“But even so, I can see that you mean a lot to him. He doesn’t talk as much about catching the next flight out of town as he did when he first got here. And I can’t help but think that you might have something to do with that.” She smiled and her blue eyes twinkled. “That’s the real reason I asked you two to come here tonight. I wanted some time alone with you.”
“I don’t know, Mrs. Taggart; I’m pretty sure Nick still plans on hitting the road as soon as you’re well.”
Mrs. Taggart nodded. “Of course. But the urge to leave isn’t as strong as it was when he first got here. I don’t know what Nicholas has told you about his past, but he’s been through a lot. It’s not my story to tell, so I’ll let him do that in his own time.” She reached out and grasped Suzanne’s hand. “But I think you could be really good for him. He’s been on his own for so long.” She shook her head. “I guess I’m hoping that you will be a reason for him to stay here.”
No pressure or anything. Suzanne shook her head. “We’re having a nice time together, but I really don’t believe his plans include Memphis.”
“Maybe not. But maybe there are bigger plans in the works here,” Mrs. Taggart said softly. “I’ve been praying for that boy to finally make peace with his past ever since he was seventeen. I’m hopeful that this is finally the year he’ll do that.”
Nick walked into the room carrying a tray with some cheese and crackers and three bottled waters. He set the tray on the coffee table. “Here you go.” He glanced uneasily from Suzanne to his grandmother. “Did I miss something?”
Suzanne shook her head. “Just getting to know your grandmother.” She flashed the woman a smile. She couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to Nick when he was seventeen. But it sounded like she’d just have to wait until he was ready to talk about it before she could find out.
***
Monday afternoon Nick sat in the driveway at Suzanne’s house. He’d just taken his grandmother back to the hospital and was supposed to meet Suzanne here after work. Since they’d missed dinner the other night, they were going to try again.
It had ended up being a fun night though. Suzanne and Grandmother had gotten along really well, and the three of them played old board games until his grandmother went to bed.
Most of the women he’d gone out with would’ve been irritated to give up dinner at Houston’s for board games and snack food with an elderly woman, but Suzanne had a wonderful time. And he could tell that she’d won his grandmother over, too. Before she’d retired to the bedroom, Grandmother had asked Suzanne to join them for lunch one Sunday as soon as she recovered from her surgery. He’d known then that Suzanne had two fans in the Taggart family.
He watched her Pathfinder pull up into the driveway next to him.
She smiled and climbed out of the vehicle. “You’re early,” she chided.
Nick shrugged. “I wanted to see you?”
“Was there a question mark at the end of that?” she asked with a laugh.
“Well, I’m early because I was tired of sitting at the hospital, and I didn’t want to drive all the way out to Germantown and then back here.” He grinned. “But I did want to see you, too.”
“Whatever. It’s all about convenience for you. I see how you are.” She motioned for him to follow her to the porch. She stuck the key in the lock. “Now beware. Charlie will probably not like that you’re with me. He’s used to having me all to himself when I get home.”
“And here I am without a single dog bone to use as a bribe. I knew I forgot something.”
Suzanne opened the door and walked in.
Charlie stood right inside holding a toy in his mouth.
Nick grabbed the toy and tossed it into the yard. “Get it.” He stepped back and watched as Charlie dashed into the yard. And kept on running.
“What were you thinking?” Suzanne asked angrily, brushing past him. “He’s not the kind of dog that goes out unless it’s fenced.”
Nick stood, frozen, and watched as Suzanne ran full speed after Charlie. For an older dog, he sure was fast. This might end badly for me and for Charlie. Nick grabbed the keys from the door and picked up Suzanne’s purse from where she’d dropped it as she ran.
He hurried to the car and set off after them, praying silently as he drove.
Chapter Thirteen
Suzanne ran so fast her lungs burned. “Charlie!” she screamed.
The dog kept running. He’d stop to relieve himself on a tree and sniff the ground around every bush he came to, but as soon as Suzanne drew close, he’d take off again.
