Page 43 of Beautiful Crazy
I nod. Sutton gives a clipped dip of his chin before brushing past me into the house.
“Okay, and your shoes?”
“Just right inside by the door.”
Moving my hand off his forearm to the wood banister, Everett says, “Hold on to this for support. I’ll be right back.”
A few moments later, he’s helping me slip my Birkenstocks on my feet, and I can’t help but wallow in how fucking embarrassing this is. The last time he was over here was incredibly hot, and now he’s helping me put myshoes on because my stomach hurts too bad to even move.
“Got it!” Sutton announces as he rushes back onto the porch. “Grabbed your phone off the nightstand too.”
“Thanks, honey.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“No, but I will be. I promise. You don’t need to worry; the doctors will figure it out and make me all better.”
He doesn’t look like he believes me, but he doesn’t voice it. Instead, he nods, giving me a small smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.
Everett
“Here you go.”
Glancing up, I take the bottle of water being offered to me, smiling up at Grace. “Thanks.”
Taking a seat beside me, she sips her coffee. It’s been about an hour and a half since Sutton and I brought Gemma into the emergency room. Just as I thought, it was her appendix, and they had to rush her back into surgery to remove it. As soon as we got here, I called her family, letting them know what was going on and where we were.
They showed up almost immediately. Every last one of them.
I love how close they all are. How they are willing to drop everything they were doing to be here for her, noquestions asked. The way they rally together and have no problem helping one another in times of need.
My stomach has been in knots since we got here, anxiously waiting for the doctor to come out and tell us the surgery went fine. My eyes cut over to Sutton, and I imagine how worried he must feel too. The protectiveness I feel over both of them is something I don’t really know what to do with, but it seems so natural.
Taking a drink of my water, my eyes lift when I notice Gemma’s mom heading my way. She smiles as her gaze meets mine, but her eyes are tired. It is pretty late, and it was probably terrifying getting a call that one of your kids is being rushed into surgery.
“How are you doing, dear?” she asks, taking a seat beside me.
Smiling back, I say, “I’m okay. How are you, though?”
“Oh, I’m fine.” She waves me off. “Gemma’s a strong one, I know she’ll be okay. I’m just thankful that she had you so close, and you were able to bring her in.” Her eyes, the same deep brown as her daughter’s, soften as they meet mine. “Thank you, Everett.”
My throat tightens, a wave of emotion I wasn’t expecting hitting me. Gemma’s father came over to me when they first got here and shook my hand, also thanking me for bringing his daughter in. “It was no problem, ma’am. Anybody would’ve done the same thing.”
Raising her eyebrows, she hits me with a look I can’t quite decipher. “Yes, well, my daughter and grandson seem to be quite fond of you, and that makes me happy. It’s been quite some time since Gemma opened herself up toanybody other than family. So, thank you for that, too. I sure hope we get to see more of you.”
With that, she doesn’t wait for a response before she gets up. “I’m going to get some coffee, dear. Would you like some?”
“No, ma’am. Thank you, but I’ve got water.”
When her family first got here, after we all found out Gemma was going back for surgery, Grace told me about how Blakely had to have her tonsils removed when she was younger. How Gemma, Georgia, and Graham all worked out a schedule amongst themselves to take Beau while his dad was out of town for work, clean Grace’s house, do her laundry, pre-make her freezer meals. She didn’t have to do a single thing except be there for Blakely as she was recovering.
They are the kind of family I’ve always wanted to have. The kind I dreamed about having as a kid.
They are how a family should be.
Beau and Blakely’s dad came to pick them up about forty-five minutes ago, and he offered to take Sutton, but he insisted on staying until he knew his mom was out of surgery. And frankly, I don’t blame him. If it were me and my mom, I would want to be here too.
It’s not too much longer before the doctor comes out and lets us know the surgery is done and it went well. Georgia takes Sutton back to see his mom quickly, even though she hasn’t woken up from anesthesia yet and probably won’t for a while. I could tell he was itching to at the very least lay eyes on her, so he could see for himself that his mom was okay.