But as the day wore on, as Seth was awakened and had more tests run on him than a Harvard grad, he was pretty sure her phone had died since she’d left her charging cable with him, or she was getting some much needed sleep. Both logically explained why Heart’s phone had gone straight to voicemail, why there’d been no response to his texts and phone calls.
Evening was approaching. Seth was growing restless and annoyed that he had to stay another night. He also said he needed to talk to Heart, and wouldn’t tell him why.
“How ’bout I take Stevie back to the farm,” Toby said, clasping his shoulder as Tyler walked with Steven through the hospital cafeteria to get him supper. “I can whip him up better grub than this, kick his butt on some video games, get him to bed early.”
Tyler exhaled. “You don’t have to—”
“We’re your family, bro. You’ve always looked out for us.” Toby slung an arm over his shoulder as if screwing around, discarding his empty tray on a counter, hooked him close and muttered, “How about you let Trav and me look out for you for a change.”
If you’re lucky enough to have family who cares, don’t you think you could use the help?
You don’t gotta do it all, all the time.
Tyler relented. Nodded. Toby relaxed his hold.
“You can take him home. He can see Heart and feel better about things.”
“You talk to her yet?” Toby added quietly. Stevie looked up at them. He smiled wearily at his kid and pulled out a wad of dollars from his wallet, handing them to him.
“Grab yourself a dessert, son, and pick out something for your brother.”
Steven walked off to peruse the treats, and Tyler turned to his baby bro. “No. She’s probably working.”
Toby looked at him, eyes roving over his face with something that looked an awful lot like pity, as if denial was Sharpied across his skin. Toby clasped his shoulder, slapping it, then turned toward Travis who’d been lagging behind them, texting with his surgical team to shift his cases for the next day around.
“Trav, you coming to the farm with me and Stevie?”
Travis’s dark eyes flitted to them, then back at his phone. “Naw, gonna stay for Seth’s medical consult and talk to the night doc. Ty, a colleague of mine in Houston, one of the best orthopedics specialists out this way, is gonna work Seth in for follow-up care. He’s got a clinic in Nacogdoches and his office’ll be in touch in the morn.”
“You didn’t have to. Thanks, man—”
Travis’s eyes swung from his phone to him on a stormy glare. “What the hell, Ty? That’s my nephew. Of course I had to.”
In spite of everything, Tyler’s heart clenched. He nodded once, overwhelmed by how his brothers were coming through for him. He hated that it was something so horrible that had brought them closer to him, but he was grateful that they were finally here. He slapped his hand into Travis’s and pulled him in for a one-armed hug. When was the last time he’d touched Travis, let along hugged the bastard?
But still, minutes turned to another hour.
His texts chimed, and he dove for his phone on Seth’s tray table as Travis and Seth played a round of a baseball video game on Travis’s phone. Toby’s name illuminated the screen. Not Heart’s. Disappointment sank in his gut like an anchor.
Toby:Your woman ain’t here. No trucks here except for McClintock ones and Blue Rocket.
She wasn’t there?
Tyler:She’s gotta be working. She comes in before dark.
Yet darkness fell. His texts chimed again.
Toby:Try calling her again, man. No sign of her. Steven’s freaked out and won’t go to bed. Says the house is back to “normal,” whatever that means.
Alarm spiked through him, cutting through the irrational haze of denial he’d been clinging to all day. Back to normal? As in, not Heart’s stuff everywhere?
He hit her number for the millionth time. He needed her to answer her goddamned phone. He’d been out of his mind all night and had barely slept today when Seth was wheeled away for tests. He hadn’t been thinking clearly when he’d spoken so harshly to her. Worry coiled like talons around his throat.
Her voicemail answered.
“Heart, call me,” he growled into the phone, eliciting a glance from Travis and Seth. “Toby and Steven are worried. I need to know you’re okay.”
But the house was quiet when he arrived home the next evening after Seth’s discharge.