“Until my last breath.”
Gunner grabbed my hand and walked to the nurses’ station. “We need the room number for Shayla Moreland. We’re family.”
“Her last name is Brown. She’s my mom’s sister’s daughter.”
After getting the room number, we headed down the hall. Shayla had been admitted on arrival. My dad had said she wasn’t doing well, but I didn’t know why or how severe the damage was. The door to her room was closed. I stopped, staring at the door, my breath rattling out of my lungs as I tried to gain composure.
Gunner turned me to face him, cupping my cheeks as his gaze flittered all over my face. “I can’t stop looking at you,” he whispered. “What if I hadn’t made it in time? What if Shayla hadn’t been there? She got to him before we could. He’s okay because of her.”
“I know,” I whispered. “I don’t know how to thank her.”
“Anything she ever needs, I’ll give it to her. She’s the only reason I still have the two most important people in my life. Ready?”
“No,” I mumbled.
“You’ve got this, buttercup. She’s your cousin. She did good tonight, she needs someone by her side.” He’d flipped sides so quickly once we’d learned it wasn’t her, and this made it easier for him to be on my side. I’d seen him in a new light tonight, and it had brought everything into perspective. It was so easy to lose someone. Here one second and gone the next. Time was so easily wasted and taken for granted.
“Why the quick change of heart?” I thought I knew the answer. I knew mine, but I wanted to hear his.
“She saved Tucker.”
Simple. To the point. And all we really needed to know before going on the journey I knew we were going to go on. I’d fought for Shayla before, and now I would fight even harder. There was a greater reason now than just my love for my cousin. There was Tuck.
I licked my lips. “Will you go back to Tuck?”
He nodded and kissed my forehead. “I’ll stay with our boy. I need to thank Shayla first though.”
“Okay,” I whispered and raised my fist to knock on the door.
“Come in.” Her voice was scratchy and sounded full of pain. Gunner and I slowly entered the dimly lit room. Shayla turned her head toward us, and her eyes widened and immediately filled with tears.
“It wasn’t me,” she whispered over and over in broken sobs. She raised a hand and placed it over her chest, fisting the white-and-blue hospital gown she was wearing. She tried to sit up as she begged for me to believe her. She repeated her words again and again before I could fully step into the room. I ran to her side.
“I know. We know.” I pulled the chair closer to the bed and sank down into it, grabbing her hand. I rested my forehead against the back of her hand and couldn’t control the tears anymore. They fell. They fell hard. I tried to speak, but I couldn’t even understand my words.
“Thank you for saving Tucker.” Gunner rounded the bed, grabbing her other hand. Shayla’s eyes darted back and forth between us, and tears rolled down her dirty cheeks. It looked as if the nurses had cleaned as much soot off as they could, but there was still residue.
“Thank you for saving Tucker,” Gunner repeated. His jaw turned to granite as he tried to get his words out. His eyes were shiny as he stared at Shayla. “You saved him. I tried to get to him but couldn’t. I may not have had enough time. You saved him. You saved Tucker.”
“I did?” Shayla asked.
“Yes,” I whispered, biting my lip. “You saved him. You saved your son.”
Shayla broke into a fit of sobs. I got up from the chair and hugged her close. Gunner leaned over us, taking us both into his arms as we cried and held each other.
When we settled down, Gunner took her hand again. “I’m Gunner. Anything you need, ever, anything, and it’s yours. My life is indebted to you.”
Shayla shook her head. “You don’t owe me anything.”
“I owe you everything.”
“If you keep refusing help, he’ll probably just buy you a house,” I said. “He’s a little crazy like that.”
Gunner grinned and winked. Shayla’s head reared back. “A house? Are you crazy? Do you know how much those cost?”
“I can afford it,” Gunner said. “I’ll leave y’all for some time to talk but, Shayla, it was nice meeting you. Anything. Remember that.”
We watched him walk out of the room.
“He looks just as good going as he does coming,” Shayla joked. Her mouth tilted up on the sides. I stared at her and I could finally see my cousin. The one who I had grown up with.
“He sure does,” I said and smiled back.
Shayla’s face lit with joy. Tucker was right, she had been all alone, but she wouldn’t be anymore. I knew she’d needed to find this road herself, but now that she was here, I hoped she’d let me walk by her side.
I’d never give up Tuck as my son. He belonged with me; that was the best place for him. But maybe they could have some kind of relationship.
“How’s Tucker?”
I pursed my lips and ran a finger over my brow. “He’s okay, though there was some smoke damage. They’re keeping him overnight to observe him, because someone drugged him.”
“Drugged him?” Shayla hissed, sitting up.
“Yep. Apparently, whoever set our house on fire didn’t want him to wake up.”
“It was done on purpose? I thought since you knew it wasn’t me that it had been an accident. I thought for sure you’d blame me for the fire. I saw the flames from the front porch of the inn and ran toward it.”
“Yes,” I whispered, still stunned by the news myself.
Shayla sighed, closing her eyes, and shook her head. “Y’all thought it was me, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” I answered honestly. “You were the only person I could think of that might want to harm me. I thought you were going to take Tuck and leave me there.”
“I’d never,” she said.
“I know. Now that I know it wasn’t you and I’ve had a tiny bit of time to process, I know you wouldn’t do that. Why didn’t you call?”
Tears formed in Shayla’s eyes again, and the backs of my eyes burned as tears started to form. “I had a slip.” She bit her lip and looked down at her laced fingers.
I grabbed one of her hands, squeezing it. “What happened?”
“The day after I talked to you, I thought about how much I’d fucked up. I slipped, but I got right back on. I’ve been sober for over a month.” She pointed to the corner of the room. “My thirty-day chip is in my pants pocket. I want you to keep it. Maybe give it to Tucker?”
I nodded. “I’ll keep it. I’m really proud of you, but…Colt saw you just the other day at a drug house.”
“It’s not what you think,” she insisted, sitting up even straighter. The heart monitor connected to her started beeping faster.
“It’s okay, calm down,” I said and rubbed her arm. “Just tell me what happened and tell me what’s wrong with you. Why did they admit you?”
“Turns out drugs fucked with more than just my life. My heart is damaged, and the smoke really did a number on my lungs. I had chest pains when I woke up, so they’re monitoring me. I should’ve never taken that first hit.” She shook her head and fisted her free hand. I kept hold of the other.