Page 99 of Coming Up Roses
“Tilly’s mum?” I ask, the pieces of the puzzle slottingtogether. I decide against mentioning Max Sheridan, who I assume is Clarissa’s son.
“That would be me,” Clarissa says with a smile. “She told me about her new job at the function centre. She’s very excited about it.”
“I am too. She’s a natural when it comes to customer service.”
“She’s a good kid. Spends lots of time with me, unlike some others I know.” Clarissa ruffles Flynn’s hair.
He groans. “I know, I know. I’m sorry. I’ll visit more. Do you give Hunter shit about it?”
“You bet I do.” She turns her focus to me. “I’m going to get the doctor to come and see you again. I think miss Sadie might be ready to go home.”
I thank Clarissa and she heads out of the room.
“She seems nice,” I say to Flynn, who’s already lowered his head back to the mattress.
“She is,” he says, voice muffled. “Violet and Clarissa were my mum’s best friends.”
This time I let myself reach out and brush my hand over his hair. He startles at the touch, then stays tense. “Every time I learn something about your mum, I think how she must have been the coolest person ever.” I withdraw my hand, placing it carefully along my thigh and pressing down into the muscle to fight the urge to continue touching him.
“She really, really was.”
We lapse into silence, the usual hospital noises the only thing between us. My phone vibrates in my back pocket and I shuffle until I canget it free.
A text from Dallas. I should have messaged him hours ago, when Sadie first got sick, but I didn’t want to ruin his weekend. He so rarely gets to spend time with just him and Katie.
I slide off the bed as I read the message.
Dallas:
Just checking in to see how your day was. Give Sadie a kiss goodnight for me.
“I need to call Dallas,” I say quietly and Flynn raises his head, nodding. “Are you okay to stay with Sadie?”
“Of course,” he says, voice soft. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, then head down the hall, looking for a quiet spot where I can call Dallas and confess.
Confess that I couldn’t look after Sadie without help.
Confess that his faith in me was misplaced.
I hit call on his name before I can chicken out.
“Abi?” he says after only one ring. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” I say. “Mostly. It is now.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Sadie’s sick,” I say, forcing my voice to remain steady, or at least not crack and break. I take a deep breath.
“Do I need to come home? Or have you got it handled?”
“No,” I say. “I mean. No, you don’t need to come home. But I wanted to let you know what happened. She was throwing up all afternoon. Flynn brought us to the hospital and she’s doing heaps better now. The nurse thinks we’ll be able to go home soon but she’s just checking with the doctor. She just needs to rest and rehydrate.”
“Okay, thank you for calling,” Dallas says, his voice calmthrough I can detect a tiny thread of worry in there. “We’ll come home first thing in the morning, but let me know if you need me there sooner.”
“It’s alright, I think we’re okay now,” I say, the control I have on my voice beginning to crumble.
