Chapter 42
LET HER DOWN
Brennan opened the wrapper on the sub he picked up on his way to the hotel. He hated that he was here and his daughter wasn’t. Nor was it a simple trip for him to get to her if he needed to.
But his mother had her and there wasn’t anything to worry about.
He was three bites in when his phone rang, a number he didn’t recognize. It was a Boston one, so he answered.
“Hello.”
“Brennan, it’s Darin Nadar. Alana has been in a car accident.”
He stood up quickly. Alana’s father wouldn’t be calling him if it weren’t serious. “Is she okay?”
“She’s at the hospital. I got the call a few minutes ago. Her aunt is with her, but she’s unconscious. I know you’re in Boston. I’ve got a helicopter coming to get me and my wife. If you can get to the docks, we’ll wait for you.”
He was throwing all his stuff in his bag as quickly as he could while he talked.
The few bites of food he’d already eaten threatening to come up.
“I’m on my way.”
He raced out of the building as fast as he could pulling his luggage behind him, hoping the wheels didn’t start smoking.
The minute he was on the road, he was cursing up a storm over the traffic he had to maneuver around.
Between the shit with Rene, having to be here for work, and now this, he wasn’t sure the last time his nerves were this shot.
He’d even toyed with seeking Rene out again to see what was going on, but on the advice of his attorney was told to lie back.
Lying back was exhausting when everything in you said to throw the first punch.
He got to the docks and saw the helicopter in the distance. He’d never been to that side before, never needed it.
Helicopter rides for transportation weren’t something he’d ever considered.
He didn’t care about his luggage, but grabbed his laptop and raced to the helicopter.
Darin opened the door to the building and waved him in rather than him going to the side.
“Have you gotten any updates?” he asked.
“Sophia just called. She’s awake. She’s in pain and they are running tests to see if there is anything broken or she’s just bruised.”
He breathed out. “That’s good. What happened? Do you know?”
“You need to sign a few forms quickly and then we can take off. Egan is on the phone. He flew over to get us.”
“Sure. Yeah. Whatever.”
He turned when a big man walked out with an iPad in his hand. “You must be Brennan. I’m Egan Bond. Just need you to fill this out, read, and sign this release. Got to keep documentation up to date.”
He shook hands with Egan, filled out the information as fast as he could and signed his name without reading the rest. Anything to get this moving faster.
“We’re good to go,” Egan said. “Ever ridden in a helicopter before?”
“No,” he said.
“This one is my beauty. Don’t even need headsets for the noise. You’ll be able to talk more. We’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
Half the time of the ferry. Maybe this was the way to go.
The four of them left the building and climbed into the helicopter. He realized now, he had no transportation once he got to the airport.
He’d just tag along with Alana’s parents. He was assuming they had it covered.
Once the helicopter took off, he turned to Darin. “Do you know what happened?”
“I know someone hit her in the driver’s door. It looks as if they ran a red light,” Darin said.
Jesus.
His whole life he lived with this fear of losing someone he loved again.
He had this dull, boring job that wouldn’t put him at risk of danger. He was always trying to eliminate risks around Becca getting injured too.
It was so stupid to ever think that, when a simple car accident could take someone away from you.
“Why don’t you tell him everything?” Cindy said.
“What more is going on?” he asked.
Alana’s parents were looking back and forth at each other. There was tension for sure.
“Because he might not know what is going on,” Darin said.
“I don’t like secrets,” he said. “And you just pulled me in saying that.”
The last thing he needed was to find out some secret about Alana when he was dealing with Rene’s threats.
“Darin and Alana were fighting on the phone right before the accident. Her annoyance likely distracted her.”
He didn’t know that Alana fought about much. At least not that he’d seen.
“Someone else ran a red light, you said.”
“But she’s normally more aware of her surroundings. She would have been looking to see, but was most likely distracted over the fight,” Darin said.
“You can’t blame yourself for that.” Though he knew damn well he’d be feeling the same way.
“It’s hard not to,” Darin said. “Did you know Jonathan has been texting her?”
“No,” he said. “She’s talking to him?”
“No,” Cindy said. “Don’t think that. Alana would never cheat.”
That wasn’t where his mind was going.
He’d made that mistake once already by getting jealous.
But he had to admit he wasn’t happy she hadn’t told him about these texts.
“She’s ignoring him,” Darin said. “He showed up on the island today to talk to her.”
Brennan frowned. “About what?”
“Nothing that concerns her,” Darin said. “I assume you know their history and that she protected his job after their breakup.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“That was my thought,” Cindy said.
“The company Jonathan works for is being sold and moved to Alabama.”
He thought for a second, remembering the conversation between Darin and Kirk. “This is what you meant about things being taken care of soon enough at Christmas?”
“Yes. It was my hope he’d leave with the company. He doesn’t want to go and is trying to find another job within any Bond business. He’s not getting calls for any interviews.”
“And he thinks it’s Alana’s fault? She’d never do that.”
