The doctors seemed to think they’d caught it in time and he was safe. They’d insert the stents tonight. He’d be monitored for a few days in the hospital, and then he’d see his regular doctor and be scheduled for the second surgery to have the other two stents inserted. The most severely blocked arteries were being taken care of tonight. And while the other two were more than seventy percent blocked, they still could hold off on those so he wouldn’t have to be out so long and they could keep the surgery less invasive.

Brandon was in awe the entire night of how well Regina kept it together. Even after the doctors inadvertently mentioned the ambulance ride to the hospital and Pat and her mother had no choice but to tell Regina the truth that he’d been rushed there in cardiac arrest, she stared at them in silence but didn’t lose it.

By the time her dad had made it safely out of surgery and they’d all gotten a chance to go in and see him, it was early morning. Only two people were allowed in the ICU at once, and Regina asked Brandon to go in with her. The moment she laid eyes on him, Brandon saw it. For the first time since they’d gotten there, her face scrunched up, and for as much as she tried, she had no control over her quivering lips.

“He’s gonna be fine,” Brandon whispered, hugging her and kissing her head.

She clung to him and, to his relief, finally cried against his chest. He slid his hands up and down her back and continued to kiss her head. “Let it out, baby. It’s okay. You’ll feel better.”

As she continued to cry quietly against his chest, Brandon almost resented the fact that her sisters were willing and able to cry openly in front of Regina and she felt the need to be the strong one. Why?

Brandon had never been a religious person. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d prayed. But seeing how long and how despondently Regina cried against his chest scared the hell out of him. Her dad had gotten through this, this time. Brandon was now actually praying he’d be fine after the next one.

Hiding the impatience, Brandon kept to himself what he was feeling as he watched Regina clean her face up. She’d refused to walk out of the ICU with any evidence that she’d broken down. He wanted to tell her Pat mentioned she knew Regina played it off, that she knew she could freak. She had the right to. This was her father—her daddy. Why couldn’t she be allowed to fall apart? But he knew this was not the time to argue about this, so he waited silently as she reapplied makeup and powdered her red nose.

She looked up at Brandon from where she was sitting and smiled. “Is that good?”

“That’s perfect,” he said, reaching his hand out to her. “Let’s go.”

Regina stood, hurrying over to her father’s side one last time and kissed his forehead then shook her head and waved her hands in her already welling eyes.

“Stop, stop, stop,” she whispered to herself.

“You don’t have to.” Brandon finally addressed the issue, but she shook her head and walked ahead of him out into the hallway of the ICU.

On the way home, Regina explained that her Grandpa Boot was her daddy’s father. She also mentioned her father was the one who had labeled her the brave one early on. “My sisters were always so shy compared to me. Neither ever took chances, and while I wasn’t wild or anything, I did like having fun and trying things they never would. When I was younger and the boys would play baseball outside during the summer, I was the only girl who asked to play with them, and it was because of my dad’s encouragement. He said I was probably better than most of those boys, and he was right.” She smiled. “When I decided I was gonna go to school clear across the country, all my siblings stayed close by, and when I told him I was thinking of applying at Cornell instead of asking, ‘Why so far,’ like my mom did, he immediately smiled and said, ‘Good for you.’” She lowered her voice to an almost whisper as if there were anyone around that could hear her. “My sisters always refer to my dad as a bit cold and indifferent, but I never got that from him. Like with my grandpa, we always had a special bond.”

She was quiet for a moment, and Brandon turned to see if maybe she was crying again, but to his relief, she’d fallen asleep. Since she slept the rest of the way home, Brandon had plenty of time to ponder the day’s happenings. With Regina’s dad being in the hospital for what probably would be the rest of the week, Brandon was fairly certain any talk or even thoughts of Sofie and her family were the last things they’d be discussing in the coming days. As much as he wanted to know exactly what Regina had been getting at just before her sister called, he wasn’t anxious to feel what he’d begun to feel during that conversation. Infuriatingly, somehow his past with the Morenos was coming back to haunt him.

~*~

Regina

Walking into her parents’ dining room, Regina was surprised to see Alex and Romero there now too. When she’d stepped into the bedroom to see her dad almost a half hour earlier, only Valerie had been there with Bell.

Regina got the distinct feeling that whatever they’d all been discussing was cut short when they heard her coming. It was oddly quiet for a moment; then both Alex and Romero greeted her with Romero walking over to hug and kiss her. “How is he?” he asked.

Frowning, Regina shrugged. “Asleep now, but I got to talk to him for little while before he knocked out. He’s doing better, I guess.” She turned to Bell. “Why does he seem so listless?”

“Gina, he’s recovering from major surgery,” Bell reminded her, motioning for her to take a seat at the table with them. “You can’t expect him to be all chipper so quickly. Mom said the meds make him sleepy too.”

Regina frowned, taking the seat next to Bell and Romero across from Valerie and Alex. Bell poured her some coffee. “Thank you,” Regina said, reaching for the creamer and sugar. “How’s Mom doing?” she asked, turning to Bell.

She’d driven out to see her dad several times this week but hadn’t been there yesterday. Today was only her dad’s second day home. Her brother, Art, took their mom to the supermarket today while Bell and Regina stayed and watched over their dad. Pat was on her way as well. It’d been this way the whole time. Her mother hadn’t been left to deal with this alone even one day, but Regina still worried. Her mother had her own high-blood-pressure issues, and stress only added to it.

“She’s hanging in there,” Bell said, nodding as she sipped her coffee. “You know her. She’s like you, a real trooper during a crisis.”

Regina refrained from frowning, and after inquiring on whether her mom was taking her own meds, she reminded Bell she’d be willing to take time off if they needed her to come and stay with her parents for a few days. Bell assured her they had it all under control. Then Bell changed the subject to something Regina had given very little thought to all week.

“Did, uh . . .” She cleared her throat and glanced at Alex and Valerie. “Did Brandon tell you about him and Sofie?”

Him and Sofie. God, she hated how that sounded. She stirred her coffee, preparing herself to not sound defensive or jealous, though she was suddenly feeling both again.

“What about him and Sofie?” she asked then lifted a shoulder quickly meeting Alex’s eyes. “I mean I know way back something happened between them that didn’t exactly go over well with you, your brothers, and Eric since she was already with Eric, but I didn’t ask for details.”

“But he did tell you then?” Bell asked, sounding a little relieved, then gave Alex an I-told-you-so look.

Regina studied Alex’s strange expression for a moment then glanced back at her sister. “He’d told me about a girl in his past.” Regina thought about how Brandon said Sofia hadn’t even been a girlfriend. Yet she’d left such an impression on him. “He said it was someone he grew up around and later they’d had an experience. But it wasn’t until the baptism that I realized it was Sofie.” She turned back to Alex. “He had no idea either that I knew her or that he’d be running into all of you guys again.” She shrugged. “Like Romero said that day, ‘Small world, huh?’”