Page 86 of Royal Rising

I resume my pacing, and then, suddenly Edie is there.

One moment there is no one, and then she’s standing at the door, wearing the same jeans and pink T-shirt, along with her white apron still tied around her waist.

I draw in a shaky breath, and then another as I watch her from across the room.

Her gaze locks with mine, but as she takes in the room, she goes straight to Lyra, who is back to gnawing her nails, face tearstained and makeup smeared.

“How is he?” Edie asks as she pulls Lyra into her arms. My sister kind of melts into Edie, sniffling into her shoulder, and Edie looks at me.

I don’t answer. I can’t. It’s enough that she’s here and I can breathe again.

“Surgery,” Duncan says in a heavy voice. “It’s wait and see.”

“He’ll be okay,” Gunnar insists like he’s been saying all night.

“Stop saying that! You don’t know,” Lyra cries. “They took Mom into surgery and she never came out.”

It’s what we’ve all been thinking but no one was brave enough to say.

“It’s not like your mom,” Edie soothes, tightening her grip on Lyra.

Something she wouldn’t let us do.

“What happened?” Edie mouths at Duncan but it’s Bo who answers.

“It’s his appendix,” he says. “No one knew he was having problems and it burst. Right there at the table and he…” Bo swallows hard.

“What needs to be done?” Edie asks Duncan, but this time it’s Spencer who steps up with eyes as tired and worried as the rest of us.

“Mrs. Theissen has everything under control at the castle,” he tells her. “The hospital has assured us this will stay private until we give the okay to release it. I’ve been trying to draft a statement,” he finishes, gaze tracking to Lyra.

“I’ll get Kate and work on a statement with her if you like,” Edie says. “We can run it by you before doing anything. You can focus on being here.”

“That would be great.” Spencer’s shoulders sag. “Odin and Camille are flying in. They’ll be here first thing in the morning.”

“I’ll go with Dillon to pick them up.”

It’s so smooth the way Edie walks in here and makes everything better.

29

Edie

Iwant to staywith Kalle.

I want to stay with himso much, just curl up with him and do what I can to make his pain and worry and fear go away.

I can tell by his eyes that he’s terrified.

But I can’t, because there are things to be done and I’m in a position to do them for the family.

I have to leave, but my heart stays with him.

After I give Lyra another tight hug and say goodbye, fighting the urge to throw myself into Kalle’s arms, Spencer walks me to the exit by the emergency room.

There’s a handful of people waiting, with injuries bad enough to make the drive in through the storm.

“Thanks for coming,” Spencer says as the sliding door opens to let in a burst of cool air. “Lyra needs…” He trails off, looking too concerned for just a friend of the family.

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