Erin spun around to see a woman with teased blonde hair, staring her down. “Do I know you?” Erin asked.
“No, but you should. I’m the one who matters. Not you.”
At the hate-filled look in the woman’s eyes, a chill raced through Erin and she shivered. Despite the hair, which had to be a wig, Erin suddenly knew who she was facing. “Victoria.”
“So he has mentioned me to you!” Her eyes lit up in her face.
“Yes,” Erin murmured, realizing what she should do. “He’s spoken of you quite often.”
“Then you realize that kid of yours won’t let you hold on to him when he really wants me.”
Her throat dry, Erin forced out the words. “Cole and I aren’t together that way. He doesn’t want me. I don’t want him.”
“Liar,” the other woman spat.
Erin drew in a deep breath. She could wait for Cara to come looking for her, scream and send Victoria running, or—she reached for Victoria’s hand. “Look—”
With a vicious tug, the woman yanked her hand from Erin’s so fast, she’d had no time to get a real grip. Erin turned and screamed her brother’s name but when she spun back, Victoria was running for the back exit door. By the time Mike pushed his way through the crowd, all Erin could do was point to the half-open door.
Mike sprinted after her, but Victoria had disappeared. Her brother was furious over the entire turn of events. “And where the hell is Cole?” he asked, when he, Cara, Erin, and Sam gathered together once the excitement died down.
“When Cara picked me up, he was supposed to leave to come here right after me.” She turned to Cara. “Any luck reaching him?”
The other woman shook her head.
Erin reached for her purse and pulled out her cell phone. She was about to dial him again when she saw the message indicator. She listened to Cole’s message in complete disbelief.
“What?” Mike asked, irritation oozing from him.
“His father’s in the hospital. Jed had a heart attack.” Erin grew light-headed. Her first thoughts were of Cole and how this news would affect him. “He said he knew I was safe with Cara, and he’d be in touch when he knew something.”
He hadn’t asked her to meet him there. Hadn’t said he’d appreciate her company, or support. No, Cole being Cole, he’d chosen to face this alone.
Or so he thought. Because there wasn’t a chance in hell Erin would leave him alone at a time like this.
• • •
Cole didn’t know how to deal with his father on a good day, and today wasn’t one of those. No sooner had Cole climbed into his car than his cell rang. A nurse from the hospital had used Jed’s cell to find his IN CASE OF EMERGENCY number. Lo and behold, the old man still had Cole listed. He hadn’t, however, wanted him called, something he’d made perfectly clear when Cole entered the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. Another thing Cole didn’t know how to deal with? These feelings running through him about his father’s heart attack.
He’d never thought of Jed as mortal. In fact, he’d always thought the old man would be around to insult and torture Cole forever. But even he knew the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit—or CICU, as the nurses referred to it—meant things with his father were serious. His throat swelled at the notion.
Good thing he had his father to keep his emotions in check. When Cole walked in, Jed had gotten so worked up, the doctors asked Cole to step out because stress wasn’t good for him. Cole moved to the waiting room—a place he’d been before, when Erin had been admitted for the gunshot wound—and stared at the ceiling.
From the minute he’d received word, he’d been torn between wanting to be with Erin and needing to make certain his father would be okay. Erin, he knew, would be fine with her brother and Cara’s protection. Jed . . . he was still waiting for word. A little over an hour had passed since he’d arrived and nobody had been out to see him.
He rose, deciding he’d check in at the nurse’s station—spare Jed his presence but find out when someone would explain his father’s medical condition.
“Cole?”
He turned at the sound of Erin’s voice, surprised to see her. To his relief, Cara followed behind her, which meant Erin hadn’t run off on her own after receiving his message.
“I didn’t mean for you to leave Joe’s to come here.”
Her soft lips pursed together. “You thought you’d handle your father’s heart attack alone?”
He nodded. Of course he had.
“And you assumed I’d let you.”