“Charlie, stop!” Suzanne kept screaming. Please let him be okay. Please let me catch him.
Neighbors stepped out onto their porches as her screams alerted them. “Don’t chase him. Just kneel down and he’ll come to you,” one lady called.
Suzanne glared. That might work for some dogs but Charlie would see her kneeling down as his chance to escape. She rounded the corner in time to see him start to dart across White Station Road. It was a busy four-lane road, and there were cars everywhere. “Stop, please stop!” she yelled. She tried waving her hands at motorists to signal them to slow down, but the cars kept whizzing past.
She looked toward the blare of a horn and the sickening screech of tires just in time to see a car hit her beloved Charlie.
“No!” She ran blindly into the road as angry drivers honked and yelled obscenities at her out their windows.
She reached the far lane just as the driver of the stopped car scrambled out, but she didn’t pay him any attention.
Charlie lay still, but his eyes locked on hers. He whimpered when he saw her.
“Sweet boy,” she sank onto her knees and stroked his fur. “You’re going to be okay. You have to be okay.” She sobbed. What if he wasn’t going to be okay?
“I’m so sorry, Miss. He came out of nowhere.” The shaken teenage boy knelt down next to her. “Can I call someone?”
She couldn’t form words. She stared blankly at the boy. Call someone?
“Help me get him into the car,” Nick commanded softly.
She turned and saw that Nick had pulled up next to them. The horns blaring behind them as they clogged up two lanes of traffic seemed very far away.
“Be careful,” she whispered.
Nick and the teenager gently lifted Charlie from the road and laid him in the backseat of Nick’s grandmother’s car.
Suzanne turned away from the sound of Charlie’s whimpers. Clearly moving him had caused him more pain.
Nick walked over and helped Suzanne to her feet. “Come on. We need to get him to the vet.” He guided her into the backseat next to Charlie.
“Eastgate Animal Clinic,” she whispered. “That’s our vet and the closest one to where we are.”
Nick nodded silently. “I know where it is.”
Her tears fell onto Charlie’s fur. She stroked his head.
The dog’s big brown eyes never strayed from her face.
“It will be okay,” she whispered. “I love you.”
After what seemed like hours but must’ve only been minutes, Nick eased the car to a stop. “Stay here with him. I’ll go inside to tell them what’s going on, and they’ll come bring him in.” He slammed the door and ran inside.
“Please, Charlie. Please be okay.” A loud sob caught in her throat. She wiped her eyes and wished for a tissue.
Nick opened the door, the vet and a vet tech with him.
“We’ll take it from here,” the vet said. He and the tech carefully loaded Charlie onto a stretcher and carried him inside.
Nick leaned into the car and offered his hand. “Do you want to wait inside or out here?”
She shook her head. She didn’t know. Her whole body felt numb. “Are there people in the waiting room?”
“No.” He grasped her hand. “How about we go in and see if they can get you some water. You look pale.”
She furrowed her brow. “You think? I just watched my dog, who has been with me for m
ore than ten years, get hit by a car. Of course I look pale.” She couldn’t keep the anger out of her voice. This wasn’t fair. Charlie hadn’t done anything to deserve to be hit.
“I know. Come on in and we’ll see if there’s any news.”
She let him guide her out of the car and into the building.
The receptionist jumped up when they went inside and handed her some tissue. “I’m so sorry, Suzanne. They’re working on Charlie now.”
“Can you get her some water?” Nick asked.
The girl nodded. “Of course. I’ll be right back.”
Nick led Suzanne over to a blue plastic chair. He gripped her hand tightly. “Come here.” He pulled her against him, and she stiffened.
“What were you thinking?” Suzanne pulled away from him.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know he’d run off.”
Suzanne angrily wiped her eyes. “Charlie is all I have. He’s been there for me when no one else was. And now…” she trailed off as her tears fell in earnest. She knew it was irrational for her to be angry with Nick But if he’d been more careful, none of this would’ve happened.
