Chapter 17 #3
“Dakota, you didn’t have to go to that trouble.”
She shrugged. “Maybe I just wanted to see my little brother working his magic.”
His smile slipped a fraction. “I can’t work magic. You know that too well.”
“You’re wrong,” she said. “All your patients fall in love with you for a reason.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, old Mrs. Krantz is nursing a real crush on me.”
Joyride grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the door. “Quick. We have to leave.”
“What? Why?”
He scooped up Ruby from the floor and hustled. “Hurry.”
I followed him through the glass doors and he took the steps two at a time.
“What’s the rush?”
“Let’s just get to the car,” he said tightly.
I could tell he was upset. Maybe he’d misunderstood the scene with the woman.
“Kit was talking to his sister, Joy. She wasn’t a girlfriend or anything, if that’s what you’re worried about?”
He handed Ruby to me and jerked open the passenger door to dive inside the car. Once I had her strapped in, I climbed into the driver’s seat. Joyride’s face was still bone white.
“Okay, this isn’t about jealousy, is it? What’s going on?”
“I wish it was,” he whispered. “Kit’s sister… That’s Dakota Willis.”
“And you know her name because…”
“Because I’m the one who put her in the wheelchair, Holly. That’s the driver from my accident. She’s para—” His voice broke. “Paralyzed.”
“Oh my god.” My eyes widened as the full implications hit me. “And that’s not the first time you met Kit, is it? You two…”
“We hooked up at a club in Omaha,” he rasped. “Yeah. We were just flirting. Oh my god, this is a nightmare. This is exactly what I deserve. He’ll hate me. I’m sure he already does. He just doesn’t know it yet.” He lifted his hands to cover his face. “Let’s just go. Please.”
Ruby was kicking my seat, restless to be going too, so I started the car and reversed out of the parking lot. I headed back toward Clover Leaf, taking the slower, scenic route so we’d have plenty of time to talk.
“Maybe this is a sign, Joey.”
“How do you figure?” he asked, sounding miserable.
“You told me you were struggling to move on. Your guilt is holding you back.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, maybe you need to make amends,” I said. “Apologize to Dakota. Tell her how deeply you regret your actions.”
“What if she doesn’t want to see me? I don’t want to upset her by barging into her life because I want her to forgive me, you know? She shouldn’t forgive me.”
“So don’t do it for forgiveness,” I said. “Do it because she deserves to know you’re sorry.”
“Maybe.” He sounded absolutely gutted. A few beats of silence passed as I drove. He gave a little laugh, the edges jagged enough to cut. “I don’t know how you can even look at me, knowing what I did.”
Ah, god. He was in so much pain.
“What I know is you were young and reckless, but you didn’t intend to hurt anyone.
You did five years in prison, and maybe it’s not enough.
Maybe Dakota won’t think anything but a lifetime is enough.
But punishing yourself indefinitely won’t change what happened.
You can only move forward and try to be a better man. ”
He nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. I need to be better.” He straightened in his seat. “And I can’t see Kit again.”
“Probably not a great idea,” I agreed.
Kit would probably want to rip his head off when he found out. In a small town like this, secrets wouldn’t keep forever. But I wasn’t about to kick Joyride while he was already down.
“Come on. Let’s hit a drive-thru and get crap food to make us feel better before I have to go to work.”
Joyride brightened. “Yeah? Can we get Zacos?”
“We sure can. We’ll pick some up for Tex, too.”
He sighed. “You’re lucky to have each other. For a second there, I thought…” His voice grew small. “Well, it doesn’t matter. I got off lucky in that accident. I’ve got no business moping because I can’t date Dakota’s brother.”
I snorted. “Is dating what you two were gonna do?”
His huffed a small laugh. “Shut up.”
“I know you liked Kit, but you’re young and hot. You’ll meet someone else.”
“You think?”
I pulled into the drive-thru lane behind two other cars despite the early hour. “There’s a reason Tex was jealous.”
“I guess.”
“But you’re not in a good place to meet someone. Not right now. Even if Kit wasn’t Dakota’s brother, you hate yourself too much to let anyone love you.”
He lowered his eyes and picked at a hole in the knee of his jeans. I worried I’d been too harsh, but he peeked up at me through a fringe of hair, wearing a sad smile.
“Thanks, Holly. That makes me feel a little better.”
“Better?” I said, surprised. “How?”
“Because even though it’s a shitty situation, you’re always honest with me. I like that you don’t sugarcoat it and tell me Kit would forgive me or that I don’t deserve this.”
“Well, I didn’t say you deserved it—”
“I just mean, it’s easier, somehow, to talk about it honestly. Without you trying to make me feel better.”
“I understand. You don’t want sympathy. You made a terrible mistake, and you’re living with the consequences. That’s really all you can do.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.”