Page 15 of Unruly Defender

– GRACY –

I can’t believe the asshole hung up on me. “Mothertrucker,” I grumble as I step into the lobby, making Travis’ head swing up.

“Well, good afternoon to you too.” Travis closes the book he was glancing through and strolls around the desk to stand in front of it. “Do I even dare ask why you’re growling?”

“Henley,” I sigh in frustration.

“Ah, sculpted abs hottie. What did he do? Flash you the goods without letting you touch it?” Travis chuckles but it stops when he sees me narrow my eyes.

“Oh, he flashed, and I touched alright. Hell, they were even mine for a mere hour or two before I realized he just used me to flash my name and statement at others,” I seethe and realize I’m losing a grip on myself.

I take a steady breath and try to calm down.

“I’m sure it was all a mix up or something. Maggie’s son would never be disrespectful,” Travis says and I guess I’m out of my depths here.

“I only know what I heard and saw when I was pulled into his mess, Travis. But I swear it all made sense. You know what? I’m going to pack a bag and take a few days off. I’m going to talk to Maggie and tell her that I’m going to need a few days off starting now, okay?”

“Okay, sweetie. You take care of you and if there’s anything I can help with or if you want to talk or just sit and drink wine, call me, okay?”

I nod absently and stomp to Maggie’s bungalow. I heard the words Yates threw at Rush. I know what Henley said to me, and how I felt, and how we connected so well together last night. And then we were together, and dammit, why is everything so freaking complicated?

Rush is an asshole taunting Henley, and I can’t imagine going through all of the stuff Henley is dealing with. Not to mention I heard Rush insinuate he killed Henley’s father. And then the things he said about my father. No, Spencer isn’t even my father.

I haven’t seen Spencer in nine months. Time is ticking .

Spencer will have it all. It’s almost been nine months since my mother’s death.

Shit. My mother’s will. When I left right after her funeral, we had an appointment set to go through my mother’s will.

What if it has to do with the inheritance?

Great, now I have more to add to the long list of things going on in my life.

Then add Henley’s crazy mess to it and it’s a full-blown roller coaster ride of insanity. One thing at a time. I need to clear my head and that’s exactly what I’m going to do; a few days of vacation time on my boat.

But I have to talk to Maggie about it first. I’m sure she’ll be fine with me taking a few days off, though. I use the key to open the door and my gut instantly knows something is wrong. I rush inside and glance around. I don’t see anyone but I hear faint barking coming from the patio.

Running outside, I notice Finn is jumping his front paw on Maggie’s shoulder who is lying on the ground. It seems as if she fell or, dammit. I grab my phone and call the emergency number while I drop down next to her.

Frantically I search for her pulse and at first I can’t find it, but when I check again I can feel a very faint heartbeat. When I’m sure help is on the way, I know I have to call Henley. It doesn’t matter if I’m angry at him, he needs to be here.

I tap my phone and wait for him to pick up but the call goes straight to voicemail.

Shit. With the way our call ended, maybe his phone died, or maybe he’s ignoring me.

Either way he still needs to know about Maggie.

The sirens draw my attention away from my phone and I stash it back into my jeans.

When I’m sure Maggie has the help she needs, I will think of a way to reach Henley.

Luckily the ambulance gets here quick, though Maggie still hasn’t regained consciousness and I’m worried if she’s going to make it. I make sure to ask what hospital they are taking her to so I can follow in my car.

But first I need to have someone take care of Finn for me because I don’t know how long this is going to take.

I head for the lobby to ask Travis, though I know how allergic he is, but what other choice do I have?

When I step inside, I see there is a couple checking in for a stay. All of their heads swing my way.

“Sorry to interrupt, but Travis...I know you’re allergic, but Maggie was just taken to the hospital.

She was unconscious when I found her at the bungalow.

I need to get to the hospital, except Finn needs someone to look after him.

And I can’t reach Henley to tell him about his mother. Please, Travis, can you?”

“Henley’s mother? Henley Pierce’s mother?” the man checking in asks, an accent tainting his words.

“Yes,” I tell him but swing my head toward Travis. “I need to go now.”

The man and the woman share a look and the man grabs his phone from his pocket as the woman holds her hands out to take Finn.

