Page 78 of Forbidden Kisses
Jack laid on the gas a little harder, needing to get to Grace. When had the calls come in? Why was she in room 211? What had happened?
Jack pulled into the parking lot of Blushing Bay Memorial. He handed Tristan a card for Joey’s cab service. “Call this number. Someone there will get you home.”
Tristan nodded. “Sure. Good luck.”
Jack’s large steps ate up the parking lot. Everything seemed to be going too slowly, though. The lot was too long. The elevator took an exaggerated amount of time to open and then carry him to the second floor. The door seemed to tease him as it waited to ping and open. When it did, Jack burst down the hall, ticking off the room numbers as he passed. Turning a corner, he entered Grace’s room, hoping for a bandaged arm or something equally inconsequential.
Grace lay in the bed, eyes closed as if she were sleeping. Monitors beeped around her, attached to her by colored wires and sensors. His gaze scanned over her as he tried to assess what exactly was going on. Her left arm was in a sling and there was a bandage circling her forehead.
“Jack!” Krista threw her arms around his neck. “I’ve been calling you. Where have you been?”
He shook his head. “I was in the water. Left my phone in the truck.” But none of that mattered. “What happened?”
Krista slid away and looked at Abby, who was sitting on the other side of the room. Blushing Bay’s newest terrific trio, or terrible depending on the women’s moods.
“Abs?” Jack asked, looking at his former sister-in-law.
“The doctor thinks Grace will be okay. She has a concussion. The sling on her arm is to stabilize a fractured collarbone. She’s medicated for the pain right now.”
Jack struggled to breathe. “Hethinksshe’ll be fine?”
“Of course she’ll be fine,” Krista offered. “This is Grace. She’s the toughest woman I know.”
“How did this happen?” he asked next, because those weren’t everyday injuries.
Krista hugged her arms around her body. “We were on Joey and Dad’s boat.”
Jack’s gaze snapped up. “Boat? Grace called in sick today. Why was she on your family’s boat?”
Krista and Abby exchanged another look.
“Stop that, all right? Just tell me what’s going on,” Jack said, anger heating his voice. He couldn’t help it. They’d been stupid and now Grace was hurt.
Krista took a tiny step backward. “You’re the one who called off the tournament, okay? Grace was devastated, so we decided to do it ourselves.”
Jack slammed the heel of his palm into his forehead. “Kris. You’re not a fisherman.”
“I know my way around a boat,” Krista argued. “So does Abs.”
“You, too?” Jack looked at Abby and shook his head. “Whose ridiculous idea was this?”
“All of ours. We did it for Grace,” Krista said softly.
All eyes went to the patient on the bed.
“The tournament is important to her,” Abby said. “And we had Joey, too. He’s a fisherman in his own right.”
“He’s a cab driver,” Jack ground out, irritated and upset with himself.
“Well, if you hadn’t quit on Grace.” Krista stepped forward this time, pointing her finger at his chest.
“So this is my fault?” He shook his head. “I didn’t quit on her. I quit on her silly idea that a boat was ever going to make me like her mother.”
“It would if you weren’t so pigheaded,” Krista argued.
“Pigheaded?” Jack repeated angrily.
A nurse stepped inside the room. “Excuse me. I’m going to have to ask you all to leave if you can’t keep your voices down.”
