“I love you, Dad.”
“I love you too, Tristan. Now go get your warm milk and get some sleep.”
“Yes, Sir.” Standing, I turned and made my way to the door. Looking over my shoulder, I asked, “Wait, how did you know I was getting warm milk?”
Looking into my eyes he winked at me. “You used to have problems sleeping when you were about seven. Warm milk was the only thing we could give you to make you fall asleep.”
Shaking my head, I let out a small laugh before leaving and going to make my warm milk.
Once I was settled back into bed and my eyes grew heavy, I decided tomorrow I was going to talk to Ryn. I was done hiding my feelings. I was going to tell her I loved her and I prayed like hell she felt the same way about me.
STANDING, I STRETCHED MY LEGS and arms. Dropping my head back, I let the warm Texas sun beat down on me. I hardly slept last night. Lying in bed, I kept an eye on the clock. Every thirty minutes I would glance over at it. A part of me had hoped that Tristan would have snuck into the room and made love to me. Thinking about his lips on my body had the pressure growing between my legs. That hasn’t happened in a few weeks. Not since I declared that I was giving up on all men.
Joyce and Azurdee laughed about something; I glanced over their way. They both had their hands in the dirt digging up something in the garden. “Do y’all want something to drink?” I asked.
Azurdee nodded her head and stuck out her tongue. “Yes! It’s so hot for December. I’m fixin’ to melt, I swear.”
Joyce stood. “I’ll get some drinks.”
Holding up my hands, I gave Joyce a stern look. “No, you stay out here and do what you love doing, getting your hands dirty. I’ll go in and make us a few iced teas.” Giving me one of her famous motherly looks, Joyce asked, “Are you sure, Kathryn?”
“Yes. Stay out here and visit with, Dee.”
“Well, if you insist, I’ll take you up on that offer.”
Brushing off the dirt from my knees and taking my gloves off, I headed into the house. Pulling the back screen door open, I made my way to the refrigerator to get the iced tea out.
I heard a loud crash coming from Peter’s office. “Peter? Peter, are you okay?”
Setting the tea down on the island, I made my way out of the kitchen and into Peter’s office. The moment I walked into his office, something felt wrong. Looking around I saw his arm sticking out from behind the desk. Running over to the desk I saw Peter lying on the floor. “Oh my God.”
“Tristan!” I screamed. “Lark!”
I knew both boys were in the house because I had watched a sweaty Tristan walk by and say he was going to take a shower. Lark was right behind him, giving Azurdee a look that said meet me in our room in a few minutes.
Reaching down, I tried to find a pulse on Peter’s neck. “Tristan!” I screamed louder. I heard Tristan running down the stairs and into the office. I had Peter’s head on my lap as Tristan fell to the floor.
“Dad! Oh my God . . . don’t do this to us! Dad!”
Between my sobs, I said, “I can’t find a pulse.”
Lark came running in and Tristan screamed, “Call 911, Lark! Now!”
Azurdee sat next to me curled up in a ball in the hospital waiting room. I had been sitting with her for at least the last hour. Glancing up, I looked at Tristan. He was leaning over with his head in his hands as they rested on his knees. Lark sat next to his mother, holding her hand. No one talked. We all sat and waited for someone to walk through the double doors to tell us about Peter.
I’d never been so scared in my life as I was watching Tristan giving his own father CPR. At the same time, my heart hurt like it had never hurt before.
Azurdee sat up and looked at me. She asked, “Do you want some coffee?”
Nodding, I stood. “I’ll go get it. You stay here.”
Turning, I made my way out of the waiting room to the elevator. It felt as if I hadn’t slept in a week. I couldn’t even imagine how Joyce, Lark and Tristan were feeling.
The elevator opened and I slowly walked in. I felt someone come in behind me. Turning, I saw Tristan. He was standing there, staring at me. I saw the fear in his eyes and I wanted nothing more than to hold him in my arms. The door shut and Tristan hit the button for the floor that the cafeteria was on. As soon as the elevator started moving, he reached back and hit the stop button. The elevator came to a stop and I let out a small gasp.
“Tristan, why did you stop the . . .” Before I could even finish talking, he had me pined against the back of the elevator. His lips were inches from mine. My breathing picked up and my heart had all but dropped to the ground.
