Come Home To Me (Wild Creek Ranch Book 1)

Chapter Sixteen - Return To New York

The sudden peal of the doorbell alerted Adelaide, and she glanced at an anxious granny. Who could be so impatient so late in the night? Had Rhett returned earlier than he was supposed to? Excited at the prospect of seeing Rhett, Adelaide rushed to open the door quickly. However, she froze at seeing her brother Andrew at her doorstep instead, looking haggard and stressed.

"Andrew?" she breathed with shock, holding onto the door to support her wobbly legs as she tried to cope with the feeling of dread that crept into her heart. Was she hallucinating, or did he really come all the way to Montana? He looked at her and then dragged himself into the house and plopped onto a chair nearby.

Granny looked up and slowly got up from the sofa, too shocked to see Andrew, of all people, on her doorstep. "Andrew?" She gasped, going towards him with a worried expression on her face. Andrew was the last person who would leave his important work and come to the place he hated the most. "Is everything okay?" she whispered, more worried by his silence.

Adelaide stood like a statue beside him as he took a deep breath and finally looked at their worried faces. "Mom had a massive heart attack last week. She's critical and admitted to the hospital. I've come here to get both of you. Please pack up everything that you need as I have to return tomorrow to New York on the 7 o'clock morning flight. I have booked your tickets too. So you have just one night to wrap up everything here. I'm unable to take care of Mom alone," said Andrew while Granny and Adelaide sat down to get a hold over themselves, too shocked at the dismal news.

"Why didn't you call us to inform us?" asked Adelaide.

"I was busy with mom. Why did you never call to ask about her welfare? She's your mom too," said Andrew, ready to pick up a fight. Adelaide sighed since nothing had changed between them. He was still the same, leaving no opportunity to insult or accuse her.

"That's enough. No blaming anyone for anything. Adel, pack up all your stuff. I'll call Willy and explain to him what he needs to do while I'm gone. Andrew, do you want me to serve you dinner?" asked Granny but Andrew waved her away disinterestedly.

"I've eaten. Just give me a place to sleep or recommend me a bed-and-breakfast nearby," said Andrew, glancing around the house with disgust.

"Why would you need to sleep in a bed-and-breakfast when you're in your granny's house?" asked granny, a little hurt by his words. "Come with me. I'll show you to the guest room," said Granny walking towards the guest room with a displeased Andrew following her. Granny asked him for details about his mom's condition, but he didn't give any straight answers.

Sighing, Adelaide went to her room to pack, wondering what she should she carry with her! Why did Granny ask her to pack all her stuff? Would they be leaving for New York permanently? How serious was her mom? Several such questions kept cropping up in her mind, but there was no way that she could get her answers now since she didn't want to pick up a fight with Andrew. She packed all her stuff in the suitcases that she had brought with her, three months ago. An hour later, she was done and went to check up on Granny.

"Granny, do you need help with the packing?" she asked her, seeing her staring at her closet.

"Yes, dear. Are you done with your own packing?" asked Granny, already looking tired. It wasn't a simple task to wrap up everything in just one night! Who gave such short notice? Andrew could have called them and informed them a week ago. They could have taken care of everything here and then left for New York already.

"Yes granny," answered Adelaide, helping granny pack her stuff up. Then Granny called Willy and his wife from the outhouse on the ranch premises where they lived. Granny explained what work they needed to do while they were away. They would cover the furniture in the ranch house and lock it up later, after cleaning it well. They would take care of the animals and crops just as they used to. It was late when Adelaide and Granny retired to their rooms to sleep. Adelaide had received no call from Rhett again and checked her phone for any messages from him. She found one message sent at five past twelve o'clock, midnight.

Rhett- Will call you tomorrow, good night Adel.

Adelaide smiled at his thoughtfulness. She wrote back to him.

Adelaide-Leaving for New York tomorrow morning at 7 with granny. Mom is critical and Andrew came over to fetch us. Tomorrow night, I will wait for your call.

She at last went to sleep, but a sense of hopelessness filled her heart and mind. Would she be able to see Rhett again? Would she be able to come back to Montana again?

The next morning, there wasn't much that they could do apart from just get ready and leave with Andrew. It was 4 o'clock in the afternoon when they reached Andrew's seventh-floor apartment at a posh condominium in an upscale neighborhood in New York. Andrew's wife, Sandy, opened the door, greeting them with a fake smile as she looked from one to the other. She was a tall woman with short blonde hair framing her face. Being a pediatrician, she worked at the same hospital as her brother.

"Hi Adelaide, hello, granny! Please come inside," she said. "I'm Sandy, Andrew's wife," she introduced herself to Granny. A small boy of three peered from a room and came running out upon seeing Adelaide.

"Hello, Charlie," said Adelaide, opening her arms to him. He was Andrew's youngest son and quite close to Adelaide. He ran into her arms, and she picked him up and hugged him tightly, introducing him to Granny.

"You both have to share a room, granny," said Sandy apologetically.

"No problem at all, dear. Relax. We'll manage," said Granny with a smile. Sandy led them to a small room with a queen-sized bed. Andrew brought in their luggage with his usual grumpy face.

"Be ready in ten minutes. We're going to the hospital to see Mom," said Andrew impatiently.

"Andrew, let granny rest today since she had an exhausting flight. I don't think she can handle so much stress. She'll visit tomorrow," said Sandy while Andrew nodded and left the room. Sandy arranged Granny's clothes in the closet and Charlie, too, helped in his little way. Andrew's five-year-old daughter Sarah came into the room too and sat comfortably beside Granny as if she knew her all her life.

Adelaide was ready, as Andrew had asked her to. They left the apartment and Andrew drove her to his huge multi-specialty hospital, going straight to the ICU in the cardiology department. Adelaide saw her mom lying still with Ryle's feeding tube down her nose and an oxygen cylinder beside her. Seeing her look so frail and white, Adelaide felt guilty, tears pricking at her eyes. She was her mom, and it was her duty to inquire about her health once in a while, but she had failed as a daughter. No wonder Andrew hated her so much.

"It's no point crying now since you're responsible for this. She was worried about you but you never cared enough to listen to her," accused Andrew, bringing his face close to whisper into her ear so that no one else could overhear them. Adelaide felt guilty. Maybe he was right, and she was responsible for her mom's condition. She didn't have any answer to give to defend herself and quietly sat down beside her mom's bed and stayed there till Andrew left the room.

"Go home now. I have work to attend to," he told her, and Adelaide nodded. She had the keys to her dad's house and would get her car and the rest of her belongings from there.

Reaching her old childhood home, she unlocked the door and went inside the deserted house. Covered up in white covers, the entire house looked so eerie and different from what it looked like when her dad was alive. She sat down in her old room for a while and then collected her stuff, which she had left behind in her haste to escape to Montana.

Taking her car keys along with her, she locked up the house and then walked to the garage. Seeing her dad's car after so many months brought tears to her eyes. It was the same car that faced the brunt of the accident which caused her dad's death. Andrew still kept the damaged car in the garage.

She went towards her Honda Civic and tried starting it but it didn't start just as she had expected. She called her mechanic, and he promised to send someone within ten minutes to check. Adelaide waited, taking a stroll outside the house till the mechanic arrived, and in fifteen minutes, he fixed the car. She paid him and drove to Andrew's house.

"What happened, Adel? Have you been crying?" asked Granny as she went into their room but Adelaide shook her head.

"You can tell me, dear," said Granny gently. Adelaide rushed into her arms and broke into heartbroken sobs.