by C. A. Harms
“You are so not getting a tip,” Shannon declared as she waved me off with her fork.
“You never tip me anyway,” I tossed back in her direction just as my back bumped against the swinging doors.
“I just gave you a tip a few minutes ago.” The mischievous look in her eyes made me fear where she may go with this. “I said the next time y’all get freaky, you should do all the work. That right there is a great tip.”
“Uh-huh,” Lisa added with a grin, and I shook my head as I entered the kitchen, pulling my phone from my back pocket once again.
Luke: You know that when you get all feisty it turns me on. You using my full name has me kind of excited, not gonna lie.
He was hopeless. A man with his mind lost in the gutter. I tried again, trying my best to get through to him. It was like pulling teeth.
Me: I’m gonna tie you to the grille of my truck and go mudding if you don’t answer me.
I could almost imagine him smiling, and to be honest I was smiling too. This thing we had going between us was a mixture of so many emotions, but we had a comfortableness about us. I loved that I could say anything and he would fire back at me. It was who we are, and who we were before everything went wrong. Having that back gave what was now happening between us an edge.
My phone vibrated again and I knew it was just another one of his silly antics.
Luke: Oh! Do you mean, did I hurt my knee during our shenanigans?
And fifteen minutes later, we finally made some headway.
Me: Yes! Now answer the question.
My phone rang this time as his name flashed across my screen. I felt giddy as I swiped my finger across it and lifted the phone to my ear.
“Yes,” I said low. After all, I was at work and probably shouldn’t be playing on my phone.
“My leg is fine,” he replied. “But I think tonight we should definitely see what damage we can do.”
I hung my head and did my best to hold back my laughter. It never failed. Every serious conversation between us ended up being silly, and every silly one ended up being serious. We couldn’t act like adults around each other—well for the most part anyway.
Chapter 19
LUCAS
“What the hell are you staring at your phone smiling for?” Jeb asked as he sat in the empty seat at my side. “Wait, never mind, it’s Shorty.”
Most people referred to Madelyn by that name, and it made me laugh every time I heard it. I remember the first time I referred to her as an elf for being short and she nearly took my head off. One day during our eighth grade year, she was hanging out with me and the guys as she usually did. I’d hit a growth spurt and shot up like most of the guys were at our age, but Maddy barely reached my shoulders.
You’d think I’d said a whole lot worse than calling her an elf. Her face grew red, her nostrils flared, and the way she scrunched up her nose in disapproval only made me laugh, which of course only pissed her off all day.
“She ever heard you call her that?” I asked as I tucked my phone into the back pocket of my jeans before turning to face him.
“What,” he asked curiously, “Shorty?”
“Yeah,” I replied and he nodded. “She used to get so pissed off at me if I mentioned anything about her height, but you and half the guys in town did and still do to this day. And the craziest part is, she just laughs it off.” It made no sense. Looking out over the jobsite, I ran my hand over my face, wondering why that was.
His chuckle regained my attention. I looked back at him curiously, and he just shook his head. “You don’t get it; you never did.”
“Get what?”
“All that girl ever wanted was for you to notice her,” he said without hesitation. “Everyone around could see the way she looked at you, the way she’d watch you. But you just treated her like one of the guys. Sometimes it was like she was invisible to you.”
I just stared back at him like he’d lost his damn mind.
“You were so dense back then. She followed you around, just hoping for even a small sign that you would ever consider having something more with her. She held on to hope day after day, even when you moved on to high school and tossed your friendship away like it was nothing.” The more he said, the worse I felt about the way things fell out between Maddy and me. “We were all cocky back then, thinking we were the shit. We walked those halls like we owned the place, but you wanna know something?”
“What?” My stomach was tight, and I wasn’t sure I actually wanted to hear what he had to say.
“She came to every game you played. She cheered for you and supported you, even though your ego was bigger than anyone else’s. Yet you never saw her.”
I was right, I didn’t want to hear any more. I’d had no clue. How could I not have known? I felt like a complete ass.
“Are we about done for the day?” I asked, standing from the picnic table and grabbing the bag that held what remained of my lunch. I’d suddenly lost my appetite.
“Pretty much,” he said, also standing. “I’m going take off here in a bit, but Edmond and the crew will finish up the last few things that need completing.”
I had a sudden urge to see Madelyn. To hold her and assure her that where we were and what we were doing was exactly what I wanted. That I had no doubts and no regrets. I needed her to know I wanted this fully. But most of all I just wanted to hold her.
“Treat her right, Luke,” Jeb hollered after me, but I kept moving forward. I didn’t need him or any other person telling me how to treat Maddy. I’d hurt her in the past when I was a stupid kid, but I’d never hurt her again.
I jogged across the jobsite toward my truck, my mind racing from all the things rolling through it. I was determined to get to Madelyn as quickly as possible. As I climbed up inside the cab, I twisted my leg and instantly felt a burning sensation near my knee.
“Son of bitch.” I took a moment to breathe through the ache and regretted my quick movements. I’d never get used to the fact I couldn’t do the things I once did. I’d never done well with restrictions. Once the burn subsided I dug the keys from my pocket and quickly started my truck.
