Page 59 of Denim & Diamonds

February

What the heck is taking him so long? I’d been sitting in my rental car in Brock’s driveway for almost half an hour now.

When I’d arrived, the only one home was Oak, and he wouldn’t stop barking, so I went back to wait in the car.

I checked my watch for what must have been the tenth time.

It had been just about four o’clock when Brock said he’d meet me here in an hour.

And it was currently five minutes to six.

Turns out I’d taken almost ninety minutes at the hotel to get ready—shaving my legs and doing a little grooming touch up other places.

You know, to have dinner with a man who was only a friend, and I wasn’t planning to sleep with. That thought made my eyes roll.

Maybe Brock had underestimated how much time stopping at the store would take him. Everything probably took twice as long with a baby in tow. I hesitated to call him in case he was driving, but after another half hour went by, I finally gave in and dialed .

As the phone rang, a feeling I didn’t like settled in the pit of my stomach. The call went to voicemail. I attempted to talk myself down.

He’s probably driving from the supermarket and doesn’t want to answer with the baby in the car.

Maybe he ran into one of his brothers and they got to talking.

Did he say an hour? Maybe I misheard and he said two.

Though after fifteen more minutes passed, calm went out the window. I got out of the car and went into the bar.

A few older gentlemen were sitting around, and a guy I’d never seen before was behind the counter. He smiled at me. “You’re not from around here…”

I smiled back. “No, I’m not. I’m a friend of Brock’s. I was supposed to meet him here more than an hour ago, and he hasn’t shown up yet. Any chance you’ve heard from him?”

The man finished drying a glass and slung a towel over his shoulder. “Nope. I left him a message a half hour ago myself. The back refrigerator isn’t working, and I wasn’t sure which repair shop he wanted me to call.”

I frowned. “Oh. Okay.”

The guy studied me. “You look pretty worried.”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry to bother you. I’m sure I’m just paranoid, and he’s going to be here any minute.”

The bartender reached over to the cash register and swiped a cell phone from inside the drawer.

He gestured with it. “Let me put your mind at ease. I was the sheriff in this little town for thirty years. Still got all my connections on speed dial.” He hit a few buttons on his cell, and it started to ring on speakerphone.

“Meadowbrook Police Department. Officer Langston speaking.”

“Kenny,” the bartender said. “Still taking too long to answer the phone, I see.”

The guy chuckled. “And you still got nothing better to do than bust my balls, even after you retire. What’s going on, Sheriff Ronin?”

The old man smiled. “Need a favor. You haven’t heard anything about Brock Hawkins, have you? It seems he’s gone MIA for a while, and that’s not like him.”

“Shit. I forgot you started bartending over at Brock’s bar, or I would’ve reached out as soon as the call came in.”

The sheriff’s smile wilted. “What’s going on?”

“Brock was in an accident.”

***

I ran through a set of double doors and up to the window. “I’m looking for Brock Hawkins. He was brought in by ambulance.”

“And you are?”

“I’m his…friend.”

The woman shook her head. “I’m sorry, but we’re unable to give out—”

A familiar voice interrupted, and I turned to find Trevor. He laid a hand on my shoulder and waved to the woman behind the glass. “I got this, Fran.”

Brock’s brother steered me away from the window.

“Is he okay?” My heart pounded. “Is Patrick okay?”

Trevor nodded. “They’re both going to be fine.

Definitely a little shaken up, but it seems like nothing too serious.

Brock has a broken clavicle and will probably have two black eyes from the airbag, but Patrick doesn’t have a scratch on him, thank God.

They just took Brock upstairs for a head CT as a precaution, but he’s talking and acting pretty normal, which is a good sign.

He yelled at the nurse that he wasn’t leaving the baby with someone he doesn’t know, so he seems like his usual grumpy self.

” He thumbed toward a door that I assumed led to the examination area.

“Elvin’s in the back with the baby now.”

I couldn’t stop shaking. “How long until they have the scan results?”

Trevor shrugged. “Not sure. But he’s in good hands. I really think he’s going to be fine.”

“What happened? What caused the accident?”

“Guy driving in the opposite direction fell asleep at the wheel and veered into oncoming traffic. Brock swerved to avoid a head-on collision, but his truck went off the highway and crashed into a tree on the side of the road.”

“Oh my God.”

He nodded. “They brought the other guy in, too. Didn’t have a scratch on him.

