Page 12 of You Found Me (The Meadow Springs #1)

Spencer

Like most people, Monday is my least favorite day of the week.

You get the weekend off to do whatever you want, even to do absolutely nothing, but that’s never actually possible when it’s the only time you get to do errands.

This Monday exponentially sucks more than others because Theo is currently driving me to the ER, while I’m fighting to keep blood from getting in my eyes.

I might even be a little delirious because I think Theo is freaking out in the front seat, and I’ve never seen the guy get rattled.

As soon as we pull into the parking lot, Theo’s bolting out of his truck like he’s the one bleeding profusely from their head.

He runs inside, leaving me behind with his truck.

I take the keys from the ignition and pull myself together to step out with some dignity.

I lock his truck as I walk up and find him talking to Emmaline, whose brows furrow with worry.

In all the chaos with work, I completely forgot Theo told me she transferred to the hospital here. He must’ve told her the reason why we’re here because she looks back at me, taking one glance at my forehead, and is in front of me in a flash.

“What happened?” Emmaline asks .

“I was leaving the trailer to ask one of the guys a question, and as I walked by the side of the house, someone on the roof dropped a hammer,” I explain.

One side of her mouth ticks up, as she assesses me. “Isn’t wearing a hard hat on site like rule number one?”

“You’re right about that. It’s really not that bad. I only came because Theo was freaking out over the blood.”

Saying that gets me a full-blown smile. “Oh, he is one of the most squeamish people I know when it comes to blood. But let’s get you into a room so we can fix you right up.”

She guides Theo and I into the room, efficiently taking my vitals, and I try my damn best not to stare at her any more than a patient would. Emmaline jots down one last thing and lets me know that the doctor will be in to check me out shortly.

When he does come in, he’s quick with introductions, looks over my chart, examines the cut and informs me that thankfully, only a couple of stitches will be needed.

Before I can say anything, Theo looks at him, rubbing his knee as it restlessly bobs up and down. “Are you sure? There was a lot of blood.”

Doctor Bradford chuckles. “Head wounds bleed quite a lot, no matter how minor they are. Mr. Hale is in no danger of bleeding to death.” He looks back over to me. “Nurse Emmaline has the training, so she will be the one to do your sutures. If that’s alright with you?”

“Whatever you think is best. I’m good with her doing it.”

“Great,” he says, clapping his hands together. “I’ll send her in and once she’s done, you’re free to go.”

Emmaline comes in with a tray full of gauze and medical supplies and once Theo sees it, he jumps up. “Um. I need to go call my dad to let him know what’s going on. I’ll be out in the waiting room.”

We both laugh at his hasty retreat before she starts cleaning the cut.

Other than telling me what she’s going to do before she does it, we don’t speak.

I’m not the biggest fan of silence, and this isn’t the most ideal “getting to know you” moment, but I’m going to make the most out of this situation and try to get her to speak to me .

So, I ask her how she met Theo and Mia.

The smile that overtakes her face is breathtaking. “I met Mia in third grade. Their family moved into town the summer before, and she was in the same class as me and the twins. And there was this older boy, Greg, he would ceaselessly pick on us at recess.

“One of the first days we invited Mia to play with us, Greg came over, taunting us as usual. It upset Colette, and he made her cry. Which must have pissed Mia off, because first thing the next morning, Teddy walked up to Greg and punched him square in the nose.”

“First, I love when you guys call him Teddy. He tries to act so annoyed by it, but he isn’t. Second, that sounds exactly like the Theo I met in college.”

She goes on to say the four of them became inseparable after that. “I don’t have any siblings, so those girls are the closest thing I have to sisters.”

“You know I have a brother, but our cousin, Sebastian, as well as Theo, are like brothers to me. So I understand.”

A small smile dances across her face, before she lets me know that she’s going to give me a shot to numb the area before starting on the sutures.

“Would now be a bad time to mention that I’ve got a tiny fear of needles?”

She looks down at my tattooed arm, raising her brow when she looks back to my face. “Yet you managed to sit through being tattooed?”

“ Barely. It took way longer than the artist planned because I had to keep taking breaks.”

She purses her lips, holding in a laugh. “This will be over before you know it. I’ll be honest, it’s not going to feel great. However, it’s better than being stitched up without it.”

Well, she’s right, it hurts like a bitch, but it is over quick. While we wait for the shot to fully kick in, I find myself asking, “Do you still want to be a nurse practitioner?”

Emmaline’s lips part in surprise. “We talked about that when we first met. I can’t believe you remembered.”

“I remember a lot when the subject is interesting enough. ”

Her cheeks flush the cutest pink and she chuckles nervously, ignoring my previous comment to answer my question, “I wanted to continue after graduation, but Chance wanted me to hold off on it until we got settled in Georgia. I’ve been looking at different programs to apply to since moving back.”

“I say go for it.”

