Page 28 of Lone Star Country Protector
Blakely was careful to watch their interaction this time, making sure Chase felt comfortable with his father.
Greg shot an apologetic look in Blakely’s direction before making a beeline to his son, who met him halfway across the room. Greg knelt down and embraced his son as a woman in her early twenties stood at the door, looking like she’d rather walk on hot coals than enter the room.
Did Greg bring his mistress to pick up his son from the hospital where his wife lay in a bed after being shot?
Blakely walked straight up to the hovering woman. “I’m Blakely Adamson. Bethany’s sister.”
The large-busted blonde stood a couple of inches shorter than Blakely’s five feet seven inches. Her face flushed hot pink, matching her lip tint. “It’s good to finally meet you. I work for Greg as his receptionist.” Blakely picked up on the fact she’d saidhisinstead ofhis company’s receptionist.
Was she reading too much into it? Or did Greg bring his affair to the hospital? Because she couldn’t imagine him doing that to Bethany, or Chase. It would mean she had no idea who this man was anymore.
“And your name is?” Blakely asked. She wanted a name.
After a pensive glance in Greg’s direction, she responded, “Charlotte, but my friends call me Lotte.”
I’ll bet they do.
Blakely exchanged insincere pleasantries before turning to Greg. “Speak to you in the hall for a minute?”
His lips compressed, forming a thin line. A flicker of something that looked a whole lot like shame passed behind his eyes before he told Chase to stay put while the grownups talked.
Blakely didn’t wait for him to finish before walking into the hall to wait for him. Toe tapping on the sterile white tile, she waited near the elevator bank so Charlotte would be out of earshot. The woman stuck to the waiting room door like glue.
“I know what the fight was about,” she whispered to Greg as he joined her. “Is that…?”
“No,” he defended, but she could see the real answer on his face in the way his eye twitched when he said the word. Clearly, he wasn’t ready to admit it, and it wasn’t her business.
“I told her to consider forgiving you, Greg.” She shot him a glare that could refreeze Antarctica. “Are you going to make me regret it?”
“You did?”
“Why do you sound so surprised?” she asked, planting a fisted hand on her hip.
“I just thought…you and Bethany are so close… I didn’t—”
“What? Think I don’t count you as family too?” She didn’t hide the disappointment and hurt in her voice. “That’s where you’re wrong. Because I consider you my brother.”
“I’m sorry,” he said with a wave of shame. “I let everyone down, and I can’t make it right.”
“Be the husband Bethany deserves, and the father Chase can look up to,” she said. “No matter what happens in your marriage. You can still be a good partner and dad.”
Red-rimmed eyes stared back at her.
“I’ll try,” was all he said. She’d never seen him look so beaten down in all the years she’d known him. How had she missed this?
“Call me if you have questions about Chase’s schedule, okay?” she asked, figuring he got the point.
“I will,” he promised.
“Do you want to wait for the doctor?” she asked after explaining no visitors were allowed yet.
“I better take Chase home,” Greg said, once again surprising her. Wouldn’t a husband want to see with his own eyes that his wife was going to be okay? Maybe the marriage was dead. Or maybe he couldn’t face Bethany.
Either way, Blakely’s heart was breaking for her sister. Bethany might have gotten caught up in a big house and driving a fancy car, but she’d loved Greg very much at one time.
Was all love eventually lost?
Greg excused himself, retrieved Chase, and then left with his son and the receptionist as Blakely made her way back into the waiting room.