“She wouldn’t and she didn’t,” Darin said. “She thought I did. Or Jonathan thought I did and he was probably whining to her about it to fix. We fought because I did nothing but said I’d fix it if she wanted me to.”
“Fix it for Jonathan to get a job?” he asked. He didn’t expect her family to go that far.
“God, no. To make sure he never ran his mouth again. This only made it worse for him. Which Alana pointed out. I don’t know if Mitchell or Ethan flagged him to not get interviews. I didn’t ask and don’t care.”
He wasn’t so sure Darin didn’t know the answer to that, but it wasn’t his place to question it.
All he cared about was Alana.
“So this dickhead shows up and gives her a hard time over his job?”
“Jonathan’s career is all he’s ever cared about,” Cindy said. “I think Alana knew that deep down but turned a blind eye.”
It went back to her wanting a family as much as he did.
A conversation the two of them had so many times.
Would she really have sacrificed her own happiness to get that dream?
Hadn’t he done the same thing?
Brennan knew things wouldn’t work with him and Rene, but he did the right thing when he found out she was pregnant.
“My daughter needs someone in her life that is going to put her at the top of their list,” Darin said. “Or damn near close to it.”
He nodded.
He’d been clear Becca came first. Though he loved Alana, she might still feel as if she wasn’t a priority in his life.
“I won’t ever make her feel as if she’s not enough,” he said. “I promise you that.”
The conversation stopped after that, him trying to get his emotions under control.
Anger over her not trusting him enough to say that her ex had been bothering her.
Frustration with himself for not seeing anything because maybe he was so lost in his own drama.
Heartache that he might have let her down if she didn’t feel as if she could come to him.
Trust was a big issue for them both. They could say they loved each other all they wanted, but it wouldn’t change a thing if she didn’t know he’d be there for her.
They landed a few minutes later, the three of them getting into a car that was waiting for them.
He’d heard that it was Sophia’s and that Emily had picked her mother up and brought her to the hospital to be with Alana.
He wanted to race in before her parents, but he had no claim to do that.
They gave their names in the ER, staff put bands on their wrists, and brought them back to a waiting room.
“Darin.” A man came in. He was assuming it was a doctor.
“Hudson. How is she?”
“She’s done in radiology now. I want to see if she broke any ribs, as she’s having some pain in her chest. Otherwise, she’s more banged up than anything. No concussion, but she’ll have some shiners from the air bag hitting her in the face.”
His shoulders sagged hearing that.
“Thank God,” Cindy said. “Brennan Austin, this is Dr. Hudson Mills. A relative of ours. Hudson, this is Alana’s boyfriend, Brennan.”
“Nice to meet you,” Hudson said, shaking his hand. “She’ll be fine. Carson, my brother, will let me know once he’s read the imaging. Shouldn’t be much longer. I’ll check to see if she’s back yet and then you can go see her.”
“Thanks,” he said.
Brennan knew he should text his mother and let her know he was back on the island and what was going on.
Becca hadn’t even crossed his mind in the past hour since he’d found out.
That had never happened to him once. His daughter was always the first and last thing on his mind.
Twenty minutes later, a nurse came out and said the three of them could go back.
Alana already had bruising around her eyes, her face a bit swollen, but nothing else.
She pushed herself to sit up better and winced.
“Don’t move,” her mother said. “We were worried.”
“Me too,” she said. “I’m hoping I’m only sore and nothing is broken,” she said, then turned to Brennan. “Did you fly over with my parents?”
“I did,” he said. “They called me. I never found out how you knew I was there.”
He looked at Cindy. “We got the call first. I didn’t have your number and called Kelsey. She said that you were in Boston. Once I knew Sophia was on her way, Darin called you.”
“Thanks,” he said. “I would have gone nuts knowing this happened and I couldn’t get to her.”
“We figured as much,” Darin said. “Hey, I’m sorry.” He was looking at his daughter, rubbing her hand. “I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you.”
She was looking at Brennan, as if she didn’t know what she could or should say.
“We told Brennan about the texts,” Darin said.
Alana pursed her lips. Yeah. The fact that she was annoyed he knew didn’t make him feel any better.
“There wasn’t much to say,” she said.
“We’ll deal with it later,” he said. “I’m more worried about you.”
Hudson came in, breaking the tension in Alana’s eyes.
“Good news. No broken bones, just two bruised ribs,” Hudson said.
Alana breathed out but then grabbed her side and winced again.
He rushed over next to her. Not that there was anything he could do about it.
“That’s good. So I can go home?”
“Soon,” Hudson said. “You shouldn’t be alone tonight. You’re going to be in some pain. We’ll get you some pain meds for a few days and instructions for ice care, but otherwise I think you’ll be okay.”
“Thanks,” she said.
“We’ll stay with her tonight,” Cindy said. “Brennan, we’ll drop you off at home if you want. Then you can fly over in the morning to get your car.”
He nodded. “Whatever works.”
He wanted to argue he’d stay with Alana. And take care of her.
But he had no hold on her and she lived at her parents’ house.
Maybe it was for the best with the way she was avoiding his gaze.