Page 41 of Those Heartbreak Scars

Indy: …

Indy: …

“That was my mum.” Everett stumbles back into the kitchen before Indy finishes typing. He’s pale under his tan. He rubs his forehead. “My pops fell off the roof.”

“Oh my God! Is he okay?”

“I’m not sure. He’s in the hospital. I’m sorry, I have to go.”

“Of course.” I grab my purse, shove my phone into it. Whatever Gray and I need to talk about can wait. Everett needs someone at his side while he waits to find out if his pops will be okay. Like I’d had Dove to help me through the shock when Indy finally told me about her brain tumor. “I’ll go with you.”

Everett slips his fingers between mine as we hurry through the hospital. I curl mine around them to offer him support. Everyone needs that in these situations. Right now he needs that from me.

“Thank you for coming with me,” he says as we make it to the room where his grandfather is laid up.

His mom sits beside a version of Everett that was born in the fifties. The two men share some spectacularly strong genetics.

His pops’s face is deeply lined and rugged, but they have the same strong jaw, Roman nose, and brown eyes. When he turns them on his grandson, they brighten. “Took your time, boy.”

“So he’s all right then?” Everett asks his mom, letting go of my hand.

“He’s all right, love.” She smiles softly, her gaze landing on me with curiosity but then focusing back on her dad. “You gave us quite a scare though, you old codger.”

“What were you doing on the roof?” Everett picks up a chair from the other side of the room and puts it down opposite his mom’s. He takes his hat off and sits, twisting it between his hands.

Gray says he’s a player and that I should be careful around him, but seeing him with his family… he’s so sweet. It can’t be true.

“Someone has to clean the gutters,” his pops mutters.

“I paid someone to do that.” Everett frowns.

“He sent them away,” his mom says as I lean against the wall just inside the door. “You know how he gets.”

“Those lazy lay-abouts didn’t do the job right.” His pops’s busy brows draw tightly together, and his mouth takes on a sullen set.

“So you thought you’d climb up and do it yourself.” Everett shakes his head. “You’re so stubborn. You could have broken a hip or something.”

His pops scoffs. “I didn’t even get a scratch.”

“Sure. That’s why you’re in the hospital.”

Now that he knows his grandfather is okay, I feel out of place in this room. Especially since he hasn’t introduced me. Not that I want him to introduce me in any capacity while I’m in knots over Gray.

His mom keeps sending glances my way that make me uncomfortable, and I don’t know if it’s the color of my skin or that she can see my bra through the holes in my sweater—I really should have changed before I left the flat—or that it’s that unusual for her to see Everett with a woman.

Or something else entirely.

My phone rings and I straighten away from the wall. “I’m going to go take this, go for a walk.”

“You’re not dating her, are you?” Everett’s mom asks as I leave.

Yeah, I love the way that feels. I wish I could just disappear as I put my phone to my ear. “Hello?”

“Hi. This is Ruby. I’m the admissions counselor at the University of Cambridge. Can I talk to you about your course load?”

“I’m sorry. This isn’t a good time.” Oh no, Ireallycan’t deal with this on top of everything else right now. I cross my arm against my waist and rhythmically pinch my elbow to create a pain point that will keep the anxiety in check.

“You haven’t attended classes for quite a while. But you haven’t submitted the paperwork to drop out either. Is there something I can do to help you? Some way that I can support you?”

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