Should’ve Known It’s You (Not You Again #7)

Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

AUSTIN

I had no idea what I’d said that was so funny, but Winrey was suddenly in tears laughing and then Kenny started too. Benji joined in as the sisters cracked up, and soon, I was laughing too. I still didn’t understand why, but the sound of their amusement was so carefree and happy that I couldn’t help myself.

As I laughed, I looked around a little bit, still trying to get a feel for Kenny’s family. It turned out that I did remember Winrey but only vaguely. I had a faint memory of her as a kid on the farm with Jess and Kennedy, and to be honest, she hadn’t changed nearly as much as her sister, aside from the whole pregnancy thing.

They looked very much alike, but Winrey’s hair had always been as long as it was now, and maybe it was just the pregnancy, but her face still had a bit of youthful chubbiness to it even though she was in her twenties. I didn’t know much about her at all, but I’d seen how grateful she’d been for the sandwich, and frankly, she looked like the sweetest, kindest person in the world, her blue eyes soft and her features open.

Her boyfriend was tall, with longer, floppy black hair, and his eyes were so wide, it was like he’d been terrified. Not that I could blame him for that. He relaxed a little bit as he laughed though, the grin splitting his face as he reached for Winrey’s hand and squeezed it.

All the joy in the room seemed to rub Lori and Jeff the wrong way, however. As I watched, they exchanged a horrified look and Jeff pushed away from the window, grabbed Lori’s hand, and strode toward the door.

I frowned, but no one else in the room seemed particularly surprised. Lori turned to face us when they reached the door, her nose in the air and her eyes narrowed as she admonished everyone—though it was probably mostly meant for me.

“You’re all so incredibly childish,” she snapped before they stormed out.

As the door slammed shut behind them, I rubbed the back of my neck and glanced at the others. “I’m so confused right now. What just happened?”

“Welcome to my life,” Benji said, reminding me of Kenny’s mumbled words just before we’d walked into the room.

Welcome to my personal hell.

Winrey was still chuckling. She yanked the pillow out from behind her back and dropped it on the bed. Sighing happily, she leaned against the mattress and rested her head on what appeared to have been the original pillow.

“Sorry about that,” she said. “Our parents can be a bit much for normal conversation.”

“What she means is that they’re too stuck up and rude to know how to behave appropriately in social circumstances outside of their precious country club,” Kenny explained. “Whenever they feel they’ve lost control of a room, their instinct is to bail.”

Benji nodded enthusiastically, pulling up a chair to the side of Winrey’s bed and sinking down in it. The color slowly returned to his cheeks now that the Sweets were gone. He cuddled close to her side and she scooted over to be as close to him as she could possibly get. They both suddenly seemed a lot more at ease.

“Thank you for the sandwich,” Winrey said to me. “And don’t mind my mom. She’s, well, she’s not the nicest. And she thinks carbs are the devil.”

“There’s another sandwich for you,” Kenny said, nodding at the counter as well as the tray of sandwiches still standing on the table across the bed. “We got more than enough. Nothing like shitty, hospital deli sandwiches for lunch, right?”

Benji stood up to get his girl another sandwich, grabbing one more for himself as well. Kenny finally took one too. Unwrapping it, she motioned at the only other chair in the room. “Have a seat. They’re gone now and I’m fine here, so you have no excuse.”

I chuckled but pulled up the chair, going back to get a sandwich and a soda before I finally sat down. It was quiet in the room as everyone devoured their sandwiches, but as we finished one by one, some chatter started up, mostly with Kenny telling Benji and Winrey all about the venue.

“It’s so perfect, you guys,” she gushed after Benji asked her about it. “I can’t wait to get started, but it’s going to be a hell of a job getting the place ready on time, and if I don’t, the city won’t let us have the fundraiser there, so keep me in your thoughts and prayers.”

Winrey chuckled and gave her sister an adoring look. “You can do it, Kenny. You can do everything and anything you set your mind to, and if you need help, you know we’re here for you.”

“Well, I’m here for her,” Benji stressed, giving Winrey a stern look before he leaned over to kiss her hand that he was holding. “ You need to take it easy. We’ll bring a comfy chair to the house for you and you can sit and give us instructions. Sound good?”

She flashed him a devious smile. “How much freedom do I have with these instructions? Do I get to tell you guys to give me a foot massage too?”

“You get foot massages all the time!” he protested laughingly.

The door swung open and a doctor walked in, and all the easy, happy energy got sucked right out of the room again.

“Ms. Sweet,” he said kindly, smiling. He glanced at the tablet in his hands before he went to stand at the edge of the bed and looked at her. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better now, thanks,” she replied, her voice barely even a whisper.

