Dare to Love: A Sweet Contemporary Romance (Finding Love Book 4)

by Delaney Cameron

  The trip to the nearest hospital seemed endless. Sabrina spent it reliving that interminable four-hour drive she’d made once before. After parking the car in the visitor’s lot, she ran inside and approached the uniformed woman seated behind the information desk.

  “Excuse me, can you tell me if a Trent Thomas was admitted today? I think he might have been involved in a car accident.”

  “Just a moment, please, while I check on that for you.” After a few seconds, the woman shook her head. “I don’t see anyone by that name on the admit list. Have you checked with the emergency room? He may still be in triage.”

  There’s where she should have gone first. “No, I haven’t. How do I get there?”

  “Go down the hall behind me, take your first right, and proceed through the swinging doors at the end.”

  “Thank you.”

  Sabrina walked as fast as she dared. When she reached the emergency area, she found a familiar face just visible behind the tall circular desk. It was her neighbor, who along with her husband, lived on the other side of Sabrina’s duplex.

  It had been bad enough trying to ask these questions about Trent to a stranger. Now she was going to be doing it with someone who knew her. “I thought you worked at the health department downtown.”

  Tabitha smiled. “I did up until a few weeks ago. What are you doing here?”

  “I’m trying to find out if someone I know was in that accident on the parkway.”

  “They brought everyone here. It was pretty bad. Two of them are still in surgery.”

  Sabrina clutched the sides of the counter, willing herself not to faint. “Was one of them Trent Thomas?”

  “That name doesn’t sound familiar, but let me take a look to make sure.” Tabitha peered at the huge flat screen monitor attached to the underside of the counter. “You can relax. No one by that name was brought in today.”

  Sabrina’s legs almost gave way in sheer relief. She ran a shaky hand through her hair. “Thanks for checking on that for me. Someone told me she saw a car like his being pulled out of a ditch. I got worried when I couldn’t reach him by phone.”

  “That’s what I’m here for. Is this Trent guy your new boyfriend?”

  “No, he’s my boss.”

  The other woman laughed. “You’re a very dedicated employee.”

  The appearance of a man in scrubs saved Sabrina from having to explain the seemingly unexplainable.

  “Tabitha, I need you to take Mr. Sullivan to x-ray.”

  “Yes, Dr. Jenkins. I’ll take care of that right now.” After the doctor walked away, she looked back at Sabrina. “I’m almost finished here. Would you like to go with me to get something to eat? Rafe’s going to be at the fire station all night, and I hate eating alone.”

  Now that she knew Trent was okay, Sabrina remembered the sandwich she’d never eaten. “I’d love to join you.”

  “I’ll meet you in the visitor’s lot in fifteen minutes.”

  Sabrina’s phone rang just as she reached her car. She recognized the number and her heart nearly stopped. “Hello,” she said unsteadily.

  There was a moment of what she could only imagine was stunned silence.

  “Sabrina?” Trent asked in surprise. “Is that you?”

  She couldn’t blame him for being confused. They hadn’t exactly parted on good terms at the 10K run yesterday. She had to be the last person he expected to hear from. “Yes, this is Sabrina.”

  “I’m sorry I missed your calls. I’ve been in the garage going through some old papers, and I forgot to take my phone with me. Is anything wrong?”

  She felt all the awkwardness of having overreacted. In doing so, she’d put herself into the uncomfortable position of having to justify it to someone who would probably find it both ironic and strange. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

  “It can’t be nothing; you called me six times.”

  It would have been more if she hadn’t thought about going to the hospital. “I meant it’s okay now; I found out what I needed to know from my neighbor.”

  “You might be okay, but I’m still in the dark.”

  How was she going to describe her actions without sounding like an idiot? “There was an accident on the parkway this afternoon. My friend Camille mentioned seeing a silver BMW being towed out of a ditch. I got worried that it might have been yours.”

  “How did talking to your neighbor help? Does he or she know me?”

