CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Everly
I watch the door open to my room and see my dad come back in.
“How are you feeling this morning?” He asks.
“About the same I guess,” I respond and then look out the window.
“The doctor seems to think you’ll make a full recovery after physical therapy.” He plates my bagel and spreads out my favorite cream cheese.
“Thanks,” I say as he hands it over to me. “Dr. Brewer said I can go home today after another head scan.”
“That’s good, honey,” he comments after taking a bite out of his own breakfast. I’m not hungry for food, at the moment but I want to get out of here so I know keeping my strength up will help in the healing process. “Do you want to come back home with me for a while?”
“I don’t know,” I shake my head but stop when I feel an ache.
“A change of scenery might do you some good, at least for a week or so. You can veg out on the back porch and read. It seems like you have a lot to think about, from what I gathered between you and that boy’s conversation.”
“He’s not a boy, dad,” I respond. “That does sound nice. I haven’t been to the house in a while.”
Dad lives out in a cabin style house that backs up to a national forest. Saylor and I loved growing up out in nature, getting lost with the trees and the quiet.
The door bursts open and Saylor barrels in with a man hot on her tracks, who stops in the doorway. He looks familiar but with all the medication I’m on, I can’t quite connect the dots.
“Oh Everly! Please don’t ever scare me like that again,” Saylor says as she rushes over to me, careful of all the wires.
“I’m fine,” I say, trying to reassure her.
“They wouldn’t let me see you yesterday at all.
What the hell happened? I came to the spa at lunch and it was like a circus.
The cops wouldn’t let anyone in or out for hours.
Bubba finally told all the staff what happened and I raced here as fast as I could.
Glammy has been raising hell, not being allowed to be updated on your condition.
I called and called and didn’t hear anything after you were recovering from the surgery.
Then they said visitors had to come back in the morning. ”
“Yeah, I’d say yesterday was eventful.” I try and joke it off.
“What happened? Why the hell did Linley Lewis snap? I’ve always told you that bitches who don’t eat more than carrots are crazy,” she says again and then I remember the guy that came in standing at the door.
“Who’s that?” I nod over to the door.
Saylor looks over her shoulder then hops off the bed, “Oh, hi Tommy!” Saylor says nervously for some reason. She goes over to him and they both give each other a side hug in greeting.
“How are you, sweetheart?”
“Good, I’m good.” Dad looks over toward the door where the mysterious man is still standing and not moving any closer to coming in. “Have you spoken to my dad lately?”
Dad shakes his head, looking back, giving her his full attention. “It’s been about six months since we last had any communication. He might be out on a job but he might also be underground, laying low. You know how he can disappear for long periods of time, needing to clear his head.”
“That sounds about right,” Saylor scoffs.
“He seems to be unplugging longer each time.” She leans in and in a low tone she says, “Do you think you can not mention the guy I’m with?
The last thing I need is for Dad to cause a scene or do something before I’ve had the chance to sit him down and talk with him. ”
“My lips are sealed, honey,” Dad says, rubbing her back in a comforting way. “Just know that if you need something I’m just a phone call away. You call and I’ll answer, got it?”
Both her and I are used to not hearing from our dads for long periods of time, ever since we were younger.
Being in the military can be hard when they go out on deployments or missions, but since my dad and hers retired years ago, we still go long periods of time without hearing from them.
Saylor more than me. Dad usually is out hunting or fishing on the Honey Lake.
Saylor’s dad has gone off the rails over the years.
His paranoia and demeanor has suffered significantly since the last mission him and dad went on.
Both men came back different but Saylor’s dad, Adam, withdrew from everyone.
As I’m about to ask the man, who looks vaguely familiar, to come in so I can introduce myself, Saylor pipes up after checking her buzzing phone. “I forgot I’ve got to run to the bakery. New girl just started a fire in one of my new ovens. I’ll call in a little bit.”
“I think I’m heading out to Dad’s place once they hopefully release me tomorrow,” I tell her. “And I’m not sure where my phone is.”
“Oh,” she pauses for a second then leans down to give me a hug. “I’ll tell you later about my man.” She whispers in my ear.