She cleared her throat but didn’t say anything else, and the doctor seemed to understand that everyone was too stressed to make small talk, so he got right to it. “I’m fairly happy with your test results, but I’d like to monitor you overnight just to be on the safe side.”

Her expression shattered, but the doctor was quick to reassure her. “We can bring in a cot for Benji so you don’t have to be alone and we’ll do more tests in the morning just to be sure before we discharge you. Any questions?”

Kenny stood up, folding her arms across her chest as she looked at the doctor. “Do we know what caused the spike in her BP yet? Will she have to go on any medications? How do we know it won’t happen again?”

The doctor seemed confused for a moment that the questions were coming from the patient’s sister rather than the patient herself or her boyfriend, but he indulged her, seamlessly accepting her apparent role as the family’s spokesperson.

“There are quite a number of possible causes for a sudden spike in blood pressure while a woman is pregnant,” he said patiently. “A few of them are indicative of more serious underlying problems, but in this case, I don’t believe it’s anything to worry about. We’ll know more after we complete the twenty-four-hour monitoring period, but it looks like it might have been stress or tension related.”

Kenny blanched and glanced at the door, and I had a sneaking suspicion that she attributed the extra stress or tension that might have caused this to their parents. After the doctor had answered the rest of her questions and chatted with them for a while longer, he left, reminding Kenny and me that visiting hours were over and that Winrey needed to get some rest.

Kenny sighed after he left, going to her sister’s side and taking her hand. “It’s really crappy that you have to stay the night, but it’s better to be cautious. This is the right thing, honey. I’ll call you tonight to check in, okay? And again in the morning.”

“Thanks, Kenny,” Winrey murmured, reaching up to pull her sister into a hug. “Thank you for being here today and for everything. I love you.”

“Love you too, Winrey.” She held her for a moment, then let go and gave Benji a fierce hug too. “You take care of her and call me if you need anything.”

“We will, Kenny,” he said, hugging her tight. “Thank you. I’ll keep you up to date if anything changes here.”

She nodded and released him. I said my goodbyes and left with her, noticing that her face fell as soon as we stepped out of the room. Tension was suddenly etched onto her features again and she looked like she might start sobbing as we left the ward.

“You’re a good sister, Kennedy,” I said, wondering what I could do to make this easier for her. “She’s going to be okay, though. Especially since she has you by her side.”

She smiled at me, a small but genuine smile that I somehow felt in my chest. “Winrey and I got lucky with each other. Given our parents…” She trailed off and shook her head before she finally finished. “Well, let’s just say that we only really had each other.”

I nodded slowly. From what I’d seen of her parents today, they sure didn’t seem like the warm, family-oriented people my own parents were. “What are you up to now?”

“I’m just going to go home,” she said. “It’s been a long day.”

I glanced at her while we walked, and I realized that she was definitely a bit off, probably worried about her sister and stressed out from the events of the afternoon. “Would you like some company?”

She blinked back surprise but spun to face me without breaking stride and nodded. “That would actually be pretty great. You’ve already given up your whole day for me, though. You really don’t have to babysit me tonight, too.”

I chuckled. “I’ll tuck you into bed and read you a story if it would make you feel better.”

“Make it a beer and a solid plan for where to go next with the venue, and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

“Do you ever just take a break?”

She seemed taken aback by the question, but then she smirked at me. “I took a break for Jess’s wedding, didn’t I? Are you okay with stopping on the way to my place to pick up some groceries? I want to make you dinner to thank you for your support today. I really needed it.”

“That sounds like a good deal to me,” I said. “Of course, we can stop, but you don’t have to.”

“I know, but I want to and those sandwiches are only going to last so long. We’re going to need to refuel.”

We made our way out to my car. Both of us were mostly quiet and lost in thought as I drove us to her house. After a quick pit stop at the grocery store, she directed me to an apartment complex with hundreds of units in it.

I thought back on her parents’ attire and accessories, wondering why she lived in a place that consisted of a maze of hallways just to get to her door. I doubted I could even find my way back if I tried, but she led me into her home, a small, one-bedroom apartment that was cheerful enough but definitely outdated and cramped.

As we stepped inside, she took the bags of groceries I’d been carrying and swept her free arm out ahead of her. “Come on in. I know it’s not much, but it’s mine. I’m just going to get dinner started. I’ll be out in a minute. Make yourself at home. I look forward to hearing your plan for our venue just as soon as I get back.”

I chuckled under my breath and shrugged out of my jacket as I strode into her tiny living room. The girl was all go, all the time. I had no idea how she did it, but I suddenly agreed with Winrey. She would get that house ready despite the limited time we had available to us.

I was starting to think that was why she and Jess had been friends for so long. They were both unstoppable when they put their minds to something, and Kennedy sure had her mind set on this.