“Besides, I think Logan would like to say hi, too.” I turned to my left, where Logan had been standing, not realizing he’d taken a shy step in behind me.
I twisted around to the wall he was leaning against, playing with his fingers nervously. “What’s wrong?”
Without looking up at me, he shrugged.
“Do you want to go over and say hi? Maybe give her a hug?”
He shrugged again, still staring down at his hands.
“Andy, it’s okay. Don’t make him,” Dani said from behind me. I took a deep breath and turned back toward her slowly. She crinkled her eyebrows and shook her head at me. “Really, it’s fine. I get it. Don’t make him.”
It was no secret that Dani and Becca had bonded much faster and much easier than she had with Logan, but I was still disappointed in my son’s reaction, even if he was just nervous.
Gloria looked back and forth from me to Dani a couple of times and then took a step forward. “Well, if he’s not going next, I am.” We all laughed as Gloria made her way over to Dani’s bed. “No, no, don’t get up.” She waved at Dani, who was trying to get to her feet quickly to give Gloria a hug. “I’ll come down to you.” She squatted down to Dani’s level and wrapped her arms around her softly. “I’m sorry if this hurts, but I’m not letting go.”
“I’m okay with that,” Dani murmured, returning the hug.
“You poor thing. All banged up like this.” Gloria finally let go and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Yeah.” Dani shrugged. “But I’m tough. I’ll be back to normal soon enough.”
Gloria nodded slowly. “My mother used to say that good food heals you faster than medicine ever could. I’m going to take good care of you the next couple of weeks.”
Dani tilted her head to the side as she looked at Gloria thoughtfully. “Thank you. I can’t wait. After eating your cooking for a month, I’d rather chew on cardboard than eat any more hospital food.”
“You just wait,” Gloria said sternly. “I’ll make all of your favorites. It’ll take me a month to get you back up from all the weight you’ve lost in here, but I love to cook, so it’ll be easy.”
Dani swallowed and frowned as her eyes dropped to the bed. “Well, the guy is caught now, so I was thinking I should probably head on back to my house.”
Becca gasped, Gloria’s head snapped toward Dani, and my heart sank like a fucking rock.
“Dani, don’t leave!” Becca whined.
“Wait, seriously?” I took a step forward with my hands on my hips. We’d spent every minute of the last three days together, and the mention of her moving back home hadn’t come up once.
Dani tried to quickly defuse the bomb that had just exploded in her room. “Let’s just figure everything out later, okay? We don’t have to make any decisions now.”
“Actually, I think that’s probably enough visiting for one afternoon,” Gloria said as she stood. She bent down and gave Dani a kiss on the top of the head. “Get some rest, sweetheart.”
“Bye, Dani.” Becca pouted, clearly not wanting to leave, as she laid her head on Dani’s lap.
“Bye, baby. I’ll see you soon, okay?” Dani twirled one of Becca’s blonde curls in her fingers.
Becca nodded with a frown on her face as she took Gloria’s hand.
“Ready, Logan?” Gloria asked as she made her way across the room to the door.
Another shrug.
I frowned, eying him suspiciously. “Gloria.” My eyes slid to hers. “Can you take Becca out in the hall and give us a minute?”
“Sure. Becca, let’s go look at that big fish tank in the waiting room.” She winked at me and left.
I turned and took a step toward Logan. “What’s going on, bud?”
Once more, he shrugged.
“Okay, enough with the shoulder shrugs, talk to me.”
“I don’t know, I just feel bad,” he mumbled.
“Bad? For Dani?”
He nodded and picked at the hem of his sweatshirt. “She looks bad. Like, not bad, but like it hurts.”
“Well, I’m sure it does, but she’s tough. And she’s not gonna break if you hug her. Do you want to go over and give her a hug?”
His eyes darted around the floor for a couple of seconds, followed by a slow nod.
“Go ahead, buddy. Go say hi.” I reached out and rustled his hair as he peeled himself off the wall and started slowly toward Dani’s bed.
“Hey, you,” Dani said sweetly, giving his leg a friendly squeeze as he sat down.
“Hi.” Logan stared at the ground.