CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Summer
Aside from my parents, I’ve only ever witnessed true love in one other couple.
Mark and Freya. Until I met the Hayes and the Carters.
Each couple devotes their all to their loved one.
I want that, and I envy each and every one of them who has it.
I want a man who looks at me the way Jaxon looks at Lily, like she is his beginning and end and all the things in between.
It’s beautiful in a way that makes me want to cry. In a good way.
Landon is looking at Paisley in the very same way, and I want to puke it’s so darn romantic. My heart can’t take all of this.
His shirt is tucked into the back of his jeans, and dirt from doing whatever he was doing outside covers patches of his sweaty skin. Instead of being grossed out, Paisley has her arms around his neck, happily getting herself dirty in the process. All so she can kiss and hold him.
Urgh, I want that. I want that so goddamn badly.
My mind drifts off to Reid and our night together.
I had been dead-set on ending whatever was going on with us.
Then last night... I close my eyes as I think back to how he held me, how he listened to me as I listed off my fears.
He held me. Reid is a guy who could easily make a girl forget her next sentence, and make a move so smoothly, you won’t even know it until he’s balls deep inside of you.
He didn’t. He just held me. When I woke up and he was still there, I knew I had to give him a chance at more.
It hadn’t been obvious at first, not until I saw how he was looking at me, like his day was already the best day ever.
I want to see that look on him more often.
I want to be the person who makes him look that way.
A part of me is scared that taking this step will only lead to heartbreak in the future.
It hurt me when he walked out of the bar with another woman.
It scared me just how much. But now I know what it means to have him in my life, and to be in his, it will kill something inside of me if I lose him again.
I can’t help but believe, deep in my heart, that he is worth it. He is worth a potential heartbreak.
The door to the bed and breakfast is pushed open and Luke steps back inside, his brow furrowed. He’s been like this since they arrived earlier. “Has anyone heard from Jaxon yet?” he asks, tapping his phone screen rapidly.
Liza, who joined her daughter for lunch too, glances up from where she’s sitting with Hunter and a bedbound Rex. “No. Why? Did they say they would contact you by now?”
Luke rubs at his chest, and from the corner of my eye, I notice Landon let go of Paisley to get closer to Luke, his own eyebrows furrowing. “Luke, are you okay?”
“I don’t know. I feel— I... It’s probably nothing,” he replies, sounding so lost in thought I begin to worry. This morning, his cheeks were pink from the sun, but now the colour is washed out, leaving a greyish hue.
Wyatt and Eli step into the sitting area, glancing at their brother. By their concerned expressions, they’ve heard the panic in their brother’s tone.
“Luke, what’s going on?” Eli asks. “You’ve been on edge for a few hours now.”
He brushes his fingers through his hair, leaving the strands sticking up. “Have they contacted you at all? Have you got anything since that last group message?”
Wyatt’s phone rings. He pulls it out of his back pocket. “It’s Jaxon,” he announces. “See, everything is okay.”
“Answer,” Luke demands, and I notice his free hand clench at his side.
“Jaxon,” Wyatt greets. Whatever is said on the other side of the phone has his expression crumbling. He staggers back, nearly collapsing into the dining chair behind him.
The room is silent, each of us on edge, waiting to hear what is happening.
I’m no longer sitting behind the reception desk.
Liza is no longer sitting between the two dogs and instead gravitates toward her son.
Everyone is on their feet or moving closer, waiting.
For a moment, I feel like I’m intruding on a private moment.
The tension in the room is more stifling than the air outside.
If Reid wasn’t with them, I would give them privacy, but he is, and I need to hear he is okay.
I have no right, but I need to. I need to know he’s okay.
My heart is racing, preparing for the worst yet hoping for the best.
He ends the call, his gaze solely on his mum. “Which one?” she chokes out, gripping the back of the chair for support before he even utters a breath.
“It’s Reid or Isaac,” Luke answers, lifting his head to look at Wyatt. My eyes mist over when I realise he knew. He knew something was wrong. They are triplets. Oh Luke. “Right?”
Wyatt slowly nods, like it pains him, and I grip the reception desk so I don’t collapse. “No,” I whisper, my heart racing.
It can’t be...
I... I lower my head, feeling my throat tighten.
He has to be okay.
