Page 54 of Bernadette
“What did he say?” Chuck demanded.
“I had to leave a message, he was in what his secretary referred to as a closed-door meeting and couldn’t be interrupted. I told her that it was urgent that he get my message to call me back.”
“Without giving any details.”
“Correct.” Bernie settled back on the side of the bed, and took Chuck’s good hand in his.
“Can I ask what exactly happened?” Angela asked, but they paused when the person who had brought the tray of food in came to take it away, and Chuck was able to order a meal for that night, and the next day. Afterward the doctor came in to talk to him, and a nurse, so it was almost an hour before they were able to talk privately. Angela made sure the door was almost closed, then went back to join them.
“We don’t know how much to tell you,” Bernie began. “I do know you’ll have to sign an NDA.”
“Which is?”
“Non-disclosure agreement. Anything we tell you, you cannot repeat. Ever.”
“Oh, wow, so this is big?” Angela looked between the two of them, then stared at her son in horror. “You’re not in any trouble, are you?”
“No, Mom, I’m not in trouble. I try to stay out of Boswell business, but I’ve been known to listen in and give my opinions every once in a while.”
“What’s Boswell?” Angela asked.
Chuck took the next few minutes to tell her what he knew of Boswell, and then Bernie took over and told her what she had to do with it, and what she’d learned. By the time Mikel Stokes returned two hours later, Angela’s head was reeling by all the things she’d learned.
“So, bottom line,” Angela drilled her gaze into her son’s. “You were shot at because you were going for help for Morgan and her husband?”
“Yes, whoever shot at us blew out my tire, and I went ass over tea kettle, or so they tell me. The ATV landed on top of me.”
She pursed her lips, and looked down her nose at him. “Why didn’t you let go.”
“Huh?” Chuck asked, and whipped around at Bernie when she giggled.
“If you would have let go of the ATV, it could have gone in a different direction than you. From what you described, you held onto the handlebars, and could that be why you shattered your wrist? You should have let go.”
“Mom, how can you say that?” Chuck asked in shocked outrage.
“Think about it, close your eyes and picture what happened, if you had let go of the handlebars would you be in this bed right now with all those bandages on your hand?”
Chuck scowled, but he did as she said, then sighed heavily, causing him to wince in pain from his ribs. He opened his eyes and nodded. “Yeah, I should have let go.”
“At least you had that option,” came a voice from the doorway. The three inside the room turned and saw someone approach. “I didn’t have that option when I smashed my hand this past spring. Hello, Miss Angel, how are you?”
“Don’t tell me,” Angela said as she jumped to her feet and turned to look at the newcomer. “Oh, crap, I don’t remember which one you are.”
Alex laughed, as he approached. “Alex.”
“No way, you’re huge!” she said as she accepted his hug, then turned to Bernie. “As I told Chuck earlier, I knew the Stuarts, but I wasn’t at their house all the time like he was. This guy was always the smallest, now I swear he’s bigger than the others.”
“I am,” Alex grinned. He hugged her again, then stood there with his arm around her and looked at Chuck. “It’s good to see you awake. I stopped to see you on my way to see Morgan. Where’s Lucas?”
“Mikel Stokes took him over there a couple of hours ago,” Bernie said. “Chuck here used some tough love on him and guilted him into going over there.
“Good, Morgan really needs someone with her right now.”
“Not to put a dent on this, but that boy didn’t look old enough to be out of school, can he afford to stay out that long?”
“Astrid, one of the women we told you about earlier, brought his laptop to him, and he’s been doing his schoolwork online. He’s a junior in high school.”
“Ah,” she answered, then looked up when the door opened, and she was engulfed with hugs from all the Stuart men.
