Page 28 of Whispered Southern Secrets

“What a gem,” Honey mumbles then release a little squeak when I take her by surprise gripping her shoulders.

“Crazy! What were you thinking?”

“I was defending you. You’re welcome!”

My mouth drops open. “I don’t want you to ever do that again. Please do not put yourself in that kind of danger. He was a loose cannon, darlin’.”

“But I got him in line quick.”

“This is going to come as a shock, so bear with me, but I don’t think he was scared of you.”

She fists her hands on her hips. “Further proof that guy was an imbecile. Because he should be afraid.”

“Trouble,” I say in disbelief. “Absolute trouble.”

I place my hand on the small of Honey’s back and guide her to sit down in the chair next to James’s bed. She releases a heavy sigh. “All that and he still didn’t wake up.”

“I don’t know what to say to him,” I confess.

“Wanna read him the Bible?”

“Are you stereotyping me? Because I’m working toward become a full time pastor, you automatically assume that’s my go to?” She shrugs and I wave my hand. “Nah. He wouldn’t want that. He likes it better when I paraphrase and give him the cliff notes. The ‘highlights’ as he put it.” My voice is casual but I’m scared. I’ve prayed like a madman for some sign that James is going to be okay.Please. Please Lord.

A soft palm touches the top of my hand. “Hey. Let me help,” Honey’s southern gentle drawl has me opening my eyes. “I know what to do.”

She sounds so confident. How does she know what to do? What even is she going to do? Honey stands and walks over to bed rail. She reaches over and takes James’s hand in hers. The only sound is the steady beat of monitors.

Her eyes look down lovingly at James as her lips part and her angelic voice begins singing the sweetest version of “Stand by Me,” I’ve ever heard. I have to choke down a sob that gets caught in my throat. My chest is too tight and breathing is now a task I have to mentally force myself to do. There’s almost too much emotion clawing its way through me. I’m afraid it’s more than I can handle. I’m trying to keep myself in check because that’s what I’m supposed to do as a man and a pastor. People need to be able to call on me day and night to be the strong one. I try my best to hold my tears at bay, but it’s a losing fight. Everything begins to spill out of me, and I’m frustrated because now Honey is holding my hand and James’s. She needs to be solely focused on the person in the hospital bed.

Every feeling I had toward Honey is stronger than ever. Her being here and holding my hand and James’s means everything. I’m in awe of how strong she’s being right now. She ends the song and leans forward to kiss James’s forehead.

“So this is all it takes to get a hot older woman to woo you?”

I jump out of my seat to rush to stare into James’s face to make sure that was him speaking. “James!” I wheeze out.

Honey’s eyes are glassy but she doesn’t miss a beat. “Chicks dig scars, man.”

“For real?” James asks.

“No! You scared us half to death. J.D. is on the verge of a complete meltdown and I’ve never been so terrified in my life.”

James’s smile falters. His eyes back and forth between us. “You guys were really worried.”

“Of course we were,” I tell him, pleading for him to believe me. He is loved. People care about him. I’ve already been informed that I’ll for sure now be able to remove him from his home. It’s a shame that it had to come to this for us to be able to legally take him away. But now he’ll be placed with his aunt immediately.

Guilt gnaws at me. I bow my head in shame. “I feel terrible that I wanted you to stay here, James. I was disappointed to hear you were leaving. But now I see I was being selfish. You needed to get out of that house. I should’ve done more to get you out sooner. I’m sorry. I’ll never forgive myself. I missed the signs.”

“There were no signs. This is the first time he’d ever done something like this. Usually it was only slapping me around. Don’t beat yourself, Preacher Man. You can’t carry all the guilt for everyone’s sins.”

“Exactly,” Honey grumbles. “The only person who should be sorry is the asshole who did this.”

I give Honey the side-eye for using such colorful language in front of James. I know he’s heard worse, but still. She arches a brow at me, and like a good boy, I turn the other cheek and go back to looking at James.

James rolls his head to the side and gives Honey a lopsided grin. “So you gonna serenade me some more?”

“No,” she immediately answers.

James’s face contorts in pain. “Ow. It hurts.”

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