“Maybe,” she pushes out a breath. “It’s probably time I put myself first. There wasn’t much of that happening in the past. None at all, really.” I notice her face pink up again. “I’m sorry. You probably don’t care about that. I’ve got one more stitch to do, then you’re all done.”

“You never have to apologize for having feelings or speaking your mind in front of me. Even if you think the timing is inappropriate.”

“Sor—” she starts to say but catches herself. “It’s a force of habit after all these years . . . with Chance.”

She starts covering up the stitches. “You will need to avoid getting them wet for twenty-four hours and after that, gently pat the area dry if it gets wet. Dr. Bradford works at the clinic and will want to be the one to take them out. You can either call later today to make an appointment for removal in about ten days or use the website the day of to make a walk-in appointment.”

Once her workspace is cleaned up, she says, “From now on, try to wear your hard hat when you’re on a job site.” With a wink, she walks out.

I leave the exam room to find a green looking Theo. “What’s wrong with you?”

He dramatically shivers. “Someone just came in even bloodier than you, missing the tip of a finger or something. I was about to walk to the truck before I saw you. Everything good?”

“Geez. I’m good to go now.”

We make our way to the parking lot and once we’re in the truck, I bring up my conversation with Emmaline. “She told me how you guys met. You really punched a kid?”

“I really did. My mom was upset, while my dad was extremely proud of me for protecting Mia and her new friends. Unfortunately, I was still grounded. Em, Colette, and Cori became a constant in our lives after that. ”

I don’t know what comes over me, but I find myself asking, “So you never had a thing for her?”

His face scrunches up in absolute disgust before he bursts out laughing, causing me to laugh as well. “Oh gross. She’s basically my sister. When I met her, she was a goofy looking thing, and I wasn’t really interested in girls at the time anyway.”

When I don’t respond, he looks over, brows furrowed. “I mean, you know she just broke it off with her ex, right? She isn’t really in the best place to start dating again.”

Gone is best friend Theo, right now protective brotherly-figure Theo is fully glaring at me.

“I know. I was just curious.” He raises an eyebrow at me, and I laugh, “I swear.”

“Hmm, alright man. Whatever you say. Let’s go grab some lunch.”

***

Emmaline

I’ve been constantly checking social media the last couple of days to get an idea on Chance’s whereabouts throughout the last week.

I noticed he’s normally out all day on Thursdays for practice and conditioning, which is why I’m in the car with Colette and Cori to get my belongings.

They are both necessary for this trip for separate reasons.

Colette is someone that can always bring me a semblance of comfort during my worst times, and Cori—well she insisted on coming as my legal counsel in case Chance decided to be a super mega douche-canoe.

So, all of my bases are fully covered.

When we get there, I’m relieved to see my minor stalking was correct and Chance isn’t home. Cori waits in the foyer while Colette and I go to the master bedroom to grab my things. I immediately notice a folded note on the bedside table with my name written in his messy scrawl.

Baby, I can never apologize enough for how I treated you this past year.

You’ve supported me since the moment we met. I wish I could take back what I did, but I can’t.

I can only hope you forgive me, and I promise to never do it again.

Everything is so bleak without you.

Please come home so we can talk.

I finish reading it just as I step into the bathroom to be greeted with dirty bras and panties on the floor.

And surprise, surprise, they’re not my size.

He’s actually deluded if he’s leaving me messages and notes begging me to come back, only to bring a woman, or multiple women, back to the apartment. If I wasn’t so hurt, I might laugh.

He’s slowly becoming a person I no longer recognize. He was never outright cruel—more passive aggressive here and there in the ways he’d speak to me sometimes. But this? This manipulative side of him I can’t handle.

Colette walks in while I’m frozen in the middle of my spiral, the bras and panties being the only tethers to the dark recesses of my mind right now.

“I’m so sorry, Em. He sounded sincere in the first dozen voicemails.

” She comes closer, pulling me into her side.

“I hate to say it, but I think your gut was right . . . about everything. Despite all his pleading and apologizing, he’s still a cheating, pathetic, asshat.

You deserve so much better, and you’ll have that epic love you deserve one day soon.

I have faith in the universe when it comes to you.

” I give her a weak laugh, too afraid that I’ll cry again if I speak.

Even when I know he’s not worth the pain, my heart can’t seem to get the message.

Colette squeezes me once before helping me put my things in a few different bags.

She snorts, causing me to look her way, eyebrow raised.

“You’re really lucky Mia and Piper couldn’t come with us today.

We would’ve had to talk them out of putting glitter in the vents or on the ceiling fans. ”

“I think I might’ve let them after seeing that note and lingerie. He deserves it, but I wouldn’t want to deal with his epic meltdown at finding this place ‘glitterfied.’”

Before walking out of what used to be our room, I grab the note and one of the bras—carefully using a pen to scoop that lacy little number up. I take both to the table in the foyer and place them on it with my key.

Maybe he’ll get the hint now.