Page 30

Chapter Thirty

MARCUS

“ T hat was a good practice today, boys.” I slap Graham on the helmet as he skates off the ice.

“You know, you have a future in coaching one day,” Bode tells me as he skates by.

“What, and deal with people like you?” I laugh. “I don’t think so.”

“I’m a fucking delight.”

“So you say,” I tell him.

“Marcus. There’s a call for you in my office,” Coach Andrews calls out. “Came through the main switchboard.”

“What?”

That’s odd. I’ve never gotten a call on the main line before. Well, except once.

That sends panic racing through me. The only time I’ve gotten a call on the main line was when Jamie was in her accident.

Fuck.

Ignoring every guy coming off the ice, I move as fast as I can to Coach’s office. The red light is flashing from his phone. I take a deep breath before picking up the receiver .

“This is Marcus Evans.”

“Marcus. This is Nurse Beckett from Nashville Medical?—”

“What happened?”

I know I should let her finish, but I can’t. Every terrible thought on why she would be calling is flashing through my mind.

“There was an accident. Everyone is okay, but we need you to come down here.”

“They’re okay?”

What the hell happened?

“Yes, but we’ll need you to come down here.”

“I’m on my way.”

I hang up the phone without another word. Rushing into the locker room, I strip out of my gear and toss it into my locker.

“Everything okay?” Jasper asks.

“The girls were in an accident.”

I dig around in my bag for my keys and phone. There’s a few missed calls from Harper.

Fuck. I hate that I’m not there with them right now. I can’t imagine how scared Sam and Sadie are.

“Are they okay?” Noah asks.

“That’s what the nurse said.”

I won’t breathe a sigh of relief until I lay eyes on all three of them.

“Do you need one of us to drive you down there?” Bode asks.

For the first time in his life, he’s serious, and I’m not sure I can handle that right now.

“Thanks, but I’ll be okay.”

“You sure?” Dax asks.

I nod, finally feeling my keys in my bag. “I’m sure. ”

I don’t waste another minute as I run out of the locker room.

“Keep us posted!” Noah shouts.

By the time I get to my SUV, my hands are shaking. They’re okay. The nurse said they were okay.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get over this feeling…when someone from a hospital calls and you don’t know what to expect on the other end of the line.

Deep breaths, Marcus. Deep breaths.

Steadying my hands, I throw the SUV in drive and head toward the medical center. Once I get there, I can figure out what is going on.

Fuck. I’m going to have to call my mom. I haven’t had a chance to talk to her about this thing with Harper. And finding out while we’re at the hospital?

It’s going to go over about as well as a lead balloon.

Cursing late afternoon traffic, I try to get there as fast as I can. Safely, because the last thing I need is to get into another accident on the way there.

I can’t imagine how Sam and Sadie are feeling right now. All they know is that their mom and dad died in an accident. That’s it.

Hell, I can’t imagine what Harper is going through. She loves them, so it has to be eating her up inside. This is not what any of us expected to happen today.

Pulling up to the hospital, I follow signs to the ER and find an empty parking spot. I’m rushing inside, but before I can make it to the desk, a familiar voice is calling out to me.

“Marcus!” Mom’s short brown hair is pulled back into a haphazard ponytail. She’s wearing a sweatshirt covered with paint. It’s like she dropped everything to get here.

“Mom? What are you doing here?”

“The hospital called. ”

Of course. She’s on the girls’ emergency contact list. I’m sure they got it from the school if Harper was calling the main switchboard when she couldn’t get in touch with me.

“What happened?” I ask, wondering if she knows more.

“I don’t know. They’re in room four. How’s Emma?”

“Emma?”

Mom nods as we follow the signs back toward the room in question. “Wasn’t she with the girls? She’s usually more careful than this.”

“Mom, it was an accident.”

“Still. You think she’d take more care.”

“Look, Mom. It wasn’t Emma.”

“Then who’s with Sam and Sadie?” Panic is written all over her face. Like I left them with some random stranger off the street.

“Harper.”

“Harper? Why does that name sound familiar?” I know the moment it dawns on her who she is. “That Harper? The woman that left you when Jamie and Dan died?”

“Yes.”

Her face morphs into anger and rage. “You mean to tell me that’s who my granddaughters are with?”

“Look, Mom?—”

She holds out a hand to cut me off. “Not now. I need to make sure my grandbabies are okay.”

I trail off after her, trying to figure out how to deal with a second crisis. I can hear their voices, and it soothes every worry inside of me.

