Chapter 26 #3
“Awe, that’s so sweet.” Tiana’s hand covering her mouth now clutched at her chest.
She also thought, for everyone’s sake, it was good Yaya had not been left out of the festivities. She, for one, would never want to be on that woman’s bad side.
“After the wedding, I asked Yaya if she knew the owner, Richard Reddick. She said she knew his dad and would take care of it. I just got into Hope Falls city limits when she dropped me a pin and told me I needed to meet her there. When I showed up, she introduced me to Dickie, as his dad calls him, who had just returned from an all expenses paid trip to Vegas, and his father, Nelson Reddick. It seems Dickie Reddick has an issue with gambling. He’s been good for fifteen years, but nine months ago he won an all expenses paid trip on a cruise that was like candy for gamblers.
Then three months ago, he won an all expenses paid trip to Atlantic City.
“His dad had no idea he was in so much trouble financially until Yaya called and asked him about Dickie selling. It took some convincing, but he agreed, verbally, to my offer. I still didn’t know if he would actually take it.
When we left, something was bothering me, though, so I had AJ look into the trips he won, and he traced them all back to Bartlett’s business manager. ”
“Brock?”
“Yeah. I don’t know how he found out about Dickie’s gambling addiction. He’d been clean for fifteen years. But he found out and exploited it so Dickie would have no choice but to start selling his assets. It was a waiting game for him to get to your property, which held the greatest value for him.”
Tiana’s head was pounding. It was too much information to take in, she honestly was just tired and wanted to go to bed. She just needed to speak to Pops.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just need to call Pops, and then I think I need to get some sleep.”
“Oh, okay, I don’t know if he’ll be up to talking.”
“Up to talking.” She stood up. “Is he sick again?”
Niko’s face blanched. “No, he’s not sick. He’s post-op.”
“Post-op. What?!”
Niko spoke to her in a calm, soothing tone that made her think she wasn’t going to like what she heard.
“Wednesday morning Dr. Best called and said the surgeon was no longer going to be in Sacramento in December, they were going to be in Pine Ridge, and there was an opening the next day. Then Pops got on the phone and said that the insurance didn’t cover it and not to bother you.
I told Dr. Best I would take care of it. ”
“You what?”
“I said I would take care of it.”
“It’s forty thousand dollars!”
“I know, it’s fine, it’s not—"
Tiana saw Niko catch himself from saying it’s not that much money, because to him it wasn’t. But that wasn’t the point.
“So, Pops just went into surgery when I was so sick I didn’t even know what day it was?!” She felt the tears streaming down her face.
“Tiana, I’m sorry, I was just trying to do—”
“What if he didn’t come out of the surgery?! What if he were gone?! I wasn’t there! I wasn’t there when he was in surgery!”
“He knew you were sick,” Niko explained calmly in contrast to my manic energy. “Yaya, Frank, Cindy—”
“They’re not me! I should have been there with him!
” Tears were now pouring out of her eyes.
She heard herself talking and reacting, and in the back of her mind, even the front of it, she knew she was being ridiculous.
This man had just nursed her back to health.
Paid for her pseudo father/grandfather’s surgery, not only ran her business but also improved it, oh, and bought the building when her villain of an ex was trying to destroy her life.
But he’d also sent Pops into surgery when she was in bed totally delirious.
She walked to the kitchen table and picked up her phone and dialed Pops’ number. It went straight to voicemail. “Shit.” She sniffed as she walked down the hallway towards the bedroom.
“Room 1406,” she heard Niko’s voice behind her, and she stopped and turned around, leaning against the wall in the hallway, needing support for her jelly legs.
Niko looked down at her, and after a few seconds, he grinned. “Hey, yeah, she’s awake and doing much better. Here, she wants to talk to you.”
Niko handed her his phone, and she noticed her hands were shaking. “Pops.”
“Hey, Tiny.”
His voice was raw and brittle, and she lost it and started sobbing.
“Hey, hey, hey, what’s wrong? What’s goin’ on?”
“I didn’t know, I didn’t know, I didn’t know”—she was gasping for air—”you were in surgery. I didn’t know.”
“Well, now ya do, and I’m out,” he said matter-of-factly. “What’s the problem?”
“I know.” She was trying to get herself together, to calm down, but she was so scared. She knew the risks of the surgery, and she wasn’t there. Her breath kept catching.
“Hey,” his voice softened. “You know what I think, Tiny?”
“What?” she sucked in a shaky breath.
“I figure this was divine intervention.”
“What? Why?”
“Well, now think about it. I’ve been out of it the past five days.
I’ve been on the good drugs. This is the first day I’m not zooted out.
If I woulda been at Golden Years knowing you were that sick in bed, and I couldn’t see ya, cause you know they wouldn’ta let me cause of my immune system.
I woulda drove myself crazy. I woulda drove everyone else crazy.
And if you woulda had to be sittin’ in that waiting room durin’ my surgery and then the four days while I was in ICU looking like an extra in The Walking Dead with tubes comin’ outta places that are exits not entrances, you woulda been worried out of your pretty head.
I figured this was God’s way of knockin’ us both out at the same time for everybody’s benefit, including ours.
It was a twofer. He knew that was the only way to get us through this, Tiny.
He had to take us both down for the count. ”
Tiana chuckled, but she still had tears coming down her eyes.
“Oh, I gotta go, Tiny, they’re here to take my picture. They can’t get enough of me here.”
Take his picture?
“I love you, Pops.”
“Love you too, Tiny.”
“Mr. Matthews, I’m Shelley from Radiology. How are you doing today?” A voice sounded in the background.
“Happy and I know it.” And then she heard Pops clap his hands twice before the phone line cut off.
Tiana pushed off the wall and walked into the bedroom, where Niko was sitting on a chair, an armchair she hadn’t seen in the bedroom before, with an ottoman in front of it. She handed him his phone.
“Thank you.”
“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I didn’t mean to—”
“I know, I know you didn’t. I’m sorry I’m so…I’m sorry.” She couldn’t even explain why she’d had such a volatile reaction to it. Other than just fear. Fear that something could have happened to Pops.
She walked over to the bed and crawled in, suddenly feeling a tidal wave of exhaustion pulling her under.
“I’ll pay you back the money for the surgery,” she said as her eyes were closing.
“You don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do. I’m paying you back.” Her lids were heavy as she blinked.
Niko’s forearms were resting on his thighs, he leaned forward watching her, and she noticed there was a pillow and a blanket beside the chair.
“Have you been sleeping in that chair?” she asked as she herself was drifting off to sleep.
She didn’t know how he responded. Her last thought was, no, there was no way he’d spent five nights in an armchair. That’s not love bombing…that’s love.