This morning had been wonderful. I wanted so many more just like this. A million at least. Except, if I was lucky, waking up next to Piper in bed rather than on the couch. Maybe driving Ollie to school myself on my way to my studio.
Could that really be my life?
I whistled, hands in the pockets of my coat, as I started down the sidewalk. A shiny car turned onto the road, heading in my direction at a fast clip. I barely gave it a glance. Enough to notice it was a Lexus.
The next moment, the Lexus veered toward me. Jumped the curb. Shouting and cursing, I leaped out of the way. The car took out a mailbox and slammed into a truck in a neighbor’s driveway.
I landed hard on my side after avoiding the vehicle. For a couple of seconds, I was frozen with shock.
What thefuck?
That was Danny’s car. Had he just tried tokillme?
I shoved to my feet and lurched toward the vehicle. The figure at the driver’s seat was slumped over. Not moving.
I reached the door and tried the handle. It opened. The airbaghad deployed. Danny Carmichael lay against the white fabric, barely conscious.
I would’ve assumed the airbag had stunned him. Except for the blood soaking the lower half of his shirt and the driver’s seat.
“Hey!” someone shouted. “Holy shit, my truck! What the hell, man?”
I turned and saw a guy running toward us from the nearest house. The owner of the truck Danny had just t-boned, I assumed. “Call 911!” I shouted. “He’s injured.”
“Is he drunk? He just destroyed my new Silverado!”
“I don’t think the injury is from the accident. Just call for an ambulance! Hurry!”
I yanked off my jacket and held it against Danny’s side, where blood was still pumping from some kind of wound. From the amount, he’d been bleeding for a while. Driving like this. Had he been heading to Piper’s house?
I hated this man for what he’d done to Piper and Ollie. How he’d treated them. But he was still Ollie’s dad. I knew exactly how it felt to lose a parent, and I didn’t want Ollie to go through that.
“Don’t you dare die, you asshole,” I growled. “You’d better fucking hang on.”
FORTY-THREE
Piper
As I steppedinto my office and started up my computer, I felt like I was walking on clouds. Not even the ever-present stack of invoices and bills could get me down.
Pulling out my phone, I sent off a text to Grayden.
Dropped off Ollie at school. He kept talking about making pancakes with you on the drive. He had a great time. Maybe we can do that again soon?
I kept typing, even though he hadn’t responded yet.
Let me know when you’re home, okay? So I know you didn’t actually walk along the two-lane highway and have an unfortunate meeting with a delivery truck?
Ugh, I regretted that sentence the moment I wrote it.
I shouldn’t joke about something bad happening to him. Grayden was a grown man and capable of getting himself home.
Was I coming across as too needy? I hadn’t been in a position like this in…ever. Having a crush on a guy, wanting to be with himconstantly. Wanting to know where he was and if he was thinking of me. If he was okay.
Even in the early days with Danny, it hadn’t been anything like this.
Last night, after Grayden had told me how he ended up in prison, my heart had been overflowing with too many things. I’d felt something like heartbreak before, after Danny dashed all my hopes of love, but there was no comparison.
My heart truly broke for Grayden and what he’d lost. What those people, the Drummonds, had taken.
