Hooked: A Love Story on 7th and Main

by Elizabeth Hunter

  Aaron looked uncomfortable.

  “This is good,” Tayla said. “See? We can talk about things. Maybe we’re not like close families. But Mom knows things you like. And Dad, you know things that Mom likes too.”

  “Wine.”

  Bianca’s eyes turned cold. “Fuck you, Aaron.”

  “Such lovely language,” he said. “Such a society girl.”

  “Have I told you lately—?”

  “Redirecting!” Tayla shouted. “Mom, you do have a drinking problem. You know it as well as we do. We can work on that. We can talk. Dad, you don’t have to be an asshole about it. And yes, that’s my society language coming out too.”

  Aaron frowned. “Are you moving home? Are you planning to live here when you take this job? Is that why we’re having this conversation?” He didn’t look as negative about the idea as Tayla had expected.

  “I want the job. I don’t love living in the city the way I used to. I’m thinking about a compromise. I’ll be counteroffering to SOKA, proposing a one-week-here, three-weeks-in-Metlin plan to combine telecommuting and on-site work. They may not go for it, but I want to try, and I’m willing to take a slightly lower salary to account for cost of living.”

  “Don’t go too low.” Aaron frowned. “Let me know if you want some studies on the fiscal benefits of telecommuting. Our firm has seen good returns, and I can give you some data.”

  Tayla was shocked. “Thanks, Dad.”

  “So you’d be living here one week a month?” Bianca was smiling. “That would be lovely, Tayla. Where is the office?”

  “In the Mission.”

  “Charles can drive you and your father together.”

  “Or I can take the bus.”

  “The bus?”

  “These are details!” She tried to stop the train from derailing. “Mostly I wanted to talk to you both about the idea of me living here. We haven’t had the easiest adult relationship, but I would like to make that better.”

  Aaron cleared his throat. “That’s admirable.”

  “Thank you. So part of me living here would be that all three of us would go to family therapy with a professional.”

  “Absolutely not.”

  “Do you really think that’s necessary?”

  Tayla raised her voice. “Why would you want to keep going like this?” She looked between her parents. “Dad, you’re barely sixty. Mom, you’re only fifty-seven. You really want to live like this for the next thirty years? Miserable together?”

  Both of them were silent.

  “Listen, it’s obvious you’re not going to get divorced at this point. You’re not going to start over with someone new. And you’ve only got one kid. Me. So you can be miserable, lonely old people, or you can try my idea.” She put her hands on her hips. “What would you rather do?”

  They glanced at each other, then looked away.

  “Just… think about it, okay? Or we could continue living like strangers in the same house, our only point of contact the household staff. I don’t want that. I really don’t. I’d rather we have something… warmer.”

  “Is this a result of this young man you’re seeing now?” Bianca said. “Why are you suddenly so adamant about this?”

  “It’s not because of Jeremy. Or not only because of him. But yeah, it’s partly because he has a nice, normal family of people who talk to each other. And someday I’d like him to meet you both, and I don’t want him to think we’re aliens, okay?”

  Aaron shrugged. “I don’t think we’re that unusual.”

  “That’s because you hang out with a bunch of rich old men who also have messed-up families and estranged children. Let’s aim a little higher, okay? Because all those people refer to their children as vultures. Let’s not consider them the standard.”

  “Fine.” Aaron stood. “If you insist on this… I am willing to consider it.”

  “Thank you.” Tayla was genuinely surprised this had gone as well as it had. “Thanks, Dad.” Her phone had been buzzing in her pocket over and over. “I’m sorry, I better check this. I don’t know who…” She glanced at the phone and saw twelve calls from Emmie and a dozen frantic texts from Daisy.

  Where are you???

  Tayla called Emmie back immediately. “What’s going on?”

  “Where have you been? I’ve been trying to call for an hour—”

  “What is going on, Emmie?”

  Tayla’s stomach dropped as Emmie told her what had happened. “Where is he?” She swallowed hard. Her heart was in her throat. “I’m coming.”

  “Tayla, what’s wrong?” Bianca rose to her feet.

