Author: Jaci Burton

Her lips lifted. “Don’t tell anyone, but I’m a reality-medicalshow junkie. I know just enough to be dangerous. Medical diagnoses intrigue me, so I watch every medical show I can when I have a spare minute.”

“Get the fuck outta town.”

“No, I’m serious.”

He stared at her, wondering what else he didn’t know about her. “There are facets to you that continue to surprise me.”

She took a sip of coffee. “Good. I hate being predictable.”

“You are anything but predictable, Lizzie.”

He leaned over and brushed his lips against hers. “Thank you for being here with me tonight. I couldn’t have made it without you.”

“No place I’d rather be, for as long as you need me.”

Her words made him lean back, look at her. Really look at her. There was something in her eyes . . .

“Gavin.”

Gavin lifted his gaze to Jenna. He stood and so did Elizabeth.

“Doctor’s back. He said for us to meet him in one of their family discussion rooms, and he’s going to talk to us in about ten minutes.”

They followed Jenna to the room and sat. And waited. Ten minutes turned into thirty. Gavin’s skin crawled, and he was ready to climb the walls. He squeezed Elizabeth’s hand on one side and his mother’s on the other.

Finally, the doctor came in.

“I’m Dr. Miles Spinelli, one of the cardiac surgeons here. Mrs. Riley, your husband has a blockage in three arteries.”

His mother squeezed Gavin’s hand. Hard.

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“It means he’s going to need triple-bypass surgery.”

“Oh, God.”

Tears fell down her face. Gavin wrapped his arm around his mother, and Mick held her, too. Mick held Jenna’s hand, and they all sat and listened while the doctor described the bypass surgery and what it would entail for their dad. The doctors were going to strip veins from his leg and use those to bypass the clogged arteries in his heart. It was a complicated and dangerous surgery, but the doctor indicated it was done frequently with a high success rate. He would have to spend about five days in the hospital after surgery, and after that would be sent home with strict dietary and exercise instructions. The recovery would be slow and would require some lifestyle changes.

“The important thing is, he’s alive. He survived the heart attack. Many don’t. Now we’ll get him moved up to a room in the cardiac care unit, monitor him over the next twenty-four hours, and get him ready for surgery on Monday.”

Everyone stood as the doctor left.

“Well. He dodged a bullet,” Mick said.

Gavin’s mother looked pale, her tear-streaked face more than Gavin could handle. If his father had always been a rock, his mother had been Mount Everest. She held the family together, and if she fell apart, the rest of them would, too.

Right now she looked as fragile as a cracked egg.

Jenna took both of Mom’s hands in hers.

“He’s alive, Mom,” Jenna said. “Remember that. He’s still with us. He’s going to make it through this just fine.”

“That’s true,” Gavin said. “Dad’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever known. He’s going to fight.”

She nodded, glanced at each of them. “I’m so glad I have all of you.” Then she shifted her gaze to Tara and Elizabeth. “And the two of you, too. I don’t know what I’d do without you all in my life. You give me such strength. I’m going to need all of you to get through this—to get Jimmy through this.”

“We’ll all be here for you, Mom,” Gavin said. “Whatever you need.”

She swept her palm across his cheek, then kissed him and hugged him.

“I’m going to go see your father now before they get his room ready.”

Gavin exhaled, dragged his fingers through his hair. He didn’t even know what time it was, what time they’d gone to sleep last night, or what time Jenna had called. It felt like there was a boulder tied around his neck, dragging him down.

“Someone needs to convince Mom to go home and get some sleep.”

“I’ll take her,” Jenna said. “She’ll probably want to stay up here with Dad tonight, so she’ll need a shower and a change of clothes. I’ll make her something to eat.”

Mick nodded. “We can do shifts up here with her so she’s not alone.”

“I don’t know that they’ll allow more than one family member at a time in there,” Elizabeth said. “ICU usually only permits one or two. CCU might be different. You might want to check.”

Mick narrowed his gaze at her. “And now you’re an expert on hospitals? You just know everything, don’t you?”

Tara laid her hand on his arm. “Mick . . .”

He shrugged it away. “What’s she doing here anyway, Gavin? Just because you’re fucking her doesn’t mean she’s family.”

Tired, wired on bad coffee, and worried about his dad, Gavin didn’t need this right now. But he understood Mick probably felt the same tension. “Whatever beef you have with Elizabeth doesn’t belong in the halls of a hospital. Dad wouldn’t want this, and Mom sure as hell doesn’t need it. Let it go.”

“It’s okay. I can go. I don’t want to be the cause of family tension when you all need to be rallying around your mother.”

Gavin swiveled and grasped her arm as she turned to leave. “You’re here because I asked you to come with me. You have as much right to be here as anyone else.”

“Gavin, really, it’s all right. Your brother doesn’t want me here. I’ll go.”

“Nonsense, Elizabeth. I want you here. You’ll stay.”

