Page 112 of Ridin' True

“Now, I can’t see how you could possibly forget, but today’s about Lowe, not you,” he continued. “How ‘bout we get on with the party?”

Nicole glared at Jed before she huffed out a sigh and turned her back on us. “Ax, come on. Girls, it’s time for presents,” she hollered.

I smiled up at Jed, he winked down at me, and we trailed after the kids into the party room.

My gift, the complete box-set of theChronicles of Narniaby C.S. Lewis was a hit. When Marlowe crossed the room to hug me, I made sure to avoid looking in Nicole’s direction and chose to enjoy Lowe’s affection instead.

We stayed at the party for about another hour, then left knowing we’d get to see the kids again in less than twenty-four hours. It was late afternoon when we arrived back at the house, which meant we had a couple of hours before we were due at mami’s for dinner. I had a few ideas as to how we could spend that time, and I was getting ready to make my first suggestion when I was interrupted by a phone call.

We were still in the garage when I extracted my mobile from my purse and saw it was Bella calling. Thinking she might have something to tell me about tonight, I didn’t think twice before I answered.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Lexi, it’s Alejo.”

I froze, the agony in her voice instantly filling me with terror.

“What? What do you mean?”

“Uh—Felix, he called. And—um…”

She was crying, and I still didn’t know why, but now I was crying, too.

“Bella! Spit it out!”

“He found him—he was—he was overdosing.”

“Wh—what?” I barely managed, suddenly unable to pull in a full breath.

“He called an ambulance. He’s on his way to the hospital now. I don’t—I don’t know anything else. We’re on our way.”

“Okay. Okay—me—me, too.”

I didn’t disconnect the call, but I couldn’t hold the phone up a second longer. My arm fell to my side, and then I was going down, too. Except, I didn’t make it to the floor—Jed’s arms catching me as I fell.

“Oh, my god,” I cried, grabbing a fistful of his shirt. “Oh, my god. Oh, my god.”

All at once, I was shoved into the darkness of my absoluteworstnightmare.

“Lex—talk to me,” called Jed softly.

“Alejo. He’s—he’s—” I couldn’t say it. Just the thought that he could be dying was enough to break me. “Jed,” I breathed. “He can’t die. He can’t die.”

“Shit,” he muttered, his arms tightening around me. “Where we goin’, darlin’?”

“Hospital.”

It was Jed who got me up and into the passenger seat of his SUV. He ran inside to grab the keys, and then we were gone. We were at the hospital ten minutes later. While I managed to gain control of my breathing, there was no stopping my tears or calming the tremble in my hands. As we made our way inside, Jed laced his fingers between mine, and I held onto him as hard as I could.

The emergency room was busy, and I didn’t know where to go. I looked for mami or Bella, but it was Felix I spotted first. I started in his direction but then stopped when I heard her voice.

“Wrangler? Alexia, what are you doing here?”

As soon as I caught her eye, Jenna hurried toward us.

“What’s going on?”

“My brother. He was overdosing. They brought him here.”