CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Brody was racing home after dropping his mom at the airport when she texted to ask why he’d been so cruel in the Wanderlust article.
He pulled over to read it, not understanding what she meant.
His heart sank even as his blood boiled.
And he spent the rest of the drive calling around to find out what the hell had happened and how he could fix it.
But it was Sunday, the last day of a four-day weekend, and he got nowhere.
The only person he actually spoke to was his coworker Devin, who explained what little he knew—that management thought it would be more edgy to play up the bad stuff rather than use the same old this-place-is-great fluff.
When he asked who had made the decision, Devin said he didn’t know and suggested he ask Chloe—fat chance of that.
Brody didn’t want to talk to Chloe, but he had no problem calling and leaving a scathing voicemail for Nathaniel. It wouldn’t solve anything, but it was mildly satisfying.
He’d driven straight to Alex’s to explain, but that hadn’t gone well. She was mad, and he didn’t blame her one bit. He’d give her a little time to cool off and then try again.
About an hour later, there was a knock at the door. Thinking it must be Alex, he took two long strides to the door and threw it open, desperate for another chance to explain and hopefully make up.
But standing on the porch was not the woman he wanted.
“Chloe? What are you doing here?”
“I had to come. You wouldn’t answer my emails.” She pushed her lips into some pouty nonsense that instantly irritated Brody. “I’m ready to pick up where we left off.”
“We ‘left off’ with you about to fall into bed with my boss.”
“You can’t hold that against me forever.” She huffed as if he were complaining about a dirty towel abandoned on the floor. “It was a mistake. Look, it’s freezing out here. Can I come in?”
“We have nothing to talk about.” He made no move to let her in. “Sucks you made the trip, but you might as well turn around and go home.”
He was just about to ask her whether she had anything to do with the unauthorized review changes when his phone buzzed in his hand. He turned his back on Chloe to answer it, hoping it was Alex.
“Brody Collins?” a male voice asked.
“Yeah.” While he talked, Chloe let herself in, setting her phone on the counter and helping herself to a kitchen chair.
“I’m an attending at Hartford General. Do you know Violet Collins?”
“She’s my mother,” Brody said, instantly on edge. “What’s happened?”
“We’ve admitted her for injuries sustained in a car accident—broken leg and multiple facial lacerations. We’re running tests to rule out internal trauma. She gave us your name as her emergency contact.”
“Yes. How is she? Can I talk to her?”
“She’s resting now, but she’ll need help once she gets released. Do you live close?”
“I’m a few hours away.” Brody was annoyed to find Chloe rummaging through his cupboards. “But I’ll leave immediately. Tell her I’m on my way. Thank you.” He disconnected and set his phone on the counter.
“Who was that?” Chloe asked.
Brody ignored her, raced to his room, and shoved the bare essentials into an overnight bag. When he came out, she was leaning provocatively against the kitchen island. He rolled his eyes.
“Let yourself out.” He grabbed his phone, keys, and laptop bag and hurried out, ignoring her protests and questions.
Once on the highway, he picked up his phone to call Alex. She might still be mad, but he wanted to let her know what was going on.
At his touch, the screen came to life and flashed a picture of Chloe. That wasn’t his screensaver.
“Crap,” he muttered. In his haste to rush out, he’d grabbed her phone instead of his. Too far down the freeway and desperate to get to his mother as soon as possible, he threw the phone onto the passenger seat. No time to deal with that now.
Barely five minutes later, Donna Summer’s Hot Stuff rang out from the seat beside him. He looked at the screen to see that the incoming call was from him.
“You have my phone,” he said in greeting.
“Yeah. I know. I need mine back. Where are you?” Chloe said, a bite to her words. Hopefully, that meant she’d accepted his rejection.
“I’m halfway to Hartford,” he lied. “You can stop by on your way back to New York and we’ll swap, or I’ll mail it to you later.”
“I flew here, Brody.”
“Oh, well, I can’t help you then.”
“I can’t go without a phone,” she said in a panic. “When are you coming back here?”
“I don’t know.” He couldn’t really go without a phone either, but didn’t have time to backtrack.
“Forget it,” she snapped. “I’ll stop in Portsmouth and get a new one. I can’t believe I was going to give you a second chance.”
She was going to give him a second chance? On what planet did that make sense? Rather than question her, he just thanked his lucky stars he’d dodged that bullet.
