Page 95 of Together

And just like that, my temper snaps. “Excuse me?”

“Grace, enough,” Lucy snaps. “Look where we are, would you? Does it not make you realize what’s important right now? Let it go already.”

“What’s going on?” her dad asks.

I don’t bother throwing in my two cents here because it wouldn’t do us any good for me to tell them what I’m thinking.

“Lucy can fill you in,” I say to the group. “I’ve got more important shit to take care of than talking to your dumb ass. Samuel.” He looks up from his phone as if he has no idea what’s happening. “Do me a favor, stay the fuck away from me and keep your wife next to you.” Samuel’s frantic eyes dart to Grace, his eyebrows furrowing. He can play the confused spouse all he wants, but I’m not going to listen to it. Pointing at him, I lower my voice. “If I hear any more about you guys buyingmyfucking baby or tellingmygirl that she and I aren’t a real thing, you won’t like the consequences. And fuck you for telling her she won’t be a good mother.”

“What is he talking about?” her dad yells. “Buying whose baby? Who won’t be a good mother? Will someone please fill me in?”

I don’t stick around long enough for Grace to explain her actions. I need to get Ashley’s things so she feels comfortable sleeping in the damn hospital tonight.

Chapter Twenty

Ashley

“It feels sogood to be out of that place,” I say, climbing into Nik’s truck with his help.

“I bet.”

“As soon as I get home, I’m taking a long, hot shower.”

“And you know by home, you mean mine, right?”

I grin. “Yes, I’m aware.”

“Good. Just wanted to remind you, in case that whole head injury affected your memory,” he teases.

“What’s your name again?”

“Ha ha ha,” he deadpans. “Need anything before we go there? We’ll figure out a day to move your stuff in. Probably next weekend. And we’ll need to let your landlord know you’re moving out. It was a month-to-month lease, right? You didn’t extend it since you were looking at places to buy?”

“Right,” I say, my head reeling a bit.

“Good. That will make it easier. Are you hungry? Want me to swing through a drive-thru and grab some chicken since what you got yesterday ended up on the floor of your car?”

I appreciate that he’s talking about the accident normally. I was so afraid he’d treat me with kid gloves or that he’d be afraid to bring it up. It was scary and I’m fully aware of how lucky we are, but if we focus on what could have been, we’ll never move forward.

Yesterday was awful and I don’t want to relive it, but I also can’t forget it happened. I was informed this morning that the woman who hit my car and caused the accident wasn’t as fortunate as I was. Her family is grieving her loss and that’s something I’ll never get over. From what we were told by Grant’s friend, who’s a medic, the woman had a small amount of alcohol in her system, but it was the combination of alcohol and the prescription painkillers she’d become addicted to that caused her to run the red light and hit me.

It absolutely breaks my heart when I think about it. I will never make light of the accident that caused a woman to lose her life, but it’s also a reminder of how quickly your life can change. We’re not guaranteed anything in this life, and last night was a stark reminder of that.

“That sounds good to me. I’m pretty hungry, actually.”

“Me, too.”

It isn’t lost on me that he takes a different route to Chick-fil-A in order to skip driving right by the accident scene. As much as I appreciate that he’s talking about it, I don’t know that I want to see it quite yet, either.

He orders enough food for an army, more than the two of us can eat even on our hungriest day. When I ask him why he ordered so much, he says, “Our family needs to see you. They’re on their way to my place now.”

“Oh.” I pause. “Everyone?”

“Josie and Dean will come by later. Just your family for now.”

“And by my family, you mean…”

“Yes, Grace is going to be there. If she says anything stupid, I’m not going to let it slide, but she’s your sister and I respect that.”

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