Page 56 of Forever Your Touch

“You’re welcome, my beautiful boy. Now go, be with your wife. Whatever happens, we are all here for you.”

Mason filed after the rest of them toward the chapel. He didn’t just light a candle for the twins, but he lit one for Jo as well. How had today gone from the peacefulness of a sound sleep to fucked as hell?

Only God knew the answer to that one.

Chapter Fourteen

Mason sat in the chair by Jo’s hospital bed, his feet propped up on her mattress and well away from her injured leg. They were going to keep her for a few days to monitor for blood clots and infection. The girl had done a number on herself. They didn’t want her walking for at least six weeks. Mason wasn’t sure what that meant for school. He’d check with the dean for her. Maybe she could do her stuff online and through email.

Nik was passed out in the other chair, not wanting to leave him alone. Lily took the other hospital bed in the room and was out to the world. She and Nik had just had their little girl, Rose, three weeks ago. This had to be hitting them both hard.

He scrubbed at his tired and burning eyes and checked the time. A little after midnight. Keith had gone to the airport to pick up his parents. They’d flown in on the next available flight. Keith grabbed the only open seat on the one he took.

There was a soft knock at the door, and Angel, Kade’s wife, came in. She had some kind of fuzzy throws with her. She used one to cover both Nik and Lily and gave the other to him. “How’s she doing?”

“The pain meds she’s on are pretty much keeping her asleep,” he whispered. He didn’t want to wake up Nik or Lily. They were both worn out, thanks to the new baby. “Otherwise, as well as can be expected. You want to sit? I need to stand up and stretch, anyway.”

“No, you stay there. I’ve been sitting all night. Kade went to meet the doctor at the airport and bring her back. We should know something soon about Ava.”

Becca had named her daughters Sasha Irinia and Ava Jaqueline, after their mother and her brother, Jackson. She said Jackson was the most stubborn person she’d ever met, including all the Kincaid men. She wanted to give her daughter a fighting chance, and giving her Jackson’s name was as good as anything. Dimitri was “allowed” to give them their first names on the condition they didn’t suck. Becca’s words, not his.

They were all terrified for little Ava, but all they could do right now was wait and pray.

“Did he take Mateo home?”

“No.” Angel shook her head, her red hair swaying with the movement. “He’s asleep on Conner’s lap.”

“Ava will be okay.” Mason took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Just look at Mateo. He survived the impossible. She’s a Kincaid, and she’ll beat this too.”

“I hope so.” Angel’s face softened. “I haven’t even seen her, and I already love her.”

“Me too.” Mason took his sister-in-law’s hand and squeezed. “She’s got a fierce family rooting for her, Angel girl. She’ll make it.” They’d all adopted Nik’s nickname for Angel. He’d gotten to know her in the bar he frequented back in Boston, never knowing she was his sister-in-law.

“You decide what you’re going to do about her yet?” Angel nodded toward Jo, still fast asleep.

“Yeah, I guess I have. I just need to talk to Keith first.” It was only right. Keith asked him to look out for Jo, not fall for her. Wasn’t it some kind of taboo thing to date your best friend’s sister? Mason didn’t really care, though. He wanted Jo, and he was going to fight for her. He knew he was going to have a hard road, because she loved the asshole, but she was worth it.

“You want some coffee? Your dad found an all-night Starbucks across the street.”

“Yeah, but send Conner. You shouldn’t be out this time of night by yourself.”

She laughed. “You know, for the sweetest of the bunch, you have their same overprotective tendencies.”

Mason shrugged. “We were all raised by the same man.”

“That, you were.” Angel gave him another small smile. “What kind of coffee do you want, and please don’t give me a huge complicated order. It’s late, and my brain can’t handle it.”

If it were any other day, he’d call BS. Angel owned a bar and could remember a customer’s favorite drink long after they’d left her establishment. It was how she got people back. Well, that and employing hot bartenders, both male and female. The stress of today, though? He’d cut her some slack. They were all wiped.

He gave her his very simple order of half cream, half coffee, which happened to be her own order since he’d learned it from her, and then sat back to wait for Jo’s family to arrive. He’d never met them, since Keith drove home, and he’d gone to Dimitri’s when the school closed for holidays.

The last time Mason remembered feeling this drained was his high school championship football game. They’d won, but barely. The team they’d faced gave them all a beatdown that lasted for days.

Jo shifted in her sleep, muttering something. He leaned closer and heard her call for Ray. It was like a little knife twisting in his gut. How could she love a guy who didn’t even come to the hospital when she was seriously hurt? He understood her family’s dislike of him now, all too well.

Ray went and pulled a stunt like this after Mason decided to try to like him for Jo’s sake. That went out the window as the hours passed and he didn’t show. It brought out those overprotective instincts Angel had been talking about.

He just needed a plan.

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