Page 20

Chapter 20

Jack

The air had a distinctly crisp fall feel to it as it whipped through my hair. With the window of Henry’s truck cracked slightly, my groceries tucked safely in the back, and the radio playing the classic rock station Henry favored, I was as free as the bird in the song floating through the speakers.

Outside of hopping on that bus to take me far away from Joseph’s house months ago, I hadn’t really experienced a lot of freedom. Joseph and Douglas had always been breathing down my neck at home and work. Douglas seemed to be everywhere when I was in high school, and too many people knew my uncle and cousin to make it feel like I was truly on my own during college. Joseph reminded me all the time that he had plenty of minions willing to do his bidding and reporting my every move to him.

So, driving myself to and from the grocery store had me riding high as I thought about the lemon pound cake I planned to bake and pair with dinner. Plus, the three new cakes I’d been toying with, the pictures and recipes I wanted to include in the next newsletter, and the social media posts Casey and I had been talking about were all tumbling around in my head. But not in a bad, overwhelming way, just in a way that had me excited about the turn my life had taken recently.

Maybe that was why it took me a moment to realize the gun-metal gray Jeep I’d seen in the parking lot at the store was the same one that had been behind me on the highway and was now behind me on the narrow country road heading toward Haven Grove.

So what, Jack? Lots of people from Haven Grove drive up the highway to do their grocery shopping at the discount store just like you did today. It could be anyone from anywhere.

That was true. It totally could.

But Haven Grove was a small town where pretty much everyone knew everybody else. Which meant, like it or not, most people were all up in each other’s business. And that meant we all would have heard about a fancy new vehicle like the one behind me.

No one in town drove a dark gray Jeep.

No one in town drove a vehicle as shiny new as the one currently following me.

The only Jeep in Haven Grove was a complete junker the owner used for parts.

The person behind me wasn’t from Haven Grove.

Stop it. You’re freaking out. Don’t ruin your first little independent outing with conspiracy theories. The Jeep could be anyone from anywhere. Maybe they were heading to Haven Grove to pick peaches. Heck, maybe they’d heard of Cake and Cocktails and wanted to get a flight of cake paired with fun drinks. Proof of advertising at work.

Or maybe someone was trying to scare me.

Larry had made it clear he wanted me out of town. Did he send someone to follow me? Creep me out? Send me packing?

Did Randy and Pete get in trouble for messing with the trash, and now they were out to get revenge? But how would they have known it was me who saw them and told Henry?

Did they hear about Larry’s visit to Henry and put two and two together?

But that didn’t explain the Jeep. If two teens from a tiny town were going to seek revenge on a narrow, dusty ol’ gravel road, wouldn’t they be in a beater truck rather than a brand-new Jeep?

Glancing in my rearview mirror, I realized all my thinking had done was given the Jeep a chance to speed up and close the distance between us.

I pressed hard on the accelerator, but I immediately didn’t like the way the truck felt under me when she reached a certain speed on the gravel so, I eased up a bit.

The Jeep did not.

Not even slightly.

In fact, I was pretty sure he gunned it.

I screamed when the first force of impact slammed into me. Absolutely unprepared for how violently I was thrown forward, I said a tiny prayer of thanks for the seatbelt.

When the Jeep smashed into me a second time, my brain remotely registered the slicing pain in my neck being from the seatbelt, but my focus was more on keeping the truck on the road. I didn’t have a lot of experience driving on gravel, and the rocks beneath my tires made it hard to keep a grip on the road.

For a split second, the truck’s tires left the gravel road, tugging toward the ditch. With another shriek, I yanked the wheel, screaming again when that move shot the truck to the far side of the road, the back end fishtailing on the loose rocks.

Dust billowed around both vehicles, and my view in the side and rearview mirrors was greatly diminished. For a hopeful moment, I thought the Jeep had backed off. But then the gray beast emerged from the cloud of dust and pulled up almost even with me. The grinding of metal on metal sent dread straight to my gut, but all my focus was on keeping the truck on the road.

When I shot a quick glance at my side mirror, a cold-hearted sneer shone through the dust and brought every single moment of my haunted past colliding with my present. Just as my brain tried to wrap around how or why he was in Haven Grove, the Jeep swerved to the left and then side-swiped the truck with a hideous screech of metal.

My head shot violently to one side before whipping back to bounce off the window, pain reverberating through my skull. Knowing I had no way to outmaneuver him, I let off the gas hoping the Jeep would sail past me.