  “I don’t think so. When I couldn’t get you on the phone, I...I drove to the hospital. I figured if you were in the accident, that’s where you’d be. My neighbor works in the emergency room, and she was able to tell me that you weren’t one of the victims.”

  Again there was a disbelieving pause. She waited for some teasing remark or laughter. There was neither. When he did finally speak, his voice sounded unnaturally low and almost solemn. “I can’t believe you did all that.”

  “It sounds silly, I know; but I wouldn’t have been able to sleep tonight without knowing if you were okay,” she admitted slowly.

  “That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me in a long time.”

  The husky tone in his voice brought a flush to her cheeks. “We may not be close anymore, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care what happens to you.”

  “That’s not the normal reaction in these situations.”

  “I wasn’t worried about what the normal reaction would be. I kept thinking about that other time when you got hurt.”

  “You’re still the same sweet, compassionate Sabrina.”

  She was startled by how much she wanted to believe he meant those words. How was that possible? “Well, I’m glad you’re okay. That’s the reason I called.”

  His low laugh teased her ear and sent fingers of warmth through her body. “Don’t spoil it with explanations. Let me enjoy these rare moments when I have them.”

  What did that mean? “I need to go. I’m pulling into the restaurant where I’m meeting someone for dinner.”

  “For what it’s worth, talking to you has been the bright spot in an otherwise mediocre day.”

  “That’s not saying much for your day so far.”

  “I disagree. Thanks for worrying about me.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Later as she ate her meal and listened to Tabitha’s somewhat gory description of working in the emergency room, Sabrina tried to make sense of the last few hours. Why had she felt so compelled to ensure that Trent was okay? And why couldn’t she forget all those things he said? Were her feelings about him starting to change?

  There was some other explanation. There had to be. She couldn’t give credence to the wild notions flying around in her head. To do so was to admit a susceptibility to Trent. She couldn’t let it happen again. Someone had to protect what was left of her heart.

  * * * * *

  Trent stood looking at his phone for several minutes, the statistics he needed to compile for his presentation momentarily forgotten. Had Sabrina really gone to the hospital looking for him?

  A scuffling of paws on hardwood floors heralded the arrival of Butterscotch awake from one of the naps that overtook him every few hours. It was a constant source of amusement to Trent that the puppy could be frantically chasing his tail one minute and stretched out on his back, legs sticking up in the air, fast asleep, the next.

  “I suppose you’re ready for dinner,” he said, pocketing his phone and bending down to scratch the sensitive spot on his companion’s neck. “I am, too.”

  In the kitchen, he filled Butterscotch’s bowl with food and then reached over to open the freezer. The only thing in there was a half-empty gallon of ice cream.

  “I knew there was something else I was supposed to do today. I forgot to go to the store. It looks like I’ll be having peanut butter crackers. That will hold me until I get back. You, my little friend, will have to stay in the laundry room. Last time I left you to roam around on your own you chewed holes in my
best pair of running shoes.”

  Butterscotch’s whimpers were the last thing he heard before he left his condo, and they welcomed him back home when he stepped through his front door again. To make up for his absence, he took the grateful puppy for a walk after he finished putting away the groceries. As he followed the sidewalk circling the perimeter of his condominium complex, he kept thinking about Sabrina being worried enough to call him repeatedly and then drive to the hospital.

  Not many people were able to separate themselves from a personal situation and act objectively. Her actions showed a generosity of spirit that couldn’t help but touch him. Sabrina hadn’t thought about herself today. She’d thought only of him. This wasn’t the first time he’d been the recipient of her caring nature. The difference was in the past he’d been too caught up in himself to realize how rare it was.

  Upon their return, Butterscotch collapsed in the middle of the floor. “How can you be so worn out? I carried you for the last twenty minutes.”