Nick raked his fingers through his hair. “I wasn’t thinking. It was stupid of me.” He took her hand. “You know I never would’ve done something like that on purpose. The last thing in the world I ever want to do is cause you pain.”
Suzanne nodded. “I know.” She squeezed his hand.
He pulled her to him again and this time she let him hold her.
As she leaned against his chest, a sob caught in her throat. “I’m glad you’re here,” she whispered. “I wouldn’t want to do this alone.”
“Shh.” He smoothed her hair. “I’m glad I’m here, too.”
He held on to her for what seemed like hours.
Suzanne kept her eyes closed, trying to block out her surroundings. She’d been bringing Charlie here since he was just a puppy.
The door to the back finally opened, and Nick nudged her.
She opened her eyes and saw the doctor standing in the doorway, a grim expression on his face. She jumped up. “Is he okay?”
The doctor sighed. “We did everything we could do. He’s alive, but barely. I’ll be honest with you, Suzanne. I don’t know if he’ll pull through or not. We’ll know more tomorrow. If he makes it through the night, I’d say he has a good chance. But there was some internal bleeding, and one of his legs is broken.” He reached out and clasped her hands. “We did the best we could do.”
Suzanne swallowed as a new round of tears began to fall. “So there’s a chance that he’ll be okay, right?”
The vet nodded. “Like I said, if he makes it through the night I’d say his odds are good. But these next few hours are critical.” He glanced at Nick. “There’s nothing more you can do here. I’ll monitor him overnight. If anything changes, I’ll call.”
“Thanks,” she whispered. She leaned against Nick and let him lead her out to the car.
They rode in silence back to her house.
Suzanne glanced down and realized Nick must’ve grabbed her purse for her after she took off running. It had been a long time since someone had cared for her during a crisis. Over the past years, she’d gotten so used to taking care of everything herself, she’d forgotten what it was like to lean on someone. “Thanks for grabbing my purse,” she said.
He glanced over at her, a worried expression on his face. “You dropped it in the driveway. I don’t think you even realized it.” He pulled the car into her driveway and parked behind her SUV. He killed the engine and peered over at her. “Do you want to be left alone? Or can I come inside for a while?”
She managed a tiny smile. “Please come in with me.” She reached into her purse and fumbled for the keys. She unlocked the door, and they walked inside. Her eyes landed on Charlie’s dog bed in the corner. It was where he slept during the day. At night he slept at the foot of her bed. Most mornings, Charlie woke her up by sitting up and staring at her until she opened her eyes. “It’s weird to be here and him not be at my feet.”
Nick shook his head. “I know.” He motioned toward the couch. “Sit down and I’ll get you something to drink.”
She sank onto the couch next to one of Charlie’s stuffed animals. He lugged those things everywhere, and most of them were missing eyes and noses by now. She picked the stuffed bunny up and fresh tears sprang into her eyes.
“Here you go,” Nick said, walking into the living room with two glasses of tea.
She took a glass from him and sipped it slowly. “Thanks.”
“Listen, I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.” Nick sat down next to her. “I didn’t realize he would run off like that. I just thought he would do his business and come back inside.”
She shook her head. The anger she’d felt toward Nick earlier had subsided. She knew it had been an accident. “You couldn’t know. I guess I never mentioned to you that Charlie is a runner.” She took another sip of tea. “He got out once a few years ago and ever since he had that tiny taste of freedom, he’s been intrigued by life outside of the fence. Of course, that was in my hometown, so there wasn’t much traffic. Grandpa and I were able to chase him down in the pickup truck, and Charlie hopped up in the cab with us once we found him. Since then, I’ve been super paranoid about him getting out.”
“Well, I’m still sorry. I feel awful.”
She reached over and took his hand. “Stop apologizing.” She liked the way their hands looked joined together. Having him here was quite comforting. “He’s going to be okay, isn’t he? I mean, the fact that he came through surgery and all has to be a good sign, right?”
