For All She Knows by Beck Jamie

Author:Beck, Jamie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Montlake
Published: 2021-03-29T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

MIMI

Thursday, January 21

Rehab facility

“I’m nervous,” Rowan mumbled as the thick glass doors to the rehabilitation center opened automatically.

One benefit of my having fewer salon appointments lately was being able to bring him to see Carter this afternoon.

“About what?” I asked, dwarfed by the institution that would be Carter’s home for weeks or longer, the reality of which intensified my sense of gloom.

“Seeing Mrs. Phillips.” His solemn gaze landed like a gut punch.

Grace had never before been unkind to Rowan, but Carter’s injury had changed my friend, so anything could happen. I loosened my white-knuckled grip on the tin of homemade nut-and-granola bars. “Don’t worry, honey. She won’t say anything to you.”

A literal truth, I feared.

So darn sad. She’d rejected my every attempt and offer to lift her up, and meanwhile, without her grounding presence, my life, my business, and even my relationship with Rowan were off-kilter. Still, determined to heed my own advice, I tipped my chin up. Grace was expecting us. Maybe she missed me and would finally accept our apology.

Sam had given me Carter’s room number, so we signed in and then walked down a corridor of patient rooms. Carter’s door was partway open, so I rapped on it twice. “Carter, honey, it’s Mrs. Gillette and Rowan. Are you up for company?”

“Sure,” he said.

A thin sheen of perspiration covered Rowan’s face when confronted with a room filled with monitors and equipment needed to assist Carter’s mobility. Every contraption might as well have been a condemnation of my parenting and my son’s behavior, making my stomach sour.

This depressing space would be his home for a while. Granted, Grace had done her best to add homey touches with some of his personal items. Picturing her collecting these things from his room in tears, desperately doing anything she could to make this situation less lonely for her child, made my throat ache with tightness. Despite her heroic attempt, nothing hid the medical equipment or brightened the bland floors and walls.

To my surprise, Grace wasn’t in the room. That she’d left Carter alone rather than face me dashed any hope of forgiveness, which produced a lump in my throat. The nearly two weeks since she’d cut me off felt more like two years. We’d never mend fences at this rate.

“Hey.” Carter winced when shifting position and then managed a polite smile. He looked thinner. Gaunt, even. His cheekbones seemed sharper, too. Seeing the wheelchair in the corner of the room nearly made me stumble. This was not a bump I could wipe away with a hug and a treat, like I had when Rowan had accidentally clocked him in the head with a football at ten. The worst part was the inescapable truth that Carter would not be here if I had been a different parent, or if my son had been a more responsible, respectful kid.

“Hi, sweetie.” I set the tin on the table beside Carter’s bed, my guilty pulse pounding in response to seeing him wince whenever he moved.

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