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“Thank you.” Angie hurried down the hall to the nurse’s station. Hardy stared after her.
“She’s really going to be fine,” the doctor said to him.
“Yeah.” He sighed, wondering if she would recover completely. “She has a lot of weeks of healing ahead, though.”
“Kids are tough, and she’ll bounce back quickly.” The doctor nodded and followed Angie.
Hardy stood there feeling something he couldn’t explain. The little girl was going to be okay, so he should go home. His father and Olivia were waiting to hear from him. But for some reason, he couldn’t make himself leave the hospital. Maybe it was the worry on Angie’s face and the fact that he’d caused it.
He saw Wyatt walking toward him, and he went to meet him.
“What are you still doing here?” he asked his friend.
Wyatt handed him his truck keys. “Peyton and I brought your truck so you’ll have a way to get home.”
“Ah, man, thanks. It hasn’t crossed my mind yet that I don’t have a ride.”
“How’s Erin?”
“She’s out of surgery, and Angie has gone to be with her.”
Wyatt removed his hat and scratched his head. “I wish she’d let someone stay with her, but she’s one stubborn woman.”
“Her family is supervocal, and I can see how they’d suck the energy right out of her.”
Wyatt smiled. “They’re a lively bunch, for sure.” His friend looked at him. “Bubba didn’t mean anything. He just loves his niece.”
“I know that.” Hardy rubbed his sore jaw. The punch was nothing compared to what Angie’s daughter had suffered. He’d injured a child. He was still grappling with that.
“If you’re leaving, I’ll walk you out.”
“Um...I’m going to stick around for a bit. I want to make sure everything’s okay with the little girl.”
“It was an accident, Hardy. I was there, so stop blaming yourself.”
Hardy swiped a hand through his hair. “Tell that to my stomach.”
“It’ll get better.” Wyatt patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll catch you tomorrow.”
Hardy tossed his coffee cup in a trash can and went to the nurse’s desk to ask for the little girl’s room number. She was in the pediatric ward, and it didn’t take him long to find it. But he hesitated outside the door. Angie wasn’t going to like him being there.
The hall was quiet and the lights had been dimmed for the night. Parents were with their children. He should leave and come back tomorrow. But he couldn’t do that. He pushed the door open slightly.
Angie had a chair pulled close to the bed, and she was sitting in it, stroking her daughter’s hair back from her forehead. The light was low, but he could see her clearly. She looked so different from that young, innocent girl she’d been a long time ago.
There was nothing remarkable about Angie’s looks—she had golden-brown eyes, sandy-brown hair and a smooth complexion. Back then she’d been slim. Now her figure was more mature, and her hair was different, too. Evidently, her beautician sisters had highlighted it or something because it was more blond than brown now. She wore it in a ponytail with several strands curling around her face.
Yet Angie had a special quality that endeared her to everyone. When she talked, she spoke with a smile in her voice. She was open, honest and sweet. Everybody liked her. He was no exception.
The little girl stirred, and Angie was on her feet. An IV was still in the child’s arm. Angie leaned down and whispered, “Erin, baby, Mama’s here.”
“Mama?”
“Yes. I’m right here.”
“I...I feel funny.” The tiny voice was soft and weak, and Hardy’s stomach tightened like a balled fist.
“You’ve been in an accident, baby.”
“What...happened?”
“You were running after your beach ball and—”
“Yeah. I didn’t want it to go into Mrs. Wimby’s yard...’cause...she keeps things.”
Angie kissed the girl’s forehead. “I know, baby. Go back to sleep and we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
“Have to get my ball, Mama, to go on our trip.”
“Shh. Go back to sleep. Mama’s here.”
“My head hurts.”
“I’ll get the nurse.”
Erin’s eyes opened wide. “Where...where are we?”
“In the hospital.”
“Why?” The little girl began to cry, and Hardy’s stomach clamped that much tighter.
“Shh, baby. You’re okay. Please don’t cry.”
The girl closed her eyes and drifted into a drug-induced sleep. Hardy stepped away from the door and sank into a chair in the hall. The girl wasn’t okay. She was in pain. He took a couple of deep breaths, knowing the knot in his gut wasn’t going to go away for a while. He was so angry with himself. It was a neighborhood with children. He should’ve been more careful. He should have—
He heard them before he saw them. Loud voices. Angry voices. Could only belong to Wiznowskis. It was the twins. There was no mistaking them. Colorful and flashy were their trademarks. He never could tell them apart, so he’d stopped trying.
One had on at least three-inch red clogs with a short skirt and a tank top. The other had on orange high heels, shorts and a gypsy-type blouse. Both wore necklaces, bracelets and earrings that jangled when they walked. Their hair color seemed to change weekly. Today one was a blonde with a bluish tint. The one in shorts had black hair with orangey highlights.
“She’s going to be pissed,” the one in the shorts said.
“So? I can be pissed, too,” the other replied.
“AnaMarie said we should respect her wishes.”
The blond-haired one laughed. “Since when do we listen to AnaMarie? She’s an old fart.”
“She’s two years older than us.”