Gavin turned at his mother’s words. She stood outside the door to his father’s room, looking small and lost, but her eyes burned fire as she looked at Mick.

“Michael, this is the last time I want to hear you say an unwelcoming word to Elizabeth. Is that understood?”

Mick gave a curt nod.

“I need all of you here. I need all the support I can get right now, and that includes Elizabeth, who I consider family. It’s times like this that forgiveness is more important than anything. Come here, Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth walked slowly over to Gavin’s mother, who wrapped her arm around her.

“You’ve been family a long time. Remember the talk we had. You’re always welcome around us. Gavin will need you now more than ever.”

She lifted her gaze to his mother. “I’ll do whatever I can to help all of you.”

She kissed the top of Elizabeth’s head. “Thank you.”

“Mom, let me take you home so you can take a shower and get some clean clothes,” Jenna said. “I figure you’ll want to stay with Dad.”

She nodded. “I’ll wait until he gets settled in a room. The nurse said that might take several hours, and I don’t want to leave him alone in there. You can run me home after he gets moved. The rest of you, go home and get some rest and something to eat. When Jenna and I are ready to leave, I’ll call and one of you can come up here and sit with your dad.”

It was hard to leave his dad—and his mom—but Elizabeth pulled him away, and they headed back to her place so he could pick up his SUV. She grabbed a change of clothes and followed him to his house.

He let her inside, wanting nothing more than to just crash and sleep for like twelve hours. Or maybe twenty-four.

“I’m going to fix you something to eat.”

He raked his fingers through his hair, not even able to think. “I’m just going to sleep.”

“You need to eat something first because if your mom calls you won’t eat then.”

He sat at the table, too tired to argue with her. She had scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast on a plate in a hurry. He downed the glass of orange juice and dove into the food, not realizing how hungry he was until he’d cleaned his plate.

“I was starving.”

She scooped the last of her eggs onto her fork. “Obviously. Would you like more?”

“No, this was enough. Thanks for cooking for me.”

“You’re welcome. Not quite the gourmet cook you are, but I can manage the basics.”

He leaned over and kissed her. “You cook just fine. Now let me help you with the dishes.”

She laughed. “I can handle those. I’m sure you want to take a shower, maybe change clothes.”

He pulled her against him. “What I really need is to sleep. At least a couple of hours.”

She took his hand and led him upstairs to his bedroom. He felt like he was on autopilot, like none of this had really happened.

He sat on the edge of his bed and kicked off his shoes, stared down at his feet.

Elizabeth sat next to him, silent but there.

“He’s not old enough for this, Lizzie.”

She rubbed his back. “I know.”

“He’s so strong, always out there playing ball with us or tinkering around with something or working at the bar. I thought he’d live forever.”

“He’s still here, Gavin. He’s going to be fine.”

He stood and moved to the window. It was daylight now. Hell, he didn’t know what time it was. He barely even registered what day it was. Sunday? He had a game today.

“I need to call Coach, let him know what’s going on. I have a game this afternoon.”

“Already taken care of.”

He turned to her.

“I called him when you were in with your dad. They have you covered. Coach said not to worry about a thing.”

He nodded. “Thanks.”

“It’s okay to fall apart, Gavin.”

He blinked, looked at her. “What?”

“You don’t have to be the big, strong man. Not in front of me. I’ve known you too long for that.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She came up behind him. “You’re crushed about this. You’re father could have died.”

The ache was a constant, but he was glad she was there to help him through it. He wrapped his arm around her.

“There’s nothing scarier than the possibility of losing someone you love.”

Where was she going with this? He frowned, looked down at her. Tears shimmered in her eyes.

She had no family, none that counted anyway.

Except his.

He pulled her around to face him. “It’s okay to love them like they’re yours, Lizzie.”

Her bottom lip trembled.

His tough Elizabeth, never one to show weakness to anyone. She had to be everyone’s rock. Who was hers?

“Baby, I’m okay,” he said.

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

He drew her against him, and she let out a hiccup of a sob, and he realized she was the one who needed to fall apart.

“It’s okay. Let it go.”

She shuddered, then gasped, clutching the back of his shirt as she wrapped her arms around him and released into a full cry.

Oh, damn. It was gut-wrenching hearing her sob out her heartache over his dad. Tears pricked his eyes as he held on to her while she wept. He stroked her hair, kissed her head, held tight to her, and let her cry it out. And with every tear she shed, he realized that the shell she kept around herself all these years was nothing but a façade to protect herself.

This was the real Elizabeth.

She had a heart. She had feelings. She cared.

She cared about his family, about him. She cared about his father, his mother. She even cared about Mick, and she’d made a mistake, a mistake she’d paid heavily for.

And she’d had no one to lean on when she fell.

She sniffed, pulled back, and tilted her head to look at him. Despite the tear-streaked face, she’d put the shell back on, because she was smiling again.