Bessy Phillips
I wish they could find their way back to each other. Everyone in town can see how much they love each other.
Carly Summers
I’ve seen them together. The way he looks at her, you know that they were meant to be together.
Bessy Phillips
But after everything they’ve gone through, maybe it just won’t work out.
Jeannie Jax
I see him every few days in the hardware store. He puts on a good front, but his eyes always look so sad.
Carly Summers
Katherine came into the hair salon about a week ago. She looked okay, I guess, but you could tell she just wasn’t anything close to herself.
Bessy Phillips
Maybe we should find a way to get them back together?
Carly Summers
You can’t make two people that love each other stay together. They have to do that themselves.
I put the phone down and sighed. It appeared that everyone in the town could see how miserable we both were. It also appeared that everyone could see right through me. I wasn’t fooling anyone. I was fucking miserable, and now it was clear that everyone else knew it. And as I looked at my brothers, it was clear that I wasn’t fooling them either.
Katherine
I was getting used to the whispers as I walked around town. Some people were nice and stopped to talk to me. Others just hid behind their hands as they gossiped. That was what it was like living in a small town. But as the weeks went on, I was finding a new rhythm for my life. It wasn’t as bright and cheerful as it used to be, but I wasn’t completely miserable either.
Now that Casey was released from the hospital, there were no patients that I was familiar with. I decided that I would play it like Charlene had said, no emotional connection. They were my patients and I was their nurse. Other than that, I couldn’t offer anything else. She was right, it was too hard to watch kids go through so much pain when you were personally involved, and since I was still grieving, I didn’t need to set myself up for heartache.
I met Chrissy in the cafeteria on our lunch break. I was still on three days a week, but I was working full days. The good thing was, I got to see Chrissy most of the days I worked, which helped me feel like I was getting back to normal. She always had some funny story to tell me about her husband, and I dutifully smiled along. I tried desperately not to think about what stories I might share if I were still with Eric. Those times were over for me.
“So, I saw on Facebook that you and Eric ran into each other yesterday.”
“Why does that not surprise me?”
“So?”
“So, what?”
She sighed in irritation. “So, what happened? Did he try to get you back?”
“No. He just…it was awkward. Neither of us knew what to say. He said I looked nice and then he moved on.”
“He said you looked nice.” I nodded. “In your scrubs.”
“He was just being nice.”
“Kat, when are you going to wake up and see that the man is one hundred percent in love with you and always will be?”
“When are you going to stop pressuring me about this? And why did you have to take on his nickname for me? I think we need to go back to Kiki.”
“No,” she shook her head. “Absolutely not. Ever since he said it was a bird’s name, that’s all I picture when I hear it.”
“Well, I don’t want to be Kat anymore.”
“Should I call you Katherine then?”
I grimaced, thinking of when he insisted on calling me Katherine. No, I couldn’t hear that either. “How about we just stick with Katie?”
“Katie? You want to be Katie now?”
I sighed in irritation. “What does it matter? It’s just a name!”
“Exactly, you’re running from a name. Do you see this? Do you hear yourself? You need to deal with the fact that the man you love is not coming back unless you make the first move.”
I picked at the label of my drink. “I don’t know how to do that. I said some really horrible things to him.”
“Like what?”
“I said that I couldn’t look at him because he reminded me of her.”
She looked at me sympathetically. “On Facebook, someone said she saw you crying at the grocery store. Was that because of Angel?”
I shook my head. In all honesty, I hadn’t thought about Angel when I saw him. I just thought of the pain of losing him. “It just hit me hard, you know? I still love him, but I made a mess of everything. I was a jerk to him.”
“When?”
“We had this argument before I moved out. He said we should go out to dinner, try and get out of the house. I got mad because it felt like he was trying to make me move on and forget.”
“Well, do you feel better now that you’re not at home, moping around all the time?”
I glared at her. “Yes.”
“So, he wasn’t wrong.”