Instead, it collided with the truck again, this time ramming me off the road. The last I saw of the Jeep, it sat in a cloud of dust just off the road as the truck bounced and rumbled down a steep incline toward a ditch. For a split second, I held onto hope that the impact would be gentle as the truck seemed to slow. But it hit something big, and all hope sped out the window as the hunk of metal tipped over and somersaulted the rest of the way down the bank.

Thankfully, my head busted against the glass once more, and I was blissfully unaware of the final impact by the time the truck came to a violent stop.

“Fuuuuck,” I moaned when I came to later. Minutes? Hours? I had no idea.

My head throbbed.

My body ached like I’d been run over by a semitruck.

But nothing hurt like I was severely injured.

Blood trickled down my temple, stinging as it got into my eye, and dripped from my chin. Don’t freak out, Jack. Head wounds bleed a lot.

Doing a quick scan, I moved my extremities. No screaming pain.

What if nothing hurts because you can’t feel it?

No, I could feel each arm, leg, finger, and toe. Everything hurt, but nothing was breathtaking in its pain.

Taking a deep breath, I winced as pain sliced through my neck and chest. The seatbelt had definitely saved me, but also left its mark. But again, nothing so bad as to have me passing out from the pain.

My biggest problem seemed to be I was strapped into the truck at a very weird angle with no way to extricate myself.

Yes, I had a head wound. Possibly a concussion.

Yes, I was bumped and bruised, but nothing seemed broken .

How in the hell was I supposed to get myself out of the truck and out of the ditch?

Shit.

Did I even want to know where the Jeep was or where he was?

Fuck.

I wrecked Henry’s truck.

Henry.

He’d be worried.

I got dizzy trying to locate my phone hanging in the odd position. No way to call for help.

Shit, shit, fuck.

The throbbing in my head intensified. Still didn’t think anything was broken, but the adrenaline seemed to be wearing off, and my body screamed in pain.

Would Henry come looking for me?

Was the Jeep up there waiting on me?

Double fuck.

Did I smell gas?

I didn’t know how long I hung there. Between the blood rushing in my ears, the pain lancing through my body with each breath, and the throbbing in my head, I wasn’t sure if I heard vehicles passing on the road above me or not.

I closed my eyes for a moment, knowing it was probably best to stay awake, but unable to fight the waves of exhaustion washing over me. When I woke again, it was definitely darker, and I swore I heard someone calling my name.

Then the sound of twigs and sawgrass under feet reached me, and a face filled my line of sight. A familiar face.

Relief washed over me. I’d be okay now.

But it was too hard to keep my eyes open.

I’d just sleep for a couple minutes.

The blaring of something very loud woke me.

My alarm clock? A fire alarm?

Ah, siren.

Lots of voices.

Bright lights in my eyes.

I told them not to drop me just moments before the seatbelt let loose and thrust me into waiting arms, then a hard bed.

Something around my neck.

A collar? That was weird.

I thought I answered questions. I tried, at least.

My head might have exploded when they finally got me free of the truck.

And maybe all my bones were broken because each and every movement hurt, but I appreciated their effort as they hefted me up the bank.

“Jack?” The voice was close to my ear. “You hang in there, okay? Gonna get you to the hospital.”

“Henry.” The murmured name was all I could muster.

“Yep, he’ll be there. Promise you that.”

They bounced me like a little kid stuck on a trampoline—Douglas used to do that to me all the time—and my world went upside down. Moaning in pain, I squinted my eyes against bright lights surrounding me.

“Fuck, man.” The voice grumbled. “How about you be a little careful and don’t add any more injuries. ”

A deep voice answered, but I didn’t catch the words.

My hard bed stopped rocking and rolling.

Voices. Far enough away I couldn’t make out what was being said, but close enough I could tell they weren’t happy.

“Sorry, family only.” The words were clearer now.

“He’s my son-in-law.”

A pause.

A grunt.

Then someone took my hand.

A door slammed.

And we took off.

An ambulance.

I cracked an eye against the pain and bright lights.

Casey Joe sat next to me holding my hand.

“Son-in-law, huh?” I managed between dry, cracked lips.

He winked and gave me a conspiratorial smirk. “Shhh, don’t make me look like a liar. Just go with it.”

I smiled the best I could and slipped back into the haze of pain and exhaustion. Yeah, I’d definitely like to be Casey Joe’s son-in-law someday. Maybe if Henry wasn’t too mad about his truck.

A noise bubbled up from my chest. I thought it was a giggle, but it might have been a groan of pain when something cold and wet touched my face.

