“My dad. He had a heart attack surveying the fields this morning. That’s normally my job. I should have been there.”
Placing both hands on her cheeks, I ran my thumbs back and forth under her eyes.
“None of this is your fault. These things happen, and it could have happened anywhere.”
She nodded, but I knew she didn’t believe me. Her eyes held that hint of skepticism.
“I need to go to him. They flew him to Knoxville.”
“We’ll take my car. It will get us there faster.”
She tried to argue, but there was absolutely no way in hell I was allowing her to drive. Not when she couldn’t stop breaking down into tears.
Thankfully, she had spare clothes in her car, and I convinced her to change before we left. She called her mom, and they spoke about the incident. Apparently, Nash Easterly had been suffering from a clogged artery that hadn’t been treated yet. He’d hoped a diet change would help, but clearly, it hadn’t been enough.
Thankfully, Marisol assured Aspen that her father was all right and would make a full recovery.
Aspen wouldn’t believe any of it until she saw her dad herself. She nearly tucked and rolled out of the car in her attempt to get inside the hospital faster. I dropped her off at the front of the hospital and went to park.
Since I was alone and not a family member, it took some finagling with the receptionist at the front desk to get the info for Nash’s room. I promised to sign a bunch of Coyotes swag to send to her grandson.
As the elevator ascended toward the ICU, my heart sped up. What mood was I going to find Aspen in? In the car, she’d been pulling away. One-word answers to my questions. Shrugs whenever I tried to make conversation.
I sensed she blamed me for her absence. And that killed me.
It took a couple of tries down different halls, but I finally found the room with the crowd of people standing outside. I recognized a few of the farmhands but kept my distance until Colton spotted me. A security guard asked to see my ID, surprise blossoming on his face when he realized who I was.
“The whole family is inside,” Colton explained, while I leaned against the wall next to him. I had a feeling we were too big of a group to be in the room and hall, but no one was going to tell us to leave. We wouldn’t have listened anyway.
I was here for Aspen, but I was also here for myself. Nash had been both a neighbor and a friend, and I was worried. The man seemed invincible.
Suddenly, a blonde head popped out the door and looked around until her eyes landed on Nate. His twin girls weren’t around, so I hoped they were staying with someone. Being in a hospital traumatized me as a kid, with all the times my mom and I made visits to the ER. I didn’t want that for them.
As she waved Nate and Colton inside, Alex sighed and waved me in behind them. Instead of searching out my girl, I pulled Alex aside.
“How is he?”
“He’s… stable. It scared us all, but he’ll be okay.” I was surprised at her honesty. It didn’t seem she liked me very much, but I appreciated her willingness to try.
“And Aspen? How is she?”
Alex exhaled a deep breath like she’d been carrying the weight of the world. “She’s a mess. I’ve never seen her like this.”
“She blames herself,” I whispered. “For not being there.”
“It’s not anyone’s fault.”
“Yeah, I tried telling her that. She’s stubborn. Just… keep an eye on her, please?”
“Owen, I know Aspen and I haven’t always gotten along. I don’t even remember why. We’re just like oil and water, I guess, but I love her.”
“That’s good,” I said with a sigh of relief, unable to turn around and look deeper into the room with the gathered family.
“Why does it sound like you’re leaving?”
“Because I am, eventually.”
“Hm. She know that?”
“She does,” I replied as her husband came over and asked if everything was okay. She smiled up at him like he hung the moon, and his expression mimicked hers.
Slowly, I approached the bed where Aspen held onto her father’s hand like if she let go, he’d slip away into oblivion.
“Hi, Nash.” My voice cracked with emotion as my eyes connected with the older man’s. He wore a bandage around his head. Someone mentioned he’d hit his head on the side of the UTV when he fell from the seat.
“Owen, my boy!” the man greeted with an enthusiasm no one else in the room felt. “How are you, kid?”
The way he spoke, as if nothing happened, broke something inside me. Like a piece of splintered wood leaving bits and pieces deeply imbedded in my skin. That’s what my heart felt like at that moment.
“I’ve been better, sir. What are you doing in here? Was this your way of getting us all together for your birthday?” I asked with a cheerfulness I didn’t feel in the slightest, knowing the Easterly patriarch almost didn’t live to see his sixty-third birthday next week.
“Ah, you caught me red-handed. I took this prank too far, huh?”
“Probably not the best idea,” I replied as silence fell across the room.
Marisol chose that moment to step inside the room, carrying a cup of coffee. Her face was makeup-free, but she was still a beautiful woman. I could see bits of her in each of her daughters.
“Ah, there’s the love of my life,” Nash said with a certainty I hoped to feel about someone someday. I was fooled into thinking I felt something similar for Vanessa.
