Read Online Jack Who? (Silver Strings G Series) by Lisa Gillis - Free Book Online Page B

was a celebrity of sorts. Studying the French manicure Olivia had treated her to while helping her with pre surgery errands, Marissa let her mother run out of steam. By that time, Jack returned, setting both a coffee and a soda on the little table beside her, as well as a package of crackers and one of mini donuts. Then, he reclaimed his seat sipping his own soft drink.
    Nodding her thanks, she popped the top on the can and tilted the fizzy drink into her throat. “Mother, I’ve got a lot on my mind right now. Anything that does not concern Tristan we can talk about at another time.”
    “You act as if you don’t appreciate me being here,” her mother bemoaned.
    “Mom, don’t do this right now.” Feeling Jack’s assessment, she stared hard at the pattern on the carpet.
    “I really have no reason to be here if we cannot see Tristan or be with you today.”
    “It means the world to me that you are here with me, but you are right. Why don’t you go home get some rest, and I will call you as soon as they put him in his room.” As much of a comfort as her mother’s presence could be, at other times, like now, it was the opposite.
    “Excuse me for saying so, but you haven’t exactly been good with keeping us updated.”
    In the background, her father could be heard muttering something reproving, and Marissa knew within minutes her parents would be in an argument. As a child, she was the peacemaker, running interference between the two of them. In her early adult years, she distanced herself from them, but lately, these last few years, she found herself playing the diplomatic role again.
    “Mom, I’m coming down to walk you to the car, okay?”
    Hitting ‘End Call,’ she spun to Jack. “I’ve got to...well, you heard. Will you be here in case...?”
    Nodding, he assured with warm eyes, as much as warm words, “I’ll be here. Do what you need to do. I’m not going anywhere.” Still, she hesitated, wanting to be sure that he had her cell number, but she knew that he did. Maybe she was looking at her phone, or maybe he read her mind, because he reassured her yet again, “I will call you if anything changes. Don’t worry. You will be back in what, fifteen?”
    Nodding, she turned, and her feet moved in the closest action to a sprint that was acceptable in a hospital.
    Her father squeezed her in a hug, coddling with words of reassurance, and related that he would return the following day. Her maternal parent harangued her every step to the parking garage, and demanded information on whom she clearly knew was Tristan’s father. Marissa refused to divulge any information about Jack, insisting that he was a friend.
    Liv, as the true friend that she was, waited patiently in the lobby and passed over Marissa’s purse while accompanying her back to Tristan’s empty room. While gathering the few things she had brought for an all-day hospital camp, Olivia let Marissa know that Jack was not ‘Russ.’
    For the fortieth time, Marissa felt the guilt of carrying this secret. “I know. Liv, I will tell you everything.”
    “You KNEW you slept with JACK STORM?!” Olivia’s mouth opened, then closed, then opened again, like the guppies she had surprised Tristan with when he was three. “Rissa, Tristan is Jack Storm’s SON!”
    Marissa wanted only to run three floors up and be as near Tristan as she could but waited this out. Olivia was her best friend, and should have been told long ago. However, the problem had been her friend’s inability to keep a secret. Never could Marissa have been sure that Olivia wouldn’t tell someone.
    Ramming her phone into her clutch as she rattled off the observations, Olivia froze when her godson’s name made sense. “Ooh. Tristan JACK!” Turning her head to Marissa, so rapidly that her hair flipped, she declared, “You get a reprieve today. But Rissa, I swear, I will tie you to a chair or something until you tell me everything!”
    “Okay. Okay!”
    “Did he leave?”
    “No.