  She ended the call and turned to her father. “I need to borrow your Porsche, and I really don’t have time to argue.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Tayla burst into the waiting room. “Where is he?”

  “He’s still in surgery.” Cary rose to his feet. “Calm down. Crap, how fast did you drive? Emmie said you were in San Francisco.”

  “I was.” She looked around the waiting room of Metlin Regional Hospital. Then back at Cary. There was blood all over his shirt. “Emmie said it was a broken arm? Why are you covered in blood?”

  “It was a compound fracture.” Cary put a hand on her shoulder when her knees went weak. “He had two bones sticking out, so it bled a lot, but there were no arteries broken. And Ashley’s an EMT, so she got him stabilized before we lowered him down the cliff. He was mostly able to walk out on his own.”

  “Mostly? Who’s Ashley?”

  “One of our climbing partners.” Cary pointed to a smiling couple sitting on the far side of the waiting room.

  “Hey.” They waved.

  “Hi. Thank you for stabilizing my boyfriend and making his bleeding stop.” Tayla felt her stomach go queasy just thinking about the pain. “Oh my God.”

  “Dave and I had to carry him a little toward the end. Two miles is a lot when you’ve got a bone on the outside.”

  Tayla felt like she was going to be sick. “But he’s going to be okay?” She looked around. “Where is everyone? Where’s Emmie?”

  “She went to the house to stay with Gus. His parents are back with the doctors. I’m sure they’ll be coming out soon, so why don’t you just—”

  The doors opened in a rush.

  “Where is he?” Melissa Rhodes swept into the waiting room. “Where’s Cary?”

  “Missy?”

  She locked panicked eyes on him. “Cary?” Her cheeks were red. “Ox said there was a climbing accident.” She looked him up and down. “Why are you covered in blood? What happened? Why didn’t you call me?”

  He stepped toward her, hands raised. “Jeremy is the one who got hurt. He has a compound fracture in his right arm, that’s why there’s blood. Ashley, Dave, and I got him down the hill. We’re fine.”

  “You’re fine?” She was still in panic mode. “The blood…?”

  “Not mine.”

  “Oh my God.” She covered her face and burst into tears.

  Cary’s eyes went wide. “Missy?”

  Without another word, she turned and raced out of the waiting room.

  Cary turned baffled eyes to Tayla. “What the hell was that?”

  She shook her head. “Dude. Go after her.”

  “Right.” Cary ran out of the room, chasing Melissa.

  Tayla walked over and sat next to Ashley and Dave. “So, this is a weird way to meet.”

  “Are you Tayla?” Ashley asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Jeremy talks about you a lot.”

  “He does?”

  “He’s a hell of a guy,” Dave said. “Tough as nails. He’ll be fine.”

  “Yeah.” Tayla took a deep breath and settled in to wait. “He’ll be fine.”

  Jeremy felt her skin against his. She was so soft. What did she use on her skin? Was it lotion? Was it oil? Some kind of special soap?

  “He’s waking up.”

  “Mmmup.”

  “What?”

 
“Jeremy?” His mom’s voice was brusque. “How are you feeling? Tell me your pain level from one to ten.”

  “It would be so useful to have a mom who was a doctor.”

  It wasn’t useful. It was horrible. His mom was the most unsympathetic mom ever and he could never fake being sick.

  “Jeremy, pain scale.”

  “Fnnn.”

  “What was that?”

  “Did he say he was fine?”

  She was holding his hand. That was nice. God, she smelled so good. Was it the lotion again? Why did she always smell so good?

  “If I’d been here before they started, I could have told them to go light on the anesthesia. He’s very sensitive.” The sound of paper flipping. “It’ll take him a bit longer to come out of it, that’s all.”

  His dad’s voice. “The surgeon said they used two pins?”

  “Yes. Not bad considering the break.”

  “And a lot of stitches. It was so many stitches.”

  “That’s an average amount for an injury like his.”

  “Really?”

  “Mmmmm.”

  In his somewhat conscious mind, Jeremy realized he was hearing his parents’ voices and Tayla’s. Which meant that his parents had met Tayla when he was unconscious.

