The Tickets He Gave Me Became My Best Friend’s Trip Instead Chapter 08

The Tickets He Gave Me Became My Best Friend’s Trip Instead Chapter 08

The storm continued through the night, and Julian never left.

By morning, the shopkeeper next door found him barely conscious beneath the leaking awning. He was coughing blood, burning with a fever of nearly 106, and showing signs of acute pneumonia.

An ambulance pulled up outside the inn, but Julian refused to go. Even in his delirium, he clung to the

doorframe and demanded to see me.

I came to the entrance with a cleaning cloth in one hand when I heard the commotion.

Julian collapsed to his knees in the puddle and clutched the hem of my dress, tears mixing with feverish

sweat.

“I feel awful. I’m so cold, just like that winter three years ago.”

His eyes were red and unfocused, his face flushed with fever.

“Just touch my forehead. Please. Make me some soup, like you used to. If you do that, I’ll go to the hospital.”

I regarded him without moving.

“Three years ago, you had a 104-degree fever and still dragged yourself out of bed to feed me because you

couldn’t stand the thought of me going hungry. Back then, I believed you would put me first even if it cost you

everything.”

“But this isn’t love, Julian. You came here sick because your selfishness was exposed, and now you’re using your pain to prove something to yourself.”

“The woman who would’ve stayed up all night taking care of you is gone. You lost her every time you left me

behind.”

“No. Nora, don’t leave me.”

A bloody cough tore through him, and his grip slipped from my dress. A moment later, he collapsed.

The paramedics lifted him onto the stretcher and rushed him into the ambulance.

As the siren faded down the street, I closed the inn door and shut Julian out of my life again.

That afternoon, the bell above the entrance chimed.

Claire walked into Magnolia House in dark sunglasses, looking completely out of place in the small historic

inn.

She removed her glasses and gave the lobby a critical once-over before settling her attention on me in my simple linen dress.

“You really know how to hide, Nora.”

She approached the desk with the same superiority she carried everywhere.

“Do you have any idea what Julian gave up to find you? He postponed the biggest merger in the company’s

history. Now he’s in the hospital on an IV.”

“Are you satisfied?”

I closed the ledger.

“If he’s sick, you should be at the hospital. Why are you here?”

“You think I wanted to come?”

She folded her arms.

“He’s delirious, and he won’t stop asking for you. I’m here to remind you that this hard-to-get act has gone on

long enough. Don’t start thinking you’re more important than you are.”

She took a check from her bag and pushed it across the counter.

“Fifty thousand dollars. Go to the hospital, see him once, and tell him it’s over in a way he’ll understand. Then

disappear for good.”

I returned the check.

“I already ended it. He’s the one who won’t leave me alone.”

I gave her a small smile.

“Use the money to hire someone who can teach him what no means.”

Claire’s face hardened.

“Don’t push me, Nora.”

Her palm struck the counter.

“You think Julian loves you? He misses being taken care of. You cooked for him, handled his mother, and

made his life easy. That’s all.”

“Once he gets used to being without you, you won’t get another chance. It won’t matter how hard you beg.”

“Is that so?”

The rough voice came from the entrance.

Claire went still.

Julian stood in the doorway wearing hospital clothes beneath a thin coat. His face was pale with fever, but

his eyes were colder than I had ever seen them.

“Claire Sutton.”

His voice shook as he crossed the lobby.

“Who gave you the right to try to buy off the woman I’m going to marry?”