on his hands. He took deep breaths, hoping to slow down his raging heartbeat. Hearing the hum of the plane’s engines helped him concentrate on something other than his negative thoughts. Without warning, he felt a hand on his shoulder that caressed him down to the middle of his back.
Gideon lifted his head and turned. The woman who had gone to the bathroom swayed back and forth as she headed to her seat. She didn’t look back to him. He took her touch to be an accident. Although he hadn’t felt any turbulence, there must have been some. He did see her looking unsteady on her feet.
When the plane landed, Gideon wasted no time getting off as soon as he could and headed to the baggage-claim area. He shifted in his spot as he waited for his one suitcase to show. Since hearing about his brother, he hadn’t felt any pains in his knee, a feat considering what he’d put himself through last night.
Gideon looked at his watch. He’d crossed over into Monday. Nine in the morning. No wonder the airport bustled. He had hoped to miss the big crowds when he came into town. At the first sighting of him, he knew it wouldn’t take the local media long to follow him around and ask him probing questions he didn’t want to answer.
Time slipped by so quickly. The waiting area around the baggage carousel filled with the passengers from his flight…he assumed. He had been too consumed with his own thoughts to even notice anyone else.
The red twirling light on top of the carousel lit up and spun as an annoying beeping sound honked before the scales of the carousel shifted and moved. Gideon kept one eye on the bags and the other on his phone. He called his mother’s cell phone first, knowing the woman would be awake and with Gunnar no matter the time.
“Gideon,” Elizabeth whispered. “What are you doing calling so early? Shouldn’t you be resting?”
“Hey, Ma.” He took from her whisper that she must be in the hospital room with Gunnar. Knowing that eased some of his fears. “I’m in town.”
“What?”
Gideon had to blink when his mother raised her voice. She never did that.
She continued. “Why are you here? I thought you were in California.”
“I called after the game. I got Victor. He told me about Gunnar. Is he okay? Didn’t mean that. I know he’s not okay. He made it, right? You’re with him, aren’t you?” Gideon couldn’t stop his babbling, but every question he’d thought of on his way back home came rushing out of his mouth.
“Gunnar is resting. He got shot in the stomach.” Elizabeth’s voice hitched.
“Oh, God.” Gideon spotted his red suitcase. He grabbed it with one hand and pulled it off the conveyor belt. “Who did this? Did they catch him?” He went out the door to the front of the airport. A row of cabs sat off to the side. He got in the first one.
“No. The police tried asking Gunnar some questions when he got here, but he was pretty out of it. The wound is what they call a through and through, whatever that means.”
“Means it went right through him.” Bastard. Gideon gritted his teeth as he thought about the agony his brother must be feeling.
“Right. It did come out the other side. He got shot in his stomach on the side. It went through his intestines. He’s going to make it, but he’ll be here for a few days.” His mother sighed. “Eboni is here with me.”
“I’m coming there.”
“No, son.” This time his mother’s voice sounded firm. “You’ve had a rough enough day yourself with your game and all. You should be out celebrating, not dealing with all this.” His mother paused. “Oh, no.”
“What?” Gideon sat up taller in the backseat of the cab.
“There’s no one at the house to let you in. Shay is in the apartment over the garage behind the house, but I don’t want you to wake her.”
The name Shay didn’t sound familiar to Gideon. He assumed if Elizabeth had allowed her to stay in that apartment, she must be someone special to her.
“Don’t worry about that, Mom. I had planned on staying at my house.” As much as he loved his mother, Gideon valued his privacy more.
“Oh, no, you’re not. You’re staying with me like old times.”
Gideon imagined the stately, gorgeous African-American woman wearing one of her many designer outfits and stomping her stiletto-heeled foot. The thought of his mother standing in a hospital room dressed to the nines had him smiling.
“Mom, I’ve been to your house since you’ve remodeled. You’ve changed all of our old rooms into something else. I think my old room is your shoe room now.”
“No, yours is the exercise room. But there is a futon in it, dear.”
Gideon waited a beat before continuing. “You’ve got someone else staying with you. And I’m betting Gunnar will be recovering at your house. You have your hands full right now. I’m going to stay at my home. When Gunnar is discharged, I’ll have him stay with me. You should stay with me. I have an in-law suite that’s connected to the house, and it’s on the lower level so you don’t have to climb stairs.”
“No, son. I’m your mother. I take care of you, not the other way around. For tonight, or rather today, you can stay at your house. Then I want you back at my house, understand?”
Gideon forgot how tough his mother could be. “We’ll talk about it. For now, I’ll get a couple of hours of sleep, and then I’ll come to the hospital, okay?”
Elizabeth sighed. Knowing she got some relief with his news unknotted his shoulders.
“I can’t wait to see you again. I’m so glad you’re home. I wished it could have been under better circumstances.”
“You and me both.” Gideon hadn’t even waited long enough to see who made MVP. He’d missed the full celebration.
“I’m proud of you, Gideon. Not because of the game. You put family first.”
A warm feeling washed over Gideon. Only his mother could weaken him like this. No one else. “Of course. You taught me well.”
“By the way, have you cut your hair? I don’t want to see you coming here looking like a hippie.” Elizabeth tsked over the phone. “Gunnar finally cut his off. I want you to do the same.”
Gideon had grown his hair out as a personal style choice. He knew his mother would have a problem with it. Good thing she owned a hair salon. If he decided to make that drastic cut, he could do it at her business. He didn’t feel the need to conform yet.
“Oh, wow, Mom, I can’t hear you. The phone is breaking up.” Gideon made a screeching sound with his voice. He had to pull the phone away from his face to keep from laughing.
“Gideon Nathaniel Wells, don’t you hang up this phone without answering my question.”
This time Gideon did hear what sounded like his mother stomping her foot on a tile floor.
“I think we’re losing connection. I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”
“Love
