Page 19 of Jagger
“What?” I asked when he didn’t finish his statement.
“Let’s just say her ex wasn’t the nicest guy when she discovered his betrayal. He said his only mistake was fucking her.” He paused as I let the weight of that sentence press down on me. “He . . . he destroyed her self-worth.”
“Can I ever fix this?” I asked.
“Let Cheyenne talk to her, and I’ll let you know how’s she doing when we get back to the house. We’re leaving now.”
“I’m going inside to check on Nana, then I’ll call you back. Thanks, brother.”
“Yep,” he returned, and the phone went silent.
Exiting the truck, I pushed the phone into my cut and was about to step away when a breeze blew across my stomach, reminding me I didn’t have a shirt or socks on. Opening the backdoor, I grabbed a clean shirt and socks from the duffle before I turned and walked up the stairs to the front door.
Without knocking, I walked inside and straight to where I heard noise coming from. Nana was sitting in one of the dining room chairs, and her neighbor, Ms. Johnson, was sitting across from her. She lowered her gaze and said, “I’m sorry for causing you any worry, Lincoln. When I found her and saw her ankle, I freaked out.”
I went to pull out a chair, but Nana raised her hand. “I’ve got my foot elevated on that one.”
I nodded and walked around to the last chair then looked at Nana as I spoke. “Tell me what happened.”
She swished her hand through the air as she tried to reason. “I can put weight on my foot, there’s only minor swelling, and I can move it.”
“What happened?” I demanded, and the look she gave me said to calm down, but at that moment, I couldn’t.
This overreaction could have cost me the only woman I’d ever wanted to make a go of it with, and I needed to know exactly what happened. Then I needed to get my little warrior to listen to me so I could apologize and grovel until she forgives me.
“I made me a drink last night before my show came on, and I guess I dropped a piece of ice on the floor. When I came to put my glass in the sink before bed, I slipped on a small puddle and twisted my ankle,” Nana explained. I narrowed my gaze at her, then she added, “I called Hattie after I scooted myself back to the living room to get my phone because I didn’t want to bother you. She got worked up when she got here and called an ambulance, even though I told her I was fine.” Nana looked at Ms. Johnson. “I wasn’t aware that she called you until she got to the hospital.”
“Why didn’t you call me, Nana? I would’ve come right over,” I interjected, trying to keep the anger out of my voice.
“I didn’t call you because there wasn’t a need to call you. I’m fine. And you have a life that needs to keep going, so I don’t want you dropping everything to help me.”
I took her hand into mine. “You’re the only family I have left, and it’s my job to take care of you.” Pausing, I asked, “Why did you go to the hospital if it’s only a sprain?”
“Tell him,” Ms. Johnson groused, and Nana cut her eyes in a harsh glare at her friend.
“The paramedics wanted to be sure I didn’t have a concussion, so they insisted I go. But everything checked out okay,” she quickly added.
“You hit your head?” I asked, realizing this could have been much worse.
She touched the side of her head. “When I slipped, I hit the side of my head on the handle of the fridge, but it doesn’t even hurt.”
Scrubbing my hands over my face, I wanted to scream. She was always hard-headed, but this was over the top, even for Nana. Sighing, I looked at her and said, “The paramedics were right to make you go, and Ms. Johnson was right to call me. I . . . I should’ve been here.”
“No, you shouldn’t have. You need to be with your young lady,” she remarked, and I gave her a curious look. I hadn’t mentioned Jackie to Nana yet, so I wondered how she knew. Seeing my questioning expression, she answered, “Your friends love to gossip when they eat.”
Stunned, I couldn’t believe my Nana had used baked goods to get my brothers to tell her about Jackie. They were supposed to keep secrets, and anyway, after my fuck-up this morning, they may have jumped the gun. Jackie was hurt, I was an ass, and I didn’t know how to fix this.
Shaking my head, I looked down as I admitted, “I don’t have a young lady. Not anymore.”
“Lincoln, what did you do?” Nana asked softly.
I knew why she asked the question that way, but I wasn’t going to address the unspoken part of her inquiry yet. “When I got the messages from Ms. Johnson, I . . . I was terrified something had happened to you, and I . . . I may have insinuated that if I was here last night instead . . . instead of with her, you wouldn’t be hurt.”
She gasped and covered her mouth as Ms. Johnson shook her head and looked away. I knew what I said was wrong the minute the words broke free from my lips, but I was so off-kilter from the message that all I wanted was to get to Nana. I didn’t take Jackie’s feelings into consideration, and after hearing what Roughstock said about her ex, I realized I’d blown up the best thing that had ever happened to me.
“Have you called her and explained that I’m okay? Have you tried to tell her you were sorry?” Nana asked.
“I tried to call her on the way over here and left her a message, but when I called back, she had her phone off. I messed up, and I don’t know if there’s a way to fix it,” I admitted.
