Would it always be this hard? Why does living take so much effort?
“I’m not sure I know how.” The words came out as a strangled whisper.
Paige hugged him, and he returned the embrace, clinging to her.
Gradually, he loosened his hold, and Paige stepped back. “The hardest part is always the first step. You’ve already done that. Helping Amy and Kallie was a good first step. Now, find something to follow it up with. Get outside. Go for a walk. Enjoy a sunset. When was the last time you went to the ranch and rode a horse or a four-wheeler?”
Ben didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. Paige knew the answer. He hadn’t done a single one of those things since the accident. He went running most mornings, but he rarely took the opportunity to enjoy the sunrise.
Paige got in his face. “It will be hard. And it’ll definitely be painful. I’m sure you’ll encounter a lot of memories, but hopefully, they’ll be mostly good ones. You need to cherish them, but don’t let them keep you from exercising your most important muscle.” She poked his chest near his heart.
“Paige, I can’t... simply decide...” Ben choked on his words.
“Just move, Ben. Open the door and enjoy the fresh air. If it hurts too much to get this muscle involved...” She poked his chest again. “Then use your other muscles. Focus on things that don’t affect your heart, yet.”
Ben studied his little sister. When had she become a woman?
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “When did you get so smart?”
She made it sound so easy, but Ben had a feeling learning to live again was going to be the hardest thing he’d ever done.
* * *
“I’msorry you came all this way, Jake, but I can drive myself to work.” Amy had been about to herd Kallie to the car when Jake and Riley walked through the door.
Riley had come to pick up Paige to head off to their final year of college, and Jake was there to drive Amy to work.
Jake chuckled. “Ben said you’d say that. I’ll put Kallie’s car seat in my truck.” Then he was gone.
Amy stamped her booted-foot. Despite Jake’s stubbornness, she planned to argue her point, but she couldn’t do that when she had no one to argue with.
When it came time to drop Kallie off at Faith’s, Amy was glad Jake had driven her. Faith followed Jake out with Kallie on her hip, talking nonstop while he removed Kallie’s car seat.
After he helped her settle behind her desk, he apologized. “I’m sorry about the broken toe, Amy,”
Tired of so much attention over a stupid broken toe, Amy bit back a groan. “It’s not your fault. I’ve never been very graceful.” Besides, the way she saw it, it served her right for trying to upstage Debbie Wheeler.
Despite being incapacitated, Amy kept busier than usual. Amid the projects Robert gave her to work on, she answered three calls on the 911 line. Only one was an actual emergency—an older woman had fallen and couldn’t get up.
When Rudy hung around the office again after her lunch break, her curiosity got the better of her. “Will you tell me about the accident?” she asked. “The one Ben’s wife died in.”
He let out a dismal sigh. “It was bad. I don’t mean bad as in gruesome and bloody. Of course, there was blood, but we’ve seen a lot worse accidents on the interstate. I mean, it was hard, because they were two of our own.” He snapped his fingers. “Just like that, Melanie was dead, and her baby gone. With no clues.”
A cold chill swept over Amy, leaving her feeling empty inside. “What happened?”
“The accident occurred out near the county line where State Road 22 intersects Highway 15. The nearest we could tell, a blue Suburban failed to stop at the intersection. Whether due to wet roads, distracted driving, or what, we’re not sure, but it T-boned Melanie.”
Amy grimaced. “That does sound bad. How do they know the other vehicle was a blue Suburban?”
“I’ll go get the file and show you the forensic evidence we gathered.” He went to the record’s room and returned a minute later carrying a thick file folder. Opening it, he hesitated. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
“Why?”
“This isn’t as bad as some accidents we’ve dealt with, but for someone who isn’t used to seeing these kinds of pictures... it might be tough to handle.”
“I’m sure I’ve seen worse on TV,” Amy said with false bravado, unsure of whether she really wanted to see the contents of the file, spreading out several photographs. The pictures hit Amy harder than she expected. The crumpled driver’s side of the car looked horrific. She had seen worse on TV, where it was all fake. Everything was staged or made-up, but this was Ben’s wife.
The picture in the file didn’t look like the beautiful, smiling blond from the Young’s mantle. Blood covered the left side of Melanie’s hair and face, but the lifeless brown eyes hit Amy the hardest. She bit back a gasp and blinked away the tears that filled her vision.
