“Will she be okay?”
The doctor didn’t say anything right away as he kept his eyes on the chart he was looking at. After a moment he met her eyes again. “I’m optimistic for a full recovery, but there aren’t any guarantees. The sooner she wakes up and is able to breathe without assistance the better her chances are.”
Riley nodded and sat back down with a sigh. She couldn’t shake the feeling that this might be it for her mother. A part of her felt a modicum of relief at the thought, but the little girl she’d never had the opportunity to be felt fear at the thought of never being able to connect with the woman who’d done such a dreadful job of raising her.
“I’ll be back in about an hour or so to check on her,” the doctor said before exiting.
Riley sat there just watching her mother, wondering if she would wake up. Her head moved a couple of times, and there was a hand twitch, but her eyes never opened. She’d been there for about half an hour when Megan walked in.
“Any change?” she asked as she pulled a chair over and sat next to Riley. Riley just shook her head but didn’t look at her. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine,” Riley said.
“What did the doctor say?”
“That they would have to wait and see when she regains consciousness.” She sighed before turning her head to look at Megan. “Did you know she’s been here before?”
“No,” Megan said, and Riley could tell by her expression she was being honest with her. “I would have told you. Why didn’t anyone ever call you?”
“Apparently, she told them not to. She doesn’t want me here, so why should I stay?” Riley knew she sounded whiny, but she couldn’t help it. What kind of mother wouldn’t want her daughter to know she was in the hospital?
“Riley?” She whipped her head back toward her mother, who was watching her and Megan. It was almost impossible to understand her with the tube in her throat, but Riley managed somehow. “What are you doing here?”
“I was just wondering the same thing,” she said as she got to her feet. Megan left the bay, presumably to notify someone she was awake.
“You should leave.” Her mother was still watching her, and she looked angry. “Thank you for coming, but you don’t have to stay.”
Riley nodded in a daze, but she didn’t move. The doctor came in behind Megan. Riley knew he was talking, but she couldn’t hear anything he was saying above the pulse pounding in her ears. It was one thing to realize she wasn’t wanted there, but quite another to have her mother actually say the words to her. She turned and left, not looking back even when Megan called after her. She was done being stupid by hoping there was some way to mend the relationship with her mother.
It was glaringly obvious her mother had been right when she’d told her no one would ever want her.
Not even the woman who gave birth to her.
Chapter Four
“Haven’t seen you here in a while,” said Tyler, Vic’s best friend, who also happened to be the bartender in her favorite restaurant and bar. He set a coaster down in front of her and smiled. “The usual?”
“Yes, and keep them coming,” she said. She watched him as he turned to get the top-shelf bourbon she preferred. He didn’t come across as being gay. Most people saw him and thought he was a typical “man’s man.” He was over six feet tall, and his biceps were almost bigger than Vic’s thighs. His hair was blond and a little shaggy, and his eyes a deep blue. He tended to get a lot of attention from the women who came in, and they tipped him well.
“Tough day?” he asked as he set her drink on the coaster.
“I’m just really not looking forward to going back home for the next three weeks.”
“I can sympathize,” he said with a boyish grin. “I’m going to miss seeing your beautiful face around here.”
“I see why you get so many women’s phone numbers.” She held her glass up in a salute before taking a drink. She closed her eyes against the burn as it went down her throat to settle in her stomach. “You’re a relentless flirt.”
“I can’t help it.” He shrugged and wiped a nonexistent dirty spot on the bar. It was Thursday, but the crowds wouldn’t come until later, long after Vic was home and probably in bed. “So, you’re actually going to be staying with Mommie Dearest?”
“Crazy, right? I just can’t say no to Vanessa.”
“Well, you know I’m only a phone call away if you need a voice of sanity.”
“You may come to regret that offer.”
“I’m surprised Vera is allowing you to stay in her house.” Tyler shook his head because he knew all about how Vera felt about her. And how she felt about Vera.
“It’s only because Vanessa insisted, I’m sure.” Vic took another drink before continuing. “If it was up to Vera I wouldn’t even be allowed at the wedding, much less spending three weeks under her roof. I’ll probably spend a lot of time in the town I wanted so badly to get away from just so I don’t have to deal with her any more than absolutely necessary.”
“Does she still live there?” His emphasis on the word let Vic know exactly who he was referring to. Riley Warren.
“She did a year ago.” Vic shrugged. “She’s the one who saved Vanessa after her accident.”
“Excuse me?” Tyler said, taking a step back and placing a hand over his heart. “You never mentioned that little tidbit before.”
“It didn’t seem important in the grand scheme of things.”
“But you’ve told me everything about her. Why didn’t you reach out to her when it happened and try to set things right?”
“I’m ninety-five percent sure she doesn’t want anything to do with me or my family.” Vic downed the last of her drink and Tyler grabbed the bourbon to refill it.
“But there’s always that five percent chance she could surprise you.”
“You’re such a romantic.” Vic laughed at him. “Don’t let that get out or you’ll have more women after you than ever.”
“They can come after me all they want, but they’ll never catch me.”
“I’m sure all the single men, gay or straight, out there are thankful for that.”
“You know it.” He waved at a couple at the end of the bar and excused himself to go and wait on them.
God, how she wanted to believe his five percent theory, but she knew better than to hope Riley could possibly have any feelings for her other than contempt and hatred. And she wouldn’t blame her one bit after the way she’d been bullied in high school. Vanessa and her friends had been relentless for a few months during their senior year because they assumed she was a lesbian, and even though Vic had tried to get them to stop, she’d ended up joining in because some of them had started to think she might be gay too since she’d been standing up for Riley.
Of course she had been, but she hadn’t really been aware of it at the time. She should have been because she wasn’t interested in boys at all, but she assumed it was just the boys in Wolf Bay she’d been indifferent toward. She’d hoped college would change things for her, and it most definitely had, but not in the way she’d thought it would.