  Not ideal.

  Or maybe it was fine. They seemed to be friendly. He’d certainly told his parents enough about Tayla.

  Wait, had they told Tayla how much Jeremy talked about her?

  Did that matter?

  “Jeremy Augustus Allen, you need to wake up.”

  He blinked his eyes open. “Okay.” He couldn’t keep them open for long. It was just an automatic reaction to his mother’s voice.

  “Hey bud.” His father patted his arm. The one without bandages. “I heard you had a run-in with a bobcat, huh?”

  “Lion,” Jeremy muttered. “Wzzz… lion.”

  “He always did like correcting me.”

  “Hey.” Her soft lips touched his cheek. “Hey, handsome. Wake up. I want to see your eyes. I broke about eighty traffic laws to get here before you woke up, okay? So wake up.”

  “That’s a really beautiful vehicle, by the way.”

  “Thanks, Mr. Allen.”

  “You can call me Doug.”

  Oh thank God, because Jeremy really liked it when Tayla called him “Mr. Allen” during sex, and that had been about to get really weird. His mother better not make Tayla call her Dr. Washington. She’d pulled that with one of Jeremy’s girlfriends in college. That one hadn’t lasted.

  “I think he’s just sleeping now.”

  “He’s probably eavesdropping on us,” Tayla said. “Gathering blackmail material.” She ran a hand over his cheek. “I’m so glad they didn’t shave his beard.”

  “I would have.”

  His mother hated his beard.

  Jeremy took a deep breath and opened his eyes. “Thirsty.” His voice was scratchy. “Can I get some water?”

  Tayla pressed her cheek to his, and he could feel tears against his skin.

  “Hello, beautiful.” He tried to lift his arm, but it was heavy. Way too heavy.

  “Don’t move your cast.” Tayla sniffed. “Just let your arm rest. They had to put all kinds of equipment in it. Pins. Screws. I’m sorry; you’re half robot now.”

  He reached across with his left arm and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “So I’m like Robocop? Is that what you’re saying?”

  She pulled away. “Yes. I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t. That means I’m a badass.” He wanted to flex his fingers so badly, but they were taped to a metal brace on his cast. He wanted to touch her. “My fingers are all taped up.”

  “You broke some of those too.”

  “Three, to be exact.” His mother stepped back to let the nurse in.

  “And my chest hurts.”

  “You broke two ribs, your ulna, and three fingers. Your shoulder was partially dislocated. Be glad you don’t have any head injuries. Cary said you weren’t wearing a helmet.”

  “Sorry, Mom.”

  The nurse checked his vitals and made notes on his chart. Asked him a bunch of questions that made him tired. Then she handed him a pill and held out a cup of water with a straw.

  “Pain killer,” the nurse said. “You’re going to need them until tomorrow at least. After that, you can probably switch to over-the-counter.”

  “Okay.”

  His mother waited until the nurse had left the room. “Cary also said you were climbing without ropes or anchors. You told me you didn’t do that, Jeremy.”

  “I was bouldering about ten feet off the ground, Mom. If I hadn’t been surprised by a mountain lion, I’d have been fine.”

  “And did you have bear spray?”

  “Cary had some, but we didn’t need it.”

  His dad sat in the chair opposite the bed and stretched his legs out. “Good thing that Dave guy has a good rock-throwing arm. I’d have brought my shotgun.”

  Jeremy frowned. “On a climb?” He sipped from a cup of water that Tayla held out. “Thanks. When did you get here? You weren’t supposed to be back until tomorrow.”

  “Seriously?” She gave him angry eyes. “My boyfriend breaks his arm, partially dislocates his shoulder, has to have surgery, but you think I’m gonna wait until tomorrow to head home?”

  He was still a little loopy. So was his grin. “I like it when you call me your boyfriend.”

  Her cheeks went red. “Well, you’re the first man to have the title, so congratulations.”

  “Only man to have the title,” he muttered. He was so tired. He closed his eyes and felt his head drifting. “Did you bring a bag?”

