Chapter 29
DRIFTER
THREE MONTHS LATER
Raelyn lived in a nice neighborhood and had fairly decent neighbors. They kept a clean yard and always gave a friendly wave whenever they passed by. But I wasn’t taking any chances. I wanted them to be as safe as possible, so I installed a new security system.
It had all the bells and whistles, including motion-detection security lights for every corner of the house. It might’ve been a little much, but I wasn’t cutting corners, not when it came to Rae and the boys.
I’d already put up the cameras and new locks, and I was outside installing the last set of lights, when I heard Raelyn say, “You know, you could’ve just brought flowers.”
“Flowers don’t keep you safe.”
“This isn’t exactly a bad neighborhood.”
“I’m aware.”
“And I’ve lived here for years without stadium-level security.”
I climbed down from the ladder and grabbed the drill from the porch. I gave her a look as I said, “Didn’t stop Dan from busting up in here.”
“That was months ago.”
“Still happened.”
“Is that what all this is about?”
“No,” I huffed. “Well, partly… The asshole’s lucky he’s still breathing.”
“Walker.”
“You can ‘Walker’ me all you want…” I started back up the ladder as I said, “But I’m not getting the image of him breaking into your house out of my head any time soon.”
It didn’t matter if I knew her ex was harmless. I didn’t like the fact that he’d had the notion to even step foot in that house, much less break in when they were all asleep. I wasn’t taking any chances on it happening again. Not with him or anyone else.
Rae gave me one of her looks as she asked, “So, all of this really is about him?”
“Not entirely.”
“So, what else is it?”
“I want to know you’re okay when I’m not around. Simple as that.” Judging by her expression, my words landed heavier than I’d intended. “The boys, too.”
“Well, I appreciate that. I’m sure the boys will, too.”
“I don’t know about that.” I finished screwing in the light, then made my way back down the ladder. “There’ll come a time when they’ll get the wise idea to try and sneak out of here, and when they do…”
“Oh, man! Busted right out the gate.”
“Exactly.”
She laughed, and it hit me square in the chest. I loved seeing her happy. It was something I’d strived for over the past few months, and it had been easier than expected. Turned out, she had a soft spot for me, and I definitely had one for her.
I’m not saying everything was perfect. It wasn’t.
There were still nights when the grief and guilt would creep in uninvited and steal my breath. But somewhere between the football practices, fixing cabinet doors, and helping Lucas with his homework, life had gotten quieter in the best way possible.
“You hungry?” Rae asked.
“I could eat. What did you have in mind?”
“I was thinking about either hamburgers or some of that penne pasta we tried a few weeks ago with the sundried tomatoes.”
Before I could answer, her phone started ringing. She held her hand up and laughed, “Hold that thought.”
She rushed over and grabbed her phone from the porch steps, and her smile faded the second she glanced down at the screen. She quickly answered it and said, “Hey, Coach. Is everything okay?”
After listening for a moment, she muttered, “Oh, no. Is he okay?”
“What is it?” I asked, already walking toward her.
“Thomas was hurt,” she answered.
Every muscle in my body tensed. I couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, but I could tell by her expression that it wasn’t good. “No, no. I’m on my way. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
She ended the call, and for a second, she just stood there, staring at the phone like she wasn’t sure what to do. “Is he okay?”
“They’re taking him to the hospital.”
“Okay… How bad is it?”
“I’m not sure.” Her voice trembled. “Coach said he went down wrong during one of his drills and hurt his shoulder.”
I was already reaching for her keys when I told her, “Get in the truck.”
We both climbed into her Tahoe, and I tried to keep my cool as I backed us out of the driveway. Once we were on the main road, I glanced over at Rae, and she was about to fall apart. That was the last thing we needed, so I reached over and placed my hand on hers.
“Hey.” She looked over at me, all glassy-eyed and red-cheeked. “He’s gonna be okay. The doctors are gonna fix him up, and he’ll be as good as new. Just wait and see.”
She nodded, but she wasn’t completely buying it.
“What about Lucas?”
“Oh, God. I forgot all about him. His practice will be over at five.”
“We’ll need to get someone to pick him up.”
“I’ll call my dad. He’ll go get him and bring him home.”
Raelyn called her dad and got things sorted with Lucas.
I thought that might help settle her. It didn’t.
She kept checking her phone every two seconds, and her knee was bouncing nonstop.
She was freaking out. I got that. I knew better than anyone that there was no worse feeling than knowing you weren’t there when your kid needed you.
