AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No. And if we were open, I can’t say I’d be thrilled to welcome anyone who gives preferential treatment the way you just did. The patient is the only family she”—Neo nodded to me—“has. It would have been nice for her to at least know Rich was conscious.”
Without another word, he turned toward us. I tried not to smile. No need to rub it in. What mattered was Rich, but still, that had been such a Neo thing to do.
“Thanks,” I said as we sat. “And thanks for coming.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t have my phone on me,” Min said. Her long black hair, the same color as that of all the Grado siblings, was pulled back into a ponytail. Honestly, that girl would have looked good in a potato sack. Meanwhile, I looked like I was twenty-five going on fifteen, with my baby face and smattering of freckles.
“It’s fine,” I said, trying to distract myself by focusing on anything other than the fact that Rich was behind those big double doors. Probably not a great idea to do it by looking into Neo’s chocolate-brown eyes. I stared down at my phone instead, waiting for another text from Rich’s wife, Dorothy.
“So what’s going on, exactly?” Neo asked.
“Honestly, I don’t even know what we need. I was at Devine Bakery—Dorothy had some event with her retired teacher friends and Rich wasn’t feeling great, so they asked me to cover at the store. I got a call from Dorothy just as I was closing up. She’d come home early after Rich texted her that he was having chest pains. He said he was fine, but she wasn’t taking chances and called an ambulance. She got in touch with me on their way here. But I haven’t heard from them since.”
Neo looked at his phone. “I don’t think the service is great here,” he said.
“You’d think they would have good reception in a hospital.” Min made a face. “This is what we get for living in the middle of nowhere.”
The ominous double doors opened just then, and Dorothy came rushing out of them. Sixty-seven, her hair a shade between blond and white, she was a few years younger than her husband, though he looked younger. Thayle loved to tease him that Devine Bakery did such good business because he was still such a stud-muffin. He always waved it off when she would call him that, but the name made him smile. Thayle had told him more than once they should rename the coffee shop and bakery (turned into an ice cream shop in the summer) to “Stud Muffin.”
“Oh, sweetie,” Dorothy said as she ran up to me. “I’m so sorry to have scared you.”
When she tossed her arms around me, I felt tears welling in my eyes even though it was good news. “Does that mean he’s okay?” I asked, pulling away.
“He’s okay,” she said, smiling at Neo and Min. “We thought it might have been a heart attack. They did some tests already and we just talked to the doctor. Turns out it’s a non-pneumonic lower respiratory tract infection.”
“What the heck does that mean?” I didn’t have a ton of experience with these sorts of ailments.
“It means he’s going to be fine. Nothing serious at all.”
The relief in Min’s and Neo’s faces made me love them even more. Like a sister and, well, maybe I wouldn’t go there right now.
“There is no reason for me to cry,” I said, even as my eyes filled with tears. “This is so silly,” I added as Min grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I wiped away the wetness from my cheeks.
“It’s not silly,” Dorothy said. “You were scared.”
“Not to mention you cry at pretty much everything,” Neo teased. “So no one is batting an eye, to be honest.”
“It’s true,” Min confirmed. “But maybe save the jokes for later,” she scolded her brother.
“Let me see if you can all come back or just Thayle,” Dorothy said. “They’re going to keep him overnight and we’re just waiting for a room. I’ll be right back.”
As she shuffled off, Min let go of my hand. Taking a deep breath, I said a silent thank-you that Rich would be fine. That I had Min and the rest of the Grados. Without them...
“I’m gonna move my car,” Neo said. “I’ll be right back.”
My gaze shifted unwittingly. Neo caught my gaze for a brief second, as he had so many times throughout the years. It meant nothing, though. Only in my own head were Neo and I not like brother and sister. It was a fantasy I’d created, where he looked at me in any other way than as his sister’s best friend. His friend. And not to mention his employee.
It was fine. Really. If we couldn’t be together, which of course we couldn’t, this was the next best thing, having a man like him, and all of the Grados, in my life...and Rich was going to be okay.
It was a good night. I had a lot to be thankful for.
Just focus on that, Thayle.
And please, for the love of God, stop looking at Neo’s ass as he walks away.
THREE
neo
