A Forever Kind of Love (Kimani Romance) Read Online Free

and stripped out of her shorts, pulling on a pair of jeans and a roomy T-shirt over her tank top. She was back in the kitchen in less than two minutes.
    Corey was drying his hands on a dish towel. “You ready?” he asked.
    “Uh, yes. Where’s Elizabeth?” she asked.
    “She took Maureen’s car to the hospital. I told her I’d drive you.”
    “Okay,” Mya said with a shaky breath. She looked around the kitchen, unsure of what she was searching for. Maybe there was something they would need at the hospital. Mya didn’t realize she was trembling until Corey caught her upper arms.
    “She’s going to be okay,” he said.
    She stared into his confident eyes. It was easy to believe words said with such conviction. Mya fed off of it.
    “Yes, she will,” she answered.
    Corey gave her shoulders a light squeeze. “Then let’s get out of here. Your grandmother needs you.”
    She nodded, for once grateful for his presence. “Let’s go.”
    * * *
    In the twenty minutes it had taken them to reach the small hospital in Maplesville, right outside of Gauthier, Mya had managed to work herself into another fit of nerves. They weighed heavy in her stomach, twisting and tangling like snakes in a hot skillet.
    What if something happened to her grandmother?
    “No,” Mya said out loud.
    “What?” Corey asked from the driver’s seat. He’d driven fifteen miles over the posted speed limit from the moment they’d pulled away from the house, maneuvering his bulky Cadillac Escalade as if it were a sleek sports car. “Mya.” He waited for her to look at him. “She’s going to be okay.”
    “You don’t know that,” Mya said with a catch in her voice.
    “Your grandmother is even more stubborn than Big Harold was. She’s not going anywhere for a long time.”
    They pulled up to the hospital’s emergency room entrance, and Mya was out of the SUV before it came to a complete stop.
    “Sir, you have to move your vehicle. This is a restricted area,” she heard someone tell Corey.
    She ran to the nurses’ station. “Eloise Dubois?” she asked. “She was brought in after fainting.”
    “Mya!” Maureen called.
    Mya raced toward her aunt. “How is she?”
    “I don’t know yet, but she was awake by the time we got here.”
    “Thank God,” Mya cried.
    “Come on.” Her aunt took her elbow. “The nurse said she’d come find us in the waiting room.”
    Mya followed, anxiety still shooting through her veins. She crumpled into the closest chair, not trusting her legs to hold her up a second longer. She cradled her face in her hands and took a couple of slow, deep breaths. Aunt Mo sat in the chair next to her and rubbed her hand up and down Mya’s arm.
    “How’d this happen, Aunt Mo?”
    “Because she’s hardheaded and doesn’t like to take care of herself.” Maureen shook her head. “I know part of it is my fault. With everything going on this week with Daddy’s funeral, I haven’t been paying as much attention as I should. I usually make sure she checks her blood sugar.”
    “Don’t start blaming yourself.”
    “Oh, I’m not blaming myself entirely. She’s a grown woman, and she knows what she should and shouldn’t do. But like I said, she’s hardheaded. People have been bringing food over to the house around the clock, and she’s been nibbling on everything. I know they mean well, but it just makes it harder to keep the wrong foods out of Mama’s mouth.”
    Familiar guilt assailed Mya once again. It wasn’t solely up to Aunt Maureen to take care of Grandma. Mya should have been here helping. Her grandparents had raised her since the age of three, after her mother had decided to leave Gauthier and make a life for herself with the first in a string of men.
    It was the best thing that could have happened to Mya. Her grandparents had always been there for her, but she had not done the same in return.
    Corey stalked into the waiting room. “How is she?” he asked.
    “We’re still waiting on the nurse,”