Page 22 of Anything For This Love

“Yeah, she um, was talking to you and didn’t realize we had showed up.”

“Oh,” he repeats, his tone sparking with recognition.

“Is there something you want to tell me?”

“Not particularly,” he deadpans.

“Ethan,” Abby scolds.

“Look, I don’t want to talk about that right now. Besides, it’s a non-issue at this point.”

Abby frowns, her forehead wrinkling. “What doesthatmean?”

“It’s over, okay? Can you just drop it? My leg is fucking killing me, and I just want to go back to sleep but I can’t yet.”

Her eyes fill with remorse and she pinches them shut. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up. Please do everything the doctors tell you so you can get better.”

“I will,” he promises before hanging up the phone.

“Ugh, I’m such an asshole,” Abby laments, pulling her hands through her hair in frustration. “He’s in the hospital and I’m harassing him about his relationship with Tiff.”

“You’re not an asshole. Show yourself a little grace. It’s been a rough twenty-four hours.”

She kisses me appreciatively and enfolds me in a hug. “Thank you for always making me feel better and putting things into perspective.”

“Any time, beautiful.”

Ama arrives home as we’re finishing up dinner and gives us a thorough update on Ethan. She tells us he’s scheduled to have surgery in the morning for the fractured bones in his leg. Once he recovers, he’ll need physical therapy to regain his strength and mobility. Since he’s awake and stable, they’re moving him out of the ICU and placing him on an orthopedic floor.

“Tiffany came to visit while I was there.” Ama watches Abby inquisitively. “He wouldn’t hardly speak to her, though. They both seemed awfully tense. She was still there when I left.” She’s probing, but Abby doesn’t take the bait. Regardless of how upset she is with Ethan and Tiff for keeping such a huge secret, she would never betray her brother’s trust. “I just don’t understand,” Ama continues. “He’s been in love with that girl since he was fifteen. I can’t imagine why he’d ignore her like that.”

Abby chokes on the sweet tea she’s just taken a sip from. “What?” she croaks out in surprise.

A look of satisfaction settles on Ama’s face as she waits for Abby to compose herself.

“Was I the only one who didn’t know?” Her gaze darts between Ama and me.

Ama shrugs. “I always knew he had feelings for her. You could see it in the way he looked at her.” Abby huffs, slumping in her seat. “Well, maybe notyou, but the rest of us noticed.” She chuckles and Abby scowls. “Between his side of the conversation he had with you and the tension between him and Tiff when she showed up, I figured it out.”

“I didn’t know until this morning when I walked in on her talking to him and crying. She said she loved him.”

“I dare say she does.”

Abby shakes her head. “I was so mad at her. She lied to me! She’s been with him this whole time and never told me.”

Ama gives her a sympathetic grin and brushes her hair from her face. “You two will work this out. You’re closer than friends. Tiff is your family.”

An hour later, there’s a knock on the door. Abby peeks through the hole and lets out a low curse. She yanks it open, revealing Tiff.

“Hey,” Tiff says apprehensively.

“Hey,” Abby replies, crossing her arms.

Silent unease settles around them as they stare at each other. Finally, Tiff reveals what she came for. “Can we talk?”

Abby reluctantly steps aside, motioning for Tiff to come in. Tiff greets the rest of us with a shy wave. She looks like a whipped pup as she follows Abby to her room. Twenty minutes go by, then thirty, then forty. They keep their voices low enough not to be heard over the TV. Finally, they emerge from Abby’s room, both with tear stained faces and puffy eyes, but they seem to have reconciled. Tiff says her goodbyes to Ama and kisses Chloe on the head before leaving.

“How did that go?” I ask, nodding to Abby’s room.

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