Page 111 of Mine For The Winter

“We can’t afford the doctor,” he said.

It was her turn to pale. Had he been listening to her money woes? “Of course we can. It’s fine. We just need to make you better, that’s all, honey.”

“No doctor. I’ll be fine.”

She felt her heart crack a little. She was so careful not to talk about her fears with him. “Listen to me, we’re absolutely fine. We have a roof over our head and food in the house and I have a job that keeps us going. And if we need to pay for a doctor, that’s not a problem. You’re the most important thing in my life.”

“But you’re going to do OnlyFans. And Matty says that’s a porn site. That you’ll be a porn star.”

“I’m not.” She shook her head vehemently. “I promise I’m not.”

“I don’t want you to.” He reached out for her. “Please.”

She was racking her brain to figure out where this was coming from, and then she remembered joking about it with Amber. Had he overheard the conversation all those weeks ago? Poor Cole. She was a damn idiot.

She took a deep breath, ready to reassure him again, but then he let out a cry so close to a scream that it chilled her blood. “Mom…”

Oh God, oh God. This wasn’t just overeating. She could tell that from the fear and pain in his eyes.

“Dad!” she screamed, all thoughts of disturbing him forgotten. “Dad!” And then she leaned forward to hold onto her son, because he was clutching at his stomach in agony. “Honey, hold on, okay? I’m going to call an ambulance.”

Grabbing her phone, she dialed 911.

29

Kelly hadn’t replied to his message, but Kris figured she was either sleeping or busy trying to get ready for her second busiest day of the year, so he headed straight to the tavern to meet her.

When he saw three of her staff standing outside, one of them smoking, the other two on their phones, he frowned.

“Where’s Kelly?” he asked them.

“No idea.” Will shrugged, looking up from his screen. “She asked us to arrive early, too.”

Kris pulled his phone out and tried calling her again, but it went straight to voicemail. “Kel, it’s me. We’re at the tavern and I’m hoping to hell you’re not still asleep.”

Dammit, he’d just drive to her place to check.

It only took him a couple of minutes before he was pulling in her driveway. Most of the tourists hadn’t awoken or arrived in town yet, so the drive was fast. Her car was still parked outside, the curtains were still closed, and he bit down a smile.

What a day to sleep in. He’d grab the keys from her and get the staff going as best he could before she got herself ready. He hated to do it but he knocked on the door, knowing phoning her again was pointless.

After a minute of no replies, he walked around to Kelly’s backyard, checking the door. But it was locked and everything looked dark.

“Hey.”

Kelly’s neighbor was standing out on his porch.

“Hi. I was just trying to wake Kelly up.”

“She’s not there.” The man was drinking a coffee and smoking a cigarette at the same time. It was a pretty impressive feat.

“Her car’s here,” he said, looking at it.

“Yeah, but they were taken by the ambulance really early. The sirens woke my wife up. Not me, though. I’d sleep through a hurricane.”

Blood rushed to his head, making him feel dizzy. “Are they in the hospital?”

“No idea. My wife just tried to call Kelly but there was no answer.”

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