Apparently, he woke up and avoided colliding with anything.

Not sure he’ll be that lucky a second time if they let Brock anywhere near him.

He looked ready to kill someone when the cops told him what happened.

The guy’s wife was also in the waiting room, and I heard her on the phone.

She said he’d been working double shifts all week.

Doesn’t make it right, but that explains it.

At least it seems it was a true accident—no drinking or anything involved. ”

I didn’t even realize tears were falling until Trevor shook his head. “Don’t cry. I suck at lady tears, and if my big brother finds out I didn’t stop you from getting upset, he’s going to do more damage to me than he did to that tree…which is no longer standing, by the way.”

I wiped my cheeks and sniffled a laugh. “I’m sorry. I guess my emotions got the best of me.”

He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and squeezed. “Come on, let’s go sit down.”

We went to a quiet corner of the waiting room and sat. “I didn’t realize you were even in town,” Trevor said.

“I came for the christening.”

He nodded and opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing.” He shook his head. “I was about to stick my nose somewhere it doesn’t belong and thought better of it.”

But it was too late; I was curious. “What were you going to say?”

Trevor sighed. “I was just going to point out that you were pretty upset about the accident, yet you two aren’t a couple anymore, supposedly.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Is it? Because to me, it’s not. If you’re not sure whether something belongs in your life, you just close your eyes and imagine it’s no longer your choice whether it’s in your life anymore.

If that makes you feel like a panic attack is coming on, you pull your head out of your ass and act before that choice is taken away from you. ”

“But...”

“Close your eyes.”

“What?”

“Just humor me. Close your eyes for a minute. ”

I wasn’t much in the mood for games, yet I took a big breath and shut my eyes.

“Now tell me the first feeling that hits you when I say each thing.”

“Okay.”

“Your fancy purse company gets bought out by a big chain that pays you a lot of money.”

It surprised me, but my shoulders relaxed.

“Whatcha feeling?”

“I think I feel relieved.”

“Good. Let’s try another one. Brock gets engaged to another woman, and you won’t see him or Patrick ever again.”

A wave of nausea rushed through me. I slapped my hand over my mouth and opened my eyes. “Oh God. That makes me sick.”

Trevor smiled and shrugged. “See? Simple.”

Fifteen minutes later, Elvin came out from the back. I stood. “How is he?”

“He’s about as patient as a tornado in a trailer park.”

I smiled for the first time since knocking on Brock’s door and getting no answer. “Can I see him? Do you think they’ll let me go back?”

Elvin nodded. “Let me talk to Fran who works the desk. She’s friends with Linda. Besides, I’m pretty sure there isn’t a better medicine for my brother than you.”

Elvin gave Trevor a quick update—clear scan, no unusual bloodwork results, and BP normal—and said Patrick just had a bottle and fell asleep.

After he walked over and spoke to the woman at the desk, we went back to the examination area together.

I was a ball of nerves as we passed several patients who looked pretty sick.

When we got to Brock’s suite, Elvin put his hand out.

“I’m going to go call my other brothers. I’ll give you two a few minutes alone.”

I didn’t even answer him. I was too busy running to Brock.

“Oh my God!” I threw my arms around him. “Thank God you’re okay!”

He held me so tightly, it was difficult to breathe.

When he pulled back, he cupped both my cheeks and drew me in for a kiss.

“Fuck doing the right thing,” he grumbled.

“Life’s too short, Red. Today was a reminder.

Unless you tell me to back off, I won’t be pretending I can handle you not being in my life. I’m too damn in love with you.”

My chest felt full. “I’m in love with you, too.”

***

The following morning, I sat in my hotel room, staring down at my phone.

Brock and Patrick had stayed overnight in the hospital for observation—something Brock was not happy about.

But he’d hit the airbag hard enough that he had two black eyes and a broken clavicle, so staying for eighteen hours and having a follow-up head scan seemed like the safe thing to do.

His brothers and I reminded him that it was best for both him and Patrick, so he really couldn’t say no, though I suspected that was exactly what he would’ve done if the baby wasn’t involved.

I hadn’t slept well last night, too busy tossing and turning, trying to figure out what to do with my life.

This morning, I still didn’t have any answers, but I’d done enough soul searching to figure out part of the problem.

I had unresolved issues that had nothing to do with Brock.

So I took a deep breath, scrolled through my contacts, and pressed call when I got to Dad.