“Well, I didn’t feel that way at the time. I was stuck in my head. I honestly think that moving out of that house has been good for me. It was hard to walk past Angel’s room every day. The distance has been good for me.”
“Okay, so why was it wrong when he suggested it?”
I shrugged. “Because it felt like he just wanted to move on. I don’t know,” I sighed. “I was a wreck and I wasn’t thinking straight. I couldn’t see that he was suffering. I only saw that I was in pain and he wasn’t. I accused him of not being sad over our loss.”
She let out a low whistle and leaned back in her chair. “That was harsh.”
“I know.”
“So, now you’ve moved out and you’re both miserable.”
“Yes.”
“And he won’t come to you because he thinks you don’t want him.”
“I pretty much told him that.”
“Wow, I gotta say, Kat, the bitch factor just went up by ten.”
“Well, you can see now how I can’t just go get him back. I hurt him, a lot, and an apology isn’t going to make everything better. And I’m not sure that I want to try anyway. I was serious when I told you that we weren’t right for each other. I think with time, it won’t hurt so much and we’ll both see that we never should have happened.”
“Right,” she nodded. “Spoken like a true coward.”
I glared at her. “It’s not being a coward to walk away to protect someone else. He’s going to move on and find someone better for him, someone that doesn’t say shitty stuff to make him feel horrible.”
“You’re right. You wouldn’t be a coward if you were protecting him. But you’re not. You’re protecting yourself from getting hurt again. Kat, you don’t get to decide other people’s lives for them. You should give him the chance to find out for himself if he wants to be with you or not. And if you don’t, you’re making yourself miserable. You’ll never be happy and you’ll never realize that the one person that you’re pushing away is the one person that could help you heal.”
She stood and grabbed her garbage, staring down at me in pity. But this wasn’t pity for my loss. This was pity because she knew that I was making a mistake and she knew that I didn’t have it in me right now to make this better for myself.
Eric
“Dude, you’re miserable,” Will said, sighing as he took a seat across from me. “You can’t keep doing this. It’s bad enough you lost Angel, but you can’t just let Kat slip away too.”
“I didn’t let her slip away. She didn’t want to be here anymore.”
“You really believe that?” He shook his head slightly. “I saw the way she looked at you. I saw how much she loved you. She’s scared.”
“Scared of what?”
“Of being with you now that Angel’s gone. Afraid that you won’t look at her the same way. Afraid that you don’t want just her.” He shrugged. “Take your pick.”
I rubbed my thumb on a spot on the table. Sighing, I just didn’t know what to say. I wanted her back so much, but aft
er everything we’d been through, I didn’t know how to get her back. I didn’t have the confidence to get her back. Nothing seemed to function right without her. I pushed through my days, hoping to get as quickly as possible to the next day. But then I still had to deal with my nights, alone and empty in my bed without the woman I loved.
“Go get her.”
I snorted. “She doesn’t want me.”
“She does. She just needs you to go get her and remind her of what you had together. She needs someone else to take the reins on this, because she doesn’t trust what she’s feeling.”
“She never wanted me, Will. She was with me because of the baby. Angel’s gone. There’s no reason in the world that she would still want me.”
“God, you’re so fucking blind. You’re the fucking stupidest man I’ve ever met.”
My head snapped up to meet his gaze.
“Yeah, you know, if you would pull your head out of your ass for five minutes, you would see that she’s loved you from the moment she saw you making that crib. That was just the beginning. And it wasn’t because of the baby. It was because she started to see you. Everything about your relationship has happened backwards, but her falling in love with you was real, and I know you love her too.”
“Of course, I love her.”
“Then stop being a pussy and go get her back.”
“How? I don’t even know how to do that.”
“Just be real with her. Tell her that you love her, that you can’t live without her.”
I shook my head. That sounded like a shitty plan.
