Accidentally Family (Pecan Valley 1)

“Where’s Mom?” Nick asked.

“She went to the bathroom,” Honor said. “Is that for me?” she asked, reaching for the soda.

“Nope,” Nick argued.

“Share?” she asked.

Nick sighed, offering her the bottle.

Felicity came in, her face scrubbed free of makeup and her long hair pulled back into a ponytail. She looked young. And like she’d been crying.

“Coffee?” she asked, taking the cup from Nick with a smile. “Perfect.” She sipped the black coffee, her face revealing nothing. She walked to the head of the bed and stared down at the toddler. “He looks so much like you, Nick. It’s…amazing.” She smiled at them. “You were never this still, of course. Even when you were sleeping, you’d toss and turn and make noise.” She sipped her coffee again, wrapping one arm around her waist. “It’s cold in here, isn’t it? Do you think he’s cold?”

Honor leaned forward, resting her hand on Jack’s arm. “He feels okay, Mom.”

Graham couldn’t begin to imagine what Felicity was thinking or feeling. He’d lost his wife, Julia, but they’d all known it was coming. There had been no loose ends or messes to clean up. He lost her knowing she loved him, that she knew he loved her. It hurt so much that he’d wanted to die for a while, but from missing her—not from things left unsaid.

This was nothing like that.

Matt had destroyed his family, willfully putting them all through hell. And now he would leave them with a reminder of that.

Felicity stood, all five feet, two inches of her, with no sign of buckling. She’d gone to the bathroom, had her cry, and pulled herself back together. He didn’t remember much about the weeks leading up to Julia’s passing, but he was certain he hadn’t handled it half so well.

“Sorry, no cream.” He nodded at her coffee.

She stared into the cup. “I didn’t even notice.” Her blue eyes met his, held. “Thank you, Graham.”

There were tears in her eyes. And damn but he wanted to hug her then, to tell her they’d survive this, that things would go on, even with a hole in the heart.

“Dad?”

Graham turned to find his daughter peeking in the door. “Hey, Diana, you okay?”

She pushed off the door, her smudged gaze sweeping the room. “Yeah. I guess. Hi, Mrs. Buchanan. Hi, Nick. Honor. Guess tonight is totally sucking for you guys. I-I’m sorry.”

Felicity was hugging his daughter before he realized she’d moved. “Thanks, Di. ‘Sucking’ is exactly the right word.”

Graham saw the look on his daughter’s face, saw the yearning when Felicity drew her close. So why did she keep him at arm’s length? And why wouldn’t she let him call her Di anymore? It didn’t matter. He wanted her to have affection, even if he couldn’t be the one to give it to her.

“Can I…I don’t know…do anything?” Diana glanced at Nick, then Honor.

“We’re watching a marathon jewelry sale on the Spanish channel,” Honor said. “Come on in.”

Diana brushed past him, barely acknowledging his presence now that she’d been welcomed in. “Heard anything?” Diana asked, resting her hands on the footboard of Jack’s hospital bed.

“No, just waiting,” Honor said, scooching over in the hospital chair. “Wanna sit?”

“You graduated tonight, didn’t you? You look great. I like your hair,” Diana said, sitting close to Honor. “Man, that’s got to be great. Getting out of here. Freedom. All that.”

“Yeah.” Honor’s smile was tight, her gaze wandering to her mother and then to Jack. “Sort of forgot.”

“Right. Yeah. Crap. Well… The accident is all over the news, you know? I don’t understand why they don’t put more lights out there on that road.” Diana sniffed, her attention on Jack. “Poor little guy.”

Graham agreed. The strip of road curved sharply along the edge of a hill, with minimal visibility. This wasn’t the first fatal accident on that stretch of road, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

“Do you know what happened? I mean, what’s the news saying?” Honor asked, shooting him a nervous glance.

“Just that they swerved into oncoming traffic.”