The Exception (42 page)

“Thanks,” I said, taking the phone. “Max?”

“I don’t know, Jada!” Kari’s voice broke over the phone.

“Kari? What’s going on?”

“It’s Dad, Jada. The hospital just called me and he’s been admitted!”

“At the hospital!? Kari! What’s happening?”

“I don’t know. He was taken to Mary Sherman Hospital where I work. One of my friends on the staff put two and two together and just called me. They think he’s had a heart attack. We just landed at Sky Harbor and are on our way, but I knew you would want to know.”

“I need to be there,” I wailed, thinking of my dad in a hospital bed and my sister all alone. “We weren’t going to leave for a few days, but I have to get back there now.”

“I don’t know anything. It may be nothing,” she said softly. “I don’t want to scare you, but I had to call you.”

“I will catch a flight home as soon as I can.”

“Jada, I called you from Max’s phone because I was charging mine. But it’s charged enough now and I need to call the hospital back. Can you talk to Max?”

“Sure,” I said, throwing the last of my stuff into my suitcase and sitting on the bed, looking at Heather nervously.

“Jada?” he asked, his voice gravely.

“Max?” I spun my ring around my finger, wishing I was home.

“It’ll be all right, Jada. We don’t know how bad he is or what is the matter for sure. Just stay calm, all right?” His southern drawl settled my nerves a bit and I remembered to breathe. “Where’s Cane?”

“He went for a run. I will be there as soon as I can.”

“When were you coming back?” he asked.

I sighed, looking up at the ceiling. “In a couple of days. We hadn’t decided. As soon as he gets back, we will head to the airport.”

“Keep me posted okay? Have Cane call me when he gets back.”

“I will,” I said, my voice breaking before pressing END.

I threw Cane’s things in a bag haphazardly, grabbed my purse, and headed to the front door. I sat our bags off to the side and paced the room.

“It’s going to be fine,” Heather assured me. “Kari will be there soon, right?”

I nodded, thinking the worst. “I need to get plane tickets. Where’s my cell?”

Heather shrugged, looking around. “Did you leave it in the bedroom?”

I raced down the hall, searching frantically for my cell. It was lighting up, alerting me of its location as I neared the bed.

Max: Southwest A1278 leaves at 3:45 PM. Just use the self check-in, I already bought them.

I smiled, looking up at Heather. “I hope my sister knows what a great guy she has.”

JADA

Kari pushed open the door to Dad’s room and we made our way inside quietly. He lay asleep on his bed, an oxygen tube up his nose and various monitors taped to his chest.

He looked pale and grey, not at all like the strong, vibrant man I once knew. I instinctively grabbed Kari’s hand. My heart broke at the sight before us.

The blood pressure cuff on his arm made a sound and Dad’s eyes fluttered open. “Damn thing,” he muttered before he saw us standing in the doorway. His face lit up and he tried to move before giving up. “There are my girls,” he said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.

“Hey, Daddy,” I said, my lips trembling as I made my way to his bedside. “How are you feeling?”

“Like garbage.” He held out his arm as the cuff released the air. “You didn’t come all the way home because of this, did you?”

I nodded, looking at all of the wires extending from his body. “Of course I did. I was worried.”

“Ah, I’m a tough old guy. Don’t worry about me.”

“You didn’t do this on purpose, did you? Just to get her back here?” Kari winked at me.

“Maybe I did,” he chuckled. “How are you, Jada?”

“I’m great. Fantastic.” Even I didn’t believe it by the sound of my voice.

Dad reached over and took my hand. “You should be great. You should be great every day of your life. Both of you girls,” he said, looking at Kari. “Because once you are lying in a bed like this and realize that you can be called to the heavens faster than you want to be, you realize that the only thing that mattered in your life is what made you happy.” He smiled wistfully. “Do you know what I would give this very minute to go back and redo everything?”

I choked back my emotions and Kari squeezed my hand.

“I spent too many hours in the damn office. I let your mother go to bed angry at me for stupid things because I wouldn’t just say I was sorry. I got irritated with you girls and your doll shoes scattered all over the house when you were little. All of that was wasted energy, girls. It is a waste of energy to not just be happy.”

A nurse came in behind us and walked to the side of Dad’s bed. “Ladies, visiting hours were over a long time ago.” She looked at the clock. “I would suggest coming back in the morning.”

“I don’t want you staying in the waiting room. Go home and get some rest.”

I bent down and kissed him on the lips, his aftershave scent only barely detectable. “I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”

Kari patted his hand. “See you in the morning, Papa.”