“You better,” I whisper back and give her a squeeze.
Once they leave, Dad picks up our breakfast and helps me to the bathroom. He must’ve gone and stayed at my place last night because he brought some clothes for me to change into.
“Saylor couldn’t get out of here fast enough,” Dad says as we wait for a nurse to come get me for my head scan.
“Looks like both of you girls have met some boys since the last time we spoke.” He raises an eyebrow letting me know that he wants to talk about Linc.
He’s standing at the foot of the bed with both hands holding onto the railing.
“I guess so,” I say.
“Do you want to tell me about this guy that’s professing his love for the entire hospital to hear in the heat of an argument?” He asks it as a question but I know that he’s wanting all the details. “I want to know why he’s the reason you’re laying up in this hospital bed.”
Since I’ve got some time before they wheel me back for my scan, I might as well tell him all about Linc.
“We first met at the courthouse when I was there to pay a ticket,” I say and see dad’s face turn stern.
“What did you do?”
Dad respects authority to a fault and has always tried to instill it in me to follow the rules. I do for the most part… except when it comes to my car. Speeding and parking tickets seem to be my jam ever since I got my license at sixteen.
“It was a small parking ticket and to be honest I didn’t even see the sign that was marked as a no parking zone,” I tell him.
He lets out a defeated breath like he does every time and I can’t help but giggle.
“Every gray and white hair on my head is from you and stories like this,” he jokingly says as he pulls the chair up the side of the bed closer to me, then takes a seat. “Then what happened?” He encourages me to continue with my story.
“Linc showed me where the correct office was and we talked for a bit. We met up later that night at a bar, where my friends were hanging out.”
I tell him more about Linc and he asks me more questions about his family. When I finally get to the part that led up to yesterday, I’m thankful for an interruption.
“Knock, knock!” A woman’s voice filters through the room as the door opens.
She’s wearing pink scrubs. “I’ve come to get you for a scan before they can release you back out into the wild,” she jokes.
She comes over to check my vitals before wheeling me out.
“I’ll have her back in a little while if you want to grab a coffee or something,” she says to Dad.
“Coffee sounds good.” He says, then bends down and places a gentle kiss to my forehead. “I’ll be back by the time you’re finished.”
Later the next day I’m being carefully placed into the front seat of my dad’s truck, ready to head out to his cabin.
After a call to Saylor asking her to pack me a few bags of things I’ll need, we hit the road.
After many discussions with the doctor, Dad was able to get me approved to take such a long drive out to the cabin, with the promise to have a local doctor check me out within twenty-four hours.
The nurses made sure to medicate me so that I’d sleep most of the seven-hour drive.
Movement jolts me awake as the truck comes to a stop in front of my dad’s cabin.
“We’re home sweetheart,” Dad says, placing a gentle hand on my knee.
“Mmm,” I grunt, trying to get my bearings about me.
Dad gets out of the truck and comes around, opening my door. He swiftly but carefully helps me out and up the few steps through the front door.
“Do you want to go to your room, couch or back porch?” He asks.
Even in my haziness from sleep and pain medication, the house is still the way it was when I moved three years ago down to LA.
“Back porch, please,” I answer and he helps me to my favorite place in the world.
Dad shuffles us around the couch and table to the wooden door with a stained-glass window.
Stepping down onto the deck, I relish in the calm and quiet as our backyard butts up to Lassen and Plumas National Forest. The sound of peace is such a contrast to the hustle and bustle of being in a major city.
This is where Saylor and I grew up mostly.
Her grandparents had a place not too far from here, where we stayed when our dads went on missions.
We used to run around through the forest, loving the freedom of the land.
It wasn’t until about six years ago that her grandparents’ business expanded and they moved to the big city, opening several additional locations.
By that time, Saylor and I were almost grown and wanted to explore what else the state had to offer.
“Let me go and get you some pillows to prop your arm up with and some blankets,” Dad says, bringing me out of old memories. I nod and lean back after he’s made sure I’m secure on the lounge sectional.
“You’ve closed in the porch,” I state when he comes back with a handful of items. I nod to the screen that separates the deck and backyard.