Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 86335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
“They said he was stable,” Dustin adds. “So, that’s a good thing.”
I nod, trying to push away my negative thoughts, not daring to mention that when my mom had her stroke, she slipped into a coma and never woke up.
Nate pulls me into his arms, and we sit in silence, waiting for the doctor to update us. The entire time, I pray that Cary’s outcome is different from my mom’s. That they’ll fix him up and he’ll be okay. And I don’t stop praying until the doctor comes out and gives us the good and bad news: They got the brain bleed under control. But he had clogged arteries, so it required a surgery to unclog his arteries—which is why it took them longer.
“What now?” Joanne asks.
“We’ve moved him into recovery,” the doctor says. “He’ll slowly wake up. We’ll keep him here for a few days to monitor him, and then he’s going to need to rest for at least eight to twelve weeks. No stress. Healthy eating. He’ll meet with his doctor to go over what they want him to take prescription-wise.”
“Thank you,” Joanne says. “I’ll make sure he does all of that.”
The doctor leaves, and everyone sighs, thankful that Cary is okay.
And then Joanne starts freaking out.
“He’s going to need a nurse,” she says, “and a dietician. I’ve told him for years that he needs to cut back on the high cholesterol foods. He’s going to need to exercise. He sits at that darn desk too much.” She pulls out her phone to, I assume, make a list. “I need to see about a gym membership, or maybe we can turn one of the guest rooms into a home gym. And he needs to retire.”
She glances up, and her eyes meet Nate’s. “He needs to retire,” she chokes out, fresh tears filling her eyes. “The stress of the job isn’t good for him.”
Nate nods in understanding, but doesn’t offer what we all know his mom needs. Instead, he says, “I can help Valerie learn the ropes, and Dad mentioned having some potential candidates.”
“You know how stubborn he is,” she cries. “He’s going to go right back to work.” She glances from Nate to his brothers. “We all know it. He’s going to refuse to retire, and the stress is going to kill him, and I can’t lose my husband. We’re supposed to travel. Go on cruises. He promised.”
Nate pulls me tighter into his side, not saying anything because he’s trying to put me first. But I can’t let him do that. His family needs him. They’ve been so good to me, so understanding and loving. They’ve accepted me into their life without thought.
“Nate,” I say softly, looking up at him, “I think you should step up…as CEO.”
Nate’s eyes widen. “I can’t,” he says. “I can’t do the job remotely and—”
“Your dad needs you.” I palm the sides of his face. “It will only be temporary. When your dad wakes up, the last thing we want is for him to stress out. And your mom is right. Unless you step up, he’s not going to walk away.”
“Thank you,” Joanne cries, pulling me into her arms. “Thank you, Paige. You don’t know how much this means to me. To my family.”
“Mom,” Nate says, his voice devoid of all emotion, “I need to talk to Paige…alone.”
He takes my hand in his and guides us down the hallway and out of earshot from his family. Then, he turns and faces me, his features etched with a mixture of pain and concern and—he smiles softly at me—love.
“Baby, if I step up as CEO, it will mean being the face of the company. I’ll have to stay in Dallas. It will look bad if—”
“Stop,” I say, pressing my hand to his heart. “It’s okay. It’ll only be until you get it all sorted. Besides, it will be easier to handle everything in person versus remotely.”
“I don’t want to be away from you,” he murmurs, his bright brown eyes filled with fear.
“I can call Ana. I’m sure she’ll let me work remotely. At least until I have to fly back to Rosemary for my checkup. Besides, we still have a couple months until the baby comes. That gives you time to figure out what to do.”
Nate shakes his head and then wraps his arms around me. “I love you so much. I promise I’m going to work around the clock to get this all sorted so my dad can retire and I can be back in Rosemary before the baby comes.”
“I know,” I tell him, already missing him even though he’s still right here in my arms.
But this is what his family needs, and it would be selfish of me to keep him in Rosemary when they need him here.
“I love you too,” I tell him. “We’ll get through this together. And once you get everything sorted and are able to come back to Rosemary, I don’t want you in that hotel anymore.” I look up at him, and his brows furrow in confusion. “I want you to move in with me. I’m ready, Nate. I’m ready to take the next step with you. I want to live with you. And when we bring our little guy home, I want us all under one roof…as a family.”