“Can you look up a phone number for me?” he said, realizing he hadn’t memorized Alex’s number. “Alex Gray. It’s in my contacts.”
“Who’s Alex?”
“A friend.”
There was a pause while he assumed she was searching.
“It’s a woman,” Chloe said, making him regret adding Alex’s picture to her contact info.
“Yes. What’s the number?”
“Are you dating her?”
“Yes. What’s the number?”
There was another long pause before she responded. “Screw you, Brody.”
The line went dead.
“Damn it,” he grumbled.
At least she hadn’t changed the passcode. It wasn’t his phone, but it was a phone. He searched Whispering Pines and called the office number listed on the website. It was Sunday afternoon, so he wasn’t surprised to get the voicemail.
“Alex. It’s Brody. My mom was in an accident, and I’m on my way Hartford now. Long story, short, I don’t have my phone. Please call me at this number.” He rattled off Chloe’s phone number and hung up.
He’d try again from the hospital, but knew it was possible no one would hear the message until the next morning. Would Alex miss him for dinner? Or just assume he was staying away because she was mad?
Having been busy with his mom, he and Alex hadn’t had a chance to talk about his Thanksgiving night love declaration. Or the fact that it had gone unanswered.
It had been too soon. He realized that now. Who says they love someone after only six weeks? It was a miracle she hadn’t already cut bait and run for the hills over that overly-eager faux pas.
He hated leaving while she was upset with him, but his mom was top priority right now. Alex would understand.
Without stopping, he made it to Hartford in under three hours and was by his mother’s side as soon as he could park and find her room.
Her eyes fluttered open when he touched her hand. “Long time no see.” She smiled weakly. “I’m sorry you had to come all this way.”
“Don’t be. It’s fine.” Brody had to swallow the lump in his throat.
She looked so fragile against the stark white sheets.
He should have been better about visiting.
Better about spending time with her. It sounded like she would be okay, but that didn’t stop the guilt.
Now that he wouldn’t have to travel so much, he vowed to make more time for her.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“I must be on some pretty good drugs, because I feel nothing,” she said. “Have you spoken to the doctor? When can I go home?”
“Not recently, and I’m not sure. I’ll find him in a minute. What happened?”
“I was in a taxi coming home from the airport,” she said. “I didn’t see anything, but the driver said someone ran a red light and T-boned us.”
“That must have been terrifying.”
She nodded, her eyes growing heavy. When she fell asleep, he snuck out to find the doctor and get the latest on her condition.
“She’s lucky,” the doctor said. “Internal tests are coming back clear, so it looks like the broken leg is the worst of it.”
“That’s good news,” Brody said. “Any idea when she’ll be released?”
“Couple of days. Because of her age and the nature of the break, I’m recommending twenty-four-hour care for at least two weeks. Can’t risk a fall. The nurse will give you a list of home care agencies.”
“Thank you.”
Brody tried the Whispering Pines office again, but got no answer. He returned to his mother’s room and fell asleep in the chair in the corner.
An hour later, he woke with a kink in his neck. His mom was awake and held out a hand to him. He scooted the chair to be by her side.
“Hey,” he said. “Good news. The doctor says the tests checking for internal injuries are clear.”
“That’s great. What about going home?”
“Day after tomorrow maybe. He said you’ll need help for a few weeks once they discharge you.”
“I’ll figure something out.”
“What? No. Mom, I’m staying to help you. How is that even a question?”
“Are you sure? You’ve got so much going on.”
“I’m sure,” he said. “I mean, I’ll hire a nurse to help you with the, you know, bathroom stuff, but I plan to stay until you’re back on your feet.”
“I appreciate that. I love you, but not enough to let you give me a sponge bath.”
He chuckled weakly.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing.” But of course, she saw right through the lie.
“Does this have something to do with that terrible review of the campground?”
“Sort of.” He shrugged. “That wasn’t the article I wrote. Someone changed it before publication and didn’t tell me. Alex seemed to accept my apology, but that doesn’t put the genie back in the bottle.”
“Ah, yes, that’s too bad.”
“We left on iffy terms, and now I can’t reach her.” He recapped the story of Chloe stopping by and how he ended up with the wrong phone.
“That one’s got some nerve,” she said. “Showing up and assuming you’d take her back?”
“Yeah. I didn’t handle that so well and, let’s just say, she’s pissed. She wouldn’t give me Alex’s number, so I have no way of getting a hold of her.”