“Girls,” he called as we made our way to the doorway. “I love you both more than anything.”

“We love you, too.”

I watched Cane slip into the Denali beside me, the street lights casting an orange-like glow over him. He patted my leg before buckling himself in and starting the engine. He took his hand off the gear shift and turned to face me.

“I’m taking you home with me,” he declared, his eyes braced for my response.

“I really think maybe I should go to Kari’s.”

He bit the side of his cheek thoughtfully. “Why?”

His simple question struck me by surprise and I found myself searching for words.

“Well, I live there, for one. Two, I need a shower and a change of clothes and my things are there.”

He worked his head side to side, considering my point. “Good points, both of them. And I think they both need to be addressed.”

I leaned back a little. “I don’t follow you.”

He smirked, putting the car into reverse before speeding Cane-style out of the parking lot and onto the road. “You live at Kari’s. Your stuff is there. Both of those things are ridiculous.”

“Uh, you just said they were good points.”

He squeezed my thigh before returning it to the wheel. “It’s ridiculous that you live there.”

“I know,” I said, letting my head rest against the seat. I looked at Cane and he flashed me a surprised look.

“That was easy.” He pressed his lips together in satisfaction.

“I was planning on looking for apartments before this, anyway. I want to start looking right away and get back to a normal life. I can’t live with my sister forever.”

“Ah,” Cane said, tsking. “Not what I was getting at, sweetheart.”

The lights on the side of the road got brighter as we exited onto the freeway. The little lizards and desert flowers carved on the retaining walls lining the roads made me smile.

When I failed to comment, Cane continued, “What I was getting at is that you should move in with me.”

“Move in with you?”

“I didn’t stutter.”

I collapsed back, letting my body completely sag against the leather. “I don’t know about that,” I said warily. “We just are getting everything figured out. We probably shouldn’t overcomplicate things right now.”

“Overcomplicating things means that I can’t have you when I want you. That I have to drive across the fucking Valley to see you or not sleep in my own bed.” He narrowed his eyes at me, raising the corner of one lip. “I believe it was you, beautiful girl, who said she likes to keep things simple. Simple means that we see each other all the time without traveling. That I don’t have to wonder if I will see you that day. That I don’t have to worry about you not having your fucking stuff when I want to go home.”

My stomach began to flutter and, as my brain told it to calm down, it just got worse.

“It makes sense. It falls along your rules.” He smiled brightly, sitting up straight. “See that? I’m compromising! You want things simple, so I’m agreeing. You can’t argue that!”

His pride made me burst out laughing and he feigned horror.

“Are you laughing at me?”

I tried to stifle my giggles. “No. I wouldn’t do that.”

“Good. Because that shit will get me to hire movers tomorrow and have your stuff at my house by the end of the fucking day.”

“You wouldn’t!”

His eyes widened, a sexy smirk crossing his lips. “Try me.”

“What am I going to do with you?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “Easy. Move in with me. I just told you that. Now that is taken care of …”

He whipped the Denali on an exit, clearly meaning we were going to his house.

“Nothing is taken care of! Can you at least let me think about it since we are so obviously going to your house tonight?”

The light was red at the intersection and Cane slowed to a stop. He leaned across the vehicle and kissed me happily. “Sure. Think about it. Just don’t take too long.”

With a wink, we sped across the city: me and my infuriating, frustrating, and loveable Cane.

JADA

“I really want to spend the entire day with you today, but Max is dealing with some stuff at Benjamin Estates and we have a delivery at AH this afternoon that can’t be rescheduled.” Cane stuck his bottom lip out and I reached up and bit it lightly.

He eyes heated immediately. “Keep it up. Fuck up our day. It would make me really happy.”

He leaned out of my Jeep, grabbing hold of the doorframe.

The morning sun was shining happily, reflecting our moods, even though we got very little sleep the night before and was up early. Cane had driven me to Kari’s so I could get changed before I headed back to the hospital.

“I want you to pull out of here first. I’ll follow you to the freeway.”

“Cane, really?”

He winked as he began to shut the door. “Just humor me, okay?”

I blew him a kiss and started the engine. He slammed my door shut.

“You have the key I gave you to my house, right?” He asked as I rolled down my window.

I nodded. “Do you want me to meet you there this afternoon?”

“Yeah,” he said, his voice taunting. “Go ahead. Make yourself at
home.”

“We will discuss this later.”

“We will discuss this tonight.”

I blew him another kiss and backed down the driveway. Cane jumped in his Denali and followed me to the freeway, before turning right when I turned left.