Wyatt clears his throat. “Isaac—He, um... There was an accident. He got impaled by a rebar. He’s being rushed to hospital now. We need to leave.”
Landon takes Paisley before she can collapse. “No,” she cries. The dogs bark and whine, Hunter moving over to her whilst Rex lies whining on the dog bed.
Luke is already out of the door. Liza watches him for a moment, and I see the shock has her unable to move. “He will be okay. They will be okay,” she chokes out, her hands shaking. “I... I won’t be able to drive. I’m sorry.”
“I’ll drive, Mum. It’s okay,” Eli assures her, wrapping his arm around her waist. They follow Luke out the door, and I let out a breath. “I’ll get Rebecca to get the boys from footy practice.”
“I will stay here,” I assure them. Even though I badly want to go to Reid, I know this is where they need me.
Wyatt glances at me as he grabs his keys. “Reid will—” He swallows. “He will need you,” he whispers, tears gathered in his eyes. “He’s not as—Fuck! I should have been the one to go.”
“Hey, it’s okay. I’ll come,” I whisper, placing my hand on his bicep. “I’ll come.”
The young woman Paisley hired to run the reception area clears her throat. “I will stay for a while longer, until I hear from you.”
I turn to her as the family file out of the bed and breakfast, and grab my bag. “I’m going to call my cousin, Malia. She will come and help with whatever you need help with. Don’t be alarmed when she arrives. If you show her what to do, you’ll be okay to leave.”
She nods, seeming relieved. “Thank you.” Her gaze goes to the door. “I hope they’re okay.”
“Me too, Gracie. Me too.”
*** *** ***
I climb out of the car, feeling my hands shake when I see Liza is barely keeping it together as Eli escorts her inside.
I don’t see Luke, but I would assume he is already inside, demanding answers.
I’m grateful we have an MTC in our area.
Not many hospitals take major traumas, which is why many patients are airlifted to the closest one.
We reach the doors to the A&E, where I nearly stumble coming to a stop at the sight of Jaxon. Blood covers his hands and the blue denim jeans he is wearing as he straightens to his full height. His complexion is pale, his eyes wild and unfocused.
“What the fuck happened?” Wyatt chokes out, glancing at his brother in horror. “How did he get hurt?”
“Black—” Jaxon lowers his head, and a growl works its way up his throat. “He...”
Liam pushes off from the wall, his eyes just as wild, his flesh just as pale as Jaxon’s.
“It’s my fault. Isaac saved me. I rushed Black, not knowing the wanker had a trap door built beneath our fucking feet.
Isaac pushed me out of the way, but... Fuck!
” He spins, punching the sign beside the automatic doors. “It should have been me.”
Max pulls him back, wrapping his arms around him, stopping him from hurting himself any more when he goes to punch it again. “It’s not your fault. It shouldn’t have been anyone. Fuck, Liam. Think. It could have been any one of us. I didn’t even see the door until he...”
My throat tightens even further. Max—funny, charming, unserious and childish Max—is at a loss for words as he points to the ground, like he’s not seeing concrete but the trap door. I can see the struggle in his eyes, the pain he thinks he’s masking when he glances up at his friend.
Tears gather in Liam’s eyes. “I... I lost it. I thought I was back in that room. I thought...” He drops to his knees, and I can’t help but rub at my chest when he begins to break down.
I can’t watch anymore. I can’t. This is too much.
I’m feeling too much. I need to get to Reid.
I need to make sure he’s okay. Whatever these are feeling is not even a fraction of what he and Luke must be feeling.
I step through the doors and my stomach twists when I see everyone but him.
He’s normally the one you see first. There’s just something magnetic about him.
You are drawn to him. I step around the grieving family who are seeking comfort in each other, and my gaze meets Liza’s for a moment.
She forces a small smile, but it’s her eyes that silently thank me for being here.
And I know... I know this woman is stronger than she looks.
The lump grows thicker in my throat. I step around the corner, reaching the corridor I know they bring ambulance patients through. If he is going to be anywhere, it’s going to be the last place he saw his brother.
I’m right, because that is where I find him. I freeze for a second to watch him. For the first time, it hits me that he might not want me here. I don’t give myself time to second guess my choice. He might not want me here, but I will be anyway.