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“You didn’t give me a choice. Why would you make me your medical proxy?”

“Because no matter how much you hate me, you would make the right decision. Whether you admit it or not, we’re a lot alike.”

“I’m nothing like you,” she protested. “I don’t lie to the ones I love. I don’t walk away from the people who are important to me. I don’t put my life in danger for the thrill of it. I don’t make decisions that put my loved ones in danger. I don’t keep secrets from the people I’m closest to.”

“I never wanted you to know, but now that you do, you know I didn’t have a choice. I had to protect you.”

“And yet I’ve been shot at and almost abducted because of you and your secrets.”

He jerked in surprise. He reached out a hand to touch her, but she backed away. “Reagan. What happened?”

“I’ll get your doctor.” She retreated before he could stop her again.

Reagan stopped short of running into Alex still standing guard outside the room. The sudden halt threw her off balance, but Alex braced her with hands on her elbow. He only released her to ask her in ASL if she was alright.

“It’s English.”

She heard the sound of boots squeaking against the floor and knew before she turned toward the sound that it meant the boys had found her.

“What about English?” Jackson demanded, and Reagan met his angry gaze.

“He’s awake.”

Chapter Nineteen

Reagan paced a hole in the floor in front of the vending machines. Or at least that’s the old Southern euphemism her mother would use if she could see her daughter moving so much over the same general area.

“Mom, he heard me,” she said into the cell phone, glad no one decided to visit the vending area. “I told him what a loser I thought he was, among other things, and he heard it all.”

“Reagan, I don’t understand why you’re upset. You went there wanting to tell him exactly what you told him.”

“Mom, I yelled at a man who had not only been in a coma but also had life threatening brain surgery.” She smacked the palm of her free hand against her forehead. “I’m a horrible person.”

“Did he call you a horrible person? Because if he did, I can have Randall down there ASAP to set him straight.”

Reagan couldn’t help herself. She smiled. “I appreciate the sentiment, but no, he didn’t say that. He’s not exactly in a position to judge me. I’m judging myself plenty.”

“Well, you can stop. If English is the man I remembered, he can take whatever you had to say. He’s an adult who’s aware of what he’s done and what consequences come with it. I could say the same about you.”

Reagan stopped. “What do you mean?”

Traci sighed. “I mean you took off alone without saying a word to anyone. Anything could have happened to you on the way to the hospital, and from what I overheard when the boys were talking, that’s what you were hoping for. Did you even think about how it would affect me and your father if something happened to you? How could you be so reckless?”

Reagan felt sufficiently scolded. “I’m sorry. I was careful, and nothing happened. I wanted to talk to English without the boys breathing down my neck. I couldn’t wait anymore to go back to my life, but I didn’t want to until I had my say. I didn’t expect to feel so bad once I did, though.”

“Why do you want to go back now? Regardless of the fact the threat to your life is still very real, you have an opportunity to learn more about English and his boys. Aren’t you a bit curious about them? I know I am.”

“I don’t care about him or his boys. I want to go home. Dad has contacts. I’m sure he can arrange for me to have protection until we’re certain I’m no longer in danger.”

“Who do you think you’re talking to, Reagan Elizabeth? Of course, you care. You just don’t want to because you think you’ll get hurt again. I felt the same after English left us. It took me a long time to open myself up to love again. If I hadn’t, we wouldn’t have Randall in our lives. Change has always been hard for you, but change doesn’t have to be a disaster. Some of our best experiences come through change.”

“It’s more complicated than that,” Reagan insisted.

“True. Your feelings for Jackson don’t make hating English any easier.”

“My feelings? Mom, you are way off base there. There’s nothing going between me and Jackson.” Even as the words left her mouth, her cheeks flushed as she recalled the previous night — finding Jackson in her bed, feeling his hands and his mouth on her body, and giving in to the desire to touch him in return. She’d refused to remember any of it since it happened, but it all came flooding back with one innocent comment from her mother.

“Maybe there should be. He’s a nice man who obviously cares very deeply. Even Randall is impressed by him. He may have been raised by English, but he’s not English. He’s his own man. Plus, he’s very good looking.”