  Stepping around the puppy, he went back to sorting through the papers he’d brought in from the garage. Once he found what he needed, he opened his laptop and checked his emails. When his phone rang, his first thought was Sabrina. Was she calling him back? He fished it out of his pocket with more haste than the situation demanded and capped his ridiculous behavior by being disappointed when it wasn’t her. He needed to stop behaving like a twelve-year-old.

  “Hey, Bradley. How was your trip to Japan?”

  “Fantastic. That place is amazing. I’d move there in a second if Janine would agree to it.”

  Trent laughed. “When are you two going to make it official?”

  “That’s why I’m calling. We got engaged last night.”

  “Congrats, man. I don’t know what she sees in you, but I’m happy for you.”

  “Thanks. We’re thinking about a June wedding. I’d like you to be my best man.”

  “I’ll be glad to.”

  “We need to get together for a round of golf soon. It’s been ages since we played.”

  “You’re right. I’ll check my calendar and get back with you.”

  “Sounds good. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.”

  Trent put down the phone with a sigh. Not only was he the last single in his family, but by summer he’d also be the remaining bachelor among his circle of college friends. Murph had married a few years ago and already had two kids. Now Bradley was getting ready to hop on the wedding train. What was Trent doing? He was standing at the window trying to buy a ticket for a train that had already left the station.

  He laughed at his ridiculously inaccurate analogy. Purchasing a ticket only required one person. Love takes two people; a quality that is both its most fascinating and frustrating feature. The addition of another person removes the ability of either to predict or control the outcome. That’s the part Trent didn’t like. The negotiator in him wanted to dictate the terms, but that wasn’t the way love worked. Love isn’t influenced by reason. It bypasses the intellect altogether and sets its sights on an organ over which it holds the most influence: the heart.

  He closed his laptop, set it on the table, and reached for the chemistry book. Numerous pencil sketches of crossbones and other nonsensical doodling filled the margins. It had been hard to pay attention in that class. Listening to a gray-haired professor talk about organic compounds hadn’t exactly been exciting stuff. Only the presence of Sabrina had made the second time around at all tolerable.

  Flipping through the pages was like opening a photo album. Instead of words and charts, he saw picture after picture of a girl’s face: amused by one of his corny jokes, embarrassed by a whispered compliment, excited about going out, innocently ardent from his kisses, proud when he played well, streaked with tears when he got hurt, and pale with shock when she learned what he’d done. Would she ever forgive him for that?

  He hadn’t valued her love when she offered it and hadn’t deemed it important enough to alter his own plans. It seemed fitting that he should find himself in the position of falling for the person he hurt the most and hands down the last person who would let him anywhere near her heart.

  Chapter Six

  When Sabrina arrived at work on Monday morning, she discovered from Paige that Trent had already left to meet with a client and would be out of the office most of the day. That was probably just as well. She was still embarrassed by that epic trip to the hospital. There was no telling what Trent might read into her actions. She was only too happy to drown her discomfort in the tedious job of checking the boxes of presentation materials Jared had picked up from the printer.

  When he left to meet his wife for lunch, Sabrina decided to leave, too. She didn’t want to be hanging around at the office if and when Trent returned. As she was walking to her car, she glanced across the street. Why hadn’t she thought of that before? It would be more enjoyable to eat her tuna fish sandwich at the park than at the food court in the mall. Besides, if she was at the mall, she’d be tempted to spend money she didn’t have.

  It was impossible to remain gloomy with the sun shining brightly in the blue sky and a pleasant breeze teasing the ends of her hair. Finding an empty bench, she spent a pleasant half hour watching the playful antics of two children tossing a ball back and forth. A glance at her watch brought her reluctantly to her feet. It was time to get back to work where at some point she would have to face Trent with that awkward telephone call hanging between them.

  As she passed by the lake, she noticed a man about twenty yards away leaning negligently against a tree near the water’s edge. He was throwing small pieces of something from a bag in his hand to a growing crowd of ducks. Her steps slowly came to a halt as the significance of the scene dawned on her. Be careful what you say. You might have to eat those words. Madeline’s comments seemed almost prophetic.