Flashes of Madelyn’s irritated and shocked expression on the first night she saw me outside Hannigan’s hit me. I remembered the way she went off on me, then chose to spend the rest of the night avoiding me. I never wanted to see that again.
As I drove, my mind wandered through all the times I messed up, all the times when she and I were together, and later when we weren’t. I then thought of the smile she gave me less than twenty-four hours ago, when I leaned over her as she lay in her bed, and the way she cupped my jaw when I kissed her goodbye before heading off to work. It hit me then that I could have been sharing this with her for years.
I suddenly worried she wouldn’t be at the diner when I arrived, and I reached across my seat in search of my phone. I needed to text her. I had to see her.
I rolled through the stop sign on Gruger Drive as I turned right. I was looking down at my phone typing a message when something slammed into the side of my truck. I heard crunching metal and breaking glass as the impact threw me against the door. Tires screeched and horns blared, but the sounds seemed so far away. A hazy feeling took over, as if I was floating, and my vision was blurry as I tried to focus on what was going on around me.
Everything went silent, and I lay my head back against my seat, trying to regain focus, but everything kept spinning.
I heard someone talking as they walked up to me, yet I couldn’t see them.
“Buddy, you okay?” someone asked and I tried to lift my head. “Don’t move, an ambulance is on the way.”
An ambulance?
I reached for the door handle and tried to pull it open, but nothing happened.
The faint sound of sirens in the distance and the sound of car doors opening and shutting filled the space around me.
“I gotta move,” I wheezed.
“No, you need to remain where you are until the EMTs get he
re,” another person said, and I was irritated that I couldn’t focus long enough to figure out what in the hell was going on.
My eyes felt heavy and my body grew weak as I struggled to remain awake. And then I saw her walking toward me, her hands tucked in her back pockets, her blonde hair blowing in the breeze, and that big beautiful smile.
My Maddy.
She looked like an angel.
My angel wearing cowboy boots and throwing around that sassiness of hers. I held out my hand for her and she tilted her head just slightly, jutting out her chin. She was fucking beautiful. So headstrong and stubborn.
“Madelyn,” I whispered, but she didn’t move toward me. I wanted to touch her. I needed her close. “Come here,” I told her, and when she did, panic filled my chest. It grew harder to see her, harder to focus.
“Sit still, son,” someone told me, but I couldn’t. I had to get to her.
I tried to move and someone held me back. No matter how hard I tried to fight against them, I had no strength.
I could feel myself fading as the world around me vanished.
The darkness took over.
Chapter 20
MADELYN
“Okay, Reece,” I said as I hung my apron on the hook and grabbed my purse from the bench. “Carol took section three and two, and Marcy and Sam are sharing the other two. I’m gonna head out now.” I’d already stayed past the end of my shift by close to an hour.
“You have a good day, sweetheart,” he hollered over the sounds of food frying and sizzling. “Avoid Gruger Drive. The radio said something about a nasty wreck. They had to transport the passenger of one vehicle by ambulance. Sounds like a bad one.”
“Alright,” I said with a wave as I exited the back door and dug through my purse for my keys.
My plan was to get to the farm, finish my chores, then get home as quick as possible to finish my term paper. I hoped Lucas would come over later, even though neither of us had mentioned it when he left my apartment this morning. There was just something great about waking up next to him and starting my day with his smile and a kiss.
I was trying not to get completely wrapped up in my excitement, but it was almost impossible. I thought of him every waking moment, and even in my dreams he was there. His eyes haunted me and I craved seeing his smirk. It fueled a hunger to claim him as my own, even though I still wasn’t sure I had the full right to.
I drove along with one of my favorite music stations playing song after song about a hidden love or a secret desire, all of which reminded me of Luke. I found myself smiling as I remembered our night together. The way he touched me as if he’d been doing it for years. Like he knew just what my body wanted. Each of his kisses had so much feeling behind it. Chills covered my arms just thinking about the way his eyes bored into mine each time he pulled back, just before moving in for yet another kiss.
The gravel popped beneath my tires as I turned into my parents’ driveway, and I did my best to regain my composure. Luke has a way of affecting me even when he was nowhere near.
The place appeared deserted, which I found strange, considering the amount of work needed daily to run it. There was no way everything was already done, unless Lucas decided to once again do my tasks for me. I reached across my seat, grabbed for the strap of my bag, and pulled it closer. When I dug through it for my phone, I came up empty. I tipped the bag upside down and shook the contents out on the seat beside me. It wasn’t there.
I ran through this morning’s events and remembered I’d taken my phone from my purse to text Lucas and had put it in my back pocket. Later I’d taken it out and left it in the storage room because it kept sliding upward each time I squatted to get to the lower shelves.
I let my head fall back against the seat as I groaned in frustration. I was notorious for forgetting or losing my phone, so it I wasn’t surprised that I’d done it again. After telling myself I was going to get a homing device placed on the damn thing, I pulled my keys from the ignition and climbed out of my truck.
I hurried toward my parents’ house and had just placed the key in the door handle when I heard another vehicle pulling up the gravel road. I looked back over my shoulder fully expecting to see my father’s truck and was surprised to see Liam’s jeep instead. He skidded to a stop next to my truck and jumped out right after placing it in Park.