“You know she’s going to meet someone else.” I rubbed at my chest, hating that thought. “She’s going to find someone else, and she’s going to fall in love with that guy, and he’s going to be the luckiest fucker in the world because he took a shot with her, despite everything that’s happened to her. He’s going to love her, and one day, have the kids with her that you should be having with her. He’s going to take her home every night and love her the way you should be.”
“Stop,” I said, hating the way my voice broke.
“No, you need to hear this. You need to realize what you’re risking. The longer you wait, the more she’s going to feel like you don’t really want her. She needs to hear every last thing you’re thinking. She needs you to stop acting like a fucking robot and take her back!”
I sat there for another minute considering this, but then Will slammed his hand down on the table. “Now, you fucking idiot!”
I jumped at the command. “Like, right now?”
“No, tomorrow, asshole. Yes, right fucking now!” He grabbed my jacket and then hauled me out of my chair, shoving me toward the door. “Let’s go get her back right fucking now, and if you come home without her, I swear to God, I’m calling Derek to dispose of your useless body.”
He shoved me out the door, kicking me in the ass as I stumbled across the porch.
“You’re coming with me?”
“You bet your ass I am.” He pulled his jacket on and stomped toward the truck. “Somebody has to bring our girl home.”
“Our girl?”
He spun around and got in my face. “She’s not just your woman. She’s our sister and we all miss her. So, yeah, she’s our girl and I want her back with you. I happened to like you a lot better when you were happy with her.”
I swung my jacket on and walked after him to my truck, but the more I walked, the more determined I became. My heart started racing and adrenaline kicked in. Before I knew it, I was running to my truck, flinging the door open and peeling out of my driveway. He barely made it into the truck before I pulled out. I was going to get her back. I was going to make her mine again.
Dust kicked up behind us on the dirt road as I put the metal all the way down. Will held on to the oh shit handle as I took a sharp turn down the next road. My knuckles were white as I squeezed the wheel. Adrenaline flooded my system and I felt an energy I hadn’t felt in a long time.
I broke every speed limit driving into town, not bothering to stop at any of the red lights.
“Uh…cops,” Will said as we flew past cops that were headed in our direction. I watched in the rearview mirror as the cops pulled a uey in the street and took off after me. I punched the gas.
“The cops are chasing you,” Will said.
“I don’t give a fuck. I’m not stopping until I find her.”
“When I said go get her back, I wasn’t meaning that you should get thrown in jail to make it happen.”
I swerved around a car that was driving too slow, barely making in back into my lane before I plowed into the oncoming traffic. I glanced over at Will with a grin, but he looked like he was about to puke.
“This was not what I had in mind,” he said, panic in his voice. “Where’s my rational brother that would yell at me right now for convincing him to do something so reckless?”
“You said to get her back. It’s now or never.”
“It’s going to be never, because as soon as you get pulled over, you’re getting your ass hauled off to jail.”
Two more cop cars pulled into line behind me and I saw another cop car with its lights on off to the right. I punched the gas and flew past the intersection. I was just a minute from Kat’s house now.
I jumped the curb as I pulled up to Kat’s townhouse, just barely throwing the truck in park as I jumped out and raced up the steps to her door. I pounded, waiting for an answer.
“Hey,” the cop shouted, racing up to me. “Eric, what the fuck are you doing?”
I spun around and saw that it was Jack. “I have to get her back.”
“What?”
“Kat. I was an asshole, letting her walk away. I should have known that she needed me to step up and take over, but instead, I just let her walk out the door.” I gripped him by the arms, a maniacal smile splitting my lips. “But not anymore. I’m getting her back tonight.”
I turned and pounded on her door again, leaning over the railing to look in her window. She had a small light on, but it was dark everywhere else. I turned and raced down her steps to my truck. The cops had all parked, surrounding my vehicle. Will was sitting in the truck, wide-eyed and wondering what the hell to do. I would plow through the cars if I had to.
“Hey! Where are you going?” Jack shouted.