Probably wiping the blood to check my head.

“We’re going to start an IV to get some fluids in you,” a voice said.

How many people were in the ambulance ?

Another something cold scratched against my arm and I tried to jerk away, but Casey Joe held tight to my hand.

“You’re going to feel a pinch, maybe a cold sensation.”

Holy fuck. A pinch, my ass. That hurt like hell.

Shit.

Wait. What was I thinking about?

Henry.

Henry’s truck.

Damn. I wrecked Henry’s truck.

He was gonna be pissed.

My throat clenched, but then I pictured his gentle smile and soft eyes.

Nah, Henry wasn’t going to be pissed at me. He loved me just as much as I loved him. I smiled.

Then I sobered. Henry loved me, and he was going to be worried.

Shit.

So worried.

“Henry,” I tried to say, fear and worry catching in my throat.

Damn, I was a mess.

“Shhh, it’s okay,” Casey Joe said. “He’s on his way to the hospital. He’ll meet us there.”

“But dinner,” I mumbled. I wasn’t sure what time it was, but I knew we’d been planning for dinner rush.

“Sam’s got it covered. Hudson and Lance are going to help, then they’ll come see you.” Casey Joe patted my hand. “It’s all good. Everyone just wants you to get better.”

Again, I thought something like a hysterical giggle escaped my lips, but it sounded closer to a panicked moan. “Not everyone.”

The leering sneer I’d seen through the Jeep window came back to me. A face I’d hoped to never see again. How had he found me? Granted, I hadn’t done much to cover my tracks once I got to Haven Grove, but I’d been careful when jumping on that bus.

Shit.

A wave of nausea washed over me.

Could they make me go back?

There was no way I could after what I’d heard that night.

I was out of their hair, why would they even want me back? I was useless to them. They could have just let me stay gone. So, why track me down?

Between the pain, the wailing of the siren, and the rocking of the ambulance, I lost myself to the foggy pain. When I became aware again, Casey’s hand was gone, and a million fingers and tools poked and prodded all over my body.

“Casey Joe,” I mumbled. “Henry.”

“We’ll get your family in to see you as soon as we know you’re not in immediate danger.” The voice was calm and confident. I liked her. She’d take good care of me.

Over the next few—was it minutes? Hours? Shit, it seemed like weeks—the ER staff ran me through a bajillion tests, asked me the same damn questions five thousand times, and made everything hurt worse than it did when I was hanging in the truck.

But finally, the lights dimmed, an extra blanket was wrapped around me, and a curtain screeched on its metal bar.

“Jack, I’m Doctor Barnes. You’re a lucky young man.”

I tried to smile or huff out a laugh, but nothing seemed to be working the way I wanted it to.

Lucky. Yeah.

“I’m sure the bumps and bruises tell a different story right now,” the doctor continued—my eyes weren’t super focused, but the glimpse I got of him made me think of Santa with scruff instead of a long beard, “but you could have been hurt a lot worse. No broken bones, no internal injuries, and the concussion is very minor. Your family has been invited in to see you. I’ll check back in a bit and determine if you should be admitted or if you’re able to go home.”

“Go home,” I mumbled. “Please.”

Dr. Barnes chuckled. “I had a feeling you’d say that. We’ll see how things go, but I think we can probably make that happen.”

The metal rings of the curtain jingled, and then a new voice spoke. “Good evening, dear, I’m Donna, your nurse for the time being. We’ve got fluids running through your IV. You got a dose of the good stuff once we’d checked your head, so you should be feeling pretty footloose and fancy free. You’re perfectly fine to sleep if you feel like it. I’ll bring some ice and water; would you like any juice or crackers?”

“Juice and crackers,” I answered. “Gonna just sleep.”

“You do that. I’ll be back. Your family should be making their way here any moment. You had quite the fan club in the waiting room, but only a couple can come see you at a time.”

When my tiny space fell silent, I shifted on the gurney and gave myself over to the exhaustion. Every single inch of my body ached, but I couldn’t help the warm fuzzies in my chest. Donna said a fan club had come to see me. I hadn’t had anyone give two shits about me since my mom died. While I’d rather not be in the hospital, it meant the world to me that I had friends and family who cared enough to be there with me.

I drifted off to sleep knowing the next face I’d see would be Henry’s.

The man I was hopelessly, head-over-heels in love with.

It was time I filled him in on the night I left Joseph’s.

And even though he was going to be pissed, he needed to know why I’d wrecked his truck. I was in this for the long-haul, and that meant no secrets.