“We know Henley. Well, Beck knows him better than I do because I’ve only met him once.” She gives me a sweet smile. “I’m Flora, by the way.”

“Beck and Flora. You called Henley earlier about a reservation. I made the reservation,” I muse while automatically handing Finn over to Flora.

“Henley’s phone goes straight to voicemail,” Beck says. “You do what you have to do. I’ll keep trying to reach Henley and we’ll be here watching over Finn. You mentioned Travis here being allergic, come find us at our bungalow when everything is taken care of.”

I nod warily and get ready to leave but suddenly realize Finn needs his distraction. “Wait,” I gasp. “Finn needs his pig to hump.”

Beck and Flora’s eyes widen and they share a look again. “A pig?” they ask in sync.

“The three-legged dog here needs to pound away his energy so Gracy here gives him stuffed animals to blow off steam. Here,” Travis says and hands over the stuffed animal, furiously sneezing three times in a row right after.

“I need to go,” I croak.

“Wait, take this.” Beck hands me a note with a phone number written on it. “That’s my number in case you need it.”

I take the note and nod before I rush out and jump in my car. My mind is still pushing me to notify Henley and with Beck calling him just now and also going straight to voicemail along with the fact our call ended the way it did the last time I talked to him, I’m now sure his phone died.

He needs to know about his mother. If it were me, I would want someone to get me. I decide to head for the clubhouse since it’s down the road anyway but when I get to the gate it’s all locked and it takes a while before a voice comes through the intercom.

“I need to speak with Henley, it’s urgent,” I tell the guy over the intercom.

“Look, Lady, our Pres just came back, he has other things to do instead of getting his dick wet.”

If my skull could blow off from all the pumped-up steam due to my anger, it would be shooting through the roof of the car by now. Remembering the way Henley talked to the woman launching herself at him the second he stepped foot inside the clubhouse, I gather there’s one way to deal with this.

I lean in close to the intercom and snap, “Open your fucking ears you little biker prick. You’re talking to the president’s old lady and you just disrespected me. Get my damn man here right now or I will drive through this fucking gate to come get you so I can rip your damn balls off, understood?”

Henley is already rushing to me when I haven’t even finished my rant and the gate is also opening.

I guess the mentioning of me being his old lady was enough.

I do feel better letting out the anger, though.

And yet the look of relief on Henley’s face makes sadness burst through me because he thinks I came back to him while I’m only here to get him to the hospital because of his mother.

I decide to jump into action rather than dump the load of information on him. “I need for you to get in the car, Henley,” I tell him.

Yates jogs up from behind him. “Can it wait? We’re in a meeting.”

I give the rude idiot a glare. “No, it can’t wait.

” I direct my attention at Henley, knowing I have no other choice but to do it here.

“Something happened. Beck and Flora are taking care of Finn. I need for you to get in the car so I can drive both of us to the hospital, I’ll explain later. Come on, get in.”

“I need to go,” Henley tells Yates as he gets into my car. “I’ll call later.”

“Your phone is dead and charging inside, remember?” Yates states.

“Dude. I have a phone, he’ll call later,” I snap and already have the car in reverse.

I drive away and head for the hospital. A few minutes pass when Henley suddenly whispers, “Is she okay? Is she still alive?”

Maggie is the only family he has left and with me mentioning the mere information, he knows very well this is about his mother.

I keep my eyes on the road but reach for his hand and give it a squeeze. “She still had a heartbeat when they put her in the ambulance. I don’t know anything else. We’ll be there soon, okay?”

He doesn’t say anything else but gives my hand a quick squeeze in return before I have to put my hand back on the wheel. Time seems to drag on while we drive over, park the car, and get inside to ask where Maggie was brought to.

We’re sitting in the waiting room in silence for about twenty minutes until a doctor strolls inside and holds his hand out to Henley and introduces himself and asks, “You’re Mrs. Pierce’s son I presume?”

“Yes,” Henley says as he takes the doctor’s hand. “How is she doing? What happened?”

“We’re still waiting on some results to rule out certain conditions and we are monitoring her closely.

The results we are waiting on can explain why your mother had a sudden drop of heart rate and blood pressure which caused her to pass out.

At this point we are trying to rule out cardiac conditions.

We will keep her here overnight and when all the results have come back we will fully brief you about her condition. ”