“Madelyn,” he hollered as he jogged toward me. He was out of breath and his eyes were wide with worry. “We’ve been trying to call you.”
“Sorry, I left my phone at the diner.”
He placed his hands behind his head and took in a deep breath.
“Are you okay?” I asked, but before he could answer, I realized his earlier statement was puzzling. “Wait, you said we. Who’s we?”
“Your parents, mine.” He took in another deep breath. “Shannon, hell, everybody.”
Everybody but Luke.
My heart raced as a million different scenarios ran through my mind. But nothing would have prepared me for his next statement.
“Luke was in an accident today, a pretty bad one. They took him away in an ambulance, and he was unconscious when they brought him into the trauma center.” My legs wobbled beneath me. “We don’t know the extent of his injuries yet, Madelyn, but everyone is at the hospital. I told them I’d drive out here to find you on my way to my parents’ to pick up Dad’s medicine. He forgot it when they rushed from the house, and the last thing we need is him going into insulin shock on top of everything else.”
Liam went on, but I wasn’t listening. The word trauma played on repeat in my mind as I thought of the worst possible things, even though I knew I shouldn’t have.
“Come on, Mad.” Liam placed his hand on my forearm, and until then I hadn’t noticed he’d climbed the porch stairs and was now only a few feet from me. “Let me drive you.”
I nodded as I allowed him to guide me toward the passenger side of his jeep. My throat was too tight to attempt to speak. Once I was inside I closed my eyes and tried to fight against the fear consuming me.
He had to be okay. I needed him to be okay.
We drove to the hospital in silence as I stared out the window where the scenery passed in a blur. The only thing I kept seeing was Luke’s smile, or the way his eyes lit up when I didn’t back down from him. He secretly loved my sassiness, which was one of the biggest reasons I laid it on thick in his presence. I’d do anything to see that fire in his eyes.
An uncontrollable whimper escaped me when I realized I may never see that look on his face again.
“He’s gonna be okay, Madelyn,” Liam assured me as we pulled into the hospital parking lot. I knew he couldn’t actually make that type of promise; no one could. The sad truth was, good people were taken from us every single day and we couldn’t do a damn thing about it. No one knew his condition and no one knew how this would end.
My heart was slowly breaking as I thought back to all the times I’d believed Lucas had truly crushed me. The pain I felt then didn’t even come close to the pain I felt now. It was almost impossible to breathe.
It wasn’t fair. Damn it, we’d just started over.
I don’t even remember getting out of Liam’s jeep. I don’t remember walking across the parking lot, or even entering through the big, sliding glass door. But the moment my daddy stepped in front of me and wrapped me in his arms, I lost it, and all the emotions I was fighting to hold back broke free.
“He’s in surgery,” he whispered and I cried harder, fisting his shirt tightly. “He hit his head pretty hard, and his left shoulder took quite an impact. But they’re confident they’ll be able to repair it and he’ll be back to normal in no time.”
Though I knew I should feel better after hearing he would be fine, I didn’t. I needed to see he was okay with my own eyes. I needed to see him breathing, and even that wouldn’t be enough if I couldn’t see him smile or hear him laugh.
“He’s got a real bad concussion, and they said they plan on keeping him for a couple days for
observation. Depending on how things go, he may be able to go home after that, but he’ll be down for a bit.”
I nodded against his chest but didn’t let go. I just needed a few more minutes to pull myself together, and if I couldn’t be in Luke’s arms, my father’s were the next most comforting place.
Chapter 21
LUCAS
I don’t remember anything after turning right on Gruger. I woke to the sound of my parents talking in hushed tones with a doctor only a few feet away. Machines beeped and swooshed around me, and the sterilized smell of a hospital filled my lungs.
“Hey, son.” My father stepped in closer and his face finally became clear. “How ya feeling?”
“Tired,” I whispered hoarsely and couldn’t believe that was my voice. I sounded like an elderly man.
“You really scared us, Luke,” my mother said as she stepped up to my father’s side. “You scared us all.”
My eyelids drooped as I fought to keep them open. “Sorry,” I said as I did my best to reach for her, but I felt weak and even that small movement was a huge effort.
“We’ve been here all night, afraid to leave, so we slept in the family waiting room,” she added with a gentle squeeze of my hand. “Liam and Madelyn are still sleeping, but your father and I slipped in here to follow up with the doctor.”
“Maddy’s here?” I said groggily. When she nodded, my smile was automatic.
Of course my mother picked up on my happiness immediately. “She’s been here all night; refused to go home. She’s come in here to check on you every chance she’s gotten and finally fell asleep about an hour ago.”
“I was on my way to see her,” I confessed. “I wanted to tell her that I knew she was there. All those times she thought I didn’t see her, I knew.”
My mother looked at me in confusion, and I couldn’t control the smile that pulled at my lips. She must think I was losing my mind, or having a delusional episode, but I didn’t let it faze me.
“Would you like me to go wake her up? I know she’d like to see you alert,” my mother asked as she still hovered next to me.