I dried a plate and set it on the counter. “You know, this wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t recommended Sonja.”
She had clearly been the catalyst for this life-altering change in Dad. But Adrian was the reason Sonja was here.
He made me feel like I had a partner. Like I didn’t have to be the one to always figure things out and know what to do—and I always had to be the one to figure things out and know what to do. Even with Grace he’d picked up the load. It was like she belonged to both of us now. We coparented her, and it all just happened so naturally and effortlessly.
I’d meant what I said yesterday at his office: I had lots of friends. But they didn’t know me like Adrian did. Nobody did. Drake knew the stories I told him. I was always honest with him and we talked about everything. But it was different from living them alongside me like Adrian did. Telling someone about Dad’s house was different from going there with me to rescue him from under an armoire.
There was something eternally endearing about a person who could see what Adrian had seen and not run or judge you. It made me feel safe and stable. Like I’d been drifting in the wind and I’d found a strong, deep-rooted tree to perch on and take sanctuary in. I felt like I could be any level of fucked up or crazy and he’d still be there, holding me.
We finished the dishes and headed into the living room. Adrian excused himself and went to the bathroom. The second we were alone, Dad started in on me. “So, how’s it going with the lawyer?” He bounced his bushy eyebrows.
Of course. It was only a matter of time.
I shook my head. “We’re just friends, Dad,” I said quietly.
He barked out a laugh. “You’re kidding me, right?” He leaned forward conspiratorially. “The man is besotted. Look at him,” he whispered.
Sonja smiled into her coffee cup and Joel nodded.
“He can’t keep his eyes off you,” Brent whispered. “It’s been like watching a tennis match all night—his head going this way, that way, watching you walk around.”
I scoffed. “He is not watching me.”
Dad shook his head. “You’d have to be blind to not see it. Please tell me that I didn’t raise a daughter this obtuse.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, but I didn’t have a chance to reply because Adrian came back down the hall.
Dad smiled theatrically. “We should probably wrap up tonight’s activities. I’m sure this strapping young gentleman has a romantic evening planned.”
I rolled my eyes and shared a look with Adrian. He just smiled.
“We probably should get going. I don’t want to leave Grace longer than we need to,” I said, pulling my vibrating cell phone out of my pocket. I didn’t recognize the number, but it was local so I swiped up to answer the call. “Hello?”
I sat there listening to what I was being told on the other end of the line.
My heart sank.
It was a police officer calling from a hospital.
My sister was in surgery.
She’d been shot.
CHAPTER 15
THE DOCTOR COMES OUT
AND EVERYONE
IS STUNNED!
ADRIAN
We were in the waiting room at Royaume Northwestern Hospital. It was 10:00 and we’d been here two hours.
The information had been choppy. Apparently, Annabel had been trespassing, climbing into a window, and the resident of the property shot her. The bullet had gone into her shoulder and the injury wasn’t life-threatening. She was in surgery to close the wound and then Vanessa, Brent, and Gerald could see her.
Besides the quick info dump that Vanessa had gotten from the officer who called her, no one had been out to talk to us. As far as I knew, no charges had been brought—yet. In addition to the B and E, they’d found Annabel with several bottles of narcotics in her possession. None was in her name. Where she’d gotten them was anyone’s guess, but if she was breaking into this house, she might have broken into others.
Gerald and Sonja were talking quietly. Brent and Joel were on their phones. Vanessa was curled up next to me, sitting in a chair with her head on my shoulder. I had an arm around her and my jacket draped over her. I had to fight the urge to kiss the top of her head.
I had to fight the urge to do a lot of things.
I’d like to say that I’d rather be home in my bed, but if Vanessa wasn’t going to be there with me, I was perfectly happy to sit in this chair and hold her here instead.
She’d come to me and not her dad.
She’d retreated into my arms like I was the only safe haven in the world—and I wanted to be that. I realized today that I always wanted to be there to receive her. I wanted every opportunity to be useful to her. I craved it. Waited for it. Watched her to see when she might need me to catch her. See her beautiful eyes search a room and zero in on me, a sign to pluck her from her whirling tornado and keep her still.
I was glad to see Gerald was getting his shit together. I was glad for Vanessa’s sake. But the thing I realized tonight was that even if he didn’t, there was no amount of crazy that she or her family could throw at me to make me change my mind about her.
The doors opened and the doctor came out. As soon as she saw him, Vanessa bolted to her feet and the family crowded him.
The doctor made it brief. “I’m Dr. Rasmussen. She’s in recovery. She’s stable,” he said, his tone flat. “I don’t think we’ll need to keep her more than a day.”
Vanessa looked relieved. “Can we see her?”
He looked down at Vanessa like the question irritated him. “No, you cannot. She’s under arrest.”
Vanessa’s face fell. “What?” she breathed.
Gerald blanched next to me. “Arrested? On what grounds?”
The doctor ignored him. “No visitors, and she’ll be released into the Hennepin County jail system,” he said, not even trying to hide his disapproval.
My jaw flexed. I didn’t like his tone—and I knew exactly why he had it.
To him, Annabel was a criminal and a drug addict. And neither thing was his damn business. She was Vanessa’s sister and Grace’s mother, and he’d better pray to God his prejudices didn’t translate into poor care because I’d drag his ass through a malpractice suit the likes of which he’d never seen.
“I’m her attorney,” I said, my voice clipped. “She has a Sixth Amendment right to counsel. I’ll need to speak with her.” I looked at him levelly. “And I sincerely hope when I do, I find she’s receiving nothing but exemplary medical care.”
I watched his eyes narrow.
I’d seen it all. Every sort of subtle cruelty subjected on criminal patients. Making them wait on pain meds, using the largest needle possible for blood draws so they hurt more, treating and streeting them—discharging them early and to the patient’s detriment just to get them off their floor. I knew all the shit they pulled.
And now he knew I knew.
“Fine,” the doctor said stiffly. “Show your ID at the nurses’ station. Give her another twenty minutes to come out of anesthesia or she won’t be much of a conversationalist,” he added. And then he left.
Vanessa looked up at me. She was starting to cry.