“The hospital!” I shouted over my shoulder.
“Wait! I’ll give you an escort.” I heard him call dispatch, but I was already getting in my truck and pulling out. Jack pulled around me, his sirens on as he drove toward the hospital. I started to notice a line of cars pulling out behind me. People were racing out of their houses and headed for their cars. What the hell?
“I guess these people have never seen a car chase,” I snorted.
“Uh…that’s not why they’re running out.”
“Why then?”
“I may have posted this on the town Facebook page,” he said sheepishly.
“Seriously? You’re doing it now too? Is there no loyalty among brothers? What did you say?”
“In a car chase through Small Town, USA with Eric. On the way to the hospital to #GetKatBack.”
I snorted, and then started laughing. I felt crazy. This whole thing was insane; the town, the people, my crazy brothers, and the fact that I was indeed involved in a car chase so that I could get the woman I loved back. And now I had half the town following me, whether to watch for sport or to help me win the love of my life back.
I drove as fast as I could to the hospital, racing through stop lights and squealing to a stop outside the ER. I didn’t care if I wasn’t supposed to park there. I had only one goal and that was to get to Kat. I ran to the elevator and pressed the button, feeling a little more confident as the crowd gathered. It was like I had a whole army with me to get her back.
“Are you really doing it?” one person shouted.
“Are you going to get her back?” Mrs. Cranston asked. I did a double take and noticed that she had a big smile on her face.
> I felt like I should say something really awesome, but all I came up with was, “Yes, I am.”
“You’re all over Facebook,” one man said, holding his phone out to read Will’s post. #GetKatBack. I looked at the man’s phone and noticed that people were responding faster than I could read.
Will stepped up beside me, dropping the keys into my hand with a clap on the shoulder. “It’s gonna work, man.”
I nodded and stepped into the elevator, squishing to the front as people filtered in with me. I noticed there were more of them coming, so I hit the button for her floor and hit the button to close the doors. I needed to get to Kat.
When the doors opened, I took a deep breath and stepped out, rushing over to the nurse’s station. They told me she was down the hall in the break room. She had just finished her shift.
“You’d better run if you want to catch her-”
I took off, barely hearing the rest of what she said. I raced down to the break room and slammed the door open, but she wasn’t there. My heart pounded wildly in my chest. I had to find her. I stepped out of the break room and looked down the hall, but I didn’t see her.
“There she is!” someone shouted. I shoved past the crowd and saw her waiting by the elevator.
“Kat!” I shouted, running toward her. She turned to look at me and her eyes widened as she saw me racing toward her with a herd of people behind me. “Kat, wait!”
I ran up to her, stopping just feet from her.
“Eric, what are you doing here?”
“I…I came to get you back.”
Her face flushed and she pressed the button on the elevator again. “Eric, we both know that this won’t work between us.”
“Yes, it will.”
“Tell me why it would work this time.”
“Because I love you.”
She shook her head slightly. “Eric, you loved me because of the baby, and she’s gone now. You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to pretend. I’ll be okay.”
“You may be, but I’ll never be okay if you’re not by my side,” I said, putting as much emotion into it as possible. “Kat, I fell in love with you, and it wasn’t because we were having a baby. It was because of you. You made me live. You made me want to live life for more than just what I had to do every day. You gave me the freedom to be something I’ve never been. You showed me what true love looks like. You gave me a chance to have something perfect with you. And I know you love me too. It’s not just in the way you kiss me or the way you stare at me when you think I’m not looking. I can feel it even standing over here. We have a connection that I never thought I would have with anyone else. When you’re not with me, life seems pointless. When I wake up in the morning, I’m sad and alone. I miss your scent on my pillows. I miss knocking your razors down in the shower and stepping on them. I miss cooking for you and seeing your bright eyes when you’re teasing me.”
Maintenance Required: A small town romance (The Cortell Brothers Book 1) Page 35