He wanted to counter her…but he couldn’t.

He didn’t.

He left the café with his ring and drove to a resort town in the San Bernardino Mountains. He parked his motorcycle and found the nearest bar. Jack and Mike found him and helped him drink to forget. Then they helped him sober up and kicked his ass back to work.

In the days and weeks that followed, he was thankful Maggie had called it all off.

She was right. He wasn’t ready to marry her…he didn’t love her.

But God damn it, he didn’t know she was pregnant with his child. He would never have let her walk away had he known. He took care of his responsibilities and Savannah now topped the list.

Anger started to build in his blood. If he confronted Maggie now, who knows what he’d do.

With his truck still running, he pulled out of the parking space and decided to go home first. He needed a level head before this conversation.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The doctors extubated her mother before the three of them arrived at the hospital the next day. A new nurse walked them into her room and explained that she was groggy but coherent.

“Has she asked about us?” Jack asked.

“She asked about what happened. She doesn’t remember the accident. Which is probably a blessing.”

“Which means she hasn’t asked about us.” Katie paused outside of the nurse’s station. Jack and her father stopped along with her.

“You don’t have to go in there,” her father said.

“No. I’m not a child.”

Less medical equipment filled the room and instead of looking half-dead, Annette looked like she was sleeping.

“Annie?” the nurse called as they all breached the doorway.

Her mother responded by slowly opening her eyes. It took a few blinks before she focused on the three of them.

“Your family is here.”

“Hello, Annette,” Gaylord said.

The monitor above the bed beeped a little faster. Katie had watched the monitor for hours the day before and knew her mother’s heart rate was speeding up with their presence.

The nurse pressed a button and glanced at them. “This will have to be a short visit. Annie needs to rest.”

“We won’t be long,” Jack told her.

“Th-they told me you were here,” Annette’s scratchy voice stuttered her words.

“The hospital called the night of the accident. They said you were asking for the kids.”

Katie and Jack stood back and let their father do the talking. It seemed the two of them were paralyzed.

“I thought I was dying, Gaylord.” Even with her hoarse words, Katie could tell her mother had little to say to her father.

“The doctors say you’re doing better,” Katie found her voice.

Annette moved her gaze to Katie. “I heard. Guess this life isn’t done with me.”

No, Katie wouldn’t need that black dress quite yet.

“Why did you call for us, Mom?” Jack asked with thinly veiled anger in his voice. Now that they all knew she wasn’t dying, it was easier to return to the emotion they’d all identified with the woman in the bed.

Annette turned her head away from them, stared out the window. “If I had died, I didn’t want you to think I’ve never thought of you.” Her delivery of why she called was as cold as the woman on the bed.

“Do you think of us?” Jack asked, his jaw tight.

“I do.”

“You waited until now to tell us?”

Katie placed a hand on her brother’s arm, hoping to calm him.

“When your life flashes in front of you, like clips from a movie, you pick out things. I’m a terrible mother. I was an even worse wife.” Annette lifted her eyes to their father.

None of them corrected her.

“That’s not an excuse,” Jack said.

“I’m not making excuses, Jack. I know you think I walked away and never looked back, but that isn’t completely true. I knew your father was the better parent. That I was a failure. You both were better off with him than me. We both knew that.”

“So you gave us up,” Katie mumbled. She thought of Savannah. A poor innocent child who may have a biological mother just like Annette.

“I thought about coming back. To get to know you both. I figured that time had passed. I didn’t deserve a second chance.”

Annette blinked a few times; the medication she was on could be seen in her face. She looked worn out and used. Katie couldn’t tell if her cool demeanor was a defense or the real her.

Some of the anger burned off. Her dad’s words from their trip sounded in her head. Her being here…all of them being here was so that they didn’t have regrets. So she could say good-bye.

“Tina stopped by yesterday.”

Annette glanced up. “That’s nice.”

Katie took a deep breath. “She told me you weren’t an awful person. And I know Daddy isn’t a bad judge of character so there has to be someone in there that I might want to know someday.”

Her mother blinked several times as if deciphering Katie’s words.

She stepped closer to the bed and tilted her head. “You closed the door on being our mother a long time ago. I don’t know if that door will ever be opened again. But for some reason you thought of us, you called for us. When you’re better, if you want to pick up that phone, I’ll answer it. I’m sure we’ll fight. I’m positive I’ll call you all kinds of names for leaving me.” Tears collected behind her eyes as she ripped her heart out of her chest. “Maybe on the other side of all that, we can be friends. Or maybe we can’t. The only way you’re going to know is if you try. If you don’t want to, that’s fine with me. But, Annie…if the very next time you call me is to say you’re on your deathbed, I won’t come. I’m too old for mind games and I won’t be used.”