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“Derek’s left to be at the farm. Rachel and Raiden are outside waiting, Ethan is on his way. So is Lucy. You spoke to Liam earlier, remember?”
“Yes.”
“Hell of a scare you gave us there, Uncle Bill.” I step up and squeeze his shoulder, really wanting to hug him but I’m not sure if I should. At the last moment, I lean in to side-hug him. My heart is in my throat, and I battle to keep my emotions in check.
“You’re telling me.” Bill doesn’t move and speaks slowly, but the words are there. “Where’s your girl, Hunny?”
“Yes, where is Beth?” May asks. “I told the others to leave you alone this weekend.”
“I left her at home.” And as I say the words, the full idiocy of the situation hits me. Beth should be here. Beth is family. She’s like a daughter to these people and I’ve left her behind like a stranger.
“Oh, Hunter.” And with those two words, May reprimands me as if I’m twelve again. “Why did you leave her behind?”
“I don’t know.” My heart races, my legs wanting to cave after the initial rush here, but now weak as my own idiocy stares back at me.
“Everything happened so fast—” I start, dread clogging me up properly now. “I just wanted to get here as soon as possible.”
“She’ll understand,” May whispers. “She’ll come see Bill tomorrow.”
“Yes. I’ll bring her.” I don’t mention that she’s flying out tomorrow, back to San Francisco and that there’s a good chance that I’ve messed up all their careful, purposeful meddling. “What needs to happen now? What can I do?”
“You’ll have to help out with the milking,” May says. “God knows what’s going on there. Raiden left half the cows standing when the ambulance came. Derek is there now. He managed to get Jo and Simon in from Collingwood to come finish up, but for this afternoon…”
“We’ll go now,” I say, wanting to do anything to alleviate their stress.
“Raiden already said he’s only waiting for you and then you can go together.”
I nod. We’ll have to manage this for the foreseeable future. Who knows if Bill will even be able to return to work.
“If you can step in, Hunter. Derek can’t do early mornings because of Hannah. Ethan will be here to help too. Liam might not be able to be here at all.”
“Where’s Hannah?” I ask. One thing Hannah isn’t allowed to do is run wild in the milking parlor.
“She went home with Georgiana,” May says. “It was all too much.”
I glance over to the other occupied beds in the room. All elderly people. Yes, this is a shock to anybody who doesn’t work in this environment day in and out. My Adam’s apple grinds down my throat as the reality of the situation dawns on me afresh. We’ve been spared—for now.
A nurse comes up to us and gives us one sweep of her gaze. “Dr. Kristoff is on his way. You’ll need to step outside.” She nods towards May. “You can stay, Mrs. Brodie.”
I squeeze Bill’s hand one last time and give May what I hope is a reassuring hug. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Maybe even later today.”
I walk out of the ward and find my siblings. Rachel struggles to keep her sobs quiet. “He’s going to be okay, Rachel.” I’m saying it more to calm myself than help her.
“I don’t know,” she moans through her sobs. “It’s open-heart surgery.”
I meet Raiden’s gaze again, only to catch him wiping at his cheeks. This isn’t the first time Raiden has been so close to death and faced it head-on. For all I know, memories of that day with Mom and Dad are swarming in his head. “I’m so glad you were there, Ray,” I say as I let go of Rachel. We’ve just been through the toughest part of the year and have hit the two-decade mark. Raiden avoided Ashleigh Lake for years because of those memories. Now he’s back only to be hit by this from the side.
“Ben—the guy on site—he was too young.” He worries his bottom lip with his teeth for a second, then shoves his hands into his jacket pockets. “This time I’m so glad I-I could do something.”
“You’ll make sure your mom gets back home safely?” I ask Rachel.
“Yes. We rushed here in my car,” Rachel says with a nod. “She’d be stranded otherwise.”
“I don’t think she should drive in any case.”
“No. Probably not.”
One last hug and I follow Raiden. We’re almost like a mini funeral procession as we drive back in tandem, nothing chasing us now. I refuse to think of this as I stop at Brodie Farm first. Raiden drives down to the boathouse. Georgiana and Hannah are playing with Mycroft by the water, and the scene is so normal and beautiful, it’s almost surreal. I follow on foot and watch as Raiden and Georgiana hug each other tight. After a moment, she leans back and cups his cheek. They’re talking softly, the love so clear in their gestures that my heart aches. Hannah is quiet for now, but Mycroft hasn’t got the message yet.