“You don’t think Chloe would try to stir up trouble by texting Alex, do you?”
“Oh, geez,” he said. “I hadn’t even thought of that. New fear unlocked. Thanks.”
“Sorry. Why do I feel like there’s more to this story?”
“Because you’re my mom and you know me too well?” He smiled. “I told Alex I loved her.”
“Honey, that’s fantastic.”
“She said ‘thank you.’”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. We haven’t had a chance to revisit it, but I was hoping to talk to her about it soon.”
“You and Alex are great together. I could see that in an instant. Women have always fallen into your lap, but you may have to work for this one. The question you have to ask yourself is, is she worth it?”
That was a no-brainer. Hell yes, she was worth it. He tried Whispering Pines again. Then called Page Turners, Barkingham Palace, and The Outdoor Outpost. It was past nine now, and all were closed. He left increasingly desperate messages at each place, asking that they have Alex call him.
As a last resort, he even called the Green Valley Falls Sheriff’s Department. He got through to a live person in dispatch, but because it wasn’t an emergency and Nick was off duty, the best they could do was take another message.
Brody slept at his mom’s house that night and returned to the hospital in the morning. Chloe’s phone had died overnight, and he didn’t have the right charger to charge it. Once she got a new one and transferred everything over, the one he had probably wouldn’t work anyway.
He and his mom were watching a daytime talk show when a nurse popped in. “Are you Brody?” At his nod, she continued. “There’s a call for you at the nurse’s station. The main switchboard transferred it. Alex Gray?”
He was already on his feet and pushing past the nurse. “Yes. I’ll take it. Where?” He followed the woman, who pointed to a small room off the main hallway.
“I’ll transfer it in there.”
He thanked her and went in to wait, picking up the phone at the first hint of a ring. “Alex? Oh, thank God you got my message.”
“Well, you left one with everyone I know. How’s your mom? What happened?”
“She was in a car accident on the way home from the airport,” he said. “Broke her leg and has some scratches and bruises. I’m sorry I couldn’t call, but I don’t have my phone and didn’t memorize your number.”
“That might explain your ‘don’t call me, I’ll call you’ message.”
“She didn’t?” Of course she did. “What’d she say? Never mind. I don’t want to know. That vindictive…”
“Chloe?”
“Yes.” He sighed. “She showed up thinking there was some chance in hell we might get back together. As if.”
“I ran into her in the parking lot. She’s very pretty.” There was a dullness in her tone. A resolved, unfeeling matter-of-factness that put Brody on edge.
“Not half as pretty as you,” he said softly. “I hope she didn’t upset you.”
Whatever Chloe had said, Alex had been stewing on overnight. That didn’t bode well for Brody’s chance at repairing this over the phone.
“Brody.” He sensed an incoming death knell.
“Alex, don’t,” he begged. “Please forget whatever trash Chloe spewed. I’m sorry about the article. I’m sorry I had to run out without telling you. Nothing has changed for me. I still love you.”
“I did a lot of thinking last night,” she said, ignoring his I love you.
Again. “Even if we get past this, what’s next?
Whether it’s a bad review, an ex-girlfriend, a new job, or just too much time away while you travel, how can we make that work?
And if we can’t, I don’t want to fall any deeper in love with you.
It will only hurt worse. It’s better to nip this in the bud and go our separate ways. ”
Did she just admit she loved him? Or was falling in love with him? He couldn’t let that slide. He was so close.
“I disagree. We can get past this. And whatever else comes at us. At least, let’s try.”
“Brody, we barely know each other.”
“Doesn’t matter. If you want the God’s honest truth, I knew I loved you the minute you came down that trail and demanded I get my tools and follow you.”
She huffed out a sad laugh.
“Alex. Please let me come back and make this up to you.”
“Your mom needs you. Stay there and do what you have to do.”
“I’m getting a new phone today. I’ll call you as soon as I have it. I do need to make some arrangements for my mom. And I did promise I’d stay a few days.”
“Take your time,” she said. “Goodbye, Brody.” Then she hung up. Without clarifying whether he still had a chance or if she’d just broken up with him. He wanted to call her back to ask, but realized he still hadn’t gotten her phone number!
In his mind, she hadn’t closed the door completely. He needed to get to work on a plan. His mom was right. He’d have to fight for her. And he planned to do so as if his life depended on it.