Page 24 of Long Hard Fall

Oh my… His dazzling smile was totally a cover. Abbi remembered it from the night they’d met. It’s what had made her practically beg him to drive her back to her room. Had it been genuine, or a way to fool the ladies that he was only good for one night?

She might have intruded, but she didn’t regret it. Getting to know him was worth it. “I happened to be at the cafe when Cash heard you were in here. I kind of gave him no choice but to bring me.”

“That’s fine.” Frankie pushed a button to raise the head of her bed. “I’m afraid they’re overreacting anyway.”

“Really?”

At Cash’s disbelieving tone, Frankie flushed. “It was just a dizzy spell.”

“Did you topple over this morning before you started your shift?” Cash disengaged his hand and sat down in one of the two chairs by Frankie’s bed. “What’s going on, Frankie?”

Frankie tugged gently on the cords attached to her. “They’re looking at my heart. Took a gallon of blood in the ER, and a doctor who looks like he should be in preschool admitted me. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“Uh-huh. They gotta be thorough.”

A middle-aged nurse breezed in and stopped when she spied them. “Oh, hey Cash. Um…I need to check Frankie’s vitals, if you don’t mind stepping out.”

Frankie waved the request off. “It’s fine. Not like there’s any such thing as privacy in this place.”

The nurse smiled. “We make sure you get your money’s worth.”

She tucked her stethoscope in her ears and listened to Frankie’s heart and breathing. While she typed her stats into the computer, she glanced at Cash. “How’s it going? I hear your mom’s in town. I think she’s going to stop by.”

Cash stiffened but recovered. If Abbi weren’t sitting so close, she might not have noticed. Cash said, “I think she misses working with you guys.”

“Well, we miss her. I hope I catch her when she’s here.” The nurse finished the exam and ambled out.

Frankie studied Cash with her brows drawn together. “Is it okay that you’re here?”

Abbi expected the toothpaste-commercial grin, but his small smile was more of an attempt at reassurance.

“I’m an adult and you’re my grandmother. Speaking of, what do you need done while you’re in here?”

Frankie brushed him off like she had the nurse. “You don’t need to worry yourself about me.”

“I’m not worried,” he replied smoothly, “but your cats might be.”

That got Frankie’s attention. Her hand flew to her temples. “Oh no. Dutchie is going to be beside herself when I don’t come home. Baron might pretend not to care, but he’ll make me pay for being gone.”

“Gimme your key and we’ll stop by and feed them.”

Satisfaction rippled through Abbi at his use of “we.” Until her phone vibrated. She glanced at the screen. Damn, Ellis and his shit timing.

He’d tried calling the previous night and all morning and she’d ignored him. Texting was his new attempt, but she wasn’t going to read it in front of Cash.

Cash lifted a brow as if to ask if everything was all right. She shot him a little smile.

“You sure you don’t mind?” Frankie motioned for her purse on the cart next to the bed. Cash handed it off and she dug out a key. “This one’s my spare. Why don’t you keep it, in case I ever lose my own key or my entire purse. You know where I live, right?”

“Of course.” His grandmother shouldn’t have to ask him that, but their relationship hadn’t been typical.

They stood and he bent to give her a hug. From the shocked but pleased look on Frankie’s face, it wasn’t a common occurrence. Frankie’s hospital episode must’ve bothered him more than Abbi had realized.

Cash searched out Abbi’s hand and they walked out together.

“Aw, shit,” he breathed.

Abbi followed his gaze. At the nurse’s station, his mom was laughing with three other nurses and aides.

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