Page 92 of Hidden Truths

“Cora?” I ask when they finally leave us alone.

“She’s back at the hotel with everyone else,” Cal says, his thumbs rubbing the back of my hand. “She really misses you.”

“I’m sorry I scared you,” I tell him, my voice still raspy.

Cal leans forward and kisses me softly. “You can’t ever leave me, Harlow. I barely survived you laying in this fucking hospital bed and your heart was still beating. If it stopped . . . if you were gone,” he chokes.

“I’m here Cal. I’m not leaving you. I love you too much for that.”

“I love you too. So fucking much, Firecracker.”

We stay like this, his head in my lap, and my hand clasped against my chest until my eyes feel heavy, and I fall asleep.

The next time I wake up, my room is swarmed with people. Cal is still in his spot next to me, but my dad is on my other side. Belle, Kai, Mav, and Willa are standing by the window. Jo and Jason are at the foot of the bed with Cora.

“Mama!” Cora yells when she sees I’m awake.

“Hi Cora girl,” I say with a smile. “Mama missed you!” The anxiety I felt every time I referred to myself as her mom has vanished. That feeling of being an imposter or that I didn’t earn the title is gone.

Her pudgy little hands reach out for me, and I reach for her. Jason brings her over and gently puts her on the bed next to me. Cora immediately scrambles onto me, causing me to hiss when her foot hits my middle. I remember what happened. I just didn’t want to talk about it with Cal yet.

The doctor told me I had been in a coma for twelve days. My gunshot wound is healing well, but they had to make anotherincision in my front to get the bullet out from where it lodged itself underneath a rib. It’s still sore and a baby foot directly to it doesn’t feel great. Cal goes to grab her from me, but I hold her tight and glare at him. He shakes his head and laughs but keeps her bum and legs above my stomach as I hold her to me. She clings to me just as tightly.

“I missed you so much, my girl,” I tell her, kissing her cheek and smelling her hair.

“Mama,” she sighs in contentment.

My dad squeezes my shoulder and kisses my temple. “You scared the ever-loving shit out of me.”

I bark out a laugh. “I’ll try not to get kidnapped and shot next time.”

The mood in the room sobers, and I allow Cal to take Cora from me.

“What happened, Harry?” Jo asks, squeezing my foot.

I tell them everything that happened from the moment I stepped foot out of the nail salon until I woke up in this hospital bed. Everyone’s eyes just kept getting wider and wider. Which would be comical in any other situation.

“Like father, like daughter,” my dad sighs, sounding both impressed and exhausted.

“Okay, we can all admit the mud was really smart, though,” Mav says.

“I thought a bear was coming after me,” Cal says, causing everyone, including me, to laugh.

“A short and skinny bear on two legs?” Willa asks.

“Does Nebraska even have bears?” Kai asks Belle, who shrugs.

“Keep laughing. It was dark, she was covered in mud, and I wasn’t exactly thinking straight,” Cal defends.

“So, have we figured out who or why any of this happened?” I ask.

“Michael and Sal Anderson, brothers who were hired to take you and transfer you to an undisclosed location, were given five thousand dollars in cash and promised another five at the handoff,” my dad says, and I frown. “What?”

“Only ten grand?” I say, knowing it’s pretty stupid to be offended, but I think I’m worth a lot more.

My dad sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Michael, or Mikey, is no longer living,” he continues, pretending I didn’t speak. “And Sal is claiming he wasn’t the one who took the calls. They were supposed to meet whoever paid them at the farmhouse for the exchange, but plans changed. He didn’t know what caused the change, either.”

“It just feels so sloppy,” Jo says, crossing her arms, that familiar line forming between her brows as she thinks. “They didn’t seem too smart, and that seems risky.”

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