But this wasn’t about me.
Raelyn needed calm and steady. Thomas did, too. So, I kept my shit together and got us to the hospital in one piece. When we pulled up, Raelyn grew even more tense. She was in her head, and there was nothing I could do to help with that. She would ease up as soon as she laid eyes on her son.
I parked, and we both hurried through the front door. We went straight up to the front desk, and you couldn’t miss the panic in her voice when Rae said, “I’m looking for my son… Thomas Pierce. He was brought in from his school.”
The receptionist straightened her cardigan and took her time turning to her computer. She started typing as she asked, “Are you his mother?”
“I am.”
“Okay.” After more typing and shuffling through a stack of papers, she turned to Rae and said, “We need to get a couple of signatures before we can proceed with imaging.”
“I already signed those with the school.”
“I understand, ma’am.” Looking put out, she slid the paperwork toward Rae and huffed, “But we’re going to need your signature for hospital consent.”
“Okay. Whatever you need.” Raelyn barely glanced at it before signing on the dotted line. As soon as she handed it back, she asked her, “Can I see him?”
“Sure thing.” She pointed to the doors next to us and said, “He’s right through these doors on the right. Room twelve.”
She pushed the button, and as soon as the doors opened, Rae and I went to find room twelve. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I hoped for the best when I found the door and opened it for Rae. She went in first and made a beeline for Thomas.
He was leaning back against the gurney, pale and sweaty, and his arm was hanging stiff at his side, like even breathing hurt. As soon as he saw the pained look on his mother’s face, he muttered, “I’m sorry, Mom.”
“Oh, honey.” She leaned in and kissed him on the forehead. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“I just feel bad. I know this freaked you out.”
“Don’t worry about me, sweetheart.” She placed her hand on his knee. “I just want you to be okay.”
“Doc said he didn’t think my collarbone was broken. Pretty sure it’s just a dislocated shoulder.”
“I guess that’s good.”
“Definitely better than a broken collarbone,” I interjected.
Thomas glanced up at me and said, “Yeah, I heard it hurts like a sonofabitch when they fix it.”
“Thomas.”
“Their words. Not mine.”
That earned him a chuckle from both of us. The room fell silent when the nurse came in and announced, “Alright. I’m ready to take you down to imagining. Then, we can finally see what we’re dealing with.”
Thomas nodded, and Rae gave his hand a quick squeeze as she told him, “It’ll be fine.”
“I know. I’m just ready to get it over with.” He stood, and the nurse helped him into the wheelchair. When they started out the door, he announced, “Coach called Dad.”
“Okay. Is he coming?”
“I don’t think so. He said something about being caught up in a meeting and to call when I knew something.”
“Okay.” Rae forced a smile as she told him, “We’ll be right here when you get back.”
Raelyn stood there, staring at the empty doorway, and it wasn’t long before her shoulders finally sagged. Her adrenaline was starting to wear off, so I stepped closer and asked, “You okay?”
The words barely left my mouth before she’d turned and wrapped her arms around my waist. I hugged her back, and she melted into me. Her head was tucked under my chin, and she was holding me tight when she whispered, “Thank you for being here.”
“You couldn’t keep me away, babe.” I kissed her on the forehead. “I love you, and I love your boys. Nothing I wouldn’t do for y’all.”
“You just said you loved me.”
“That’s not new information.”
“Yeah, it kind of is.” She looked up at me with emotion in her eyes. “You’ve never said it before.”
She was right. I hadn’t said the words out loud.
But that didn’t mean I hadn’t thought it, hadn’t felt it.
Hell, I’d felt it for months. I didn’t know I had it in me, but then again, love doesn’t come when you ask for it.
It shows up at your door unannounced, in the midst of all the chaos, and drops you to your knees.
It was certainly that way with Rae. It was unexpected, but the best thing that could’ve happened to me. Her eyes remained trained on mine as I told her, “Doesn’t make it any less true.”
“Well, I love you, too. Very much, and I feel lucky to have you in our lives.”
“I’m the lucky one.” I gave her a squeeze. “Let’s get through this thing, and I’ll show you just how lucky I am.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
She rested her head back on my chest, and I just stood there and held her.
It’s what she needed. Hell, I needed it, too.
Eventually, Thomas made it back to the room, and the doctor confirmed that it was a dislocated shoulder.
They gave him some mild sedation and popped it back into place.
There was a bit of swearing and some whining, but he got through it.