Reilly patted her on the shoulder. “Come on, you can ride to the hospital with us.”
“Or me,” Brodix offered. “You shouldn’t be driving.”
“Oh, thank you all, really, but I’m fine.” The twins gave her a “yeah right” look. She smiled to reassure them. “Seriously.”
“She’ll come with me.”
The deep, hard voice came from directly behind her, and she knew without a doubt that it belonged to the eldest of the Jennings brothers. Julie didn’t have to turn around to know that, because only Sam Jennings seemed to possess the power to send shivers of awareness down her spine without even trying. Julie swiveled around, ready to give him the same answer she’d given his brothers, but stopped. The worry she saw stamped into the lines on Sam’s forehead and the stiff way he held himself kept her from speaking the words aloud. Instead, she nodded.
He looked over her head. “We’ll meet you there.”
“Careful, Sammy,” Reilly said before he took out a set of keys and strode off, River at his side.
Julie supposed Reilly was cautioning Sam about the drive to the hospital, considering Sam’s emotional state, but judging by the look he’d sent her just before turning away, she had to wonder if there was something she was missing. Her mind stuttered to a halt when Sam placed his hand against her lower back and nudged. “Come on, you can grab your coat while I lock up.”
Julie bit her lip and tried not to respond to the heat of his touch so close to her bottom. “I appreciate the concern, but truly I can drive.”
“I know.”
That was all he said before he urged her to toward the front door. Julie told herself that she was letting him have his way because he was upset. His mom had just had a heart attack, after all. Picking a fight with him at this particular moment would be unkind. Deep down, where she often feared to tread, she knew that was only part of it, though.
Something about Sam Jennings made her want to give him everything.
Anything.
She wanted to surrender to him. She wanted to please him. And damn if that didn’t scare the bejesus right out of her.
Sam paced the waiting room. “What the hell is taking so long?”
“Relax, damn it,” Vance demanded. “You’re making me nuts.”
“She’s in good hands, Sam. I know it’s tough, but you need to be patient.”
Sam turned at the feminine voice. Once again, she was the calm in the face of chaos. He admired her, but it pissed him off that he couldn’t be as cool and collected. “Why are you so calm?”
Julie crossed her arms in front of her and looked down at the floor. “My grandmother had a rough go of it. I learned the hard way that panic only brought on more trouble.”
Sam knew there was more to that story, but now wasn’t the time to hammer her with questions that could upset her. For some inexplicable reason, the thought of Julie upset, or worse, in tears because of him, tugged at every one of his protective instincts. “That how you learned CPR?” he asked, curious about the woman who was fast becoming a fascination for him.
“Yeah. I didn’t know any sort of first aid in the beginning, but after Grandmom had to be rushed to the hospital once and I felt so helpless”—she shrugged—“I don’t know, I guess I knew I needed to learn a few things.”
“You stayed cool and kept us from freaking,” River said from the chair beside her as he patted her thigh. “I think I speak for all of us when I say you’re pretty damn awesome.”
Vance nodded his agreement. “I can see why Mom invited you to Thanksgiving when she’s never done that before.”
Julie’s head shot up. “What do you mean?”
Sam stopped pacing and answered, “You’re the first person to ever get an invite to the Jennings’ Thanksgiving dinner.”
“Oh,” she said, clearly stunned by the news. “I didn’t know.”
“Mom always did have good taste,” Reilly murmured from the other side of her.
Sam wanted to snarl at the way the twins had Julie boxed in. What was it with the two of them? They never acted territorial over a woman. When River’s head came up, his sly expression said it all. Sam took a step toward him, ready to get rid of some of his pent-up frustration on his youngest brother, when the sound of his name being called stopped him.
A nurse approached. “Are you Sam Jennings?”
All of them stood. “Yes,” Sam answered, steeling himself against whatever news he was about to receive. “Is my mom okay?”