More Than Friends (Kingsley #4) by Brandi Kennedy

refreshed spirit s – she had done it with short hair, a new attitude, and a bottle of wine.
     
    “ Uh, I brought coffee , ” Michael said stupidly, watching Renee massage the dry shampoo into his mothe r’ s hair.
     
    Ev a’ s eyes were closed, though she did lift one eyelid slightly in acknowledgement, smiling .“ Had I known that a broken leg would get me this kind of treatment , ” she said, sighing ,“ I might have broken it sooner . ”
     
    “ And that would be cheating , ” Renee laughed, her fingers still working .“ Or maybe some kind of fraud. Honestly, though , ” she went on, turning to spray a bit more of the citrus-scented aerosol powder into Ev a’ s hair ,“ This is really my favorite part of having my hair done . ”
     
    “ Shooting powder on your head ? ” Michael laughed. Setting the three coffees on the bedside table, he checked the cardboard slips wrapped around the cups, taking one and setting it close within Ev a’ s reach. As he settled Rene e’ s cup on the other end of the table and lifted his own coffee to take a sip, Renee laughed.
     
    “ No, the massage part , ” she said .“ They dig their fingers all through your hair an d … well, i t’ s just heavenly, tha t’ s all. Ther e’ s no other way to describe it . ”
     
    “ Mmm , ” Eva sighed, her eyes still closed .“ She has a point. There really is something good about that. And no matter how you try doing it on your ow n –“
     
    “– i t’ s never the same ! ” Renee chimed in, and once they had spoken together, the women broke into giggles.
     
    Michael shook his head .“ If you say so . ” But he could n’ t hold back a smile, watching them together.
     
    As the afternoon wore on, Renee ran the gamut of personal makeover options, even spoiling Eva with fresh polish on her fingers and toes. Michael watched quietly from the sidelines, leaving the room to bring lunch for him and Renee when Ev a’ s lunch was delivered from the hospital cafeteria; it seemed strange to be enjoying the day so thoroughly, with his mother in her hospital bed, but the truth was, he was in the best mood h e’ d been in for a long time. He knew his father was alright, and though Adam had put up a fight about leaving the hospital, he was proud that his father had trusted him to look after his mother, and he knew Evan would be keeping their father much too busy to allow him to worry. His siblings were all well and happy, and although he was miserably lonely, he clearly was not alon e – he had the support of a very close friend.
     
    Friend, though … was she really just a friend? Would just a friend do what she was doing? Certainly none of his sibling s ’ friends had shown up, though many of them knew Eva well.
     
    Evan would n’ t bring friends to the hospital though, as he was only home for a short break from college, and most of his friends were teammates from school, boys he played football with. A few of his friends were local, but not many, and Eva n’ s closest friends had always been his teammates. Harmony had brought Xander to the hospital, but even Whitney had n’ t been there, and she had been Harmon y’ s best friend all their lives. Whitney, who had never been close with her own mother, had always been close to Eva, but even she had settled for a simple phone call. Likewise, Camero n’ s friend Tabitha had n’ t come to the hospital, though she had called several times to check on Ev a’ s progress. No, none of his sibling s ’ friends had come to the hospital, and certainly none had stepped up in this way.
     
    Michael told himself that he was reading more into it than was there, that Renee was only there because she had driven in with Cas s … butshe had had several opportunities to go hom e – and she had stayed. His cell phone pinged from in his pocket, vibrating gently against his leg as the tone sounded. Shooting one last curious glance at Renee, he slipped the device from his pocket and