Page 49 of Hot to Trot

"I'll leave you two, if you don't mind. Need to make some calls," Barlow said, before ducking out.

"How are you?" Scarlet asked.

"They think I broke my collarbone. I'm waiting to go up to X-ray. My friend Charlene is there now. She was crying. I think she got hurt bad." Destiny studied the sheet covering her lower half. She bit her lip and looked at Scarlet. "I don't know where my mom is."

Scarlet knew the girl's mom was critical. "I don't know, either. Do you have some other family?"

"My dad, but he's offshore working until the end of the week. My brother lives in Galveston. He works at a bank there. I told that policeman to call my gran. She lives in Gilmer."

The poor girl looked so terrified. "Hey, they'll call her. I bet she'll be here before you know it. Does your shoulder hurt?"

"Yeah." Destiny sniffled and tears trembled on her dark lashes. "I'm so scared. What if my mama dies or something? She looked real hurt. She was bleeding bad."

Scarlet took the girl's hand, the one that lay uninjured beside her. "It's okay to be afraid, Destiny. I'd be afraid, too. But you're not alone."

The girl nodded even as the tears fell. "Thanks for staying with me. I mean, no one is going to believe that Veronica sat with me in the hospital."

"Well, we'll prove it."

Destiny wiped her nose. "How?"

For once, Scarlet had her cell phone. Since she was a novice driver and not familiar with the East Texas roads, Rayne had forced it into her hand as she stepped out the door. Fortunate because she could make an insta post. “Let's post and use my account."

Scarlet pressed the icon. "Cool?"

Destiny smiled for the first time. "Cool."

"Now, I'm not real good with this. Should we do funny filters or just something simple?”

"I don't know. Simple? You know since it’s …you know.”

She did know. Destiny was scared and her mother gravely ill. “We don’t have to if it doesn’t feel right.”

“No, I want to.”

Scarlet turned the camera and put her head next to the girl’s. “I look not so glamorous in this.”

“I look like I’ve been in a car wreck,” Destiny said, her voice shaded with good humor.

Scarlet posted with some fun hashtags and passed the girl the iPhone. She smiled at the likes and responses from followers. “Holy Cow! Patrick Bailey just tweeted. OMG! He’s such a smoke show.”

Patrick was the youngest cast member. Twenty-two years old, he looked fifteen, so he played her youngest cousin. He'd been on the cover ofTeen Beatmagazine three times since the show debuted last October. "He's such a fun guy. Do you follow him?”

The girl shook her head. “But I will. My mom is going to flip.” At the mention of her mom, she lowered the device. "Do you think you could find out about my mom? I'm worried about her."

Scarlet nodded and took the phone the girl held out to her. "Of course I can. Will you be okay alone?"

Destiny nodded. Then she sniffled and dragged a thin arm across her nose. Scarlet slipped between the two curtains and nearly stepped on Adam's foot. His gaze met hers and she knew he'd been listening. It should have offended her. It didn't.

"What are you doing here?" She retreated a step.

"l worked the wreck and followed the ambulance here after they loaded the two women into the copter."

"Oh." She rubbed her arms to chase away the sudden chill. Or maybe she felt guilty about the pleasure that welled at seeing him. "Do you know anything about her mother? She's asking."

He shook his head. "It didn't look good. She'd lost a lot of blood, but they have a good trauma team in Shreveport."

Scarlet felt her heart sink. "I told her I'd try to find out."

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