Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
“Thanks for taking the time to meet with me,” I tell Jack’s sisters as they look at me like I’m crazy.
“Are you kidding me? My kids will just be ticked that I did this while they were in school,” Savannah says with a grin.
Jack could tell I was starting to go a little stir-crazy and needed to see someone other than the physical therapists and specialists helping me properly heal.
He talked to Cami, who then blocked off the back section of Java Jive early enough that when we arrived, we had the entire back third of the adorable coffee shop to ourselves.
Jack, Theo, and Liam positioned their table so they are literally gatekeeping us, but we are far enough back they won’t hear our conversation.
It's not a total normal outing, but that’s a price that comes with being a celebrity.
Vivian rubs her very pregnant belly and grins at her sister. “We don’t necessarily need to tell them. I really don’t know if Eloise will forgive me.”
“Well, what if we scheduled a tea party with them at one of your houses and Tinsley came to that?” Cami offers and I immediately fall in love with the idea.
“Yes! Oh, we need to get the little treats from Sprinkles and mini sandwiches like a proper tea party. Oooo—Cami, you can bring a tea tray with those little tea sandwiches y’all make here. Please say we can do that,” I ask the two mothers, who laugh at my plea.
“Now they really wouldn’t forgive us if we said anything other than yes, please, let’s do that!” Savannah says as she wipes away a tear from laughing.
“When I’m fully healed, I’ll have to also come and teach them some dance moves from my last tour. Girls still do that, right? Make up dances with their friends?” I ask Cami, as the youngest here.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure they still do that.” She snickers.
A commotion at the front of the coffee shop catches my eyes, and Cami stands to go address it, but quickly turns and sits back down with a smile.
“Some photographer was trying to sneak in, but one thing I’ve found in the year I’ve been here is that Forrest Falls takes care of their own,” she says with a definitive nod.
“Who handled it?” I try to look but I can’t see past Jack, Theo, and Liam.
“That was Bill Thomas, who owns Thom’s Hardware.
He takes privacy very seriously and is also a believer in some interesting conspiracy theories.
” Cami giggles. “What? You didn’t know that a barista is basically a modern-day bartender and sometimes our customers need to talk or vent.
It’s part of the barista code.” Cami winks at me as I laugh, which thankfully is starting to hurt less, indicating the work we’re doing with my healing is headed in the right direction.
It’s going to be a while before I can do a full concert, but I’m not going to think about that today.
With everything Fiona is dealing with, I really can’t even find myself to care about my concerts or music.
It seems so petty when my friend is fighting for her life.
Yesterday, Dahlia called me to let me know the most recent update.
She said Fiona had been diagnosed with recurrent pneumonia on top of the infection she was already fighting from having it last week.
If that wasn’t bad enough, this new pneumonia diagnosis was also a result of exposure to resistant bacteria—something I didn’t realize was super common in ICUs.
Her medical team performed a respiratory culture that confirmed the presence of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA, which is a heaping pile of bad news on top of an already really shitty situation.
Dahlia told me that her sister’s body was already struggling to fight the first infection, and a hospital social worker came by to talk to her about her plans if things don’t improve.
This morning, while I made coffee in Jack’s kitchen, Dahlia called me again while Jack was upstairs in the gym, and I barely kept it together enough to finish the brief phone call.
The recurrent infections were proving to be too much for Fiona’s body, and on top of everything else, the medical team told Dahlia that Fiona now also has sepsis.
Cami heard me sobbing and came running. I was on the verge of a panic attack when I got off the phone—which in addition to being really annoying when my anxiety flares up is now exceptionally painful trying to take a deep enough breath with my aching ribs.
But Cami was there and she walked me through an exercise to find my breath.
She was such a comforting presence; it’s like she knew exactly what I needed before I even did.
After I calmed down, it led to an unexpected heart-to-heart with Jack’s youngest sister.
I may be more than a decade older than her, but it felt like she was the older and wiser one during that conversation, reminding me more than once that I was safe, and she wasn’t referring to physical safety.
She didn’t have to. She just made space for me to be, with all my messy emotions and fear.
Instead of judging me, Cami just sat with me in my mess and helped me breathe.
That’s how Jack found us when he got back from the gym—sitting on his kitchen floor, leaning against the island, having a heart-to-heart after a near panic attack.
“Yeah, I can see that, especially with you. You just give off those vibes that people can open up to you,” I tell her as I reach over and squeeze her hand—a silent acknowledgement for what she did for me earlier today.
“I can see that, for sure,” Savannah chimes in as Vivian nods.
We have a lovely coffee date, and I even manage a few almost-pain-free laughs until suddenly, Liam and Jack damn near jump up and rush to my side. “We need to leave—now. Theo, take Savannah and Vivian to your car. If you can’t get through the crowds out front, wait until Walker arrives.”
“Why is my husband coming here?” Vivian looks around, just as confused as the rest of us.
“There’s a small crowd gathering out front and…” Jack doesn’t want to tell me, let alone look at me.
“What is it?” I demand.
“Rick is out there. He’s making statements to the press and doing an impromptu interview.” Jack’s face is controlled but his eyes reveal his fury. Cami jumps up and runs over to talk to her boss before coming back and gathering her things with the rest of us.
“He can’t be here. I still have an order of protection against him.” My tone is lifeless, but my blood has already gone cold at the mention of his name.
“Jett is the one that alerted me. He already called the Sheriff, but I don’t think he’s technically violating it unless he comes in here while you are here.
So, we will be going out the back and leaving as soon as Sheriff Eddie shows up, which should be about …
now.” Liam signals Jack and we start moving.
“I’m sorry about this, ladies. Really, I appreciated you coming out so much.” I try to properly thank them, but my brain is partially offline. How did Rick know I was here?
The online gossip sites.
They’ve been ripping me apart for being heartless in the wake of Roman’s death. Jack has tried to protect me, but I’ve looked at them enough to keep a pulse on what’s being said about me—and plenty of it is downright awful.
However they found out I was in Forrest Falls, they’ve now brought the asshole right to my front step—or to Java Jive’s front step. Cami follows Jack, Liam, and me out the back door.
As we get into Liam’s car, I turn to Cami. “Don’t you need to stay and finish your shift?”
Cami shakes her head and reaches for my hand. “Nope, I’m exactly where I need to be.”
I’m not used to people putting me first, but I’m really grateful that Cami is here—even as we run away from the devil himself.