“Do you have to argue about everything?”
“It’s not me. It’s you.”
“Yeah, right.”
They both stopped when they saw him. The one with the black hair stepped closer. “What are you still doing here? Haven’t you done enough?”
He got to his feet, really not in the mood for another round with the Wiznowskis. “Making sure everyone is okay.”
The blonde’s eyes narrowed. “Does Angie know you’re out here?”
“No.”
“Then you’d better leave.”
He glanced from one to the other. “You know, I can never tell you two apart, so you’ll have to introduce yourselves. I’d really like to know who I’m talking to.”
“I’m Mary Patricia—Patsy,” the black-haired one said.
“And I’m Mary Margaret, but everyone calls me Peggy.”
“Well, Peggy, I’m not going anywhere until that little girl is better.”
Peggy jammed a finger into her chest. “We’ll take care of Erin. We’ve always helped Angie with our little angel. Your presence here only complicates things. Get my drift?”
“Not really. Your sister asked for some time alone with her daughter.”
“Ah.” Patsy waved a hand at him. “She was just upset. She needs us like she did when that bastard left her.”
“Don’t you think someone should call the little girl’s father?” Angie had been very evasive when he’d asked about him, but if it were his kid, he’d want to know. He was sure the man felt the same way.
Patsy got into his face. “I think you’re sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong.”
“We can discuss this all day and all night, but my position is not changing.”
Angie stepped into the hall, interrupting the heated conversation. “What are y’all doing here? I could hear you in the room.”
Patsy approached her sister. “Don’t go all mama bear on us. You didn’t really think we’d leave, did you?” She held up a bag. “We went to get you something to eat.”
“Thanks, but I’m not hungry.”
Peggy hugged Angie. “How’s Erin?”
“She woke up for a second and said her head hurt. I called a nurse, and they’re bringing her something. She’s really confused right now, I think—the fewer people she sees, the better it is for her.”
“Come on, Angie. We’re her aunties,” Patsy said. “Let us just see her for a second so we can sleep tonight.”
Angie held up one finger. “One minute. Visiting hours are over. You have to make it quick, and please do not wake her.”
Patsy and Peggy hurried inside the room. That left him and Angie staring at each other. The same old message flashed in her eyes, and it didn’t take her long to say it. “Why are you still here?”
Her voice was tired and a little sad. He felt guilty for upsetting her more than he already had.
Patsy and Peggy came out, wiping tears from their eyes.
“She’s so pale.” Peggy grabbed a tissue out of her huge purse.
Angie visibly swallowed. “Yes. She’s had a horrific afternoon and...”
Angie stopped speaking as AnaMarie came toward them with a small suitcase in her hand.
“Well, if it isn’t Ms. Old Fart,” Patsy quipped. “I thought we were supposed to respect Angie’s wishes.”
“I should have known you two wouldn’t listen.”
AnaMarie and Hardy were the same age and in the same class in school. He liked her. She always had a lot of common sense, but she was very quiet and shy. Angie was like that, too.
AnaMarie and her mother, along with the grandmother, ran a bakery. Hardy used to go in there a lot, as did everyone in Horseshoe. When Angie had come back from Temple, he’d heard, she’d taken over the business end. She had an office inside the shop, so he didn’t go in as much to avoid seeing her. Their encounters were stilted and awkward, and he never knew what to say to her. He just had an enormous guilt that he couldn’t shake.
The bakery was the busiest place in town, and people came from all over to sample the kolaches, pies, cakes, cookies and every other imaginable sweet. The shop had been in the same family for as long as Hardy could remember. The Wiznowskis were well-known in Horseshoe. Bubba owed a gas station and wrecker service. Willard had a blacksmith shop and the twins operated a beauty shop that was called Talk of the Town. It was aptly named, as most rumors were started there. Angie also took care of their books and did taxes for just about everyone in Horseshoe.
“I brought you a change of clothes, toiletries and something to sleep in,” AnaMarie said. “I’m prepared to stay, too. You need someone here.”
“Thanks.” Angie took the suitcase from her. “But no. You have to open the bakery in the morning and I’m fine because Erin’s going to be okay.”
“Tomorrow is Sunday, and we’re not open on Sunday,” AnaMarie reminded her.
“I’m sorry.” Angie touched her forehead. “I’m a little rattled.”
“That’s understandable. How’s Erin?”
“She’s a little restless, but the surgery went well.”
Footfalls sounded again on the tiled floor, and they looked up to see Willard and Doris walking toward them.
“I had to come back,” Doris said as she reached Angie. She gave Hardy a sharp glance but didn’t say anything. “I can’t rest until I know my granddaughter’s okay.”
“I tried, Angie,” her father said. “But I was worried, too.”
Angie hugged her parents. “Erin’s going to be fine. You can see her for a minute.”
No one said a word until they came out of the room. Doris dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “My poor baby. Angie, I’ll stay the night so someone is here with you.”
“No, Mama. Everyone needs to go home. I can take care of Erin.”
“I called Dale and Dorothy and told them what happened, and they send their love and prayers.”
“Thank you, Mama.”
