What I Should’ve Said
Chapter 29

Tuesday, August 24th

Bennett

Summer’s chest moves up and down as she sleeps, the oxygen tubing in her nose assuring she’s getting the breath she needs. She’s still sleeping, and thanks to the pain meds, her face is relaxed.

I hold her hand gently and lean my head into the bed beside her, trying to replace a way to get in touch with God—something, admittedly, I haven’t done in a long time.

Please, I beg. Help my baby girl. Take her pain and replace it with happiness.

My eyes feel wet as I lift my head from Summer’s side, and I startle when I replace Norah standing in the door to her room.

“I hope I’m not intruding,” she whispers, tucking the wild curls of her unbound hair behind her ears. I shake my head and stand, leaning down to kiss Summer’s hand once more before letting it go.

Norah turns for the hallway, and I follow her out. She looks absolutely beautiful today, though her eyes are tired and surrounded by big, dark circles, and the memory of her mouth on mine last night has yet to fade.

She smiles in a way that’s sad around the edges, and she rushes into my body to hug me when I make it outside the door. I don’t think twice about it. I don’t hesitate at all. I wrap my arms around her waist and breathe her in, embracing the wave of comfort that comes with the contact. When she pulls back, I feel a distinct chill.

“I hope you don’t mind that I came without calling, but I wanted to make sure you both had everything you needed and see Summer if she was awake.” She glances down at her shirt, a small grin turning her cheeks blushed. “I wore pink for her today, and well, I stopped at your house to get her sunglasses. I hope that’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay. I’m glad you came.”

Her eyes meet mine, a silent question of “Yeah?” inside them, and I pull her in for another hug before placing a gentle kiss to her forehead. “And I know Summer will be glad you’re here, too.”

“Has she been awake at all this morning?”

“No.” I shake my head. “But she’s comfortable, and she’s gotten a lot of rest, which her body desperately needed.”

“That’s good. Is there anything I can do for you, Bennett?”

I almost tell her no but decide to tell her the truth instead. “It’d be great if you hung around. I’m sure Summer will be waking up soon.”

“I’m here as long as you need me.”

As long as I need her. I try not to think too hard on the fact that I can’t picture a deadline to that promise and pull my phone from my pocket, handing it to her. “And maybe you can field some of these calls. It’s been ringing all damn night.”

When Clay called late last night to check on Summer, he updated me that Eileen Martin had gotten ahold of my number. From the number of calls I’ve received in the last few hours alone, I’m pretty sure she’s passed it around to the whole damn town.

I appreciate that Red Bridge is a tight-knit community, and there’s not a single member of it who doesn’t care, but I can’t talk to one more person without losing it.

She slides my phone into the pocket of her jean shorts. “You got it.”

“I, uh, also, tried to call my sister Breezy last night, but she sets her shit to do not disturb at night. Can you let me know if she calls?”

“Of course I can, Ben.”

I nod, trying to replace the words, but I’ll admit, I don’t have a whole lot of organized crap in my head at the moment.

“Daddy?” I hear called faintly, jolting me into awareness. I move back into the room without delay, replaceing Summer awake and blinking hard in her bed.

“Hey, Summblebee,” I greet, trying to keep my voice from shaking and failing miserably. “How are you feeling? You gave us a big scare yesterday.”

“A little sick.” There’s a small pause, and then her eyes flicker with a tiny light. “Does that mean we can get ice cream?”

I chuckle, but a deep pain is rooted in the base of it. “They usually do the ice cream thing for getting tonsils out. But yeah, I don’t see why we can’t get some ice cream.”

“Yay!” she cries with half the strength she normally does. Her gaze lifts slightly, and then she cheers at full strength. “Norah! You’re here!”

I turn to look over my shoulder, and Norah steps closer, looking to me for permission before coming all the way. I nod, a dark cloud settling over my conscience for the way I’ve treated her since she arrived in Red Bridge. All her apologies and consideration and treading lightly, even after everything she’s been through—that’s what makes her special. And all I did was mock her for it.

I have no fucking clue how she can stand me.

“I love your shirt!” Summer tells her excitedly as Norah sits down on the bed beside her.

“I hoped you would! I wore it just for you.”

“You did?”

“Uh-huh. And I also brought the new People magazine for us to flip through. You’re never going to believe the newest drama with the Housewives.”

Summer laughs. “Beverly Hills or Atlanta?”

Norah scoffs. “Pssh. What do you think?”

My phone starts ringing in Norah’s pocket, and she pulls it out to check the screen. When she turns to me, I know who it is immediately.

I reach for the phone from her and signal that I’m going to step out into the hall as I answer, “Hey, Breezy.”

“Dear brother. I sure hope you have a good reason for calling me in the middle of the night—”

“Breeze, it’s Summer,” I cut her off, stopping her before she can say something she’ll regret. Her tone changes in an instant.

“What? What happened, Ben?” she asks, her voice a ghost of its usual domineering tone.

“She had a respiratory episode yesterday. She turned blue, Breeze, because of the deterioration around her lungs. There’s no support there anymore, and it’s getting harder and harder for her to breathe. We’re in Burlington now. Dr. Brock is supposed to be here shortly to go over where we are.”

“Oh, Ben. I’m so sorry.”

I choke on emotion and have to clear my throat to continue talking. “What am I gonna do, Breezy? How am I gonna—”

“You’re going to take it one thing at a time, Ben. Spend time with your little girl and soak her in while you can. I’m going to get everything sorted here in the next few days, and then I’m going to come up there and help you in any way I can.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t have to, but it’s what family does. Not our family because they’re all fucked up, but you and I, Ben, we’re real family. And I’ll be there. I just need a few days to get things covered here.”

“Thanks, Breeze,” I say and start to head back toward Summer’s hospital room.

“Do you feel like hearing some good news?” she asks, and I can tell by the firm tone of her voice she’s switched the conversation to business.

Normally, I’d tell her to fuck off with the shoptalk, but when I peek open Summer’s hospital room door and replace her and Norah looking at a magazine, I decide a little good of anything right now wouldn’t hurt. “Sure.”

“I have twenty buyers for your painting,” she updates as I gently close Summer’s door again and lean my back against the wall of the hallway. “And it’s only twenty because I’ve only told twenty clients about it.”

I guess Breezy wasn’t lying when she said she was fielding daily calls from people wanting a painting of mine. I should probably consider myself lucky my sabbatical hasn’t hurt my reputation.

“The highest offer I have right now is five mil,” she continues. “But I’m going to let this baby go to a bidding war. Make them work for it.”

“Still a shark, I see.”

“In business? Always.” Her voice lightens with humor. “Add in the fact that profits help my brother and niece? I’m out for blood.”

“Okay, well, keep me updated, then. And let me know when you’re heading our way.”

“I will, but before you go, I need you to do one thing for me.”

“Yeah?”

“Look at the list of potential buyers and make sure you’re okay with them.”

“Afraid I’m going to burn another Lambo if you sell it to some prick the old Bennett Bishop hates?”

All she does is laugh. “I’m emailing it to your phone. Can you look at it now and call me back?”

I almost tell her to fuck off with the demands of now, but when I look around at my surroundings, I’m reminded of Summer’s current situation. “Fine.”

Anything I can do to help my daughter, I’ll do it.