Marcus and Kendall would string him up for marring the clean, white surface of the water tower, but he didn’t care.
His prayers that the paint can still worked were answered, and he was buoyed by the fact that it was almost full. He shook the can vigorously and quickly sprayed “I,” then drew a large heart, then wrote the word “Nikki” in letters that were as tall as he was. Then he turned to watch the car getting smaller and smaller, holding his breath.
“Please,” he whispered, hoping the brake lights would come on, some indication that she’d seen his message, that she was going to turn around and come back to him. “Please.”
But the car kept going…going…and then it was gone over the horizon.
Porter sagged against the handrail and exhaled noisily. His mind raced frantically for other options. He wasn’t giving up on her. He’d have her van repaired, then drive it back to Broadway. He’d tell her how much he loved her and make her believe him…
Then a harsh realization hit him. He was in the same boat as Kendall…his life was here in Sweetness. And he’d probably already ruined this place for Nikki.
He threw his head back and shouted in frustration, then listened as the strangled sound echoed back to him as it rebounded off the valley walls.
Totally defeated, Porter started to turn around when something on the horizon caught his eye. A movement…too small to be a car…probably an animal…
He reached for the binoculars always clipped to his belt and lifted them to his face. He adjusted the focus and brought the moving shape into focus.
Nikki.
Walking back, carrying her suitcase.
Walking back to him.
Porter’s heart took wing. He whooped and waved his arms. “Nikki! Nikki!”
She lifted her free arm and waved back.
Eager to drive out to pick her up, he made his way back to the ladder and began to descend. Adrenaline pumped through his body and he couldn’t stop smiling, but he forced himself to slow down. He didn’t want to fall and break his neck. Not now.
He almost made it.
He was about fifteen feet from the ground when his cast caught and he slipped. A sense of déjà vu enveloped him as he tumbled through the air.
35
The flat-back landing jarred Porter’s body and drove the air out of his lungs. He lay there for a few seconds and waited for the initial pain to subside before daring to breathe.
When he did, he dragged in enough air to breathe a prayer of thanks that he wasn’t dead. Then he moved gingerly. To his great relief, his broken ankle didn’t seem any worse for the fall.
His left arm, however, hadn’t fared as well.
He grimaced, then laughed into the air as he pulled his phone from his belt and dialed Marcus’s cell phone.
“What now?” Marcus asked.
“How do you know something’s wrong?” Porter asked.
“It’s you, isn’t it?”
But even his cranky brother couldn’t bring him down today. “I kind of took another tumble from the water tower.” He held the phone away from his ear until Marcus’s string of curses petered out.
“Did you break your other leg?”
“No…just an arm. But I’m going to need a doctor.”
Marcus sighed. “I’ll bring the limey.”
“Why don’t you bring Nikki instead? She’s on the road to Sweetness, walking back.”
Marcus was quiet for a few seconds, then grunted. “Okay, you get a pass. But this is the last one. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
Porter disconnected the call and smiled. It was as close as Marcus would get to telling him he was happy for him.
He pushed himself up with his one good arm and leaned against a rock. A few minutes later, he heard the sound of an ATV coming up the hill, then it came into view. Marcus was driving, and Nikki was riding on the back. Porter’s heart catapulted at the sight of her. When they pulled to a stop, Marcus busied himself with the four-wheeler to give them privacy.
Nikki climbed off and hurried to him. Her beautiful face was creased with concern as she crouched down. “This was a little extreme, don’t you think? I was already coming back, after all.”
“I had to make sure you’d stay awhile,” he joked. Then he pulled her face close to his and looked into her green, green eyes. “I love you, Nikki.”
She smiled. “I saw that.”
“Is that why you came back?”
She shook her head. “I came back because I love you, too.”
Porter captured her soft mouth in a sweet, profound kiss that promised all there was to come….
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0525-3
BABY, DRIVE SOUTH
Copyright © 2011 by Stephanie Bond, Inc.
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Baby, Drive South Page 26