Page 45 of Distant Shores (Stapled Magnolias #2)

IRELAND

T here was something very off about today, and I had a feeling the two notes waiting for me this morning in the empty, quiet house on Camellia Lane were connected to it.

The first was on the bathroom mirror above my sink.

When my time comes, bury me in the sand with my toes pointing toward the sea

Ireland Indigo Sewell,

IOU cappuccino(s)

P.S. Consider this a standing voucher for however many I might miss

-Adair

The second was on the kitchen table, a set of keys sat where my cappuccino usually waited for me.

Waves whisper secrets to patient shores

Use the Jeep whenever you need. Or want.

P.S. I insist

P. P. S. Please?

-Adair again

Based on the vibe of the saying printed on top of both notes, Adair had opened a new pack of sticky notes. He must have used up the others.

I shook off the feeling of dread easily enough for the first half of the day. Breakfast with Dad in the cafeteria helped, but I’d been so restless at the start of it that he’d slid his crayons over to me, then corrected my shading technique on the ballet shoes I’d been drawing on a napkin.

It was a good memory, and I’d smiled when he’d slipped the napkin into his pocket. He’d probably forget it was there by the time he got to his morning physical therapy, but it still felt nice.

Ari had also been enthusiastic about my progress with the 90s-style glamor-shot fundraiser we’d decided on, clapping her hands together with a smile as we dug in to the planning together at the Locc.

But when I boarded back to Miss Lenny’s house to give her pets a potty break—she was on a day trip visiting her new boyfriend— Adair’s Jeep parked in the driveway next door bothered me.

A lot.

Could he just be having a morning off? There was no reason for me to know that wasn’t the case, but it just didn’t ring true.

After closing up Miss Lenny’s house, the lock fighting me worse than ever, I noticed a package outside our front door. Tucking my board under my arm, I strode across the lawns between the houses, my lips twitching when I spotted the logo printed on the outside of the box.

Delly’s longboard had finally arrived. She was going to be thrilled, and I was looking forward to seeing her face the first time she rode it successfully.

I pulled out my phone and texted her a photo of it, then typed a message.

Longboard lessons this weekend?

She didn’t reply immediately, but she was working, so that tracked. Unless she’d gone with Adair to wherever he was… without his Jeep….

My thoughts trailed off, and I bit my lip.

I should’ve asked more about Wilbur’s absence this morning, too, but Dad wasn’t sure where he was, and I hadn’t pressed him or asked around.

It wasn’t my place.

Knowing Adair’s whereabouts every minute of every day wasn’t either.

God , I hated this.

By the time the sun was starting to set, I was pacing. My stomach was rumbling, hunger from a long day of dancing and running around Live Oak warring with my nerves.

Eventually, there was a low rumble of an approaching car, the sound growing until it stopped in front of the house.

I took two quick steps toward the front door, but then clenched my fists and forced myself to continue at a normal, rational pace.

Peeking out the kitchen window, I watched as Delly jumped out of the back seat of a Bronco, looking harried as she argued with someone I couldn’t see .

The passenger door swung open, and a swaying, alarmingly pale Adair was there, looking like he was about to face-plant onto the pavement.

What the hell?

I yanked open the front door, and my bare feet barely kissed the front lawn’s grass as I ran to him.

I was just in time to take his full weight as he tipped out of the Bronco. Grunting, I wrapped my arms around his middle, drove my feet into the ground, and pushed off from them, heaving him back into the seat.

Sitting sideways with his legs out of the car, his head lolled onto the headrest. I kept my hands braced on his shoulders, half in the car with him as I looked him over.

His glasses were missing, his messy hair was extra messy, and he was in a plain T-shirt and basketball shorts.

He also had a brand-new blue cast on his left foot.

“Adair…,” I said, squeezing his shoulder. “What happened?”

He squinted at me and slurred, “Indigo?”

“Oh my God, is he okay?”

Delly’s voice barely breached the ringing in my ears, and I kept my eyes firmly on Adair.

“Do you want to go inside now?” I asked him gently.

He squeezed his eyes shut and inhaled, turning almost green as he whispered, “ Please .”

Stomach in knots, I glanced over my shoulder, taking in Delly and the tall, blond guy beside her.

“Cole?”

He stepped around Delly. “That’s me, babe.”

Adair swatted outside the car and grumbled something unintelligible at his friend. Turning my attention back to him, I saw that his eyes were closed and his head was lolling again .

I removed my hand from his shoulder and pinched his chin between my fingers.

“Adair,” I said firmly, softening my expression when his hazel eyes opened. “You need to work with us a little to get out of here. Cole is going to get one side, and I’ll get the other, okay?”

He made a pitiful noise that was something like agreement, and I turned back to Cole and Delly, neither of whom I was impressed with at the moment.

“Delly, can you grab whatever meds they sent him home with and then go open the front door and the door to your brother’s room?”

She nodded, throwing a worried glance at Adair before hurrying off to the house, apparently forgetting the first part of my request.

But Cole jumped into action, thankfully, talking soothingly to Adair as he hoisted him back out of the Bronco carefully.

I tucked myself under Adair’s other arm, cursing his height while thanking years of dance for my thigh muscles as we carefully walked him between us to the house.

Delly would have to come back and close the Bronco door. No way was I going to compromise our balance to kick it shut.

By the time we got inside, Adair was fully green, taking shallow breaths like he was holding onto the contents of his stomach for dear life.

