“What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine.” She sniffled before letting out another hiccup that turned into a sob. Zach’s chest started to ache at the sound. It had been almost a decade since he’d been face-to-face with Evie Buchanan. Nicole had prepared them for the shock. Evie wasn’t herself, she’d told them more than once. Plus, she was still pretty banged and bandaged up. She’d warned him, but he wasn’t prepared for how weak and fragile Evie looked in that hospital bed. The glasses and the fact that she hadn’t cussed him straight the fuck out the minute he walked into the room had thrown him off too.
The tears were something else though. The Evie he knew was too proud to cry in front of him, or anyone for that matter. He looked at her, stunned, as more tears squeezed out of the corners of her eyes. She didn’t know him, but something he’d said had set her off. Maybe it jogged a memory.
“Here. Move.” Jesse shoved Zach against the other wall and handed Evie a box of tissues.
“Thank you.”
“Are you okay?” Nicole asked.
“Yeah, I—I just thought . . .”
“You thought what?” Zach asked.
“Nothing. I think I’ve been a little overwhelmed and it just caught up with me, having new visitors. I didn’t mean to—”
“You don’t need to apologize,” Jesse said. “Maybe we should come back later. Let you rest some more.”
“No! No. Please stay. Blaire said you might be the closest thing I have to family.”
“That . . . is true,” Jesse said.
“You don’t remember anything about growing up with us?” Zach asked, watching her face closely.
Evie carefully shook her head. “I’ve been having dreams about horses and the desert, kind of, but none of it makes sense. I can’t connect any of the pieces.”
“We’re in town as long as you need us,” Jesse said.
“Yeah. We’re not going anywhere until we get this all sorted out. We don’t have to talk about anything now. We can just kick it with you for a little while.”
“No.” Evie sniffled again, but now her tears seemed to be under control. She wiped her face with a fresh tissue. “You didn’t come all this way just to hang out with me.”
“We don’t mind. Do we, Jess?” He turned to his brother and was given the firm nod of confirmation he and Evie both needed. This meet and greet had gone to shit, but Zach didn’t want to leave Evie’s side.
“It’s whatever you want,” Blaire chimed in.
“I’m sorry. I hate stressing you all out.”
“Nonsense,” Nicole said. “We’re here for you.”
Zach watched Evie’s face as she focused on the edge of the bed for a moment before she looked up. “Can I speak to Zach alone for a few minutes?”
Her request was music to Zach’s ears, but he didn’t miss the storm cloud that passed over his brother’s face as he leaned away from the window. Jesse’s brows drew together, a warning, before the expression dropped and he looked back in Evie’s direction. “I’ll go with Nicole and grab you some lunch.”
“Thank you. I have questions for you too, but maybe one at a time will be easier.”
“Absolutely.”
Blaire made a little motion with her hand, reminding Evie that she’d be right outside on the phone. Once they were alone, Evie’s eyes were back on him. There was so much Zach wanted to say, so much he needed to say, starting with “I’m sorry.” But he waited.
“Do you want to sit down?” she asked. Her voice was the same, but it had this odd, gentle lilt to it, like she was working so hard not offend him. Zach sat down on the edge of the bed, his leg pressing against hers. He carefully placed his Stetson on the other side of her bed.
“It’s good to see you,” he said.
“Even like this?”
“Yeah. Well—it’d be better if you weren’t in a hospital bed, but yeah. It’s good to see you, even like this. I was pretty convinced that you’d never speak to me again.”