Page 152 of Here With Me

“Jase hasn’t shown up yet?” she asks.

“No. I’m worried about him. But I’ve done everythin’ I can think of from callin’, textin’, askin’ his work, and checkin’ at his apartment.”

“The sheriff’s out lookin’ for him, too. I’m sure they’ll find him.” Momma’s kind eyes reassure me.

When I told Dad Jase wasn’t answering his phone and wasn’t home, he alerted Sheriff Wagner.

“I know ya don’t wanna leave Fisher’s side, but what about tonight? You can’t sleep in that chair.” Momma frowns. “I can set up the sofa for ya.”

“I’ll ask that hot doctor out there for some blankets and pillows,” Gramma adds.

That makes me chuckle.

“Sure, but no guarantee I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”

Momma stands, rubs a hand over my shoulders, and pats down my messy hair, then rearranges the room.

“Can ya at least push it closer to his bed?” I ask, not wanting to even be that far away from him.

“I’ll move it as close as I can. You don’t wanna block the nurses’ path to get to him if they need to,” she says.

The nurses come in hourly, check his vitals, tell me to be patient, then leave. His doctor has only been in once, but not much can be done until he’s awake. No news is good news in this instance.

As long as his stats are steady, he’s healing and making progress.

When Gramma Grace goes to the nurses’ station, Momma sits beside me and pats my good leg.

“I know ya love him, honey. As long as the feelings are mutual, I won’t scold y’all for lyin’ and keepin’ it a secret.” Her words are firm, but there’s a hint of a smile on her face.

My foot taps nervously against the floor as my heart tries not to beat out of my chest. I hate that I had to hide it from her.

“How’d ya find out? I mean, before now...”

I’m not even trying to hide it at this point.

“Gramma.” She chuckles. “Apparently, she’s known for a while.”

“I had a feelin’ she did.”

“She told me to take it easy on ya. Does Jase know?”

I shake my head. The thought of telling him after this worries me even more. “Fisher didn’t want it to ruin their relationship after just returnin’ in his life, so he broke things off to avoid the risk of Jase’s reaction.”

She crosses her legs and arches a brow. “So y’all are not even together right now?”

“No. Right after the fundraiser, he made his decision. I didn’t fight it because I didn’t wanna get between them. Jase was goin’ through a lot, and I didn’t want him to cut Fisher off because of me.”

“That’s very noble of you, Noah. But Jase is a big boy. He coulda handled it.”

I shrug because I’m not sure how Jase would’ve responded. “Fisher couldn’t afford to risk it. He’d already lost one child. He was tryin’ to be a good dad and put Jase first.”

“I can understand that,” Momma agrees.

“I don’t.” Gramma returns with a pillow and blanket, looking suspicious as if she stole them.

“If ya were sneakin’ around with someone, ya wouldn’t have broken up with them if it woulda upset me?” Momma asks, placing the items on the couch for me.

“If you love me, ya woulda gotten over it. Same as Jase. I’m sure he’ll feel some way about it, but eventually, he’ll come around. He seems to like ya and wants his father back in his life,” Gramma explains.