Delly was waiting for us in the kitchen, still in her scrubs from her workday.

Just another piece of the whatever-the-hell-happened-today puzzle.

“Delly, grab him a big bowl from the kitchen and put it on his bed. Then go shut the car door, please, and get the meds. ”

She nodded and hurried off.

Cole followed my lead as we guided Adair to his bedroom and got him sitting on the bed. He leaned forward with his elbows on his thighs and dropped his head into his hands. His back rose and fell with deep, shuddering breaths, and Cole sat beside him, rubbing his back with a grimace.

Adair was tall enough that even sitting down like this, I was only a few inches taller than him.

“Feeling pretty shitty, huh?” Cole asked in a soft voice, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

Adair took one more deep breath, but it sounded like a struggle. Then he ran both hands through his hair and looked up at me.

“Hi,” I said gently. “What happened?”

“Had a little procedure to fix my ankle,” he said, his voice hoarse. “And I think my best friend might be a moron.”

“You mean Cole?” I asked, as if he wasn’t sitting right there. “He might be, but I’m reserving final judgment for now. Seems like you both had a stressful day.”

We both looked over at Cole, who stuck his lip out in a pout. “Guys….”

“Oh God,” Adair groaned, squeezing his eyes shut and slapping his hand over his mouth.

“Delly!” I called just as she rushed into the room with a plastic popcorn bowl.

She froze when she saw Adair, and I had to yank the bowl out of her hands to get it under him just in time for him to dry heave over it.

When I looked back at her, silent tears were streaming down her cheeks, and her chin was wobbling. Cole’s eyes widened as he looked from her to Adair .

Jesus. They were both completely flustered. Had something gone wrong?

The idea made every part of me ache with so many different emotions, I couldn’t even start to name them.

I met Cole’s eyes and tilted my head toward the bedroom door. “Can you and Delly go get his water bottle? It’s on the kitchen counter. And maybe find his glasses too?”

Cole carefully got up from the bed without jostling Adair and ushered Delly out of the room without a word.

He heaved one more time, and when nothing came out, he took another shuddering breath and set the empty bowl on the bed.

“This is so much worse than I expected,” he confessed, his eyes bloodshot when he opened them again. “I’m so sorry, Indy.” He squinted at me, then huffed irritably. “I hate not being able to see you.”

My stomach, which was still knotted in a fist, loosened a little at the admission.

“Indy, huh?”

“Yeah…,” he said, drawing out the word.

“Do we need to get this elevated or something?” I asked, gesturing to his left foot.

“Yeah,” he repeated. With one more deep inhale, he braced his arms behind himself and tried scooting backward, letting out a pained grunt.

“Nope,” I said, catching him by the shoulders to stop him. “Let me help.”

He looked ready to argue, so I stared him down, showing him how serious I was, so close now to him that I could see the threads of brown and gold in his eyes.

“Okay,” he agreed eventually, licking his dry lips.

He looked like he’d been through absolute hell.

Looking between his bulk and the bed, I thought about the best way to do this. With a shrug, I slipped my hand under his thigh, trying to keep my touch clinical despite the flex of his strong muscles and the feel of his warm skin, and swiveled him so his back was to the headboard.

He grunted in surprise, but followed my lead as we got his legs up onto the bed with slow, careful movements.

Reaching over him, I heard his quick inhale just as I grabbed the only extra pillow left on the bed, then I quickly slid it under his cast.

His exhale was long and slow, and when I looked back at him, his cheeks finally had some color.

“Are you in pain?”

He shook his head to deny it but stopped partway through, shoulders slumping. “Yes.”

“Do you have a meds schedule?”

He nodded. “I’m pretty sure it’s written in my discharge notes.”

“Hmm,” I said, adjusting the pillow under his cast. “It needs to be higher, doesn’t it?”

He hummed in agreement, then tapped his chest. “Above my heart.”

My gaze fixed on that small movement, on his long, strong fingers as they pressed against his chest.

“You do that. You do that to me.”

Shuffling steps snapped me out of the memory, and our eyes met briefly before I broke away and made room for Delly.

She walked right up to him with his water bottle in hand, Cole in tow, and lifting a takeout straw in her other hand with a flourish. She unwrapped it and stuck it inside the bottle, then held it to his lips.

We all watched as the straw disappeared, sinking below the lip of the bottle.

Delly huffed and fished it back out, only for it to fall right back down.

She smiled sheepishly, looking like she was caught between laughing and crying, her face still red from the earlier tears.

Adair took the bottle from her gently and got the straw out, tossing it onto the bedside table before taking a long pull of water.

I edged into the bathroom but whipped back around at a sharp grunt of pain, then sighed when I saw Cole trying to put Adair’s glasses back on his face for him.

“Argh,” Adair grumbled, rearing back as Cole poked him in the eye with them.

I took a step back toward them, but Cole got Adair’s glasses on in his next attempt.

Leaving the doors open, I hurried into my bedroom and grabbed more pillows.

Hugging them to me, I turned to go back in but stopped myself as a wave of something fierce overtook me.

Ah.

The biggest of my emotions finally named itself now that the worry had dimmed.

Anger .

I was mad about this.

Big mad.

But I wouldn’t let that out until everyone got settled back in—Adair most of all.

But once he was feeling well enough…

Adair Jacks and I were going to have some words.