  This was the result of being blinded by resentment and pride: it made it easy to miss the forest for the trees. Sabrina hadn’t wanted to believe Trent had changed because doing so made it easier to nurse her grudge and retain her negative feelings about him. That wasn’t going to be nearly as straightforward now. Only an unreasonable person or a really bitter one could doubt this kind of evidence. She didn’t want to believe she’d become one of those.

  Trent never looked in her direction; his attention was on his companions. Head down, her thoughts in a whirl of confusion, she continued on her way. For the remainder of the afternoon, Sabrina’s mind was only partly on her work. She had an almost fanatical impatience to be alone with her thoughts. Fortunately for her addled state of mind, whatever Trent was doing kept him away from the office until after her own departure. By the time she reached the duplex in the late afternoon, she was emotionally exhausted and her head was pounding. Thankful that Madeline wasn’t yet home, she sank down on the couch and tried to make sense of the chaos erupting inside her brain.

  As if from a distance, she examined the sequence of events in her life subsequent to that painful parting with Trent. It wasn’t easy to admit that her own actions had kept her hostage to the past. She’d taken a perverse kind of satisfaction in refusing to return his calls and texts. Denying him the chance to apologize was the only way she could get back at him. But her method of punishing him hadn’t eased the ache in her heart. It had simply kept the wound from healing. He wasn’t the one who allowed the knot of bitterness and pain to lodge deep in her soul. By not getting closure on the situation, she’d allowed one event to poison her outlook and thus define her happiness. The seeds of discontent in her heart hadn’t been put there by Trent; she’d planted them herself.

  * * * * *

  His schedule of meetings the day before had prevented Trent from seeing Sabrina. During both of the times he was actually in his office – for a brief time during lunch and again at the end of the day – she wasn’t there. So far today his luck hadn’t noticeably changed. All he’d managed was a hurried greeting when they passed in the hall. The monthly appointment with his accountant, which s
houldn’t have lasted more than a few hours, had taken up the entire morning. By the time he was walking Mr. Davis to the entrance, he was alone again. Jared and Sabrina had already left for lunch.

  There went his plan to talk to her about Mason’s game tomorrow.

  Grabbing his phone, he walked down the street to Jon’s Place, a sandwich shop known for its hoagies. The tiny place had room for only a few tables. Most people, Trent included, got their orders to-go. He’d tried every item on the menu at least once and had yet to find anything he didn’t like.

  When he came through the door, Jon hailed him from behind the counter.

  “Hey, Double T. What can I get you today?”

  It had taken Trent a while to get used to being called by a name he associated with his father, whose first name was Trevor. He always felt an urge to look behind him to see if his dad was standing there. “I’ll take the spicy meatball with extra cheese on whole wheat, a large Dr. Pepper, and three plain white rolls.”

  Jon’s face split into a grin. “Headed over to the park, huh?”

  “Yep. It’s too nice to eat indoors.”

  “I agree. We’re having a nice fall so far.”

  Trent paid for his food and took the bag being held out to him. “Don’t work too hard, Jon.”

  “I should be saying that to you. I saw your car in the parking lot last night when I left at eight.”

  “I had some paperwork to do before I met with my accountant today. See ya on Thursday.”

  Once inside the park, Trent made his way to the picnic tables situated on the opposite side of the lake under the pine trees. Because of the long distance from the parking lot as well as the playground, most people didn’t venture this far which meant he usually had the place to himself. He enjoyed the quiet after the hectic pace of his work environment. This was as close to nature as one could get in the middle of the business district.

  When he finished his sandwich, he circled back to the lake. He’d been doing this so long that when the ducks saw him coming, they left wherever they happened to be and followed him. There was a tree close to the water that was convenient both for shade and to lean against while he fed them. He was separating the rolls in his hand when someone spoke from behind him.