Free Waking Charley Vaughan by Elle Botz Page A

important than advertising.” I laughed.
    “You don’t believe that, but thanks for saying it. I’ll call soon.” I hung up the phone, and got up to go to the door. At first, all I saw were flowers, and assumed the worst.
    “Matt, don’t even try it.“ When the flowers moved it was Brennan’s face that was exposed, as well as a carrier with two large cups of coffee and two small paper bags.
    “I guess I’ve been called worse.” he gave me a smile, and I took the coffee carrier.
    “My hero!” I pretended to swoon. “And no, you haven’t been called worse. ‘Matt’ is currently worse than any profane combination of words you can imagine.”
    “In that case, apology accepted. And for what it’s worth, this coffee should taste much better.”
    He moved to Charley’s bedside table to put the flowers down.
    “How’s she feeling?” he asked as I handed him his cup.
    “I’m not sure. She’s spent all of her waking time contemplating the various ways that Matt’s cheating was her fault. We never really got to the topic of aches and pains. Although, while I was cleaning up, I think she called the nurse in for more meds, so I assume she isn’t feeling too hot.”
    Brennan sat down in the chair I had just been in. He looked up at me. “You’re almost as tall as I am. How is this comfortable for you?”
    “It’s not,” I assured him. He stood up, gesturing that the chair was all mine.
    “I’ll be right back,” he said as he strolled out the door, sipping his coffee.
    A few minutes later he returned to the room, smiling wide. A custodian followed him, carting a reclining chair on a small dolly.
    “What the hell’s this?’ I asked him.
    “It’s a chair. I can’t have my sister being uncomfortable,” he lifted an eyebrow as he said this.
    “Yeah, but how…”
    He cut me off, “A bunch of the older rooms for new moms on the higher floors are empty. I Just asked my buddy Glenn here if he could bring us a couple of the comfortable chairs. He smiled at Glenn, who soon left the room to fetch the second chair. When he was out of earshot, I started, but Brennan cut me off again.
    “Glenn has quite the tab at the pub. I offered to cut it in half if he helped me out.”
    “What’s your end game here? Why are you being so nice? You don’t owe anyone anything.”
    “That’s not quite how I see it.” His face was stern now. “It was my fault—the accident. I should have been paying closer attention. I shouldn’t have served her so much. That’s part of it. The other part,” he looked down at his shoes, “the other part I guess,” Of course, Glenn picked that moment to come in with the other chair.
    Brennan quietly put the new recliner in place next to Charley’s bed. He was strong. The chair was small, but it was a still a recliner. He lifted the chair effortlessly, and sat it down without a sound. He must have seen me looking at him.
    “It’s not that heavy,” he said. I was embarrassed that he’d noticed me watching him, but I was still staring. I wanted him to finish the thought from before.
    Finally he spoke. “My dad cheated on my mom. Not once, but like, constantly. It broke her heart all the time. She didn’t have a lot of support.  I think that’s why she stayed so long. When Charley told me her story last night, I couldn’t help think of my mom, and how miserable she was…all that time she wasted on a guy that wasn’t good enough for her. I don’t know Charley well,” he gestured toward Charley, still sleeping peacefully, “ but I like her. The little bit that I know about her, makes me feel like she deserves better than what she got. Now, she’s in this situation on top of being dogged by your brother. It just seems wrong to bail now. I want to see it through—see her heal—from both wounds.”
    I just stared at him. “Normal people do not think or say things like that. Just for the record.”
    He laughed. “Trust me, my brother tells me that all the