaustion. The temperature hike must be for the patients’ benefit.

They located room 205 and Cash peeked inside. She waited to follow his lead. She’d expected a grandmotherly woman, but a lady with graying blond hair rested on the bed. She was probably a little shorter than her and slender, like she’d run her ass off at her serving job her whole life. Lines of stress and worry marred her ruddy skin. The sound of a blood-pressure machine filled the room. Abbi followed the cord on the cuff around Frankie’s arm to a large standalone machine. The screen of the machine was littered with numbers.

Frankie’s pale brows rose in surprise. “Cash, what a surprise.” Her gaze touched on Abbi and her eyes brightened. Frankie shifted in an attempt to cover herself, but two cords draped out of the neck of her hospital gown.

“Hey, Frankie. I hope you don’t mind that I brought a friend, although I don’t think I could’ve stopped her.” Cash gave Frankie his award-winning smile. “This is Abbi Daniels.”

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