Page 117 of Georgia-Blue & Hudson

I see my family in the waiting room. All of them, plus Hudson’s dad, Callan and Celeste. Right behind us, Trudy and Celeste’s brothers come barreling through the door.

I fold into my mom and Dad’s arms as they hold me and tell me he’s going to be okay.

When Huck’s arms fold around me, I cry into his chest. “I’m sorry we lied.” My sobs are muffled by his soothing voice.

“Nothin’ to be sorry about,” he whispers. “Always knew my boy would pick the right woman at the right time, and you’re a good woman, Georgia-Blue Bassett. I just don’t know why the two of you fought it for so long.”

“I need to see him.” I pull back. This isn’t about me: it’s about Hudson.

“Not yet,” Dad says. “He’s not out of surgery yet.”

“But he’s going to be okay, right?” I stammer.

My father nods, and I believe him. I believe anything he says right now because it has to be true.

My eyes dart toward my brothers standing behind Mom and Dad, and my eyes lock with Grayson’s.

He looks wretched. Like someone ran him over. His eyes are puffy, like he’s been crying. The only time I’ve ever seen my olderbrother cry is at our grandparents' funerals. He’s a tough man. But even I can’t be mad at him seeing him like this.

He comes toward me. “I’m sorry.”

I shake my head. “Gray?—.”

He puts his arms around me, and I let him. “I really never meant anything I said. I was just mad at him for not telling me. I’m his best friend?—”

“Please just say he’s really okay, that none of this is happening.”

“You know how strong Hudson is.” Gray pulls back and holds me at arm’s length. “He’ll get through this.”

“With a punctured lung, smashed knee, cracked ribs and possible head trauma?” My voice feels unnaturally high.

“And he’ll live through it. He has you to wake up to, GB. He’s fighting for you.”

I close my eyes. It takes all my strength to say what I have to say next. “I’m sorry we lied. We shouldn’t have…”

“You don’t have to be sorry. You’re a grown woman, and I respect Hudson. You’ve been my little sister my entire life. It’s different with you than with the others. I don’t know why, but it is. We all just want you to be happy, to find the man of your dreams…”

“And I have. I have found him, Gray. I need you to know that. What we have is special. I didn’t know how I really felt until Florida. Then everything unraveled when we got home.”

He nods. “I knew I was wrong. I went after him. I’m upset with myself and if anything happens, it’ll be my fault.”

“You were just being my big brother,” I manage. “But what my big brothers all have to realize is that I’m my own woman. I’m how Mom and Dad raised me: Strong. Capable. Independent. And I can make my own decisions.”

“I know that now. I’m sorry.”

“You hit him.” I wince. “He’s your best friend.”

“Trust me, he got me back. It isn’t the first time we’ve swung punches, and it won’t be the last.”

I shove him back with a roll of my eyes and he wipes a stray tear from his eye. Hartley wraps her arms around him and smiles softly at me. “We’re all here together, as a family,” she says. “Nothing is stronger than love.”

“Wise words,” Huck agrees. “And Hudson’s like that mad bull he rescued. Strong and stubborn. If anyone’s gonna make it, then it’ll be my son.”

I turn to hug him again when the doctor comes through the doors, walking toward us.

“The surgery was a success,” he says. “He’s in recovery now, and I’m pleased to say there is no blunt head trauma. He’s gonna have to rest his knee for several weeks, and those cracked ribs took a beating. His collapsed lung should heal within a week or two with treatment, but the outlook is positive.”

I grip onto his lapels and throw myself into his arms. He pats my back gently and I don’t care how it looks. I don’t even manage words, but I hear Huck and my dad thanking him as Beau peels me off the poor man.

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