It was my turn to raise my eyebrows at him, indignation flaring up in my chest. Even my heart started beating faster at what he was trying to imply.
Okay, I didn’t know what he was trying to imply, but he was giving me shit for driving his kid to the hospital? Really? And had he tried to make it seem like I’d done something to make his kid end up here?
“Hey!” an unfamiliar voice called out.
We both turned to where it was coming from, and it was the Johnny man standing by the elevator bank, one hand on the top of his head.
“Why the hell aren’t you answering the phone? They think he has appendicitis but are waiting for the scan results to come back,” he explained quickly. “They’re treating his pain. Come on.”
Tobias Rhodes didn’t even look at me again before he quickly walked toward Johnny. Amos’s uncle, though, nodded at me once before leading the other man toward the elevators. They were talking quietly.
Rude.
But I guess that sort of counted as an update?
Chapter 5
Maybe it made me a creeper, but I pretty much sat by the window as much as I possibly could over the next two days. Mostly because the shop was closed on Monday. Clara had to go do inventory, and her face had turned red when she’d explained she couldn’t pay me to help her. It had only made me want to help her more, but I understood she wouldn’t be fine with it even if I offered to do it for free, so I’d kept the offer to myself. For now at least.
I’d been distracted anyway, worried about Amos and whether he was all right or not. Sure, I didn’t know him, but I still felt responsible. He’d been curled up on the porch, waiting for someone to get him and…
It had reminded me of me when my mom hadn’t picked me up from Clara’s house that terrible day. How I had called home over and over again when she hadn’t shown up at the time we’d agreed on. How I’d sat on Clara’s parents’ porch while I’d waited for her to arrive with some excuse about an emergency she’d had. Mom hadn’t always been punctual, but eventually she had always gotten there.
One little tear had popped up into my eye at the memory of the days after she’d disappeared.
But just like every other time, I wiped it away and kept going.
My original plan for the day had been to go on a practice hike I’d seen online closer to Bayfield, the next nearest town, but the urge to make sure Amos was all right had seemed more important. Even Yuki had texted asking for an update. I didn’t have one other than what I’d overheard the day at the hospital, and that was what I’d shared.
I also had his phone, which had vibrated on and off until the power had eventually gone dead earlier.
I’d almost given up hope of him coming home while I was reading a book I’d picked up at the grocery store, when the sound of tires on gravel came in through the open window. I got up and spotted a Parks and Wildlife pickup truck followed by a hatchback.
A familiar figure jumped out of the truck, and out of the car, another long, male figure came out. They both rounded the other side of the car and, after a moment, helped a much smaller person out. They sandwiched him between them as they disappeared into the house, and I was pretty sure I heard them bickering as they did.
It was Amos.
Relief tickled me right in the chest.
I wanted to go ask him in person if he was fine, but… I was going to wait.
Well, unless Mr. Rhodes came over and kicked me out. At least I hadn’t totally unpacked my things yet. Just a few days ago, I’d gone to the laundromat and refilled my suitcase with clean clothes.
At the main house, every light inside seemed to get flipped on.
For about the tenth time, I wondered about a mom or wife figure. No one had come by the house. I’d had the windows open and hadn’t slept all that great; I would’ve heard someone on the driveway. Amos hadn’t asked me to call his mom either yesterday.
But hadn’t his dad mentioned something about her the first day?
Either way, Amos was lucky to have a dad and an uncle that would rush to the hospital to be with him; I hoped he knew that. Maybe his dad was strict… and maybe not the friendliest person on the planet, but he loved him. Loved him enough to blame me for some dumb shit. To genuinely worry about his safety.
I sniffled, feeling a little heartsick suddenly, and picked up my phone. It rang once before there was an answer.
“Ora! Any news?”
There was a reason why I loved Yuki—and her sister—as much as I did. They were good people with enormous hearts. I knew how busy she constantly was, and it didn’t stop her from always being a call or a text away.