She bit into the donut and groaned. “Totally worth minor injuries to the fingers and mouth.”
Jed polished off his first donut in three bites. He drank some coffee and ate his second donut with more control. Nora had already finished hers.
Seeing that he was grinning at her, Nora said, “Before I devour number three with no regrets, would you tell me how you’re doing? And how your mom’s doing?”
“She’s much better. I am too.” Jed studied his palms as he spoke. “The whole thing was a nightmare. Mom went downhill so fast, and there was nothing I could do to help. I hated standing around, hoping and waiting. I was useless. That made me angry. And I felt guilty too.” He looked at Nora. “I knew you couldn’t drop everything and leave, but that didn’t stop me from asking. I guess I was desperate to control something. Anything or anyone.”
“That makes sense.”
Jed leaned over the table. “The nurses on my mom’s floor wanted to kill me. I pissed off all of them acting like I knew their job better than they did. Instead of showing them respect and supporting their decisions, I questioned and harassed them. I was such a jackass.”
Nora stayed quiet and waited for Jed to let it all out.
“I was even worse with the doctors. I accused them of being patronizing snobs or of being too focused on their golf handicaps to give my mom the best care.” Jed glanced at the ceiling. “There aren’t enough gift baskets in the world to make up for how I acted.”
Nora said, “You could send them a truckload of donuts. They can’t get these on the coast. No apple orchards.”
Jed tried to smile, but it turned into a grimace. “Mom’s all I’ve got, Nora. She’s my family, and I thought she was going to die. I was so terrified of losing her that I lost it. Things I thought I’d dealt with years ago came bubbling to the surface, making me act in a way that I’m not proud of.”
Nora reached across the table and squeezed Jed’s hand, inadvertently leaving a deposit of cinnamon sugar on his skin.
He glanced from the sugar crystals sparkling on Nora’s nails to her lovely face. Because she wore no makeup, the surgical scars near her hairline and the puckered burn scars on her neck were more noticeable. To Jed, the scars added character, as did the laugh lines radiating from the corners of her luminescent eyes.
“I have some work to do so that this doesn’t happen again. I’ve also got to make amends to the people I treated like crap.” Jed took a firmer hold of Nora’s hand. “Starting with the most important person. I’m sorry, Nora. I shouldn’t have asked you to do the impossible, and I shouldn’t have given you the silent treatment afterward. I was a jerk, and I will bring you donuts every day until you forgive me.”
Nora smiled. “You’re forgiven. And I’m sorry that I couldn’t be there to support you. I’m sorry that you were scared and that your mom was so sick in the first place. I’m thrilled that she’s better, and I’m thrilled that you’re home.” Her smile faded. “When you showed up last night, I was still in shock. You’ll understand when I explain everything, but I wasn’t able to tell you how happy I am that you’re back. I missed you.”
Jed stood up and pulled Nora to her feet. “I know you have things to tell me, and I definitely want to hear every word, but there’s something I’m dying to say to you right now.”
Unable to resist the playful gleam in his eyes, Nora said, “Go for it.”
Jed ran a finger through the dusting of cinnamon sugar on Nora’s plate and then traced Nora’s lips with his sugar-coated fingertip.
Wrapping his arms around her, Jed murmured, “Gimme some sugar.”
Nora laughed. At that moment, with Jed holding her and the sunshine streaming in through the windows, Nora felt like she’d regained her balance. Everything was going to be okay. A killer would be brought to justice. Miracle Books would no longer be the target of a smear campaign. And she and Jed would pick up where they’d left off.
With the sugar crystals on her lips twinkling like stars, Nora closed her eyes and kissed her man.
*
“When I turned around, Beck was standing in the doorway,” Nora told June, Estella, and Hester later that night. She took a quick sip of water before finishing her story. She’d talked without pausing for the past thirty minutes or more, and her mouth was dry. “He was holding a piece of cloth and he had this look in his eyes that made me feel, well, like he was a wolf and I was a lemming.”