Mom goes in first, and both girls call out to their Gigi. I’m standing behind them, eyeing Harper.

She looks miserable, ghostly white. There’s a small butterfly bandage on her forehead and a brace around her wrist.

I’m so sorry she mouths to me.

“What in the world is going on here?” Mom asks.

Now that the girls have hugged her, they’ve made their way over to me. “Are you two okay?”

I push the hair out of their faces. They look fine, as far as I can tell.

“It was scary,” Sam tells me, her lip quivering. “We were going to get ice cream after school?—”

“Ice cream after school?” Mom huffs. “They’re not allowed to have ice cream after school.”

“Mom, that’s not important right now.”

“Harper said it was a special day,” Sam continues. “Sadie beat the fifth grader, so we were going to get ice cream to celebrate and then someone crashed into us.”

“It was loud. Bags exploded in the car.”

“Bags?”

Sadie nods.

“Airbags,” Harper confirms. “I’m sorry. I was turning and it was a teenager?—”

“It’s okay. You’re all okay.” The last thing I want is for her to worry. It wasn’t her fault.

“No, it’s not okay!” Mom snaps. “Does she not realize that she has to take better care of Sam and Sadie?”

“Mom!”

“No, she’s right.” Harper’s voice is small. She looks scared and I can’t blame her.

“See? She should not be around the girls.” Mom’s eyes flit between mine and Harper’s. The girls are huddled together in my arms. They don’t have any clue what’s going on, other than Gigi is angry. “How long has this been going on? ”

“This is not a discussion we need to be having right now. Not in front of the girls.”

It’s that moment a nurse walks in. “Everything okay in here?”

“I think we’re fine right now.”

“No, we are not fine!” Mom snaps. “I want to know what is going on right now.”

I look to the nurse. “Are you able to stay with them while I talk to my mother and Harper, please?”

“Sure.” She looks hesitant, but I set the girls down.

“I’m going to talk to Gigi for a minute, okay?” They both nod at me.

Mom drops a kiss onto both of their heads and heads out into the hallway, Harper following her.

“I’ll be right back, okay? Then we’ll go home and I’ll make pancakes for dinner.”

That earns me the first smile I’ve seen from them all afternoon. “With chocolate chips?”

I smile at them. “Extra chocolate chips.”

“Yes!”

I kiss both of them and by the time I get out there, my mother is seething. Neither woman is speaking to the other.

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen my mom so angry.

“What is she doing here?” Mom nods toward Harper. “Why is she driving Sam and Sadie around and taking them for ice cream?”

“Mom—”

She starts crying, no doubt the emotions of the day catching up with her. I want to console her, but I don’t know if I can. Not when Harper is shrinking in on herself.

“The girls are okay,” Harper says.

“No thanks to you. What makes you think you have a right to spend any time with them when you left? You left!” Mom shouts. It draws a few eyes.

Looking behind me, I see the nurse is reading a book with the girls. Thank God they’re not looking out here.

“That’s not what happened, Jane.” Harper is shaking her head.

“I don’t want to hear anything else from either of you.” She turns her ire on me. “I don’t want her near my granddaughters!”

She goes back into the room without another word.

Harper bursts into tears. “I’m so sorry, Marcus. I’m so sorry.”

“Are you hurt?” I ask, pulling her into my arms. There’s no point in asking if she’s okay. No one is okay. Far from it, in fact.

“I’m fine.”

“Then why do you have a brace on your wrist?”

She shakes her head. “It’s a sprain. Could have been worse.”

“You were trying to protect them?”

Harper nods, stepping out of my arms. “Of course. I love them, Marcus. I would do anything to protect them.”

“Where are you going?”

Harper keeps walking backward. “You heard your mom. I don’t want to get in the middle of this.”

“No, Harper. I’ll explain everything to her.”

She’s shaking her head. “She hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you.”

“Marcus, c’mon.” Harper’s voice is watery. “She hates me, and you know it.”

“It was an accident, Harper. It could have happened to anyone.”

“But it happened to me. Look, we need to let things settle down. ”

“What are you saying?”

Harper runs forward and gives me a quick kiss. “It means that you need to be with the girls. Take care of them. We’ll figure us out later.”

“Hey.” I try to grab her so she doesn’t leave, but she’s too fast. “There’s nothing to figure out. It’s you and me, Harper. You, me, and the girls.”

“Until your mom gets on board, I don’t know.”

She turns and leaves.

As if this day couldn’t get any worse, Harper is leaving.

And this time, I don’t know if she’ll be the one coming back.