Page 23 of The Couple's Secret
Riley lifted her head. “He called me right after he got off the phone with you and then they showed up. They wanted to wait for you, but I made them tell me and… and… oh God, Jacks.”
Jackson’s lips pressed into a thin line. He closed his eyes briefly, taking a deep breath before opening them again. “So it’s true.”
“We’re very sorry for your loss,” Gretchen said.
“Jacks,” Riley said in a shaky voice. “It’s so bad.”
Before he could say another word, Riley blurted out everything Josie and Gretchen had just told her, growing more hysterical with each fact that fell from her lips. Jackson kept her tucked firmly against his broad chest, listening. The higher-pitched her voice became and the more agitated she got, the less Josie could understand her words. Jackson, however, had no such trouble.
“Wait,” he said, cutting her off. “Denton? Did you say they were found here?”
“Not the point, Jacks!” Riley said.
He locked eyes with Josie’s and she confirmed it, giving him the location where the vehicle had been found.
Riley fisted his shirt. Her face was red and blotchy, tears still falling freely. “Jacks, I can’t. I can’t. I need?—”
“I know,” he said. “I know. I’ll go get it. Just sit. Can you sit at the table for me? I’ll be right back.”
Without waiting for her answer, he guided her back to her chair and helped lower her into it. Dropping a kiss on her forehead, he disappeared deeper into the house. Every few seconds, he called out to his wife. “Be right there, Ri.”
Beneath the table, Gretchen nudged Josie’s leg with her own. Riley slumped in her chair, unmoving, eyes vacant. Was she going into shock? Having a medical event? Did she have a condition? Had Jackson gone to retrieve medication of some kind? Just as urgency began to pound through Josie’s veins, he returned.
With a sweater.
It was a yellow cable-knit cardigan that had seen better days. Jackson knelt next to Riley, murmuring words of instruction and comfort as he manipulated her upper body and wrapped the sweater around her. “Come on, Ri,” he encouraged her gently, picking up her arms one by one so she could slide them into the sleeves.
She only seemed to come back to life when he finished, swiveling her head to say, “I need a drink.”
“Yeah,” he said huskily. “You and me both. Later, though. I need your head clear right now, okay? How about coffee?”
She nodded weakly.
With a pained smile at Josie and Gretchen, he disappeared into the kitchen.
Thirteen
Jackson didn’t ask whether Josie and Gretchen wanted coffee. Instead, he emerged from the kitchen ten agonizing minutes later carrying a tray with four steaming mugs on it. The scent of it made Josie’s mouth water even though she’d already had three cups so far today. She certainly didn’t need more but her body always reacted to coffee like Pavlov’s dog. Jackson lowered the tray right over the top of a pile of paperwork and motioned for them to help themselves. Out of courtesy, they both took a cup but left them untouched, despite the milk and sugar offered. Josie was too busy monitoring Riley for any signs that she needed medical attention. She hadn’t spoken a word while her husband was in the kitchen.
“It was Cora’s,” Jackson said as he drew a chair up beside Riley and tapped the sleeve of the yellow cardigan. “It helps when she’s really anxious.”
Josie fought against the twinge of sadness that writhed deep in her stomach.
Gretchen smiled gently. “I get it. My husband died when we were young, and I’ve still got a flannel shirt he wore all the time.”
Riley’s eyes flickered to life. “Does it still smell like him?”
“I don’t know. I’ve tried to only handle it when I couldn’t stand not to so that the scent would last longer. Sometimes I think there’s something left but other times I wonder if it’s just my brain playing tricks on me. Either way, it helps to have it.”
In all the years that Josie had known Gretchen, she’d rarely talked about her late husband. The circumstances of his death were traumatic. She’d been so young when he passed, not even old enough to drink, but Josie knew they’d loved one another deeply. In fact, to her knowledge, Gretchen hadn’t dated anyone seriously since.
Riley pulled Cora’s sweater more tightly around her, giving Gretchen the ghost of a smile. Jackson stirred two sugars and a splash of milk into a mug and slid it in front of her.
Josie said, “Riley, if this is too difficult, we can come back later to speak with you.”
Resting a large hand on the back of Riley’s neck, Jackson said, “It’s up to you.”
“I want to talk now,” she said, drawing herself up straighter, as if her mother’s cardigan gave her a jolt of inner strength.