Nick pressed his lips together. He reached over and brushed a strand of hair from her eyes. “I don’t think you should get your hopes up. Sometimes these things happen and they can’t be helped.”
She furrowed her brow and jerked her hand away. “That’s not exactly what I wanted to hear.”
“I’m just saying that in my experience, these things don’t always turn out well. No matter how much you hope or how much you pray. Sometimes you have to just let go.”
She drew back like she’d been slapped. “I intend to hold out hope until the doctor tells me otherwise. I thought you’d do the same.”
Nick sighed. “I just want you to be realistic. And I don’t want you to be devastated tomorrow.”
Anger raged inside Suzanne. All she wanted was a little support from him. Even if he didn’t think everything was going to be okay, he could at least pretend. “What is wrong with you?”
“It’s the cycle of life. No one—not a person or an animal—lives forever.”
She glared. “I’m aware of the cycle of life, Nick. For your information, I lost my grandpa three months ago to cancer. So I’m well aware that things don’t always work out. But there’s nothing wrong with holding on to a little hope at a time like this.”
Nick stood and began to pace. “I haven’t told you this before, but my parents and brother were killed in an accident a few years ago. I clung to hope too, and it made it that much harder when the outcome wasn’t what I wanted it to be. I just don’t want you to have more pain than you have to have.”
Suzanne froze. Why had he chosen this moment to share that information with her? She’d asked him early on about his parents and he hadn’t mentioned their accident. “I’m sorry to hear that, Nick.” At least now she knew what his grandmother was alluding to the other night.
“I shouldn’t have mentioned it. It’s in the past,” he said.
“It explains a lot though,” she mumbled under her breath, more to herself than to him.
“What did you just say?” he asked.
She knew she should just keep her mouth shut. But a part of her was angry with him for choosing this point in time to tell her something so personal, especially when he’d had ample opportunity before. She leveled her gaze on him. “Just that it explains a lot about you. About why you keep people at an arm’s length. Why you have that giant wall up aro
und yourself.” She shook her head. “Why you don’t form attachments to anyone anywhere except for casual acquaintances. Not even to a pet.”
Nick stopped pacing and turned to face her. “So you’ve got me all figured out, huh?”
Suzanne stood and strode over to him until they were face to face. “It makes sense to me.”
His eyes blazed but she didn’t care. He could hide behind his pain if he wanted to, but he wasn’t going to take away her hope that Charlie would be okay.
***
The intense guilt Nick felt over Charlie’s accident was reminiscent of the guilt he’d carried with him for years over his parents’ accident. He knew deep down that neither of them was his fault, but that didn’t lessen the pain.
“Well then tell me. . . If that’s my problem, what’s yours? You’re just as bad as me with your long-distance relationships and your fear of putting down permanent roots. And, by the way, your wall is almost as big as mine. And just as tough to get through.”
She blinked and for a moment he thought she might cry. He shouldn’t even have mentioned the accident. Suzanne was clearly in shock over watching Charlie get hit. She was in no shape to digest the information right now. But he’d wanted her to realize that loss was a part of life. It had been a hard lesson for him, and he’d wanted to make it easier for her. Clearly he’d gone about it the wrong way.
Suzanne composed herself and lifted her chin defiantly. “Fine. ‘You show me your wound and I’ll show you mine.’ Is that what this is?” she asked. “My dad left us when I was ten. Not in a share custody, we-see-each-other-on-holidays way either. But in an ‘I don’t want to be married and don’t want the responsibility of fatherhood’ way. He just left. I haven’t seen him since.” She took a breath. “My mother was broken. Broken. She never bounced back, and in some ways, I didn’t either. I vowed then and there that no man would ever make me feel that way again—unwanted, like I wasn’t worth his time. So yeah, I push people away. I keep them at a distance. And I’m terrified at the thought of settling down with someone who might decide next week or next year that he just doesn’t want that lifestyle anymore.”
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