  “It’s in the car.” She smoothed a hand over his cheek. “If you’re tired, sleep. I’ll stay here.”

  “You met my parents without me.”

  She brushed a thumb back and forth over his cheek. “No, you were there. You were just unconscious.”

  “They know about you,” he muttered. “Told them all about you.”

  Her voice was soft. “Yeah, I heard.”

  “You going to stay?”

  “Didn’t I tell you I brought my bag?”

  “So cute.” He turned his face into her hand and closed his eyes. “Love you, Tay.”

  Love you, Tay.

  Her breath caught. She’d known it. How could she not know it? Every move he made spoke his love to her. Every sweet, supportive encouragement. Every tender kiss.

  Her eyes filled with tears. She looked up at Jeremy’s parents and wiped her eyes. “Sorry.”

  Jeremy’s mom, Patricia, was crying too. “Don’t be sorry.”

  Tayla cleared her throat. “I don’t think anyone has said that to me before. Except my best friend, Emmie. She has.”

  “Oh, Tayla.” Patricia walked over and enveloped her in a hard hug. “I don’t understand how that could be, but I know you must be a wonderful person if Jeremy loves you. He’s a good judge of character.”

  She sniffed and hugged Patricia back with one arm. The other one stayed on Jeremy’s cheek. She didn’t want to let go of him. Not even for a minute.

  “Did he tell you I got this job offer in San Francisco?”

  Doug said, “Yeah. He was excited for you, but…”

  “I’m gonna figure out a way to make it work,” Tayla said. “A wise woman once told me that if the world isn’t giving you what you want, then you have to make the world your bitch.” She froze. “I probably shouldn’t have said that in front of you.”

  Patricia let go of her and laughed. “The language may be harsh, but the sentiment isn’t far from what my mother told me before I came out to California.” She took Tayla by the shoulders. “She said, ‘Don’t wait for life to come to you. Work hard and never settle for almost perfect when perfect is what you want.’”

  “That’s right.” Doug stretched his arms up and crossed them behind his head. “She waited for perfect, and perfect was what she got.”

  Patricia’s
eyebrow went up in a very familiar arch. “I was talking about my job, Douglas.”

  “And yet you somehow found a perfect husband too.” He smiled.

  Tayla was gobsmacked by their easy and affectionate teasing. “You two are wonderful.”

  Doug smiled. “We do all right.” He stood up. “Now, Patty, if you’re done second-guessing every medical professional in this hospital, why don’t we head over to Pop’s? He’s going to want an update now that the boy’s awake.”

  “But are you sure—?”

  “Tayla’s with him. She’ll call the house if anything comes up.”

  “Write down your numbers.” She wiped her eyes and held out the pad sitting on the tray. “I’m not supposed to turn my phone on in here, but I’ll call you if he needs you.”

  “Thank you, sweetheart.” Doug gave her a one-armed hug. “It’s been a long day. You try to get some rest, okay?”

  “I’ll try.”

  Jeremy was lucky enough to be in a double room with no one on the opposite bed, so Tayla stretched out next to him and a sympathetic nurse brought a couple of extra blankets.

  She was a mess. She’d brought her bag in from the car and washed her face before she slept. She tied her hair back in a couple of braids and tried to sleep with nurses coming in and out through the night, checking on Jeremy’s vital signs, the drainage on his arm, and helping him to the bathroom when he woke up at midnight.

  The male nurse who helped him was taller than Jeremy and built like a football player. Tayla half listened to them while she dozed.

  “Rock climbing accident, huh?”

  “Yeah.” Jeremy’s voice was rough.

  “You know, we’re the hospital that search and rescue brings all the climbers to. Could have been a lot worse.”

  “I keep telling myself that.”

  “That your wife?”

  “Girlfriend.”

  “She’s cute. Seems nice. Might be a good idea to try to stay in one piece for her.”

  “That’s definitely the plan.”

  After the nurse left, Jeremy dragged his IV stand over to Tayla’s bed, lowered the railing, and climbed in beside her.

  “Hey. Aren’t you supposed to—?”