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on?” I reached for Rosalyn’s hand, and we moved away from the bed to give the medical staff room to work. Two doctors charged into the room with a crash cart and I watched in horror as they shocked Mum, paused, and repeated the procedure. Rosalyn cried quietly beside me, clinging to my hand with both of hers.
    I felt strange, as if this wasn’t really happening. Rosalyn had always liked the TV show, Casualty , when she was in her teens. It seemed as if I were watching an episode of the hospital drama, rather than standing by my mother’s bedside while doctors tried to keep her alive. I tried to focus but I didn’t completely register what was going on until staff began to wheel the bed out of the room, and I heard the word surgery uttered by one of them. Then Rosalyn let go of my hand and wrapped both arms around me instead.
    “God, Joe, what if she dies? What are we going to do?”
    I hugged her tightly, feeling like a kid for the first time in almost twenty years since we’d lost Dad. I understood exactly how she felt and her words echoed in my head.
    What are we going to do?

Chapter Five
     
     
    A NURSE took the three of us to a relatives’ room so we could sit in private rather than in the corridor. We were told Mum’s surgery—coronary angioplasty—would take hours. While we’d talked before, now we waited in silence. Rosalyn sat beside Steve on a well-worn sofa, her head on his shoulder and her hand gripped tightly in his. I sat in the closest armchair, staring into space and thinking back on my life.
    Mum had had a weak heart for a long time, diagnosed with unstable angina over five years earlier. She was still so young—only fifty-eight. They’d kept it from me for two years. I’d just bought into the club at the time and had worked every spare hour to get it ready for opening. Mum had refused to let Rosalyn tell me in case I threw in the towel to come home and lost everything I’d worked so hard for.
    I’d been furious when I’d found out. Mum had suffered chest pains three Christmases ago, and after an attempt to ease the symptoms with the medication she’d been taking for months, Rosalyn had called an ambulance. I’d been in two minds about doing exactly what they’d feared I would do. I hadn’t wanted to be in another country, a minimum of six hours away, taking into account airport check-ins and waiting around, when Mum could have an attack at any moment. But Mum had returned from the hospital as determined as ever, and told me she wouldn’t let me consider giving up my businesses on the off chance she might have another “flutter.”
    I sighed heavily and closed my eyes. I should have come home then. If I’d sold the condos, I could have used the money to set up some kind of business in London. I should have made more time and spent every minute I could with her.
    “Joe, stop beating yourself up.” Rosalyn touched my arm, and I opened my eyes again to glance at her. “You know Mum wants us to live our own lives.”
    “Yeah.” I cleared my throat and pulled my cell phone out, checking for messages. Karel had sent a text to tell me he was sorry about my news and that I shouldn’t worry about the club. He’d spend more time there and keep on top of everything. Another message had come from Tomáš’s number.
    I am sorry for your bad news. I hope everything will be ok. Sasha.
    I frowned at the message. Sasha hadn’t invested in a cell phone yet. The words seemed surprisingly cool, given what had happened on our date. Maybe he was uncomfortable about sending the message from Tomáš’s phone. Perhaps he didn’t know what to say, or he’d had second thoughts about me. If he’d had his own phone, I’d have responded to ask if everything was all right, but I didn’t want to try to have a conversation with him through Tomáš, especially if Sasha didn’t really want to hear from me.
    I shoved my phone back into my pocket and rested my elbows on my knees, lowering my head into